The Sad Realization Of My CDL School

Did you talk to any of the active class members before attending that school?

No. I hadn't thought to do it. It was close to me and had a weekend program, so that worked for me. I had absolutely no idea how the school was actually run though. It's funny. I'm really good at making sure I'm making the right step. I've been looking at Prime as my go-to company for quite some time. I'm ashamed I didn't spend an equal amount of time researching the local school.

It would seem like such a terrible school would be getting sued and getting refunds for students. You should have a reasonable expectation of getting your CDL at the end of the program, if not then you should get a refund. Is there anyone you can talk to about it like the president or something?

Phil

. I'm going to talk to the manager at the school in my branch when I get to class on Saturday and let them know that I'm dissatisfied with how things are going. If I do not get some sort of remedy, then I will take it farther up the food chain.

Is this a State approved school,, IE ,, their Lesson Plans and corriculum meet state standards ? Do you get a 160 Hour certificate after passing ? How many week ends did they say you would need to finish their course ?

Yes it is. Certified by the DMV , and their established cirriculum has to be approved by them before they are allowed to use any materials or course structure. Of course, that doesn't mean they have to stick to it, I guess. I know the full time students that go all day M - F get classroom time, are leaning about logs and trip planning and safety, etc. We get nothing of that sort. My course is 8 weeks, all day Sat & Sun. I should be finished with regular classes on 2/14. I don't know that they have a certificate per se, but I'll check.

Do they have an office where you do self directed computer lessons, I know you already have your writtens passed, but a lot of the 160 hours includes classroom time. They should have a computer course explaining the pretrip inspection plus you should have a printed out pretrip inspection list to learn so you can understand all it's parts your inspecting order and location from memory. It's not easy, I'm a mechanic and I still was going over the list in my head as I went to sleep and as I was waking up.

They do not use computers for students. We're given the state DMV CDL training manual, a sample log book, student handbook, pretrip checklist with specific wording that the DMV testers will be looking for, and the FMSC Motor Carrier Safety Regulations book. I have yet to open that book, but my pretrip is basically memorized. When I'm bored standing around the yard doing nothing I wander over to their "truck graveyard" and poke around those engines to familiarize myself with the pretrip stuff.

I recommend you a) talk to the owner of the school regarding your concerns. b) don't miss a single class and let the instructors know you are serious. c) see if you can convert to a full time weekday class. Believe it or not, CDL school only teaches you barely enough to pass your pretrip, backing, and road tests. Despite only getting 2 shots a day at backing, you CAN actually learn enough to pass, bjt that away time during the week makes it difficult to reinforce your skills like you need to.

Yeah, I'm going to start talking to people on my next class on Saturday. My instructor knows how dedicated I am, and has said more than once that I am one of his best students, but it's a shame I am basically being set up for failure because of how the school handles everything. And while it was made clear that the purpose of the school was for obtaining a CDL license and nothing more, at the rate they are doing things they are not going to be able to deliver on that, considering that I'm getting about 20 minutes a day or something like that of truck time. I've never driven a manual transmission, so I have to learn that, and learn how to drive a big truck, pull a trailer, and do all the backing and parking maneuvers, as well as the road skills test. If I only have 8 more days of class, and I'm averaging about 20 minutes in the truck total for each day, that's a total of 160 minutes in the truck for the next month. That's just under 3 hours. Total. I cannot master everything I need to know in only 3 hours.

Also, sorry for the late replies. I was in the chair for 7 hours yesterday and not online.

I would definitely discuss this with the director of your school. $6000 for failing in the end (and not because of your lack of commitment) is not ok. At my school, we average 3-4 guys for each truck. We have 2 trucks that can go on the roads, with 2 instructors just for road time. They go out for about half hour with each student before they come back and take another student out. The rest of us work on 3-4 different trucks (standard and automatic) working on different aspects (pre-trip, air brakes, maneuvers, etc) and we have one instructor for each truck. While you stand watching another student practice their maneuvers, you use that time to observe. The instructors are TOP NOTCH, have patience, and will repeat as often as they have to. Their motto is "Don't give up on us, and we won't give up on you". They want you to pass that CDL exam. And they bust their arses for that to happen. For $5000, you shouldn't expect any less!

Oh definitely. In theory, this is how it's supposed to work for us as well, but it just isn't. I've sent an email to the office manager that I want to talk to them about the schooling. At this point, I'm not getting my $5000 worth. There's only so much independent study I can do, and that definitely does not include trying to learn how to drive and maneuver the truck. If that were possible, I wouldn't have gone to them.

That's an easy $6K the school just made for pretending they train professionals. I would try to get at least a partial refund. Failing that there is always Small Claims Court. Just the cost of them to send a lawyer there will make them want to settle. Good Luck where ever you end up.

I'm not usually the immediately-litigious sort, but if I do not make some headway on the matter I'll investigate all my available options.

$6K is a lot to spend for a school - that doesn't give you much actual SCHOOLING.

I understand that you're trying to hold down a full-time M-F job (most likely) and doing this on weekends.

I don't see how (aside from possibly ending up getting your CDL) that the type of curriculum you're getting on weekends is going to net you a certificate that's going to be acceptable at most trucking companies.

I would check with the companies you might be interested in, to ensure they will accept this school.

FMCSA is bumping up training requirements, as there are many "sub-standard programs", that are setting drivers loose on the road.

I attended a country vo-tech full time a number of years ago (8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 9 weeks) for $1,900. This included 1,000 miles of ACTUAL ROAD TIME, on top of classroom and yard time (320 hour course certificate).

Even with a CDL from this school, you may find yourself as a trainee at a company like prime/swift/etc., as it doesn't actually sound like they're preparing you for anything more than "just squeaking through" a CDL exam.

Doesn't sound like you are getting ANYWHERE NEAR your $$'s worth at this place.

Rick