Florida CDL School Shut Down And Past Students Have To Retake CDL Test

DHSMV Revokes South Florida CDL Testing Company’s License For Fraudulent Practices

"Florida will be notifying some 1,500 truckers who were tested on or after January 1st 2017 that they will have to retake their CDL test within two months or lose their CDLs."

See, that's one of my concerns regarding private CDL training versus paid CDL training. When you go to a company that offers paid training you're being trained by the company that's going to hire you. They care very much about whether or not you're going to be a safe and productive driver. They're going to make sure you're trained right and ready for the road.

Now that doesn't mean they're going to coddle you and hold your hand like a little kid for six months and let you figure things out at your own pace. They're going to put you through some stressful situations and push you to learn as quickly as you can, both for productivity reasons and to test your nerve to make sure you're cut out for this. But in the end you're either going to be capable of being a safe, productive driver or they're not going to keep you around.

Private truck driving schools have already been paid their tuition up front so it's in their best interest to get you through the program and out of there as quickly as possible. They're not necessarily concerned with whether or not you're ready for the road for two reasons:

1) You're going to receive more training from the company that hires you

2) You're not working for the school, you're going to be working for someone else, so it's not their concern if you don't succeed

Another big reason I prefer paid cdl training is because the company that's training you has a vested interest in your success. They're investing their time, money, equipment, and personnel up front to train you. In order to get a return on their investment you have to work for the company as a safe, productive driver for quite some time. So they really need to make sure you stick around for a while and do a great job for them. Otherwise their investment goes down the drain.

On the other hand, if you graduate from a private school the company that hires you has no vested interest in your success. If you get into a quick fender bender or two and they let you go it doesn't hurt them beyond the money they have to pay to fix the damage. They didn't pay to train you, so they're not trying to recoup their investment.

I personally went to a private school. Quite honestly at the time I didn't realize Company-Sponsored Training even existed. I did go to a really good school so I was trained well. Fortunately I checked out the school pretty thoroughly before attending. So it's not that you can't do well with private schooling. You certainly can and there are a lot of good ones. But personally I would much prefer to get my training and start my career with a company that is investing in me up front and is therefore obligated to keep me around to make sure I become a safe, productive driver for them.

For those who are considering paid training you can apply to several companies at once right here on TruckingTruth:

Apply For Paid CDL Training

You're not obligated to attend any of these programs but you'll get a chance to speak with their recruiters and see what they have to offer. You'll likely be contacted by several the same day you apply.

Here are more resources regarding choosing a school:

• Trucker's Career Guide: Choosing A Truck Driving School
• Article Category: Choosing A Truck Driving School
• Forum Topics Tagged "Choosing A Truck Driving School"

I am a huge fan of company sponsored training. (The path I took) I did not have several thousand dollars for school. It was nice to get trained by a company that cares about it's drivers. I feel the school I went to prepaired me well to head out on the road with my trainer. I had a great trainer and I'm still learning. I'm thankful for this site for helping me to be successful in trucking.

I am a fan of local technical colleges that offer CDL training. That is the path I took. Yes the cost can be higher up front but there are programs out there to help offset the costs. IE.. lottery funds, grants, even the VA can help. Apply for every thing you can. My school was longer and I learned more then the new drivers that went to my employers trucking school. First two weeks was learning about rules and regulations, bridge law, paper and elogs , and trip planning. Learned how to back and do slow maneuvers on the range. We did allot of driving including night driving. Did allot of skills practicing for the state test. We got the pretrip drilled into us every day and we had to pass that. You can compare the time in the schools vs each other too. Company training 3 to 4 weeks max vs 8+ weeks. Mine was 11 and 1/2 weeks long.

Mine was 11 and 1/2 weeks long.

Wow, that's really long. Mine was 7 weeks long and that's twice as long as most.

Tech colleges are great for training, no doubt. One thing a lot of people have to consider, though, is cash in the bank. Not very many people decide to become truck drivers cuz they're loaded with money and looking for something fun to do. Most are pretty broke (as was I at the time) and need to make money as soon as possible.

So spending three months in school without a paycheck after finding a way to pay up front for the schooling isn't going to work for most people, unfortunately. Not to mention, every extra week you spend in school is that much more money you're losing compared with the paid CDL training programs who have you out on the road making money within a few weeks. Some of them even start paying you on the day you arrive.

If you have the luxury of paying for private CDL training and you can afford to get through the schooling without being paid it's not a bad way to go. But I think there are a lot of advantages that paid CDL training has to offer over private.

Well said Brett. I needed the money as well. I'm glad I went with CFI because, They paid for everything. Now, I'm having the time of my life.