Options Other Than CDL School

I've posted elsewhere that I went through a two-week training at Trainco in Ohio. I left last Tuesday before making up the time I missed the previous week. I have also posted elsewhere that I walked away because I could parallel park to save my live and I only had a few hours left, never mind moving on to alley docking.

I have inquired with Trainco to see if I can come back and finish. Mike, the owner, said I could when I left. I know I'll need more than the remaining time in my training because I have other things to make up beside the range time.

Does anyone know of other options, other than going to another school for the full course, for me to learn the backing skills? My friend insists there must be a way. All I have found is expensive rentals and a licensed driver would need to make the rental.

Philip, please use what happened as a learning experience, get back to Trainco and finish the program. Finishing what you started there is your best option for lots of reasons.

But as to the backing issue....please understand that it takes most of us several months or more to get decent at backing. Trainco will almost certainly work with you until you can pass the state test for the CDL - getting you through that is their entire purpose/reason for existing.

Then you will get some backing training at the company you go with. The quality of that varies from awful to barely adequate, but they'll help you get to the point where you can pass their test to get a truck.

Once you have your assigned truck, THEN you will have the tool you need to sharpen your skills, and you won't have to pay for it or rent anything.

The first few times you arrive at a shipper/receiver/truck stop will likely be terrifying. So what. You can deal with it - just get out and look as many times as you need to in order to get safely in the slot.

Anytime you can spare the time during mid-day, stop at a truck stop, find a deserted area in the back and practice backing. Practice with the tandems all the way up. Practice with the tandems all the way back. Practice with the tandems in the middle. Practice practice practice until you get it. You can buy a cheap set of cones on Amazon or somewhere and set them up as though they were adjacent trucks. When you practice, don't cheat and run over adjacent lines....assume there are long-nose 1979 Petes on each side, both encroaching on your space. Practice until you can easily back between them regardless of where the tandems are. Be sure to control the headspace too....and reduce it as your skills increase.

Soon, you'll be backing like G-Town

I've posted elsewhere that I went through a two-week training at Trainco in Ohio. I left last Tuesday before making up the time I missed the previous week. I have also posted elsewhere that I walked away because I could parallel park to save my live and I only had a few hours left, never mind moving on to alley docking.

I have inquired with Trainco to see if I can come back and finish. Mike, the owner, said I could when I left. I know I'll need more than the remaining time in my training because I have other things to make up beside the range time.

Does anyone know of other options, other than going to another school for the full course, for me to learn the backing skills? My friend insists there must be a way. All I have found is expensive rentals and a licensed driver would need to make the rental.

Does anyone know of other options, other than going to another school for the full course, for me to learn the backing skills? My friend insists there must be a way.

Who is this friend? What kind of authority on becoming a successful truck driver are they?

Philip, have you ever noticed how often we talk about the Commitment required to get this career started? Now, think about how you are racking your brain to try and figure out some other way to get yourself behind the wheel of a big rig.

I think it's time for you to realize that you need to make a commitment to this and apply to one of the Paid CDL Training Programs. No one will hire you without an official training certificate. That certificate carries more weight than a CDL when you're a newbie just trying to enter the job market as a rookie driver.

You either need to figure out a way to finish what you started at Trainco, or start over at another school. Surely you want to get this started right don't you? It's a pretty serious responsiblity being out here commandeering an 80,000 pound monstrosity on wheels. We are all wanting you to get it right. I hope you feel that same responsibility to play by the rules.

Look, we understand your dilemma. Not everybody learns this stuff at the same pace. When you started this it probably caught you completely off guard that others were advancing quicker than you. That's not a big deal. What is a big deal is that you are now wanting to cut corners with your own solutions based on some random friend's suggestion. That's a bad approach.

Get it settled in your mind that you want to do this right. Taking the proper steps to success is one sure way of assuring you have a chance of achieving your goals. Cutting corners at the onset of your career is a sure fire way to establish yourself as someone who will surely fall short when the going gets tough.

Yes, I completely agree with you which is why I intend to contact different schools today.

Thanks for your very valuable feedback.

Does anyone know of other options, other than going to another school for the full course, for me to learn the backing skills? My friend insists there must be a way.

Who is this friend? What kind of authority on becoming a successful truck driver are they?

Philip, have you ever noticed how often we talk about the Commitment required to get this career started? Now, think about how you are racking your brain to try and figure out some other way to get yourself behind the wheel of a big rig.

I think it's time for you to realize that you need to make a commitment to this and apply to one of the Paid CDL Training Programs. No one will hire you without an official training certificate. That certificate carries more weight than a CDL when you're a newbie just trying to enter the job market as a rookie driver.

You either need to figure out a way to finish what you started at Trainco, or start over at another school. Surely you want to get this started right don't you? It's a pretty serious responsiblity being out here commandeering an 80,000 pound monstrosity on wheels. We are all wanting you to get it right. I hope you feel that same responsibility to play by the rules.

Look, we understand your dilemma. Not everybody learns this stuff at the same pace. When you started this it probably caught you completely off guard that others were advancing quicker than you. That's not a big deal. What is a big deal is that you are now wanting to cut corners with your own solutions based on some random friend's suggestion. That's a bad approach.

Get it settled in your mind that you want to do this right. Taking the proper steps to success is one sure way of assuring you have a chance of achieving your goals. Cutting corners at the onset of your career is a sure fire way to establish yourself as someone who will surely fall short when the going gets tough.

Wow what a great tip. I am gonna have to do this when I get out there.

Before you sign on with another company, truly consider what Old School just said and what you said.

Two things you said stand out...

1.) "I left before making up the time I missed"

2.) "I have other things to make up besides range time"

So how committed are you? You quit school AFTER missing time. Serious family illness/death etc is one thing, but if you missed time for other reasons, you were not committed enough for trucking. First you missed time, then you refused to make it up and gave up. Any company is going to expect a real commitment.

What will you do if you get to a customer with a hard backing situation? give up? call Uber and abandon the truck to go home? No, you have to figure out a way to get in that door.

Perhaps lack of confidence got to you. If so, read my article about going solo. You will continue to screw up. You need to decide to set the negativity aside and get it done.

good luck

Nervous About Going Solo?