"HELP"worst School

Hey guys my name is Matt and I am attending a privately owned truck driving school in Southern California and have a CDL test date for April 1,I made a huge mistake in choosing this school it has turned out to be a "set up for failure situation".The school is only interested in money and has delivered none of the promises they said they would.I am going to break it down because they are so many issues.Ive paid a total of 2595.00 since 11-19-14 they only have one instructor for the whole school,and the owner of the school monitors,dictates,and minimizes everything the instructor does with the students,only allowing the students(me) very minimal time behind the wheel with the practice skills I'm talking 20-30 minutes a day it takes me longer to drive to the school then the time im there.The owner on more than 3 occasions has stopped skills practice and sent everyone home for no reason other than saying the DMV won't take appointments for a while so you don't need to practice anymore than one week later tells me I have a DMV date already made when he has no idea what level I am at with the skills portion of the test basically he made my appointment without my knowledge or discussing anything with me and he has never instructed me on any skill to evaluate my level.Sorry that I rambled on my frustration is through the roof I didn't sign up for this I feel like I'm being taken advantage of and I would like any suggestions on how to handle this,like they say don't just pick a school because you think they are good take your time trust me it's not worth rushing into because some schools are just thieves and have no interest in teaching you a trade

Hey Matt, welcome to the forum!

Matt, you've got to roll with this - here's the deal, and we see people come in here all the time with a similar post to yours. The thing about truck driving schools is that their objective is just to get you to the point where you can pass the testing and get yourself a CDL. To be honest with you it doesn't take a whole lot to get to that point - Oh, it is a major accomplishment for sure, and one that you will be very proud of once it's done, but it is just the very beginnings of your career, sort of like baby steps if you will.

So many people start truck driving school thinking they are going to get all kinds of driving time, but it just doesn't pan out that way. Usually there are three or four students plus an instructor in that truck and part of the time the instructor is driving and at other times the other students are driving and, well we just don't get much actual behind the wheel time. That is the way it works at almost all schools.

First off let me advise you to get over your attitude that has convinced you that you made a bad choice in schools, that attitude is only going to hinder you in your progress. You're already in it so make the best of it, Do what you can to grasp the concepts and the skills, if you are struggling with something ask for some extra time at that particular thing and see what happens - don't be rude or pushy just see if they will help you some more, and if they don't just do the best you can.

I can almost guarantee you that they have a method or a plan that will get most of you across the finish line. This is all new to you and you probably came into it with some false expectations of what you would be getting, most people do. Another thing that you may not realize is that they went ahead and made you an appointment based on what they have seen of your progress. They have to make those appointments ahead of time so they kind of have to go with their own gut feeling of how you are progressing - they can tell more about you than you realize - trust me on this.

Matt, when you graduate from truck driving school you are not anywhere near being ready to get in a truck and start working as a truck driver, and every company out there that hires new truck driving school graduates know this painfully well. Once you get a job they are going to put you with a trainer for a minimum of about four weeks. You will spend every moment of everyday with that person and you will still barely be able to be turned out as a solo driver who is trustworthy enough to not get himself into a big bind out there on his own.

Your entire first year as a rookie is where you will actually learn how to be a truck driver, and trust me that first year will try you to your last nerve, but if you've got what it takes you will eventually go on and become a successful driver. This is a long process and there is nobody along the way who is going to hold your hand. It takes a lot of determination to make it happen, and if you start out at the very beginnings of this thinking that people are doing you wrong, then that attitude will only continue to grow and you will never be able to progress through the necessary stages of development as a driver. It takes a lot of independence and sheer determination to persevere in this career, but now is the time to settle it that you are going to achieve your goals no matter how disillusioned you are with your present set of challenges before you.

Hang in there Matt, you can achieve your goals despite however you think they should be doing things at that school. And if you fail your test you will only be one of the millions of truck drivers out there who had to go and take his driving test three or four times before he passed - it's not unusual at all to fail your first attempt, those testers will recognize that you are a rank beginner, and will also recognize if you are making progress. Don't get all uptight about this, just hang in there and you will make it

I don't even have my CDL permit yet, but I been practicing the pre-trip on my neighbors truck who used to be an o/o for the past week and have managed to memorize the pre-trip. These are awesome! I feel that this is the hardest part. Just felt that it may help? Pre-Trip Inspection

Where you stay at Matt?

Everything Old School said was dead on. People always get near the end of their schooling and feel completely unprepared for their CDL test and their first trucking job. But soon after they have their CDL and they're behind the wheel of a company truck travelling the country.

Schools really do just teach the bare minimum to get you through the CDL testing and land you a job with a major carrier. That's it. And that's by design. There is no minimum curriculum for the schools to teach. Their only job is to get you through the testing and make sure you land a job somewhere. If that happens they've done their job. You'll learn the rest on the road.

How many total hours is the schooling there? Have you tried getting pre-hires from any of the major carriers yet?