3 Tips For Newbies Choosing A School To Learn This Profession (Part One)

I am new to trucking, but well versed in life.

I learned quite a bit by scanning all the online forums prior to starting trucking school.

Please allow me to share my findings if you are going to get started in trucking.

These tips are designed for the folks who have a little set-aside, and can spend $150 - $200 bucks BEFORE you start a school or apply for a firm to PAY your way.

Tip # 1

Get your DOT physical well before school starts, to ensure you can pass a firm's DOT physical once you get to, or out of, school.

I had read all over these forums about students who got yanked out of school in the first week or second week due to failing physicals (which if you are having a firm pay your school, you WILL take a comprehensive physical the 1st day of class, prior to any class work starting).

I saw students in my class get pulled out, with one having flown in from 4 states away, only to be sent home, on his own dime.

I had not had a physical for over 15 years (typical dude, right), so I wanted to ENSURE I was going to pass, or at least know what issues I had regarding the physical, well in advance.

Mine cost me 60 bucks, and I got a 2 year DOT card AND a long form, within about an hour and a half.

You can find a doctor from the FMCSA National Registry

I did this FIRST, to ensure I had no issues once I got started.

I KNOW I have to get another company physical once school is over and I start with a company, but I have time to work on anything that may have been a problem in the physical. (I did weigh a bit too much for my taste, so I’ve already lost 14 pounds in 4 weeks just by making some minor adjustments to my lifestyle.)

Tip # 2

Take your DMV tests, and get your CDL Class A Permit BEFORE you start school.

Again, I have some cash reserves, so I spent 4 days studying online free CDL tests, and I passed my DMV CDL Class A General Knowledge tests, and all but one of my endorsement tests, in one pass.

I studied one more night on the one I missed, and passed the next day.

Even the DMV guy was a bit amazed I passed all 7 Class A CDL tests in pretty much one sitting.

Actually, I passed the first 6 tests in less than 40 minutes after studying those 4 days.

I don’t say that to brag, I say that show you that if you study the questions listed on these sites, memorize them, and drill, relentlessly for a few days or a week, you will also pass them.

Testing Tip: When you are actually taking the tests at DMV , and you get to a question you don’t remember the answer to, simply skip it and move on. Don’t guess. Chances are you will get the required # right to have the test shut off and pass you before you have to go back and choose the answer.

Now, for full disclosure, let me say that rote memory doesn’t necessarily mean you Comprehend the information, but that’s what school will help with later.

Just pass the DMV written test, get your CDL Class A permit, with whatever endorsements you can, and keep moving forward.

In my school, some folks were still lost after the first 4 days, and they had a tough time with the test on day 5, including some even failing it.

Once I passed the test, I began interviewing schools, and companies.

Keep in mind, when I called these schools and companies or visited in person, I let them know I already had my 2 year DOT card and long form, and my CDL Class A Permit.

These facts changed the dialogue very quickly, in my favor.

I was going to pay my own way through trucking school, so I reached out to specific firms who do the driving I have chosen to do after reading all the trucker forums online, as well as reaching out to some experienced posters on sites like this one, and getting guidance and tips.

I called the companies directly, and the recruiters, and settled on 3 firms to pursue, before I even began school.

Tip # 3

Get your hiring background done in ADVANCE as well.

I check my credit scores once a year on all 3 credit bureaus, and after reading these forums, I also knew that folks get kicked out due to background issues.

Me, being me, I figured why not use the SAME firm to send me my background as most hiring firms use to check me out?

So I went to the site below, and ordered my FREE comprehensive background report, so I could see what they will see.

HireRight

The results will be mailed to you, and it took mine about 3 weeks to arrive from the day I requested them.

So, in summary, No ONE school will guarantee you a job, just the training to hopefully pass your CDL DMV written test, and the training to pass a DMV CDL road test.

During my phone calls to firms, I asked if the trucking school I attended ‘mattered’?

All of the firms I called told me they simply required 160 hours of certified training, and manual transmission certification as well, although almost all of them have automatic trucks for their drivers.

The obvious other requirements are the physical, the background and the drug tests.

So, If you are not scared of picking up the phone and calling companies, you should understand by reading this that if you pass your CDL written and driving tests, pass a physical, DMV and personal background test, you are IN DEMAND, and will find employment.

Firms NEED drivers.

Understand the pay won’t be stellar the first year while you are getting your experience.

If you think this will be a 70-90k job driving year 1, for the 70 hours you may run a week, you will drop out quickly, is my thought.

I listened to more than one student in my class ask the instructor about making 90-100k a year, and since the students asking this were actually being sponsored by a firm contracted by his school, he really had to dance around the subject, and not really answer.

He should have been on the verbal edition of 'Dancing With The Stars.'

He was flawless.

These students will have to pay back the school costs out of weekly paychecks, they will probably work for less per mile than others who didn’t get a company sponsored ride through school, and they have signed a CONTRACT to ensure they pay back the investment the firm made in them.

But I’ve reverse engineered the average pay for new trucking-school hires, so allow me to share my thoughts.

Let’s assume you average 70 hours DRIVING a week, and you make 3000-3500 hundred per month, before taxes.

Let’s not EVEN consider miles driven yet, let’s just do that math, right there.

Calculation # 1

$3000 per month (before taxes)

280 hours a month driving (70 hours times a 4 week driving schedule)

$3000 / 280 = $10.71 an hour

Calculation # 2

$3500 per month (before taxes)

280 hours a month driving (70 hours times a 4 week driving schedule)

$3500 / 280 = $12.50 an hour

Here’s the beautiful thing, though.

You CAN make bank once you get a year or more driving experience and get your cents per mile up or get specialized loads

Finally, I know for a fact, if you are unemployed, most state unemployment offices WILL give you guidance in order to get your schooling PAID FOR much cheaper than you can imagine.

We had a student in my class who went this route, and his cost was paid by the state, all except for $700 bucks, so he will be able to pick a company once he graduates as well, rather than being tied to a firm contractually for them paying for school.

Here’s what’s so cool about this dude, though.

Even though the state paid almost all his school ride, he came to class with his Class A CDL permit in hand, and his medical card, just like me.

He came to play.

And to win.

Good luck with your new career ladies and gentlemen.

Life pays what you ask.

Ask.

And Play Hard.

None of get out of here alive.

Not a bad rundown overall. Had to get rid of a few condescending remarks and few links that weren't needed but overall pretty good.

I am curious about a couple of things, though. You mentioned you did all kinds of research beforehand. And yet you didn't use our highly sophisticated High Road Training Program to prepare for your exams. Instead you used a common but primitive and ineffective method of memorizing free practice questions to prepare for your exams, one of which you failed the first time. Then you even said:

Now, for full disclosure, let me say that rote memory doesn’t necessarily mean you Comprehend the information, but that’s what school will help with later.

A couple of issues with this.

First of all, you knew that wasn't an effective way to learn the materials and you did it anyhow. So now you've spent several days studying but you really don't know the materials. Not only have you forgotten many of the practice questions you memorized, but you also failed one of the exams in the process. So in the end, the studying was pretty much a waste of time and having to go back to retake a test made it even worse.

But it gets better.

Now your theory is that the school will now help you learn the materials. Well I have news for you - that portion of the training is done. Whatever knowledge base you have right now is pretty much what you're going to graduate with because most of the rest of the schooling will be spent learning to drive the truck.

So overall not bad advice but if you had really done your homework you would have known to use the High Road Training Program to learn the materials the right way the first time and you certainly wouldn't have failed any tests.

Now our training program also has a section for Learning The Logbook Rules and one for Truck Weight And Balance which covers things like the Bridge Law, fuel burnoff, proper cargo loading, and calculating how to shift the weight on your truck to get the axle weights legal.

Because keep something in mind. If you're quilting blankets or baking a cake and you don't know something you simply Google it. If you're driving an 80,000 pound rig and you don't know something, someone dies. So don't settle for memorizing a few practice questions and thinking you'll figure out the rest as you go. You want to make sure you're armed with the knowledge you'll need out there and the best way to do that is with our High Road. It's hands down the most sophisticated and effective CDL training program anywhere.

Calculation # 1

$3000 per month (before taxes)

280 hours a month driving (70 hours times a 4 week driving schedule)

$3000 / 280 = $10.71 an hour

Calculation # 2

$3500 per month (before taxes)

280 hours a month driving (70 hours times a 4 week driving schedule)

$3500 / 280 = $12.50 an hour

You're also going to find that trying to convert mileage pay to hourly pay is an exercise in madness. There will be hours that are logged as on duty hours but you'll actually be lying in the sleeper taking a nap. Then you'll have tasks you'll be performing that are still part of the job, but aren't being logged as on duty.

Not only that, but trucking is an actual lifestyle. It goes way beyond evaluating an hourly wage for performing job duties. You have to factor in the advantages and disadvantages of living the travelling lifestyle. It's the lifestyle that makes this job Heaven or Hell for almost everyone so that should be factored in heavily. And yet you can't because it's completely subjective.

The best way to evaluate the salary you're making is to get out there and do the job for a while and ask yourself if the work that goes into it is worth the money you're getting for it. Don't try to break it down hourly. Look at it weekly, monthly, and yearly. Look at what is being asked of you and decide whether it's worth it or not. For some people trucking is such an awesome lifestyle that they'd almost do it for free. I'm one of those people. For others it's so brutal they wouldn't do it for $100,000 a year and there's a lot more of those types than there are my type.

Because keep something in mind. If you're quilting blankets or baking a cake and you don't know something you simply Google it. If you're driving an 80,000 pound rig and you don't know something, someone dies. So don't settle for memorizing a few practice questions and thinking you'll figure out the rest as you go. You want to make sure you're armed with the knowledge you'll need out there and the best way to do that is with our High Road. It's hands down the most sophisticated and effective CDL training program anywhere.

I think that is one of the best statements, right there. I will be diving back into the high road ina month or so, once I get everything situated to go to school. My time frame has jumped from weeks to months, but that is OK, because I will be better prepared.

I REALLY hate when people try to figure out the hourly rate of pay and even more so when they say 70 hours a week driving... not gonna happen. you'll be "on the clock" technically but except for special circumstances won't actually be doing anything when you have to wait for your trailer to be loaded or unloaded. I don't have the personal experience yet to say for how long but from youtube, forums, etc it can be a few hours. Now if you keep yourself on duty during that time (like you're supposed to, but not everyone does) that will count towards your 70 hour limit.

Personally I feel like trucking pay should be figured in the salary sense not hourly... it'll drive you up the walls when you figure hourly, but if you just think a nice simple yearly salary that gets paid out in weekly amounts it's much easier.

Phox wrote:

I REALLY hate when people try to figure out the hourly rate of pay and even more so when they say 70 hours a week driving... not gonna happen. you'll be "on the clock" technically but except for special circumstances won't actually be doing anything when you have to wait for your trailer to be loaded or unloaded. I don't have the personal experience yet to say for how long but from youtube, forums, etc it can be a few hours. Now if you keep yourself on duty during that time (like you're supposed to, but not everyone does) that will count towards your 70 hour limit.

Phox, I know you mean well when you make statements like this but I want to provide you with several real world situations that have recently occurred to me that hopefully will make you question and rethink the rigidity of the above statement.

1- I arrived at my DC yesterday morning at 0500 expecting to be dispatched almost immediately. Now remember the Walmart DC I am assigned to is also where I am domiciled and although I used to run full sleeper, I now slip seat in an LW sleeper and usually return to the DC same day. I walked into the office, got my morning cup of "giddy-up", chatted with the planner and DMs, and was informed that my load would not be ready for about 2.5 hours. I asked if there was anything else, and we collectively determined the best thing to do would be wait. Do you think I was on-duty for the next 2.5 hours? No, off-duty. I can't even log-in to my Qualcom until I've been assigned a tractor and dispatched when the load docks out (meaning ready). Even if I could put myself on-duty, I wouldn't because I'd be wasting hours and ignoring the policies of the terminal. I was waiting for my load, off-duty sitting in the cafeteria, watching TV until I was called.

2- A couple of weeks ago, I arrived at my third store stop and immediately realized the dock was full. I parked off to the side facing the dock (if you go into my photos there is a photo of this occasion). I rang the bell on the dock access door and the Supervisor (who I know) said the milk delivery would be completed in about 30-40 minutes. So I agreed to wait. On that particular day I was doubled-up, meaning planned on two runs that required me to complete same day. My original plan was to complete the delivery at the third stop and hightail it north getting as close as possible to the DC before taking my 30 minute break. Instead I started my 30 minute break at the Walmart dock, logged myself off-duty (at the receiver/customer). I was waiting to be unloaded, but off-duty on my 30 minute break. Had I left myself on-duty and taken my 30 minute break 90 minutes later, I would have wasted valuable hours that I needed to complete the second run I was planned on. If I was unable to take the second run it would have cost me about $125.00. For the record I typically take my 30 minute break at one of my store stops.

3- There are times that I will run out of hours at my last store stop of the day and be required to shut-down (empty) for my 10 hour break. Fortunately I can break at most Walmart's since I am using their trailers. In this case my next days PTA was set for 0600 (10 hours later). I always put myself in the sleeper when I break for 10, same that night. In the morning when my hours had been refreshed, I then put myself off-duty. I was pre-planned on a load that day scheduled to dock-out at 0930. I was only an hour away so I stayed off-duty until 0730 at which time I put myself on-duty and began my pre-trip. After coming off my 10 hour break, I remained off-duty until had just enough hours to perform the pre-trip and make it back to the DC about the same time the load would be ready. But I was waiting for my load, under dispatch from the previous day's run, off-duty.

4- I arrived at a vendor called Ready-Pak with about 3 hours remaining on my 14 (same for drive time). My load was supposed to be ready by 20:00, dispatched no later than 00:30 , I arrived at about 20:30. The shipping clerk informed me they had taken a hit from an electrical storm and my load would likely not be ready until 0500 the next morning. Since I knew this particular shipper had ample parking I asked if I could break on their premises for my 10 hour break. They agreed, and I found a spot to shut down for the night. When my break was completed I could grab the load and go. As I waited for the load I put myself in the sleeper and completed my much needed 10 hour break. I did not keep myself on-duty even though I was waiting for a load at the shipper.

I have numerous other examples of this kind of real-world clock management. I am not suggesting to do anything illegal or against your better judgment. There is nothing illegal about what is presented above, but in every case I was waiting for my load at either a shipper or receiver, off-duty or logged as sleeper.

Very good example of time management. Thank you.

I don't want to get into this debate over legality of it or, hence why I said it's "what you're supposed to do but not everyone does".

how you or anyone else manages their time is their business, all I know right now is what it says in the safety regulations book, it may not be what drivers actually do though. Truth be told there's probably a lot of things in that book that drivers are supposed to do but don't.