Who Has No Or Minimal Out Of Pocket Training?
Topic 1905 | Page 1
Prime Inc. is for you... Here are some excerpts from them:
The tuition for Prime's CDL training program is very straight forward. This is truly a free CDL program provided you stay employed with them for one full year. There are no down payments and no payroll deductions. The cost of the program is about on par with other CDL schools, especially since lodging and transportation is provided.
During this first phase of training, students are given a cash advance of $200 per week. This cash advance can be used for any purpose - food expenses, paying bills at home, or anything else. The funds can be withdrawn from any ATM machine. The advance will be repaid (interest free) via payroll deduction once hired as a full time driver. If a student chooses not to use the cash advances, no repayment will be made.
Trainees earn a guaranteed weekly salary of $600 per week or 12cpm (combined miles between trainee and instructor), whichever is greater. Basically, if a truck runs less than 5,000 miles in a given week, the student will be paid the flat $600 guaranteed minimum. Anything over 5,000 miles will be paid at 12cpm. As an example, if a trainee/trainer drive 6,000 mile in a given week, the student would be paid $720.
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.
CPM:
Cents Per Mile
Drivers are often paid by the mile and it's given in cents per mile, or cpm.
OOS:
When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.
Hello Justin and welcome to TT.
You will see once the experts get on to welcome you and start answering your questions that there are some entire sections of the forum that address what you are asking about. What I want to comment on is what you can apply for being a Vet. The VA has some interesting benefits that you may be able to cash in on. I am also a Vet and have learned that they will cover the cost of my CDL training and even cover some of the lodging while I am in school. Then, depending on the company you hook up with, you may be eligible for an apprentice program that will get you some steady VA funds coming in every month that you are OJT with the company. This will be on top of anything the company will be paying you. As far as I have found out, the VA will cover the cost of either a company led school or a private school. So depending on which benefits you have will decide how you will choose the schooling to apply for. The bottom line is to contact the VA and see exactly which benefits you have and how much they will cover. There is a toll-free available and it would be best to talk to them on the phone than risk misinterpreting some information on the web site.
This is a white-hot career field to get into and it is definitely a "buyer's" market as long as you meet the minimum qualifications. It *almost* as easy as "as long as you have a heart beat and you're breathing" you can get in. Well, maybe not that easy, but as long as you're not a criminal, drug user, drunk driver, traffic scoff-law, etc., you will have a shot at it!
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.
OOS:
When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.
Am I hoping for too much or does such a company exist?
Justin, all of the Company-Sponsored Training Programs require very little or no money up front. So they will all work in your case. The problem is that you're going to make little or no money for several weeks no matter who you go with. Your situation is very common. A lot of people getting into trucking have very limited funds. But we always recommend you have at least $500-$1000 in your pocket before attempting to get started in the industry. Otherwise you're not going to be able to feed yourself during the first few weeks of training.
So you may have to sell some stuff or borrow from family or friends for a short time but you're going to need some money in your pocket. There are people who make it through with basically no money but the stress is beyond belief because they're constantly having to beg classmates and instructors for food money or they're starving all the time. You don't want to put yourself in that situation.
The other thing that happens is you arrive for training in "hurry up" mode. You want to get through everything as quickly as possible and get out there making money. That just adds to the stress because you have no control over the process. Sometimes you'll finish the three weeks or so of training, get your CDL , but then you have to wait a week or two for a trainer to become available. That kind of stuff will drive you insane throughout your training.
Do everything you can to get as close to $1000 in your pocket as you can. Sell something, borrow it - whatever. But you don't want to show up broke. It's an enormous amount of stress and grief.
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.
Company-sponsored Training:
A Company-Sponsored Training Program is a school that is owned and operated by a trucking company.
The schooling often requires little or no money up front. Instead of paying up-front tuition you will sign an agreement to work for the company for a specified amount of time after graduation, usually around a year, at a slightly lower rate of pay in order to pay for the training.
If you choose to quit working for the company before your year is up, they will normally require you to pay back a prorated amount of money for the schooling. The amount you pay back will be comparable to what you would have paid if you went to an independently owned school.
Company-sponsored training can be an excellent way to get your career underway if you can't afford the tuition up front for private schooling.
I'm in a financial bind and I'm hoping to find a company that will train me and put me to work soon. I have some experience with tractor trailers as I drove them in the Army. While it was not my MOS, my unit had only 2 truck drivers (88M) assigned to us that we ended up losing. We had a fleet of vans and flatbeds with 5 ton, automatic transmission tractors. I was quite proficient driving (back in the early 90's). So I welcome some actual big rig training. However, I don't have the funds to shell out for a school so I'm hoping to find a company that will train or pay for my schooling. I could probably handle a hundred or so dollars for fees/permits, etc.
Does any company actually pay you while you train? I'm not in the position to go without a paycheck for long.
I'm hoping to get with a company that will keep me busy OTR , but want to see home at least every 3 weeks or so.
Am I hoping for too much or does such a company exist?
If I am duplicating this, please excuse me but I can't see my earlier post in the thread.
Check to see if your state offers tuition grants. In Iowa (and some other states, I'm told) we have a program coordinated between the Workforce Development office (Umemployment Admin) and the state's community colleges to provide Certificate training courses for low-to-moderate income people to get job training. Our state pays for a whole list if skills-building training in health care, trucking, welding, even private piloting (airplanes). Check what your state might have.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
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.
I think crst has the least out of pocket out of all of them... Crst will pay for your cdl permit and the DOT physical and drug test so you will only need money for living expenses (ie food drinks cigarettes if you smoke) and anything else you want and or need.... I went through the 4 week course at central ref. And had maybe 200 bucks and I made it the only thing that helped me was the hotel they put us in had a awesome breakfast and I would eat very little during the day and too busy at night with studying to worry about anything else
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.
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
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I'm in a financial bind and I'm hoping to find a company that will train me and put me to work soon. I have some experience with tractor trailers as I drove them in the Army. While it was not my MOS, my unit had only 2 truck drivers (88M) assigned to us that we ended up losing. We had a fleet of vans and flatbeds with 5 ton, automatic transmission tractors. I was quite proficient driving (back in the early 90's). So I welcome some actual big rig training. However, I don't have the funds to shell out for a school so I'm hoping to find a company that will train or pay for my schooling. I could probably handle a hundred or so dollars for fees/permits, etc.
Does any company actually pay you while you train? I'm not in the position to go without a paycheck for long.
I'm hoping to get with a company that will keep me busy OTR , but want to see home at least every 3 weeks or so.
Am I hoping for too much or does such a company exist?
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.