Offered A Position At A Local Beverage Distribution Company....

Hello all I studied and recently obtained my CDL-A Permit and was on my journey of getting my CDL. I spoke with one of my close friends who completed CDL school to get his CDL and says that it was pretty expensive. Well after researching some options I found that there is a way of me to get my CDL while working full-time for the company for free just sign a document stating I will stay for at least 1 year. Does this sound like a good idea or is it better to attend school?

Work full time for a company.

Even WITH a trucking school that you PAY FOR - you will still have to do 30K miles or so with most trucking companies as "training".

Trucking schools (private ones) get your CDL and not much more. Company schools will get you your CDL (and get paid while doing it) AND that all important ROAD TRAINING.

You DO KNOW - most "beverage routes" require you to unload - and in some cases setup product displays. See all those nice end-stand displays of cases of pepsi in the supermarket - 80-100 cases of soda all stacked nice and neat?

GUESS WHO DOES THAT?

YOU!

Rick

If you stayed at this beverage company forever, there would be no problem, HOWEVER, lacking a minimum of a 160 hour training certificate from an accredited school and no verifiable OTR experience, your CDL-A would be pretty useless to the majority of trucking companies.

Also, IM GUESSING, that any driving for this beverage company might be local? Thats a very tough gig for an inexperienced driver.

Why dont you consider Paid CDL Training Programs

You can get your CDL-A for free by committing to drive for them for about 1 year, getting that necessary training certificate, company training, AND the industry standard minimum 1 year OTR experience. A definite WIN-WIN.

Many people dont realize at first that CDL school only teaches the "bare minimum" you need to obtain your CDL. Then you go through extensive company training to learn how to safely and efficiently operate a Class A Combination Vehicle. Company training lasts anywhere typically from 30 to 120 days of one on one time with a trainer. Length of time depends on the company.

Other links to help you are:

• Truck Driver's Career Guide
• Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
• High Road Training Program

I do a lot of beer runs and I can tell you that beverage companies can be really really small tight and make you cross two lanes of traffic to back in. After a year they still make me nervous so I can't imagine doing them brand new.

How would you feel if you are blocking traffic for 30 min and horns are blowing with the customer yelling youbare wasting his time?

Get the company training.

As for Pepsi...that might depend on where you are. I live in NJ outside of Philadelphia. My hubby was a "merchandiser" for Pepsi. He took the products from the back and set up the display and ordered more product. We are in a high volume area though. That might not be the case elsewhere.

I do a lot of beer runs and I can tell you that beverage companies can be really really small tight and make you cross two lanes of traffic to back in. After a year they still make me nervous so I can't imagine doing them brand new.

How would you feel if you are blocking traffic for 30 min and horns are blowing with the customer yelling youbare wasting his time?

Get the company training.

As for Pepsi...that might depend on where you are. I live in NJ outside of Philadelphia. My hubby was a "merchandiser" for Pepsi. He took the products from the back and set up the display and ordered more product. We are in a high volume area though. That might not be the case elsewhere.

I was only using Pepsi as an example (of beverage distributor), because a friend of mine was a district manager down here. I asked about a driving job years ago (because he could have walked me right into one), and he told me those exact words. Now, he knew I wouldn't be a problem just DRIVING - but also knows me well enough to know I ain't down with setting up product displays or unloading 1,000 cases of product off a truck EVERY DAY.

There may come the rarest of occasions in OTR Trucking (LTL/Local is different) where you may have to grab a pallet jack and drag product off your trailer - or drag it to the lip of the trailer so a forklift can grab it. For folks with local delivery routes - you may be lucky enough that your company "pre-loads" your truck overnight - but you will be fingerprinting EVERY POUND OF PRODUCT.

Now - if you're young and in decent shape and don't mind doing this kind of labor rain or shine or 05-105 degree weather - that's great, more power to you.

I AM NOT THAT GUY...

Rick

Hello Rick, and welcome to the forum!

If you consider what you get for the initial expense of obtaining your CDL , I don't think one could really consider it expensive. I paid a huge fortune to have my three daughters attend college and get degrees. Now that is expensive! Guess what? None of them can find a job in their field of study. Not only was it expensive, but a huge waste of resources.

When you have a CDL, you can get a job, and after getting yourself established as a reliable and responsible driver, you can make some very good money for a blue collar type job. The expense, when compared with the results, is miniscule.

You didn't really specify what your goals are as a driver. If you want to eventually be an Over The Road driver, then your plan has holes in it. None of the major carriers will be very interested in you without a 160 hour training certificate, and on top of that, very few, if any of them, will consider a beverage distribution job as experience.

If you want to eventually go Over The Road, I would highly recommend the Paid CDL Training Programs. It is the same concept with a contractual agreement. The difference being that you will be traveling the lower 48 states as opposed to staying local.

Now, if you just want to be a local driver, then that is a viable option to get your start. It is a very physical job, so just be prepared for that part if it.

If you stayed at this beverage company forever, there would be no problem, HOWEVER, lacking a minimum of a 160 hour training certificate from an accredited school and no verifiable OTR experience, your CDL-A would be pretty useless to the majority of trucking companies.

Also, IM GUESSING, that any driving for this beverage company might be local? Thats a very tough gig for an inexperienced driver.

Why dont you consider Paid CDL Training Programs

You can get your CDL-A for free by committing to drive for them for about 1 year, getting that necessary training certificate, company training, AND the industry standard minimum 1 year OTR experience. A definite WIN-WIN.

Many people dont realize at first that CDL school only teaches the "bare minimum" you need to obtain your CDL. Then you go through extensive company training to learn how to safely and efficiently operate a Class A Combination Vehicle. Company training lasts anywhere typically from 30 to 120 days of one on one time with a trainer. Length of time depends on the company.

Other links to help you are:

• Truck Driver's Career Guide
• Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
• High Road Training Program

I'm afraid I will have to disagree with you on the certificate. What matters is getting the job and experience. Once you get the experience, you'll be able to get a job anywhere. More and more trucking companies are getting less picky on their drivers. Some only require 3 months experience otr others none at all. Local blows otr away in my opinion. The money is way better, at least in my experience doing local work and I'm home everyday. I believe there are a lot of misconceptions about local vs otr. My otr trainer said local work didn't pay enough. Not in my experience. Pay is much better. I'm on pace to make over 55k my 1st year in local

Thank you all on your insight the one thing that I gathered from most of the replies were options of going OTR. For me that's not important I would much rather stay local as I have a child who is too young for me to be away from for extended periods of time.