Comments By Michael C.

He went to Swift and will be heading out with a trainer this afternoon for his 200 hours of driving time. Out of the companies I have contacted so far they have offered the tuition reimbursement of around 3500, which sucks because the contract for Henderson's school is about 4600 without the 12.5% interest. So it kind of looks like I'm screwed unless Swift can offer me the same deal as he got, but I'm not sure I'll get the same as he is currently in the military for his homestate.

3500 is better than nothing

That is true, but I'm pretty sure they expect it all in 1 payment if your cancel the contract if I remember correctly.

He went to Swift and will be heading out with a trainer this afternoon for his 200 hours of driving time. Out of the companies I have contacted so far they have offered the tuition reimbursement of around 3500, which sucks because the contract for Henderson's school is about 4600 without the 12.5% interest. So it kind of looks like I'm screwed unless Swift can offer me the same deal as he got, but I'm not sure I'll get the same as he is currently in the military for his homestate.

Oh I will, got a response today but its basically the same as before, they're "working" on getting everybody a trainer.

Day 12, still waiting for an actual update to see if I leave anytime soon with a trainer. I'd hate to leave my first company so soon but almost 2 weeks waiting for a trainer is a bit excessive. Especially after we were told that they were lining up possible trainers the day you pass your permit test in week 1 of 4 at the school.

Any advice from the experienced drivers?

I understand your situation. Every company has a shortage of qualified trainers. I waited for a week, but that was primarily because I had requested a non-smoker. IMHO 2 weeks is asking a lot, especially if they had set a different expectation level. I am unfamiliar with Henderson's policy, but unfortunately if you were to leave it's likely that you would owe them a lot of money and they might withhold your training certificate until you have paid your debt, preventing you from tendering alternative employment.

You are in a tough spot. Try to be patient and insist on daily updates.

That's one of the kickers, I had told the head of the school that I'm a non smoker, but if need be, I will go with a smoking trainer because I knew it would be rare find of a trainer that doesn't. So when a guy that passed his CDL after me went out with a trainer before me it got me a little PO'd. One of the guys that I became pretty good friends with in the school has since left and went to another company, and is trying to get me to come over there to team drive like we were going to do for Henderson, they accepted his schooling through Henderson and actually paid off his debt to the school.

I'm trying to be patient but I should be in week 2 of OTR training instead of being at home waiting for a phone call. I think I'm going to give it another week, if I can, before I start contacting alternatives.

Day 13.

Day 12, still waiting for an actual update to see if I leave anytime soon with a trainer. I'd hate to leave my first company so soon but almost 2 weeks waiting for a trainer is a bit excessive. Especially after we were told that they were lining up possible trainers the day you pass your permit test in week 1 of 4 at the school.

Any advice from the experienced drivers?

Our with it, Michael. What company are you signing on to? We can give better help when we know the company involved.

Henderson Trucking out of Salem/Caseyville IL. Smaller but rapidly growing company, they just acquired Tennent trucking not to long ago, primarily a reefer company pulling a lot of Prime loads.

Hey everybody I have a question to ask. how long would you guys wait for a trainer before looking for alternative companies? I've had my CDL since the 19th and have been waiting ever since. From what I have been told there is a shortage of trainers in the company and last I heard the wait list was at 15 people. They said they go by first come first serve, whomever got their CDL first would go out with a trainer first. So far I know of at least 1 person who tested after me who has been out with a trainer since the day before thanksgiving.

Overall, I like the company but I find their lack of communication a bit annoying.I understand they are busy trying to find a trainer for everyone but I get the same "I'm working on it as hard as I can" response when I ask for an update. Just get a bit frustrated as they were bringing in 10-15 people every class each week, I figured they would be able to handle the load when us students passed.

I moved to Missouri for about 3 months. In that time I changed my license over to Missouri. No problem. Took 15 minutes. Now I come back to Illinois go to get it changed back. Now comes the ignorant bull****! Illinois state won't let you change over without retaking all written and skills tests plus the pretrip. I don't have access to a truck. Haven't driven for a while. It says very plainly in the book that they will wave the skill and pretrip if you are not adding another endorsement but they won't do that! So I checked out a local school. They will let you come in for a refresher course for one week to use their truck. For 1350$! So something that costs 20 bucks in every other state is going to be 1400$ or more by the time it's all done. Almost easier to move back over the river! What a pain in the ass!

That's Illinois for you, you can thank the politicians that sold CDL's in the past for making it harder for everyone now to transfer to Illinois.

Rod Blagoiovich (inmate #21348)

I meant to put past politicians, but even the current aren't much better, but i'll leave it at that.

I moved to Missouri for about 3 months. In that time I changed my license over to Missouri. No problem. Took 15 minutes. Now I come back to Illinois go to get it changed back. Now comes the ignorant bull****! Illinois state won't let you change over without retaking all written and skills tests plus the pretrip. I don't have access to a truck. Haven't driven for a while. It says very plainly in the book that they will wave the skill and pretrip if you are not adding another endorsement but they won't do that! So I checked out a local school. They will let you come in for a refresher course for one week to use their truck. For 1350$! So something that costs 20 bucks in every other state is going to be 1400$ or more by the time it's all done. Almost easier to move back over the river! What a pain in the ass!

That's Illinois for you, you can thank the politicians that sold CDL's in the past for making it harder for everyone now to transfer to Illinois.

I have driven trucks before, when I was military. I've dreamed of this job for years! But just do not have the $3000 start up money to go to the school! Any advice?

There are a lot of companies to choose from that have CDL schools. Most will pay for the transport to the school from where you live and pay you during the schooling. When I was looking into CDL schools I narrowed it down between a few companies (prime, roehl, Henderson Trucking). They are all relatively close to where I live so it made sense to do it that way.

That being said are you wanting to go the company CDL route or a private school? Private schools should have financial aid services if you want to go that route.