Comments By Hemingway

Best of luck to you Sarah. Let us know how it goes in the other forum. I can't speak for all here but I love reading about the different training scenarios and how each person deals with them.

November 3, 2014

Day 1 @ Alliance

Classes start at 7am. I met my new “incoming” class (3 other guys) of four students. Day 1 is mostly hurry up and wait. By 10am we had all met with the GM, Mr. O’Neil, to review our employment file and discuss what we wanted to do with our new CDL once we had it. Of the four of us, I’m the only one interested in OTR. The other three are getting them for companies they already work for or as a requirement of employment. We were sent out for our drug tests and physicals. Pretty basic stuff. The four of us are fairly healthy and apparently drug free! After lunch the introduction and orientation from our lead instructor, Mr. Carpenter. The last four hours of the day consisted of the instructor reading to us from the NC DOT Commercial Drivers Manual. I have already been using the CDL Practice Program here on the site so it is a little boring.

Days 2, 3, and 4 in the Classroom

Same as Monday afternoon. Practice tests covering each section of the manual. The purpose of week one is just to get you through the CDL Permit so you can get out in the field. Very BORING! That being said, if I had not studied though this site, I would be in great shape to get my permit regardless. The training is solid.

November 7, 2014

Day 5 @ Alliance

I passed all three (3) permit tests and now have it in my hot little hand!!!

Recap: There are things I didn’t mention above. A week before I started school, a sponsor class (from C.R. England out of the Atlanta Terminal) started with 14 students. By my day 1 they were down to 11. On my day 2, one of the road trucks broke down creating panic among the C.R. England group. Apparently their class is supposed to be 3 weeks (unpaid) but, if they don’t get enough hours behind the wheel….they stay until they do. Me and my three other classmates have shared some concern that our training in the field will suffer as this larger class gets backed up. Also, this coming Monday (my day 6) 14 more C.R. England students are arriving. This is going to make our relatively small training center feel even smaller. I’ll post again when I actually get within spitting distance of a real truck!

Hello all. I spent a fairly long time trying to determine what my best options for training would be (i.e company sponsored training vs. private schools) and decided on a private school here in Fletcher, NC. I’ll be keeping this diary throughout my four (4) weeks (or 20-10 hour days) of schooling. I plan to be fair but honest for anyone considering attending the Fletcher/Arden, NC branch of Alliance Tractor Trailer Training School.

October 22, 2014

Interview with Recruiter and GM:

I spent a few hours with Mr. James (my recruiter) and Mr. O’Neil the schools GM to discuss everything from expenses and curriculum to first employment and the schools lifetime placement program. At just under $5,000, it’s neither the cheapest nor the most expensive school I came across in my research. I was pleased by the experience levels of the instructors (two of which had more than 35 years behind the wheel). I was not impressed by the facilities themselves. The building the offices and classroom are housed in is old, unadorned, and shabby. One of the biggest values seems to be the contacts that the GM and recruiters have with trucking companies. If you have criminal problems or driving violations in your background, Mr. O’Neil almost always has a company willing to work with you. For me this was unnecessary being that my background on both those fronts is clean.

I left and took a few days to consider my options. I eventually returned to the school and wrote them a check. I was enrolled in the November 3rd, 2014 class with a tentative graduation date on November 28th, 2014. All new students are given a pack of ten lesson books and an answer sheet. There are roughly 100 questions in total and you must achieve an 80% to pass. The thought is that if you can’t pass these ten tests with the open books. You will never make it through the permit process. I passed.

Thanks to all three of you. After some deep soul searching, research, listening to the words coming out of the recruiters mouths I have decided to dip into my financial safety net and pay for CDL School myself. I feel that the investment in myself is worthwhile and that by putting up the cash I'm psychologically making a commitment to myself. I will be starting school on November 3rd in Fletcher, NC.

I might even do a CDL Training Diary. Thanks again for the advice, now un-needed, is still much appreciated.

Greetings TT,

I have been dreaming about giving up my career of the last 18 years for the open road for quite some time. I recently found this site and the combination of the forums and the wonderful blogs has me decided. I submitted applications to two separate Company Sponsored CDL Training Programs (Knight and Prime). My question is in regards to the recruiters. Called and spoke with two separate recruiters which each directed me to an online application. This wasn't unexpected. They both directed me to include their names on the applications. This was also not surprising. I have since called each once and left messages without reply.

On to my actual questions: What control does the recruiter have on program acceptance? I am the type of person that will doggedly pursue what I want but, I'm concerned about pestering the recruiters. I want to ensure that they have all the info they need. I want to know what concerns there might be. Most importantly I want a return call. Is it proper as my best ( and only advocate) to keep calling? If so, how long until you go through the main number and speak with a new recruiter? Is such a thing allowed in the event you can't speak with your original recruiter?

Any thoughts from those that have tread the path before would be appreciated.

To the Moderator's and Brett: This is a fantastic site and community. Not just by "industry" standards but by any educational and informative standards. Well done all.