Anyone Interested In Getting A CDL In Indiana, Check This Out..

I am starting trucking school in a few weeks or three at most. I will also be going free of cost and walk away a free agent. Do not have to pay a dime back. I heard about free programs at the Indiana Adult Learning center. They had a list of programs such as welding, CNA, and CDL was on the list. I walked in there and they had me take a test to make sure I test at a ninth grade level. I passed that easily.

Then they send you over to WorkOne. I went to the one in Lebanon, which is the best one around here. Lafayette will give you the run around because they don't really want to help anyone. I went into WorkOne and filled out some paperwork. You are then required to complete twelve hours of class time at the adult learning center. Which mean you basically sit in there and do homework. I chose random math stuff that I had forgotten how to do. It sucks, but small price to pay for a big opportunity.

Then once that twelve hours is up, you take a post test. It test you at a ninth grade level again. When you pass it, WorkOne sends your paper work in. When they get your funding, you go to school. The school the Lebanon office uses, is C-1 Trucking school in Indianapolis. I am just waiting for them to get my funding, then i'm C-1 bound. They pay a mileage to make up for fuel. It is twenty three cents a mile. I gave it a shot and asked for more and they are giving me twenty five cents. Not much, but whatever. I asked for more since I drive a four wheel drive Dodge with a 5.9.. They do not provide Hotel or meals. I will update this, just in case it falls through for some reason, but they have made it clear that everything is good, they just are waiting for the state to send them a check for me schooling.

Why do they just send people money for school? It is an investment for you to get a good job and send Uncle Sam more income tax. I have a local company that does short and long haul saying they will hire me out of school. I even got them to write me a letter that they will hire me out of school. I recommend doing that especially if you are in my boat and have a felony. Felony is not a concerning factor in getting funding, but a letter of prehire is just an insurance policy that they are not wasting their time.

I also so far have Boyd Brothers saying they will hire me since my felony is over five years. My felony is a violent one. Not against women or children. Hopefully I covered any question someone has, ahead of time. This is for people in Indiana. Maybe other states have a program similar?

Thanks for all that Ryan! Very much appreciate the heads up.

There is also a program called WIOA (used to be called WIA) that will pay for training also. We've had quite a few people come through here that were able to obtain funding. Here's a bunch of information we have on that program for anyone interested:

WIOA - Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act (aka WIA)

I did not know about this program. I will pass the world about this as well, thank you.

I will also add that WorkOne pays for your physical and your permit cost. However I am working on paying that myself so I can walk into school with my permit. Jesus there is a lot to study for..

I did not know about this program. I will pass the world about this as well, thank you.

I will also add that WorkOne pays for your physical and your permit cost. However I am working on paying that myself so I can walk into school with my permit. Jesus there is a lot to study for..

Feel free to use the High Road Training Program on here. That will help you practice for your permit and any endorsement exams you may need or want.

Illinois has WIOA. I live in Chicago and went through their program. I passed everything but unfortunately the area Ilived in had no funding available and they had no idea how long it would take to get it.

I started the program in January 2016. By August 2016 the money still hadn't released for my area and I didn't feellike waiting anymore So i signed a 1 year contract with swift that same month.

The money finally released in Novemeber but I already had 2 months experience with swift.

It would have been nice to get my cdl for free but I am almost 7 months in with driving and I am glad I did what I did.

It would have been nice to get my cdl for free but I am almost 7 months in with driving and I am glad I did what I did.

Stay with Swift for two years and you will get it for free! During your second year they will start paying back what they deducted during your first year.

If for some reason this falls through, then I will be signing a contract with a company. I have been wanting to be a driver for years and talked about it. My life is finally in place and I decided either I do it now or never. My friend invited me to go on a run with him. Since then I have had 18 wheels turning in my head constantly.

Update: Today I got my CDL A permit and my Tanker Endorsement. This point i'm not interested in doubles or triples or hauling people around. Tanker is something I have been interested in and I have looked into possibly going to the oil fields. That is just something that won't even come for awhile if that happens. It is not as hard as I thought it would be. The hardest part was getting into study mode, which meant put the smart phone in the other room and turn off the TV. It has taken now three weeks for my funding to come so far. She told me on the phone this week to call her Tuesday of this coming week to check. She said she doesn't have a time frame for my funding to come in. So if anyone does go through this program, be ready to wait. In the mean time I have been riding with a friend on some hauls and have enjoyed every minute of it. Even in a seat with no air ride for ten hours haha. He has let me do everything that doesn't have me driving the truck. Hooking up the trailer and unhooking, filling out paper work, and doing a quick pretrip. I'm sure everyone has said this or read it, but if you have that opportunity, take advantage of it and soak of anything you can before school.