Company Paid CDL Training
Topic 9469 | Page 1
If you mean your CDL Certificate, as in your CDL license, that's your state license to drive.
If you mean your training certificate from a school, the school just might hold onto the Certificate till you pay them off.
Dedicated routes usually don't go to newbies. (I tried - my Swift mentor recommended me, but the big boss said I need to wait 6 months - coming up in August.) In the mean time it's OTR.
So, if you have company training, you are obligated to either pay back the company, or drive for them for maybe a year. They will hold onto that certificate till your obligation is up.
BTW, Swift has a B1G1 deal - one of you signs up, commits to the tuition, and their spouse gets the whole nine yards for free! Many teams are husband and wife. As long as they can play by Amazing Race rules - no more than 10 feet apart for months at a time :), they're good. Most companies like Team driving. Look it up - longest runs, newest equipment, pay that comes out more than solo pay for the same miles, etc.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Dedicated Route:
A driver or carrier who transports cargo between regular, prescribed routes. Normally it means a driver will be dedicated to working for one particular customer like Walmart or Home Depot and they will only haul freight for that customer. You'll often hear drivers say something like, "I'm on the Walmart dedicated account."
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
If we get our CDL license, do we need the certificate to get hired on by another company?
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
The goal of the schools is two parts: #1, get your state driver license. #2 Train you in safe driving and management of a big truck as well as things like Hours of Service and stuff. There are few companies of any size that will even talk to you without that training certificate. If you went to PAM's school, obviously they know you're qualified, since you took their courses. But if you decided to switch to Roehl, Roehl won't get to see your training certificate, so it would probably be a no-go.
Now once you have the CDL (and your medical papers) it's legal for you to drive an 18 wheeler on the road. But probably only "mom & pop" companies would consider you without the training certificate. Then you lose the resources of the larger companies, of course.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Whitney, why is it that you're so concerned about getting a dedicated route? As Errol said, that's very rare for someone straight out of school. You simply haven't proven you're trustworthy enough yet to take care of their most important customers. But if you tell us what you're trying to accomplish with a dedicated route we might be able to give you some alternative ideas.
Dedicated Route:
A driver or carrier who transports cargo between regular, prescribed routes. Normally it means a driver will be dedicated to working for one particular customer like Walmart or Home Depot and they will only haul freight for that customer. You'll often hear drivers say something like, "I'm on the Walmart dedicated account."
I'm trying to get a dedicated route because I have two children. I can work it out to go to school and then get some experience but I need to get on a route that can give me regular hometime. Some companies offer dedicated routes to people with three to six months experience so if I get that much experience, that's what I want to do.
Dedicated Route:
A driver or carrier who transports cargo between regular, prescribed routes. Normally it means a driver will be dedicated to working for one particular customer like Walmart or Home Depot and they will only haul freight for that customer. You'll often hear drivers say something like, "I'm on the Walmart dedicated account."
Whitney, it's true: there's no harm in asking. The worst thing is they might day "No."
What you're looking for (dedicated right out of training) can certainly happen, it's just not the usual thing.
Well the problem is that you're considering running team with your husband and team trucks run almost exclusively coast to coast. There aren't too many opportunities for teams that will give you a lot of home time because most teams are looking to stay out and run for weeks at a time. You would probably have better luck running solo and getting a gig that gets you home on the weekends or even every night. You might need to put in a little time OTR depending on where you live, how your background checks out, and how thoroughly you dig through the job market for opportunities. But I don't think you're going to get a ton of home time running team.
So you don't actually need a dedicated route. You just need a job that gets you home as often as possible.
Now Roehl Transport has some pretty amazing home time opportunities. Check this out:
7-On/7-Off Fleet
Exclusively from Roehl, our 7-On/7-Off Fleet drivers drive seven days and then they are home for seven days at a time. If you choose a 7-On/7-Off Fleet, you’ll have 26 weeks a year off. You must be fully rested prior to dispatch. Space in the 7-On/7-Off Fleets may be limited in some areas of the country.
7/4-7/3 Fleet
Getting more miles is a key feature of our 7/4-7/3 Fleets. When you join a 7/4-7/3 Fleet, you’ll drive seven days, then be home four days, then you’ll drive seven days followed by three days of home time. That’s an average of 120 days off and mileage goals between 95,000 and 105,000 per year. You must be fully rested prior to dispatch, and space in the 7/4–7/3 Fleets may be limited in some areas of the country.
14/7 Fleet
Roehl’s 14/7 Fleets are unique options that combine the mileage goals of a 7/4-7/3 Fleet (between 95,000 and 105,000 per year) with the extended home time of a 7/7 Fleet. You’ll drive fourteen days and then be home seven days. Space in our 14/7 Fleets is available in limited areas, and you must be fully rested prior to dispatch.
I'm also a little puzzled as to how you and your husband are going to run team and raise children at the same time but I guess you must have that worked out some way.
Just dig around through our Truck Driving Jobs and see what opportunities you can dig up. Check Craigslist also because a lot of local companies advertise there.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Dedicated Route:
A driver or carrier who transports cargo between regular, prescribed routes. Normally it means a driver will be dedicated to working for one particular customer like Walmart or Home Depot and they will only haul freight for that customer. You'll often hear drivers say something like, "I'm on the Walmart dedicated account."
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
OOS:
When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.
With children, maybe you need to realign your planning and thinking, for now. Just for now. Why not try Pick-up and Delivery in the city so you can be home every night and go over the road when the kids are older? Or one of you goes over the road while the other does P & D?
There is a married couple at my service center (terminal) that's doing just that. He's been with the company for about 9 years and is a trainer. She joined after I did, went through their driver training program and when their youngest graduates from High School next year, they're going over the road. I don't know about other companies, but where I work, the teams are the fair-haired group of the whole lot of us. They loooove their teams.
-mountain girl
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
Over The Road:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
P & D:
Pickup & Delivery
Local drivers that stay around their area, usually within 100 mile radius of a terminal, picking up and delivering loads.
LTL (Less Than Truckload) carriers for instance will have Linehaul drivers and P&D drivers. The P&D drivers will deliver loads locally from the terminal and pick up loads returning to the terminal. Linehaul drivers will then run truckloads from terminal to terminal.
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Me and my husband are wanting to obtain our CDLS and run a team route. We have limited finances so we are thinking about a company that will train us. We have been turned down a few time so we are now looking into driver solutions for Pam transportation. We want to get into a dedicated route asap but pam says we won't be considered for one for at least 7 months. My question is if we go through the training, and decide to go with a company that will offer us a dedicated route before our contract is up, will pam be able to hold onto our CDL certificate?
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
Dedicated Route:
A driver or carrier who transports cargo between regular, prescribed routes. Normally it means a driver will be dedicated to working for one particular customer like Walmart or Home Depot and they will only haul freight for that customer. You'll often hear drivers say something like, "I'm on the Walmart dedicated account."
SAP:
Substance Abuse Professional
The Substance Abuse Professional (SAP) is a person who evaluates employees who have violated a DOT drug and alcohol program regulation and makes recommendations concerning education, treatment, follow-up testing, and aftercare.