[A Certain] Trucking School - An Honest Review

Well I'll say this.....I have a policy - I'll tell you what I know, you do with it what you like. You can feel anyway you like, you can believe anything you like, it's all fine by me. I lived on the road for the better part of 15 years and had a long, enjoyable, safe, productive career. I know what I know and I share it with anyone interested in listening. I don't take it personally if someone chooses to disagree.

But over the years I've watched waaaaaay too many people drop out of this industry that should have gone on to have long, enjoyable careers. If only they would have had the right expectations and attitude toward the challenges they were going to face early in their careers they would have gone on to be great drivers. But when they got started in the industry and found out that almost everything was completely different than they had expected they became disillusioned with the whole thing. They figured the schools were out to rip them off, the companies were taking advantage of them, and the DOT was comprised of money-grubbing pigs.

When we're new to something, no matter how wrong our expectations might be, to us they made sense at the time. So when our expectations turn out to be the opposite of the reality we're presented with we tend to perceive ourselves as being right and everything going on around us as screwed up.

For example.....we talk all the time about how these schools, especially the Company-Sponsored Training Programs, will purposely push your buttons to see if you have the personality and dedication it takes to become a safe, productive driver. They'll test your patience, your nerve, and your ability to follow instructions. Well when we think about what life is like at a school we picture a relaxed classroom environment with friendly and helpful instructors who love to help others learn their trade. And 99% of the schools fit that description. But not so much in trucking. They'll change the schedule on you, put you in old junky trucks, yell at you when you make a simple mistake, give you odd instructions just to see if you'll follow them. You're being tested all the time and unless we tell you that's the way it is you'd never know it. You'd simply think they're all a bunch of idiots that did everything wrong when in reality everything they did made perfect sense. They just had a different agenda that you weren't aware of.

Heck, even when we tell you that's the way it is a lot of people don't believe us. But that's all we can do is tell you what we know.

You're not risking your life on a daily basis. You're not away from your home and family for weeks at a time. You're not sitting for 12 hours without pay in an empty parking lot alone at night 1000 miles from home the day before a holiday. You're not lost in Downtown Chicago at night during a snowstorm in rush hour traffic hoping to God there isn't a low bridge around the next corner. You're not sleep deprived, broken down, lost, freezing, isolated, or being issued an expensive ticket by the DOT. You haven't had great paying loads taken away from you, schedules flipped upside down, or waited three hours for weekend dispatch to finally respond to your urgent requests. You haven't missed a major Holiday with your family, had to work 70 hours in 8 days, had an arrogant dock worker go to lunch with only two pallets left to unload, and you haven't been sent to pickup an abandoned truck that the last driver literally p*ssed and pooped all over the inside of.

Yes I have, all of them . . . er, well, not ALL of them, but a lot of them . . . all but the poopie truck one . . . and it was Jersey City in the summer, not Chicago in the winter . . . but other than that you pretty much described my first 6 months doing this stuff . . . you left out all the rude people who work for the shippers AND receivers . . . oh, you weren't talking to me . . . but you were telling it like it is . . . here's another surprise: You NEVER see anyone you know face-to-face until you go home . . . that's right, everyone you meet for months is a complete stranger . . . and even the people at home forget about you because they don't ever see you any more . . . this whole thing is like an out-of-body experience . . . still driving, though, and will be for the foreseeable future . . . I have made new friends through TT and through the training days at Prime, Inc . . . and a whole lot of the ladies working at the truck stops call you "honey" and "sweetie" and mean it, bless their souls . . .

Jopa

You're not risking your life on a daily basis. You're not away from your home and family for weeks at a time. You're not sitting for 12 hours without pay in an empty parking lot alone at night 1000 miles from home the day before a holiday. You're not lost in Downtown Chicago at night during a snowstorm in rush hour traffic hoping to God there isn't a low bridge around the next corner. You're not sleep deprived, broken down, lost, freezing, isolated, or being issued an expensive ticket by the DOT. You haven't had great paying loads taken away from you, schedules flipped upside down, or waited three hours for weekend dispatch to finally respond to your urgent requests. You haven't missed a major Holiday with your family, had to work 70 hours in 8 days, had an arrogant dock worker go to lunch with only two pallets left to unload, and you haven't been sent to pickup an abandoned truck that the last driver literally p*ssed and pooped all over the inside of.

Yes I have, all of them . . . er, well, not ALL of them, but a lot of them . . . all but the poopie truck one . . . and it was Jersey City in the summer, not Chicago in the winter . . . but other than that you pretty much described my first 6 months doing this stuff . . . you left out all the rude people who work for the shippers AND receivers . . . oh, you weren't talking to me . . . but you were telling it like it is . . . here's another surprise: You NEVER see anyone you know face-to-face until you go home . . . that's right, everyone you meet for months is a complete stranger . . . and even the people at home forget about you because they don't ever see you any more . . . this whole thing is like an out-of-body experience . . . still driving, though, and will be for the foreseeable future . . . I have made new friends through TT and through the training days at Prime, Inc . . . and a whole lot of the ladies working at the truck stops call you "honey" and "sweetie" and mean it, bless their souls . . .

Jopa

Hey Jopa great to hear from you! I am finally with my trainer and hope to test out at the end of this week to be able to drive solo.....I am excited and terrified at the same time! Be safe out there and check in from time to time!

. . . this whole thing is like an out-of-body experience . . .

LMAO!!

That's for real! Seriously, life out there moves so fast, the days are so long, and life is so completely different than anything most of us have ever experienced that the weeks blend into months and the months into years. Looking back a lot of it is a blur. The erratic sleep schedule is another one that gets ya. I'm the type that can fall asleep or wake up like flipping a switch - anytime, anywhere. Thank God! Because a lot of times you're begging for a nap anytime you can get one. Yet you want to run as hard as possible to make all the money you can. Heck, if you're going to out there travelling you might as well make a solid paycheck!

Oh, and of course you can work 70 hours every 8 days. That alone is almost two full time jobs and that's when you begin living the rest of your life - eating, laundry, television, talking to family back home....the days are really long. One week out there feels like a month when you look back on it because you're so busy all the time. And heck, 3,000 miles a week is a lot! I don't care who you are, doing that week in and week out is a huge amount of work.

I loved my years on the road. The endless challenges, the risk, the adventure - that was exactly what I was looking for. And of course nothing on Earth is cooler than driving a big ole American Big Rig. But almost nothing about it is easy, make no mistake about it. It will challenge you to the core and you'll risk your life every single day doing it. It's always ranked as one of the most dangerous jobs in America. Once you've seen a few big wrecks you can't ignore the fact that you could always be three seconds from being dead out of the clear blue - anytime, anywhere, without warning.

So you really have to be pretty hardcore to do this well for any length of time. That's why we're trying to discourage people from worrying about things if they can help it and just keep pushing forward. That's what trucking is all about - overcoming that neverending parade of obstacles and getting the job done safely.

Every day of your life out there you're going to have 100 reasons to be p*ssed off or miserable. But you'll have 100 blessings to be thankful for at the same time. In the end it comes down to what you decide to focus on and the attitude you have toward everything and everyone. If you'll take the right approach you'll get through that first few months of trucking and a lot of what we're saying now will make perfect sense.

. . . this whole thing is like an out-of-body experience . . .

LMAO!!

That's for real! Seriously, life out there moves so fast, the days are so long, and life is so completely different than anything most of us have ever experienced that the weeks blend into months and the months into years. Looking back a lot of it is a blur. The erratic sleep schedule is another one that gets ya. I'm the type that can fall asleep or wake up like flipping a switch - anytime, anywhere. Thank God! Because a lot of times you're begging for a nap anytime you can get one. Yet you want to run as hard as possible to make all the money you can. Heck, if you're going to out there travelling you might as well make a solid paycheck!

Oh, and of course you can work 70 hours every 8 days. That alone is almost two full time jobs and that's when you begin living the rest of your life - eating, laundry, television, talking to family back home....the days are really long. One week out there feels like a month when you look back on it because you're so busy all the time. And heck, 3,000 miles a week is a lot! I don't care who you are, doing that week in and week out is a huge amount of work.

I loved my years on the road. The endless challenges, the risk, the adventure - that was exactly what I was looking for. And of course nothing on Earth is cooler than driving a big ole American Big Rig. But almost nothing about it is easy, make no mistake about it. It will challenge you to the core and you'll risk your life every single day doing it. It's always ranked as one of the most dangerous jobs in America. Once you've seen a few big wrecks you can't ignore the fact that you could always be three seconds from being dead out of the clear blue - anytime, anywhere, without warning.

So you really have to be pretty hardcore to do this well for any length of time. That's why we're trying to discourage people from worrying about things if they can help it and just keep pushing forward. That's what trucking is all about - overcoming that neverending parade of obstacles and getting the job done safely.

Every day of your life out there you're going to have 100 reasons to be p*ssed off or miserable. But you'll have 100 blessings to be thankful for at the same time. In the end it comes down to what you decide to focus on and the attitude you have toward everything and everyone. If you'll take the right approach you'll get through that first few months of trucking and a lot of what we're saying now will make perfect sense.

Man I read everything I could and can on this Forum BEFORE I FINALLY made the decision to push forward and become a Professional Truck Driver. I really appreciate the brutal honesty because I REALLY took these stories you all tell into consideration before I pulled the trigger and drove 18 hours to a place I've never been to before to do something I've never tried before. The eccentricities of the job in many ways is what appeals to me, as does the adventure, the risks, the challenges.....There were many a night that after reading stories on this forum I went to bed thinking I'm not going to do it, only to wake up the next day and want to pull the trigger in spite of what I read. My mindset going into this is simple, I'm expecting it to be the hardest thing I've ever done so that way I'm not disappointed or disillusioned when I hit hard times out there. Especially the initial time training with a trainer on the Road is what I'm really going to have to knuckle up and bite my mouthpiece on because I love my space and solitude. Some of the Drivers here hated that part, some of them didn't mind it at all, but I've yet to meet one here that regretted doing it. Not one person has yet to tell me it wasn't worth it since I've been here that survived that initial period and have their own trucks now.

Larry B.,

You're the same guy who told me that I have no integrity a few days ago. All about a situation that you've never been in but somehow you know all about what to do even though you haven't turned a single mile.

I'm going to post in this thread once and then I'm out, nothing good can come of it and I can't believe it takes three experienced drivers to tell you something without you blowing it off. Go ahead and rule Brett out, after all, he hasn't been in a driving school in many years right?

Alright, so maybe I can shed some light on this considering I went through what the poster went through. I went to a school, I drove on an ancient 1992 Freightliner with about 1.4 million miles on it. I also did my training in the winter time. That trucks transmission was worn, the heater didn't work, and there was 4" of mud on the ground. And guess what? This was a multi-million dollar company running this school. If they can't afford to put us in a brand new truck then how do you expect an independent private school to?

And why do you even deserve the best of the best? You're just someone coming in trying out for trucking. Just because you can fork over 5 grand doesn't mean you'll survive this job. Fact, my class started with 10 and ended with only 2 graduating. So why have great trucks for students when the typical student doesn't even graduate? Your 5 grand means nothing compared to the cost of a decent truck, not to mention the fuel costs that the student racks up driving it as well as all the damage to the transmission that each student causes with their grinding.

If people would stop being customers to these "low budget trucking schools" then they would close down. The last thing they'll do is buy new equipment for their students to destroy within a week.

So lets get back to my experiences.

I never complained about having to drive that 1992 Freightliner. In fact, I fell in love with it. I complained only about one instructor and that was to my wife because this particular instructor just wasn't a good teacher (not all of them are). The transmission sucked but I dealt with it and I bought myself boots for the mud. A successful future driver doesn't complain, they make it happen.

In that school I learned on three different trucks. When I went to take my test I did it in a completely different transmission and truck. I still passed. Why? Because I got to studying instead of going online complaining.

You're right about being a paying customer, but you're forgetting that there's a million grey areas in trucking.

We can't really explain it to you any better. You just have to figure it out on your own when you get out here. But judging from your previous posts, I think you have it figured out better than anyone of us do.

As for Old School, respectively, get off his ass. The man makes one "bad" post in 2,000 posts and you raise your pitchforks like you did with me.

Anyways, good luck out there.

Larry B.,

You're the same guy who told me that I have no integrity a few days ago. All about a situation that you've never been in but somehow you know all about what to do even though you haven't turned a single mile.

I'm going to post in this thread once and then I'm out, nothing good can come of it and I can't believe it takes three experienced drivers to tell you something without you blowing it off. Go ahead and rule Brett out, after all, he hasn't been in a driving school in many years right?

Alright, so maybe I can shed some light on this considering I went through what the poster went through. I went to a school, I drove on an ancient 1992 Freightliner with about 1.4 million miles on it. I also did my training in the winter time. That trucks transmission was worn, the heater didn't work, and there was 4" of mud on the ground. And guess what? This was a multi-million dollar company running this school. If they can't afford to put us in a brand new truck then how do you expect an independent private school to?

And why do you even deserve the best of the best? You're just someone coming in trying out for trucking. Just because you can fork over 5 grand doesn't mean you'll survive this job. Fact, my class started with 10 and ended with only 2 graduating. So why have great trucks for students when the typical student doesn't even graduate? Your 5 grand means nothing compared to the cost of a decent truck, not to mention the fuel costs that the student racks up driving it as well as all the damage to the transmission that each student causes with their grinding.

If people would stop being customers to these "low budget trucking schools" then they would close down. The last thing they'll do is buy new equipment for their students to destroy within a week.

So lets get back to my experiences.

I never complained about having to drive that 1992 Freightliner. In fact, I fell in love with it. I complained only about one instructor and that was to my wife because this particular instructor just wasn't a good teacher (not all of them are). The transmission sucked but I dealt with it and I bought myself boots for the mud. A successful future driver doesn't complain, they make it happen.

In that school I learned on three different trucks. When I went to take my test I did it in a completely different transmission and truck. I still passed. Why? Because I got to studying instead of going online complaining.

You're right about being a paying customer, but you're forgetting that there's a million grey areas in trucking.

We can't really explain it to you any better. You just have to figure it out on your own when you get out here. But judging from your previous posts, I think you have it figured out better than anyone of us do.

As for OS, respectively, get off his ass. The man makes one "bad" post in 2,000 posts and you raise your pitchforks like you did with me.

Anyways, good luck out there.

Excellent perspective. Makes complete sense.

Larry B.,

You're the same guy who told me that I have no integrity a few days ago. All about a situation that you've never been in but somehow you know all about what to do even though you haven't turned a single mile.

I'm going to post in this thread once and then I'm out, nothing good can come of it and I can't believe it takes three experienced drivers to tell you something without you blowing it off. Go ahead and rule Brett out, after all, he hasn't been in a driving school in many years right?

Alright, so maybe I can shed some light on this considering I went through what the poster went through. I went to a school, I drove on an ancient 1992 Freightliner with about 1.4 million miles on it. I also did my training in the winter time. That trucks transmission was worn, the heater didn't work, and there was 4" of mud on the ground. And guess what? This was a multi-million dollar company running this school. If they can't afford to put us in a brand new truck then how do you expect an independent private school to?

And why do you even deserve the best of the best? You're just someone coming in trying out for trucking. Just because you can fork over 5 grand doesn't mean you'll survive this job. Fact, my class started with 10 and ended with only 2 graduating. So why have great trucks for students when the typical student doesn't even graduate? Your 5 grand means nothing compared to the cost of a decent truck, not to mention the fuel costs that the student racks up driving it as well as all the damage to the transmission that each student causes with their grinding.

If people would stop being customers to these "low budget trucking schools" then they would close down. The last thing they'll do is buy new equipment for their students to destroy within a week.

So lets get back to my experiences.

I never complained about having to drive that 1992 Freightliner. In fact, I fell in love with it. I complained only about one instructor and that was to my wife because this particular instructor just wasn't a good teacher (not all of them are). The transmission sucked but I dealt with it and I bought myself boots for the mud. A successful future driver doesn't complain, they make it happen.

In that school I learned on three different trucks. When I went to take my test I did it in a completely different transmission and truck. I still passed. Why? Because I got to studying instead of going online complaining.

You're right about being a paying customer, but you're forgetting that there's a million grey areas in trucking.

We can't really explain it to you any better. You just have to figure it out on your own when you get out here. But judging from your previous posts, I think you have it figured out better than anyone of us do.

As for OS, respectively, get off his ass. The man makes one "bad" post in 2,000 posts and you raise your pitchforks like you did with me.

Anyways, good luck out there.

Daniel thanks for still talking to me even though you are still mad. I don't have anything figured out. You guys are the experts out there on the road not me. If you re read this thread maybe you will see I was just standing up for someone I felt was unjustly attacked because he gave an honest review of his experience. Just facts. He probably felt the same way you did when you thought I questioned your integrity. Think about that for a second. And it looks like we ran him off so all this is a mute point anyway. He came here trying to help and look what we did. Oh well, he never would have made it out there anyway right?

Larry, I just got into Chicago after a long hard day and managed to squeeze into a parking area. I was going to jump back in here and try to clarify a few things, but this thread has taken on a life of it's own since I responded earlier. I just want to say that I wasn't trying to attack any body's character. We don't ever allow biased reviews in here like so many other trucking forums. They are too unreliable.

I was surprised by the information Jason left out of his comments more so than what he complained about. I can assure you that the school in question has some people who were satisfied with their training, I've even heard from some of their past graduates. We always encourage new folks to this to go to the school and talk to the current students. I can only assume that there was some positive reason Jason chose this school in the first place. It obviously didn't live up to his expectations, and that is why I tried to point out that his expectations of trucking may be all together out of line.

We don't like to rely on one persons side of the story when it comes to reporting on trucking companies or schools, it just isn't fair to the entities being spoken of. I'm sure as a police officer you understand the value of corroborating witnesses, and how difficult it is to make sense out of something when you have two or three different stories being told about the same event. Jason was obviously unhappy, but we don't know if he was so irritated that he lashed out at them, or maybe he had legitimate concerns. But one thing we always do is try to avoid that kind of thing in here because it isn't productive. If we can verify facts we do it, if we have to just take somebody's ramblings and rantings then we don't want to go there.

I remember a girl in here one time that told me I was a jerk! Well, it seems I had measured her up from her initial comments and nailed the problems she had right off the bat. She didn't take to that very well at all. Sometimes I can spot a problem right from the start - if I was wrong about Jason, and I hope I am, then I will gladly apologize.

Larry, I just got into Chicago after a long hard day and managed to squeeze into a parking area. I was going to jump back in here and try to clarify a few things, but this thread has taken on a life of it's own since I responded earlier. I just want to say that I wasn't trying to attack any body's character. We don't ever allow biased reviews in here like so many other trucking forums. They are too unreliable.

I was surprised by the information Jason left out of his comments more so than what he complained about. I can assure you that the school in question has some people who were satisfied with their training, I've even heard from some of their past graduates. We always encourage new folks to this to go to the school and talk to the current students. I can only assume that there was some positive reason Jason chose this school in the first place. It obviously didn't live up to his expectations, and that is why I tried to point out that his expectations of trucking may be all together out of line.

We don't like to rely on one persons side of the story when it comes to reporting on trucking companies or schools, it just isn't fair to the entities being spoken of. I'm sure as a police officer you understand the value of corroborating witnesses, and how difficult it is to make sense out of something when you have two or three different stories being told about the same event. Jason was obviously unhappy, but we don't know if he was so irritated that he lashed out at them, or maybe he had legitimate concerns. But one thing we always do is try to avoid that kind of thing in here because it isn't productive. If we can verify facts we do it, if we have to just take somebody's ramblings and rantings then we don't want to go there.

I remember a girl in here one time that told me I was a jerk! Well, it seems I had measured her up from her initial comments and nailed the problems she had right off the bat. She didn't take to that very well at all. Sometimes I can spot a problem right from the start - if I was wrong about Jason, and I hope I am, then I will gladly apologize.

Thanks old school for clarifying that. Has I known you had an inside scoop on the school and had known others who had a better experience, I wouldn't have stuck my nose in it. And Brett's first response was good and it sounded like he truly wanted to get more details about the situation. But then like you said, the thread took a life of its own and everyone kinda puffed up and got a little touchy. Myself included. Anyway thanks for clarifying, I really appreciate it.