Should I Have Gone Through A Trucking School....?

I got certified myself by going to a Third-Party-State-Examiner to take the test after going to the driver's licence office to take the CDL tests. I did not see myself being able to afford the truck school tuition. I had no idea that some truck companies would of paid for my training back when I first started. The road I took, doesn't teach me things of over the road stuff / weight stations / etc.... What should I do at this point? Should I just start over and go to one of these schools?............ Thank you for any and all input.........

All of the companies that hire "recent graduates" are going to require some sort of "acceptable" trucking school in order to take you on as a "recent graduate" (usually, 160 hours or more). Otherwise - you are still considered an "entry level student" - though you will be able to bypass all the steps that people who come in without a CDL have to do (written permit tests and road tests).

Having a CDL in hand already, will makes things a little easier - but you are still going to have to go through all the required phases of "Company Sponsored CDL Training", as someone who didn't have a CDL already - with the same "contractually obligated time period" as any other student.

You would do well to go through the High Road Training Program, right here on this site - as you will get a great amount of information there.

Most "CDL Schools" that aren't "company sponsored (in house)" programs - don't teach weigh stations, bills of lading, "OTR stuff" either. You will learn this as a student/recent graduate at whichever company you sign on with - by going out OTR with a trainer/mentor for a period of time.

Rick

Hey George. Those same Company-Sponsored Training Programs would be thrilled to have you, assuming your driving record, criminal record, and employment record checks out. They don't have to be anything fancy as long as you don't have any of the killers on there like DUI , felonies, or reckless driving.

But with an OK background check those companies would love to have you. And their thing is they want to get people on the road hauling freight as quickly as possible so they'll be able to move you through the program far more quickly. I expect you'll still have the same contractual obligation but that's a moot point in my book. You're going to want to stay there at least a year anyhow to get some experience and give them the chance to see what you're all about.

Now if you wanted to badly enough you could probably hunt through Craigslist and find an opportunity somewhere for a smaller company or an owner operator that might give you a shot without any schooling. But anyone who has been on the road will tell you that time you'll run team with a mentor is incredibly important. Almost nobody likes sharing a truck with someone else for a while but the alternative, which would be going on the road cold turkey without any guidance, is far worse in my book. I'd rather be annoyed by someone I'm not too thrilled with than be on the road piloting an 80,000 pound rig not really knowing what I'm doing. And I'm sure most people would agree.

If I were you I'd start by contacting those company programs I linked to above and see what they say. But a decent background will likely land you several opportunities right away.

Thank you .... will do

Thank you...

I got certified myself by going to a Third-Party-State-Examiner to take the test after going to the driver's licence office to take the CDL tests. I did not see myself being able to afford the truck school tuition. I had no idea that some truck companies would of paid for my training back when I first started. The road I took, doesn't teach me things of over the road stuff / weight stations / etc.... What should I do at this point? Should I just start over and go to one of these schools?............ Thank you for any and all input.........

I am in the same boat as you. I have the CDL but no experience or truck driving school. According to Swift, after a 3 day orientation I will be on the road with a mentor.

The accredited school I went to did not go into otr things a whole lot . they did log books , took us to a weigh station to watch the officer do his job , went over the basic stuff in the cdl driver manual and some map reading and trip planning . They are more concerned with making sure you can actually drive than teaching you the ins and outs of life on the road . Swift , that is a whole other story . You hop in truck with a trainer that sleeps most of the time your driving . What good is that ? Now pay close attention to the plan they have for you as far as that training goes . It is a few weeks 3? riding shotgun . then your turn to drive and your turn means big city not open road and your trainer is not likely to be staying up 24/7 to help you . After a couple weeks of the easy city driving you are on your own basically and sent off in top the mountains and real big cities while your trainer sleeps away . Swift said one time that they had an average of 3 - 5 dead people a week out of their 18K trucks I think it was . I wonder why with a " fine " trainer program like that .

Marcus, next time yo want to slam Swift or any other training company I would appreciate you providing us with some verifiable FACTS. Not just hearsay, or things that happened with you and perhaps a bad trainer. I had a terrible trainer at Western Express, but that certainly didn't mean it was a bad program or a bad company.

We are doing our best in here to help folks make a decent start in this career, and we have had a lot of people go through the program at Swift with excellent results. So we know that your generalized comments are nothing more than your own personal biased B.S.

We are glad to have you in here in the forum, but you are going to have to keep to some degree of helpful commentary and not to slamming companies with your slanted views.

At swift with the trainer for two weeks you are dispatched as a solo truck which means the trainer sits shotgun for two weeks and jumps in the driver seat as needed to make the deadline... Then after two weeks he/she make the call to be dispatched as a team truck and that's when once sleeps while the other drivers and that's for 200 hours which is about four weeks with trainer

At swift with the trainer for two weeks you are dispatched as a solo truck which means the trainer sits shotgun for two weeks and jumps in the driver seat as needed to make the deadline... Then after two weeks he/she make the call to be dispatched as a team truck and that's when once sleeps while the other drivers and that's for 200 hours which is about four weeks with trainer

Which is a great way for a new driver to begin to ease himself into the life of being a solo driver. Now he gets to drive with no one looking over his shoulder, but he also has someone there in the sleeper that he can wake up to ask for some assistance if he finds himself in a bind.

Thanks Scott!