Signing Up For Trucking School W/a Few Surprises

I have been researching the heck outta this trucking thing when I decided to go this route. Still I had unexpected surprises when I signed up for trucking school.

I have to take my DOT physical as the first step? Ok paid my $60 & aced it today. I am a proud DOT Medical Examiner's Certificate card carrier!!! Step 1 complete

I have to take my CDL written exam before I even leave for trucking school? Took me awhile to accept that one. I didn't study this hard in school lol

The trucking companies are doing team trucking when you are a newbie? Either for the first 6 months or the last. Really? Ok

Did I miss these important points in my extensive research? In the midst of my ongoing CDL panic attack, I guess it will be 2 less things to worry about. If I pass & I make it to trucking school lol

Yoh don't have to pick a company that has required long term team driving.

Your school may require the exams first but mine didn't. In fact I was the odd one of for going there with it done already.

Yoh don't have to pick a company that has required long term team driving.

Your school may require the exams first but mine didn't. In fact I was the odd one of for going there with it done already.

I'm doing the same research. I've found some company sponsored pay the school less then require we pay for physical, drug test, and bring permit. Redlands in Oklahoma fee for private is 5200 and Swift pays 3900. Then you pay Swift 150 a month for 13 months. Of course if you then stay with Swift another 13 months they will give you the 150 a month back. I'm wanting a part time driving job. No company Will pay for that. I have found a school that cost 3400 and I have to fiind living and food plus physical, drug, and permit. I qualify to get 1800 paid. My cost would then be 1600 plus food, room, physical, permit, and drug test. The recruiter says she has a job for me that I work 4 then off 3 and the company will pay 100 a month for tuition.

Here is how it works, at least in Montana.

1. You have to have your DOT physical first. Why let you take the tests for the learners permit if you are physically disqualified from driving anyhow?

2. You need your permit so that you can drive on the road during school. Not that hard to do because the school is there to actually teach you to pass the driving portion of the test, not the written. If someone is not adult enough to study and pass the written test on their own, they do not need to be in a truck.

3. The team driving is not all actually team driving. When you get out of school, you still do not know how to drive a truck. Fundamentally you know how to move it and that is about it. It takes practice. Some times you do not even get your full CDL until after the first phase of training. At least that is what I gather from the Prime training. This means that you will be driving on your permit with a licensed CDL holder in the passenger seat. Then you drive as a team for a specified # of miles before testing and going solo.

#3 is answered from what I have pieced together about training at Prime. I could be wrong about this.

I'm wanting a part time driving job. No company Will pay for that.

Roehl has several part time programs, including 7/7, 14/7, 7/4, and 7/3. That's days driving/days off. They are a very good starter company. My #2 choice. You do need to check with their recruiter as not all programs are available in all locations.

I have been researching the heck outta this trucking thing when I decided to go this route. Still I had unexpected surprises when I signed up for trucking school.

I have to take my DOT physical as the first step? Ok paid my $60 & aced it today. I am a proud DOT Medical Examiner's Certificate card carrier!!! Step 1 complete

I have to take my CDL written exam before I even leave for trucking school? Took me awhile to accept that one. I didn't study this hard in school lol

The trucking companies are doing team trucking when you are a newbie? Either for the first 6 months or the last. Really? Ok

Did I miss these important points in my extensive research? In the midst of my ongoing CDL panic attack, I guess it will be 2 less things to worry about. If I pass & I make it to trucking school lol

As mentioned Step #1 is physical, why go further if you can't pass that.

Step #2 is written test. Not all programs require this in advance, but it is highly recommended. The High Road Training Program on this site is beyond excellent. I suggest getting started right away. I was able to study for 6 months before I tested. Made it so much easier.

Not all companies require team training. In fact, this was a deal breaker for me. Some companies do, I won't. I want my trainer to be training me. I want to learn from them. To me there is little point in the trainer sleeping while I drive, or for me to be sleeping while they drive. Other's feel differently. That is one of the beauties of trucking, there are so many options it is just a matter of finding where you fit the best.

3. The team driving is not all actually team driving. When you get out of school, you still do not know how to drive a truck. Fundamentally you know how to move it and that is about it. It takes practice. Some times you do not even get your full CDL until after the first phase of training. At least that is what I gather from the Prime training. This means that you will be driving on your permit with a licensed CDL holder in the passenger seat. Then you drive as a team for a specified # of miles before testing and going solo.

#3 is answered from what I have pieced together about training at Prime. I could be wrong about this.

The way Prime does it, you are partly correct. The first part of the training it is required that a licensed person sits in the jump seat while you drive when you have your permit (same as when you got your license to drive your car).

Once you pass the driving test & get your CDL, they do require you to drive 30,000 miles as a team with a trainer. I don't know how other trainers at Prime do it, but when I was training I would take the first week or so (depending on the individual) and they would do all the driving while I was just along for the ride and drive just enough to keep us on schedule (they call this Super Solo). I would spend part of my time in the jump seat, some time in the sleeper with the curtain open (watching/sleeping/reading a book/etc) so that the trainee would get used to not having someone in the jump seat watching their every move.

Now some folks think that is wrong, but you have to be confident in your own abilities if you are going to survive out here on the road. Once I was confident you could follow directions/read signs/pay attention to traffic etc I would then upgrade my truck to full team status. Now during the rest of the team driving miles I would still pop up in the front while you were driving just to see what was going on and to teach about all the different things you as a driver need to know (trip planning, reading maps, dealing with QualComm/customers, etc).

I also would setup 12 hour shifts and require you to drive a minimum of 10 of those 12 hours (depending on if it was just straight driving or were we at shipper/receiver getting loaded/unloaded). What you did with the other 2 hours was up to you (there is always the on duty time for fueling/pretrip/post trip) meals, showers, etc.

So that way when you finally finished your required mileage and was allowed to upgrade, you would be ready to do the job.

Now the last 2 or 3 weeks you were on my truck, you were the one doing all the trip planning, scheduling etc. The only time I would change something is if I saw/knew a better way to do something. If that happened, I would explain why I was changing it. In my opinion, that is about as good as it gets for hands on training.

Ernie

3. The team driving is not all actually team driving. When you get out of school, you still do not know how to drive a truck. Fundamentally you know how to move it and that is about it. It takes practice. Some times you do not even get your full CDL until after the first phase of training. At least that is what I gather from the Prime training. This means that you will be driving on your permit with a licensed CDL holder in the passenger seat. Then you drive as a team for a specified # of miles before testing and going solo.

#3 is answered from what I have pieced together about training at Prime. I could be wrong about this.

The way Prime does it, you are partly correct. The first part of the training it is required that a licensed person sits in the jump seat while you drive when you have your permit (same as when you got your license to drive your car).

Once you pass the driving test & get your CDL, they do require you to drive 30,000 miles as a team with a trainer. I don't know how other trainers at Prime do it, but when I was training I would take the first week or so (depending on the individual) and they would do all the driving while I was just along for the ride and drive just enough to keep us on schedule (they call this Super Solo). I would spend part of my time in the jump seat, some time in the sleeper with the curtain open (watching/sleeping/reading a book/etc) so that the trainee would get used to not having someone in the jump seat watching their every move.

Now some folks think that is wrong, but you have to be confident in your own abilities if you are going to survive out here on the road. Once I was confident you could follow directions/read signs/pay attention to traffic etc I would then upgrade my truck to full team status. Now during the rest of the team driving miles I would still pop up in the front while you were driving just to see what was going on and to teach about all the different things you as a driver need to know (trip planning, reading maps, dealing with QualComm/customers, etc).

I also would setup 12 hour shifts and require you to drive a minimum of 10 of those 12 hours (depending on if it was just straight driving or were we at shipper/receiver getting loaded/unloaded). What you did with the other 2 hours was up to you (there is always the on duty time for fueling/pretrip/post trip) meals, showers, etc.

So that way when you finally finished your required mileage and was allowed to upgrade, you would be ready to do the job.

Now the last 2 or 3 weeks you were on my truck, you were the one doing all the trip planning, scheduling etc. The only time I would change something is if I saw/knew a better way to do something. If that happened, I would explain why I was changing it. In my opinion, that is about as good as it gets for hands on training.

Ernie

That does sound like a very good system. It amazes me how much impact one person can have on your career. I wonder how much bad trainers contribute to the phenomenally high first year turn over rate? I know that thanks in part to TT I have a "big picture" attitude and I will endeavor to learn all that I can in my time with a trainer, regardless of their skill level. I have been a mentor and mentee on several occasions, but generally after careful consideration on both sides. In trucking there seems to be a high degree of randomness involved in such a crucial portion of your training. That's why I came down so hard against team training. Not that the system is inherently flawed, just that there seems to be a higher possibility of getting into an undesirable position. One of my primary considerations with choosing companies was the quality of their training program. I'd rather get less money per mile in exchange for more confidence and knowledge in my rookie year. My research lead my to choose Knight partly to decrease the randomness of the trainer portion of my education. I am confident in the odds of me getting a good trainer.