Is Community College Training A Bad Idea?

For just over $4000 (paid in full by GAP)

Yeah, I guess if someone else is going to pay your way it's an appealing opportunity. But would have you paid for it out of your own pocket?

GAP Tuition Assistance Program

This program was established to provide funding to community colleges for need-based tuition assistance to applicants to enable completion of continuing education certificate training programs for in-demand occupations.

Eligibility for tuition assistance under this program shall be based on financial need. Criteria to be assessed in determining financial need shall include but is not limited to:

• The applicant's family income for the six months prior to the date of application.
• The applicant's family size.
• The applicant's county of residence.

An applicant must also have a demonstrated capacity to achieve the following outcomes:

• The ability to complete an eligible certificate program.
• The ability to enter a postsecondary certificate, diploma, or degree program for credit.
• The ability to gain full-time employment.
• The ability to maintain full-time employment over time.

I am not an experienced driver in any way, however I have done 20 years in the Navy and one of the reasons Trucking is going to be my next career is because in many ways it is just like learning in the Military. When you Enlist in any branch you go to boot camp and then to your School for what ever job you are going to do and you learn the basics. Then you go to your first command and that is where you are going to learn how to do your job and it can take months and years before you are proficient and a reliable worker. I have been in for 20 years and at the top as far as my Job goes with knowledge and responsibilities but still learn something new everyday.

I believe that is how you have to approach Trucking. It really doesn’t matter if you go the School vs Company route. You are new and need the experience of those that have done this job for years and it doesn’t matter if you are 21 or 60 you need to be a sponge learning everything you can until you are the best at what you do and establish yourself and like anything the more dedicated you are the more dedicated your Company (Military) will be for you. God Bless and stay safe out there.

Thomas says:

When you Enlist in any branch you go to boot camp and then to your School for what ever job you are going to do and you learn the basics. Then you go to your first command and that is where you are going to learn how to do your job and it can take months and years before you are proficient and a reliable worker.

This is true. (My experience is 4 years, long ago, USAF) But there's a difference. Military, with OJT, provides a network of support throughout your career to minimize the chance of your failure.

Trucking, though, puts you alone in your truck for 98% of your career. (School ➡ orientation ➡ road training ➡ on your own) If you don't "get it" before you get your truck, life can be hard.

Also, starting in most schools, it's on you to pay attention and learn. Out on the backing range there's always a group of students shooting the breeze instead of watching the others practice. These are the ones who will probably drop out in less than a year. Don't be one of the people.

Just got the chance to read this sub. I went the "free agent" route that has been mentioned. Like chaos, I got a similar deal with my schooling. I was blessed to get a grant that paid for everything. This allowed me to work nights while going to classes full time. There are pros and cons on both sides no doubt. I was able to go with a company (Maverick) that doesn't run their own school. Although I had no obligation to stay here, I've still been here going on 2 years now. With under a year experience, not a whole lot of companies worth jumping to anyway. Are a few more cents per mile worth starting all over again? Not in my opinion, and any company that pays way above average probably wants experience anyway. So in all, I'd say you can't go wrong either way.

I did the local training school that also happens to coordinate with the loca Jr College. $3500 out of pocket. It’s a smaller training school but I feel they have some quality driver trainers, both with many years experience. With that said they teach you to pass the CDL exam and then hopefully you choose a good company that will do more direct otj training. My company (as well as quite a few others) offer tuition reimbursement but unfortunately I chose to go with a small drilling company at first. To get the reimbursement you have to come directly out of school so I missed that boat. I agree that free agent term is misrepresented here. That company is giving you 3-$6,000 in some cases depending on where you live. That contract is in lieu of you being on the hook for that $$. Not a bad trade off in the overall scheme of things. Especially if you don’t have the up front $$$ as is the case for a lot of folks getting started.

I too did the scholarship/community college thing because the $4k cost wasn't coming out of my own pocket, allowed me to continue working part time plus while I attended CDL school, and kept me home a little longer, since I actually still had 2 teenagers at home.

My son was 18 and my youngest was about to turn 16. Not having to pay for school out of my to own savings , I was able to get bills paid up 2 months in advance and was able to leave my 18 year old a $1k emergency fund. I expected to be gone 5 weeks. One week for company orientation in Iowa and four weeks of OTR training.

To check on my kids, I had an adult neighbor, a close friend, and a local pastor and his wife who would drop in randomly and unannounced (they all had keys lol) to make sure they weren't having the ultimate house party. Of course they were behaving responsibly, but kids will be kids so I was very careful about all the arrangements before I ever headed to Iowa.

I was able to start with a company that hires new drivers, but wasn't large enough to have their own school. My company doesn't offer tuition reimbursement, but I didn't pay it myself anyway so that didn't matter to me.

Had I have not had the cash provided to me (scholarship) to attend that community college program, I would have jumped at the chance to go to Prime, Swift, or wherever. I don't recommend using your own savings when so many fine companies have their own schools who guarantee you'll have a job after you finish. With a private school, you're pretty much on your own to find a job after you get your CDL-A. Yes they say they'll help with placement, but that "help" is often non existent or useless. I found and researched West Side Transport from a job link from this very forum. Nobody from my school knew where they were going or how to find a job. I did my research and 3 of us went there. I'm the only one still there. One didn't like OTR and another one was fired and now drives for Celadon/Osborne. I think they should have done their own research, but out of fear, they followed me and ended up somewhere they didn't fit well.

Hey I’m also currently in a community college program because it was 350$ Dollars which is much less than any other I’ve seen. I didn’t know about company sponsored training before I enrolled but it’s a 16 week program and I’m 10 weeks into it so I might as well stick It out. By the time I’m done I’ll have closer to 220 hours of training. Including 10 driving trips that are two hours each. I’m glad I chose this route even though it’s taking much longer that every other program I’ve seen because I’m not sure I could learn everything in four weeks. The problem I’ve ran into is no companies will talk to me yet because I’m still more than a month out from my graduation date. The other problem is picking which company and what type of driving I want to do. I’ve looked at a lot of the resources up here and they’ve been very helpful.

I don't know about this. I've had several friends in the last 2 years who have gotten on with their first company, then left after 3 to 6 months. Their second job paid them substancially more. A lot of midsize carriers here in Virginia require 3 months of verifiable CDL miles and a clean MVR.

Robert F wrote:

I attended community college. I opted for their 20 hour course and got my CDL at first time of trying. Got a job straight away. For a number of reasons I won't go into it wasn't to my liking. Just been offered another job so would have to say the community college route suited me fine and only cost $2000 for everything and I am completely a free agent!

20 hours? That doesn't sound right.

And to be clear, the free-agent thing is highly over-rated, quite the joke. Fresh out of school you have no real value other than a warm body with a CDL. Totally untested and unproven in a performance driven and highly competitive industry. Regardless of a contract or not, an entry-level driver should absolutely commit to their first job for one year minimum. I am glad the CC route worked out for you Robert, but please chill on the notion of being a "free agent" as a great reason to avoid Paid CDL Training Programs, it's total baloney.