Trucking School Process (Will Update Daily/weekly)

Topic 11119 | Page 1

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Joshua F.'s Comment
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A "bea-gorgeous" (Beautiful and gorgeous combined) morning to everyone. I have not posted in a long time. I will be starting a thread that hopefully some folks find useful when wondering about a Private truck driving school. The first two weeks will be about preparing for your cdl permit. I personally start my classes on Monday 11/2/15 for the 160 hour tractor trailer program. (I am also driving 177.4 mi round trip every day to make this possible - just saying)

So with that in mind I will be back in a couple of days. Stay safe as Mother Nature changes seasons on us drivers (both four wheelers and cmv's).thank-you-2.gifthank-you-2.gifthank-you-2.gifthank-you-2.gifthank-you-2.gif

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.

CMV:

Commercial Motor Vehicle

A CMV is a vehicle that is used as part of a business, is involved in interstate commerce, and may fit any of these descriptions:

  • Weighs 10,001 pounds or more
  • Has a gross vehicle weight rating or gross combination weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more
  • Is designed or used to transport 16 or more passengers (including the driver) not for compensation
  • Is designed or used to transport 9 or more passengers (including the driver) for compensation
  • Is transporting hazardous materials in a quantity requiring placards
Anchorman's Comment
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Where are you going to school?

Is it a private school or a technical college?

How much did you pay out of pocket?

If it is a technical college, were there any grants available to help lower the cost?

Joshua F.'s Comment
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Where are you going to school?

Is it a private school or a technical college?

How much did you pay out of pocket?

If it is a technical college, were there any grants available to help lower the cost?

I will be attending Interstate Truck Driving School in South Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is a private school.

Took me 2 years to save up this amount -- $4,995 (for 160 hour manual transmission course)

The Automatic trans course (still 160 hours) was $3,995

The other school I had in mind - Heavy Metal Truck Driving, did offer grants but they dragged their heels and I was not happy with the way the recruiter rushed me into decision making. {they are based in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota - just 8 miles from the school I'm attending}

Interstate:

Commercial trade, business, movement of goods or money, or transportation from one state to another, regulated by the Federal Department Of Transportation (DOT).

Joshua F.'s Comment
member avatar

double-quotes-start.png

Where are you going to school?

Is it a private school or a technical college?

How much did you pay out of pocket?

If it is a technical college, were there any grants available to help lower the cost?

double-quotes-end.png

I will be attending Interstate Truck Driving School in South Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is a private school.

Took me 2 years to save up this amount -- $4,995 (for 160 hour manual transmission course)

The Automatic trans course (still 160 hours) was $3,995

The other school I had in mind - Heavy Metal Truck Driving, did offer grants but they dragged their heels and I was not happy with the way the recruiter rushed me into decision making. {they are based in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota - just 8 miles from the school I'm attending}

Real quick, is there an easier way to reply to posts on here or add to my thread per my updates?

Interstate:

Commercial trade, business, movement of goods or money, or transportation from one state to another, regulated by the Federal Department Of Transportation (DOT).

Errol V.'s Comment
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Real quick, is there an easier way to reply to posts on here or add to my thread per my updates?

Click the red button "Add To Favorites below. Then when you need to update, from the forum top list, select the drop-down "View Options" to select "My Favorite Topics". There it be!

The quickest regular reply is "Start New Reply"

If you want to answer a particular comment, select it, copy, Start New Reply, Select Quote along the top of the reply box. The cursor will already be in the right place between the blockquote tags to paste.

Joshua F.'s Comment
member avatar

Ignore that last post. I found the section.

So anyway folks I have read the student manual and the first two sections of the cdl manual as requested by the Admissions director. He wants me to be able to "hit the ground running" on Monday. I have moved onto the cdl manual they (Interstate Truck driving School) provided me - which has definitely been simplified but still legit! I have already had my permit once but I let it expire. So this time around I will be redoing it and it's a little easier; as I know which sections to focus on this time around.

Here are the sections they suggest I stick to: Introduction (where they do pull a good amount of questions from) {section 1} Driving Safely ( a section to definitely pay attention to) {section 2} Transporting Cargo Safely (although every section is extremely important, this one can be an eye opener for some) {section 3} Air Brakes {section 5} ( I will be focusing on this one as it was a challenging one for me the first time)

To explain the above mentioned; I got a 72% on that section the first time i took the test and the second time around - just before passing the whole thing I achieved 80%. (At the DVS location near me) And to pass each part [air brake, general knowledge and combination vehicles] you must obtain 80%+. Combination Vehicles {section 6}

I have a separate book/folder for the pre-trip inspection and further details on Air Brakes. (See next post - as I will attempt to post photos)

Pre-trip Inspection:

A pre-trip inspection is a thorough inspection of the truck completed before driving for the first time each day.

Federal and state laws require that drivers inspect their vehicles. Federal and state inspectors also may inspect your vehicles. If they judge a vehicle to be unsafe, they will put it “out of service” until it is repaired.

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.

Combination Vehicle:

A vehicle with two separate parts - the power unit (tractor) and the trailer. Tractor-trailers are considered combination vehicles.

Interstate:

Commercial trade, business, movement of goods or money, or transportation from one state to another, regulated by the Federal Department Of Transportation (DOT).

Dm:

Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager

The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.
Anchorman's Comment
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Did you check in to Century College or Dakota County Technical College?

What did they offer?

Anchorman's Comment
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Our High Road Training Program is a complete CDL test preparation course. It has everything you'll need to pass the CDL permit exam, the endorsement exams, and prepare for the start of CDL training:

Here is how our program breaks down:

To Get Your CDL Permit:

  • Rules & Regulations
  • Driving Safely
  • Transporting Cargo Safely
  • Air Brakes
  • Combination Vehicles
  • Pre-Trip Inspection
  • Driving Exam

To get your CDL endorsements which are optional but highly recommend:

  • Transporting Passengers
  • Doubles And Triples
  • Tankers
  • Hazardous Materials

Two sections we've built ourselves with info you'll need for everyday life on the road:

  • Logbook
  • Weight & Balance

Two sections for anyone considering flatbed:

  • Cargo Securement
  • New York State Coil Endorsement

Pre-trip Inspection:

A pre-trip inspection is a thorough inspection of the truck completed before driving for the first time each day.

Federal and state laws require that drivers inspect their vehicles. Federal and state inspectors also may inspect your vehicles. If they judge a vehicle to be unsafe, they will put it “out of service” until it is repaired.

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.

Logbook:

A written or electronic record of a driver's duty status which must be maintained at all times. The driver records the amount of time spent driving, on-duty not driving, in the sleeper berth, or off duty. The enforcement of the Hours Of Service Rules (HOS) are based upon the entries put in a driver's logbook.

Combination Vehicle:

A vehicle with two separate parts - the power unit (tractor) and the trailer. Tractor-trailers are considered combination vehicles.

Doubles:

Refers to pulling two trailers at the same time, otherwise known as "pups" or "pup trailers" because they're only about 28 feet long. However there are some states that allow doubles that are each 48 feet in length.

Joshua F.'s Comment
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Cancel on the photos

Joshua F.'s Comment
member avatar

Did you check in to Century College or Dakota County Technical College?

What did they offer?

No I did not check out either of these colleges. I went from Company Sponsored training (research) with a lot of turn down due to my background then started looking privately.

Company Sponsored Training:

A Company-Sponsored Training Program is a school that is owned and operated by a trucking company.

The schooling often requires little or no money up front. Instead of paying up-front tuition you will sign an agreement to work for the company for a specified amount of time after graduation, usually around a year, at a slightly lower rate of pay in order to pay for the training.

If you choose to quit working for the company before your year is up, they will normally require you to pay back a prorated amount of money for the schooling. The amount you pay back will be comparable to what you would have paid if you went to an independently owned school.

Company-sponsored training can be an excellent way to get your career underway if you can't afford the tuition up front for private schooling.

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