Pine Bluff Truck Driving School

This place is a JOKE! Yeah you may get your CDL in 3 weeks but all you're going to know how to do is pass the test. In the process, you're going to be cussed at, yelled at, and treated like you're stupid. Instructors sleep while students are driving. They talk about students behind their backs negatively in front of other students, one instructor even stated that one student annoyed her so she wasn't going to help him. The lodging quarters are DISGUSTING! The backing pad is such a muddy, potholes mess that the truck kept getting stuck. Seven people were sharing one backing pad truck. And speaking of trucks....they are horrible! I doubt even the road trucks would pass DOT inspection. I breezed through the written test and pretrip inspection but was having trouble with backing so I asked for an additional day of practice before testing, which I was denied. I feel that I should have been allowed an additional day since it's not required by DOT to test on a certain day. I was allowed some practice time before the test but all that got me was more yelling and more being talked down to by 3 different instructors who happened to be out there. After nearly a week of being treated subhumanly, I could not continue. I packed my bag and left. When I emailed the office about my experience, I got nothing other than "your CDL packet has been mailed". So I'd say they have to desire to change the way they do things or care that I was treated so badly that I quit after 3 weeks. I would not recommend this place to anyone!

Hello Michelle, and welcome to our forum.

All anyone is expected to get at truck driving school is the bare rudimentary training so they can pass their driving test and obtain a CDL. I don't know of any driving schools that offer four star accommodations and brand new trucks for total newbies to tear up. Some truck drivers are a little rough around the edges. Most trainers have been drivers for years, and they can be a little impatient.

It was nice to hear your side of this story, but it leaves me wondering what the instructors might have to say about you if we gave them the chance. All of us had our various trials getting started in this career, but those of us who are making great money out here realized how important it was to stay the course.

Maybe trucking isn't going to work for you. It's hard to say, having only your very first rant to go by. One thing is for sure though - you quit after a very short exposure. That doesn't look to good to a bunch of experienced truckers who went through hell and high water to accomplish something they really wanted.

I'm pretty fresh out of school, I finished my schooling on 8/10/18. I remember all the doubts I had in school, having to learn everything required for the tests. But I was determined to finish it and took any extra chance behind the wheel that I could. I remember one day our trainer was off work due to his wife having surgery and no one showed up besides a few of us. I didn't see the point in paying for school or in my case having a company pay for my schooling if I wasn't going to take it seriously.

The school itself was decent, the trainers worked with what they could and we trained in 99s freightliners that would break down every other day. So we was always in a different truck, which is what had me worried leading up to my CDL test. See I tested out on a manual, so each truck was a little different such as the clutch engage point and how easy and forgiving it was when shifting. But to avoid rambling on about it I'll skip to my test day. I was under the impression I was going to use a swift truck the school bad which was by far the best truck since it had a governor on the speed and RPMs so you couldn't over rev. But to my surprise the day I was set to take my test, I was giving a truck I have literally stalled every time I drove it due to the clutch point being so high I would end up dumping it when taking off from a complete stop at times. I remember being so nervous leading up to the test and even during my test. I knew if I failed I would have another chance but I knew I had enough knowledge to pass the states test and I did.

I remember while doing the 90 degree Ally dock hearing the state instructor yelling "out of bounds" and each time I felt like it was about to be over but I got it in there after two pull ups. I got nervous because we only got two pull ups and we was told to save them for when we was in the "dock" as if you blew your horn and you wouldn't in the box you'll fail. If you pulled up a third time, you'll fail. After talking to a lot of people from other states, I learned a lot of states only give you extra points after X amount of pull ups.

Sorry for rambling on about this, but I felt the same way during my time at school. I felt the school wasn't teaching me enough to really drive these trucks. But thanks to this website I learned the school job was to teach me enough to only pass the tests. Once I got to Schneider they taught me a lot of other useful skills that would truly help me on the road. I believe everyone feels this way at some point or another, you just got to make sure to take advantage of any time you have behind the wheel.

We had 8 students per instructor during school, so I got limited time behind the wheel. But I made sure to make it count and not slack off like a lot of people in my class. Although everyone passed the tests(only two of us passed in the first try,so I felt good about that) besides this one lady who was always on her phone when she wasn't in the driver seat.

If you read the other There on TT, you'll notice a lot of people felt the same way about their school but they obtained their CDLs. You just got to put in the work and keep trying. I believe it was one of the moderators on the site that said something along the lines of "it doesn't matter how many times it takes to pass the test, you'll still be considered a driver like everyone else".

But trucking isn't for everyone, I believe you need the right attitude and be willing to really accept the training giving. Even when the trainers are "bad", try to work with then if it's your only option and ask questions either here, talk to other drivers, the trainer, etc. Hopefully this post made sense, typed it up on my phone.

This place is a JOKE! Yeah you may get your CDL in 3 weeks but all you're going to know how to do is pass the test. In the process, you're going to be cussed at, yelled at, and treated like you're stupid. Instructors sleep while students are driving. They talk about students behind their backs negatively in front of other students, one instructor even stated that one student annoyed her so she wasn't going to help him. The lodging quarters are DISGUSTING! The backing pad is such a muddy, potholes mess that the truck kept getting stuck. Seven people were sharing one backing pad truck. And speaking of trucks....they are horrible! I doubt even the road trucks would pass DOT inspection. I breezed through the written test and pretrip inspection but was having trouble with backing so I asked for an additional day of practice before testing, which I was denied. I feel that I should have been allowed an additional day since it's not required by DOT to test on a certain day. I was allowed some practice time before the test but all that got me was more yelling and more being talked down to by 3 different instructors who happened to be out there. After nearly a week of being treated subhumanly, I could not continue. I packed my bag and left. When I emailed the office about my experience, I got nothing other than "your CDL packet has been mailed". So I'd say they have to desire to change the way they do things or care that I was treated so badly that I quit after 3 weeks. I would not recommend this place to anyone!

Zombie Thread - but here is just ANOTHER reason (out of the hundreds) that you should really use Company Sponsored Driver Training. Private Schools are a gamble - and I like a nice wager as much as the next guy, but I rarely start by throwing down $2000-$10,000 right away.