Paying Up-Front For Company Sponsored CDL School

Hey Nicholas, we're glad you're here - Welcome aboard!

Now, I know you are a smart guy, but the difficulties have nothing to do with how intelligent one is. I went to college and owned a manufacturing business for thirty years. After doing those things I decided to do this gig for a second career, and I enjoy it very much. Even more than my enjoyment of this career is the enjoyment I get from helping folks understand how to make a start at this. One thing I can assure you that will not give you an accurate assessment of where you want to start is a spread sheet! I know you are thinking I'm crazy right now, but I'm hoping I can prove my point to you before you waste a lot of precious time at this. You simply cannot put together accurate information or parameters that will give you anything helpful in the end. All those crazy internet reviews you are going to find simply cannot be counted as even being close to accurate. Those reviews are almost all written by the approximately 95% of the folks who failed at this career. That information cannot help you, unless you just want to know how to fail at this.

Consider this: We have in this very forum several successful drivers who have been with Swift for years now! We have successful drivers in here from CR England! Hey, while I'm at this take a look at this link and tell me if you have ever heard anything like this about CR England? I started my career at Western Express, spent sixteen months there, and would be there still, had I not gotten an outstanding offer from Knight to work on a dedicated flat-bed account for them. Haha, try finding a good review of Western Express! I was very successful there because I understood how this whole thing works. Check out my comments in This Thread to have a better understanding of the kinds of things I'm trying to stress to you.

Are you aware of how competitive this business is? I'm not talking about competition between the companies. I'm referring to competition among the drivers to keep themselves at the top of the food chain. You simply can't take some losers account of how his trucking company starved him out by not giving him any miles, when there are other drivers at the same company who are giving it all they can just to get their work load completed. This whole business is performance based, and those who produce results continue to have great support and guidance from the folks who count on them to "git er done." There is no arbitrary fairness among dispatchers when it comes to keeping their drivers busy. When they know a driver who can be counted on no matter what, that driver will be called upon continually as long as he can keep the results pouring in. This is the kind of stuff that few understand when they decide they want to become a truck driver, but it is the stuff that makes for success at this.

I actually get tickled when I see the new folks coming in here talking about making spread sheets. That's not an insult. If anything, I realize that you are doing what you know best, as a way to make the proper decision. I know I probably have not dissuaded you from the whole spread sheet analysis, but I just want you to realize that what you put into this career as "effort to succeed" will far outweigh all your analysis at the beginning of your quest. When it comes to success at this career it has nothing to do with whose name is on the doors of the truck, and everything to do with what type of person is in the driver's seat.

LMAO. I gave up the spreadsheet about half an hour ago! Hahaha. Interesting that you mention how working for companies like CR England or Western Express can be positive, when all I've come across are negative reviews. I guess I have to do a bit more research on them.

I'm thinking that the bottom line in making the choice of which company to work for is the pay after training. It would need to be over 40 cpm. Would you agree, or do you think there's more to the equation?

it seems like a raw deal.

Oh man Nicholas, you are a case study in the very things we are talking about when it comes to soaking in misinformation.

You need to check out some of our former conversations concerning "Abe." Here is one of them.

Thanks, I agree. After thinking about Abe's situation for the past couple of weeks, I've come to the conclusion that he should not have accepted the load. Although the dispatchers were ****heads, and certainly a liability for the company, as soon as Abe accepted the load after being awake for 10 hours, he made a big mistake. If you know you're going to need to sleep soon, don't take the load. That's where forced dispatch has me wondering what would happen if Abe had said no to the load, but had a company with forced dispatch.

...we need to take a short recess Counselor, so I can get some work done.

Old School and Brett,..."hit the nails squarely on the head".

Nicholas we are not blowing any smoke here...all fact.

LOL. I know for sure that no one here is blowing any smoke, that's why I love this site and forum. You guys have me thinking long and hard about which school to choose again, when I had my mind made up on Prime, lol. Now I'm leaning towards whoever pays the most after training.

Nicholas, Abe set the whole scenario up so he could try to put the screws to his company. I don't know any drivers who have cameras and microphones set up so they can try and bait their dispatchers into a controversial conversation. That guy was a whacko. We are all glad he has gone back to living in his mom's basement. Hopefully he will stay away from our industry for a while.

Nicholas, Abe set the whole scenario up so he could try to put the screws to his company. I don't know any drivers who have cameras and microphones set up so they can try and bait their dispatchers into a controversial conversation. That guy was a whacko. We are all glad he has gone back to living in his mom's basement. Hopefully he will stay away from our industry for a while.

Yeah, I agree that he was a whacko. Anyone in that position, having two 10 hour breaks back to back, being awake the second 10 hours, should just say no to load, correct? So what happens if you have forced dispatch, and have been awake for 10-12 hours, you can't say no to the load correct?

I'd love to find a company that pays per hour, so that you aren't worried about being stuck in traffic, but I guess that's just one of the facts of life in this industry. If there was a company that paid per hour away from home, that'd be ideal, but I guess that's unheard of, lol. And even if on the surface it seems like one company pays more, e.g. 40 cpm , compared to another company at 36 cpm, you have to take their detention and layover pay policies into account, because those might actually make the lower cpm company higher paying in practice.

You guys have me thinking long and hard about which school to choose again, when I had my mind made up on Prime, lol. Now I'm leaning towards whoever pays the most after training.

Nicholas, this is the kind of stuff I'm talking about when I spoke of "frustrating research." You are focusing on all kinds of things, and then flip flopping back and forth constantly. Your performance as a driver will be what determines your success. You can count on that whether you are at CR England, Prime, Crete, or SchneidWernPamSwif... You are cracking me up with your back and forth comments.

Prime probably is one of the highest paying companies after training! But don't concentrate on Cents Per Mile. Make up your mind what kind of freight you want to pull, and make up your mind to stick with it for a year and hone your skills as a manager of your time and your vehicle. Heck, I made more in my rookie year at .27 CPM than many folks did who were earning .38 CPM. This is why we stress understanding how this business is performance based. You mentioned Prime's tanker division, but tanker can be tough for a greenhorn. Prime's tanker division is food grade. That means no baffles in the tank, which means if you take a turn a little too fast the liquid surge in that tank could toss you into the ditch on your side.

You guys have me thinking long and hard about which school to choose again, when I had my mind made up on Prime, lol. Now I'm leaning towards whoever pays the most after training.

Nicholas, this is the kind of stuff I'm talking about when I spoke of "frustrating research." You are focusing on all kinds of things, and then flip flopping back and forth constantly. Your performance as a driver will be what determines your success. You can count on that whether you are at CR England, Prime, Crete, or SchneidWernPamSwif... You are cracking me up with your back and forth comments.

Prime probably is one of the highest paying companies after training! But don't concentrate on Cents Per Mile. Make up your mind what kind of freight you want to pull, and make up your mind to stick with it for a year and hone your skills as a manager of your time and your vehicle. Heck, I made more in my rookie year at .27 CPM than many folks did who were earning .38 CPM. This is why we stress understanding how this business is performance based. You mentioned Prime's tanker division, but tanker can be tough for a greenhorn. Prime's tanker division is food grade. That means no baffles in the tank, which means if you take a turn a little too fast the liquid surge in that tank could toss you into the ditch on your side.

Lol, great points! I'm a workaholic, meaning, when I'm not sleeping, I need to be working, or I get agitated, so I have confidence in my performance as a driver. The way I see it, as long as I can listen to some Howard Stern or a good podcast, I can drive as long as I'm allowed in a day (11 hours?). If you force me to listen to a trainer's music, or sit in silence, I won't be happy at all. That's why I'm focused on not working for a team based company like Celadon or a company that has a training period longer than 8 weeks.

I see some of these companies offering sliding pay scales from 25 cpm up, and I immediately discount them because that seems like slave labor to me. But from what you say, that's not necessarily true.

CDL programs in my state that are affiliaged with the Kentucky.Community College system last 30 days and cost $4k.

Recently someone on this site was discussing a community college CDL program in Iowa that costs $1800. I cant remember which one. So prices from region to region are inconsistent.

I attended a college program so i wouldnt be bound by a contract. The company I drive for, doesnt operate their own school, and normally doesnt even have teams.. They are simply accomodating my bf and I. There is 1 other team.. A friend of mine and her bf. They are a solo, regjonal,home every weekend focused company that primarily operates in the midwest, however we do have a handful of drivers in the northeast.

Company training is 30 days. We have APUs in all trucks and no trucks more than 3 years old. We have a rider and pets (dogs) policies as well. They start a brand new inexperienced driver at about 33cpm on going solo, but bump up pay quickly.

Because of our ninimum pay guarantee, I honestly never concerned myself with cpm or weekly miles, but always make more than the minimum. Regional home weekly get a min. Of $1k per week and network fleet drivers who go home every other weekend have a $1200 per week minimum pay. There are requirements to qualify for the minimum pay commitment, like being available to drive 5 days in a week and no late pickups or deliveries.

We are a very safety focused small company (550 trucks) and in bad weather ( high wind/heavy snow/ice) conditions you are expected to shut down.

Im sure there are lots of lesser known companies that probably offer similar pay guarantees.

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.

Regional:

Regional Route

Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.

CPM:

Cents Per Mile

Drivers are often paid by the mile and it's given in cents per mile, or cpm.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

APUs:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

CDL programs in my state that are affiliaged with the Kentucky.Community College system last 30 days and cost $4k.

Recently someone on this site was discussing a community college CDL program in Iowa that costs $1800. I cant remember which one. So prices from region to region are inconsistent.

I attended a college program so i wouldnt be bound by a contract. The company I drive for, doesnt operate their own school, and normally doesnt even have teams.. They are simply accomodating my bf and I. There is 1 other team.. A friend of mine and her bf. They are a solo, regjonal,home every weekend focused company that primarily operates in the midwest, however we do have a handful of drivers in the northeast.

Company training is 30 days. We have APUs in all trucks and no trucks more than 3 years old. We have a rider and pets (dogs) policies as well. They start a brand new inexperienced driver at about 33cpm on going solo, but bump up pay quickly.

Because of our ninimum pay guarantee, I honestly never concerned myself with cpm or weekly miles, but always make more than the minimum. Regional home weekly get a min. Of $1k per week and network fleet drivers who go home every other weekend have a $1200 per week minimum pay. There are requirements to qualify for the minimum pay commitment, like being available to drive 5 days in a week and no late pickups or deliveries.

We are a very safety focused small company (550 trucks) and in bad weather ( high wind/heavy snow/ice) conditions you are expected to shut down.

Im sure there are lots of lesser known companies that probably offer similar pay guarantees.

Thanks for the information! Sounds like a great company! The local community college here doesn't have CDL courses, and even if they did, I would rather do the sleep away thing so I can 1. be immersed in the whole thing without worrying about anything else, and 2. not have to worry about scheduling road tests with the state DMV , driving back and forth to class, getting my own physical and drug test, etc... I'd rather just go to a company sponsored school and have everything done for me, and all I have to do is pass some tests and drive.

I love the minimum pay policy, and would definitely like that, but the restrictions seem a bit out of your control. How can you guarantee that you won't have a late pickup or delivery if there is bumper to bumper traffic? Why should the driver be penalized for getting stuck in traffic?

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.

Regional:

Regional Route

Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.

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.

DMV:

Department of Motor Vehicles, Bureau of Motor Vehicles

The state agency that handles everything related to your driver's licences, including testing, issuance, transfers, and revocation.

CPM:

Cents Per Mile

Drivers are often paid by the mile and it's given in cents per mile, or cpm.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

APUs:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.