Comments By Joel D.

Guys I really do appreciate all the advice you are giving me. I am not trying to not listen, it’s just trying to convince my spouse that paid cdl company training is the way to go and there will be sacrifices that will have to be made.

Also pack rat my wife seems to be ok with it as long as it’s going to be 5-6 days out and a day or two home every week. I’m looking into flatbed as a driver.

That’s a fair question packrat. If it was solely up to me and I didn’t involve affecting my family and the people having to be there to help out while I’m away I would have chosen to go with a paid for cdl with a trucking company. Some were actually cheaper than the one I’m going to. But I’m just trying to compromise and keep the peace!

Fair point.

So after speaking with my wife again last night, she wants me to go with a private school. It’s closer to home and it will still get me my cdl. Not a guaranteed job, but still I get a cdl at the end of it. I think with my clean record and age, also my positive attitude, I think this will be a good first step to landing a job with a reputable trucking company. Fingers crossed!

for me personally community college is a lot closer to where I live and really my only plausible option.

Joel, how is it that you see it as your "only plausible option?"

There's nothing wrong with going through a community college. We just wouldn't consider it as one of your best options. Some of them have great programs. Some people think they are better because they take longer. They may cover more material, but the reality is that they do the same thing any other training course does - they help you obtain a CDL - you'll just spend more time getting to that point.

They can't prepare you for the realities of this career. They just help you get to the point of having the proper license for it. As far as your question...

will it still get me in the door at most flat bed companies?

Actually it isn't the type school that gets you in the door. It's a great mix of things that gets your foot in the door. Things like your location, a 160 hour training certificate, criminal background, work history, drug test results, driving records, behavior during orientation, and of course a current CDL and medical card.

Personally I think you have way more options than you realize. But if you think you've got to be near home or home each night while in school, then how do you plan on being gone while working for one of the flatbed companies you're interested in? One of the many great values of the Paid CDL Training Programs is knowing you have a job waiting once you've completed the course. You have no guarantee of a job once you've paid the community college, nor do you have any guarantee they can help you land a job.

So many people get into this thinking a CDL equals a job. We've seen it time and time again where people ignore our admonitions, thinking we have some hidden agenda. Our only agenda is to give you the truth - the best way to help you get started. We see the folks who are convinced they are smarter than us continually struggling at this. It's a shame too. Some of them put such needless stress on themselves.

If I were you, and I knew I wanted to do flatbed, I'd start talking with recruiters at TMC, Maverick, and Prime. Each of those companies have programs to provide you with the training for your CDL, and they can promise you a flatbed job upon your successful completion of the training. That's a no-brainer!

Does anybody know anything about tmc? Things like cost of schooling through their program and if I have to pay it back afterwards or not? They have an opening in Austin Texas rn, for paid cdl training. Has anyone worked for them on here? If so would love to know what you think about them.

Thank you g-town. I have already read both these articles but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to re-read them. I am almost 100% that this is what I want to do for a career. I have read a lot of the info on this website which has been extremely informative and has helped me influence my decision to make a go of this.

Joel, this might have been lost with the other replies...bottom of first page

This is true. To know for sure if I’m capable of doing this, is to do it.

Nothing we can share or suggest will adequately prepare you. Only you can measure what’s inside of you and that what motivates your desire to do this.

This is THE truth!

Nothing we can share or suggest will adequately prepare you. Only you can measure what’s inside of you and that what motivates your desire to do this. It’s like nothing you’ve ever done in your life and will challenge your patience and resolve.

Above all else you gotta want this, apply 100% focus and be willing to set aside life’s other issues as you learn...and the learning curve is supremely challenging up to the first full year of professional driving. No joke.

I am excited and nervous at the same time! One of the things that scares me alittle is the high turn over rate in trucking, but ima just have to bite the bullet and give it everything I have got so that doesn’t happen to me and I avoid being just another failed statistic.

Chris I’m glad that worked for you. That would be an option For me, but I’m already In quite a bit of debt(double figures almost) and have young kids so I’m hoping if my college fees cost around $4,500 then student aid might pick up maybe half that when they see that I can’t pick up the whole cost of tuition and then pay the other half ($2,250), myself. If I wasn’t already in debt I wouldn’t be even worried about this.