Choosing A School
Topic 23934 | Page 3
Though most will be for over the road jobs. You might luck out and find a regional job, or flatbed seems to get you home for the weekends. If home time is important check Maverick, Roehl, and Melton, for starters.
Local is my only option.
Regional:
Regional Route
Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.
Over The Road:
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.
Here's some sage advice...
Why I Prefer Company Sponsored Training
Why You Should Not Start Your Trucking Career As A Local Driver
BlackandGold,...not sure if you had a chance to read the links Old School sent you; especially the one about local running. If local is your only option best to prepare your mind for the rigors of this type of job now, better than later. I urge you not to underestimate how much more difficult the learning curve is.
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.
BlackandGold,...not sure if you had a chance to read the links Old School sent you; especially the one about local running. If local is your only option best to prepare your mind for the rigors of this type of job now, better than later. I urge you not to underestimate how much more difficult the learning curve is.
I have not read those yet, but I definitely will. I did read a good portion of Rob T's diary and that provided excellent insight to the demands of that type of job. Thank you Rob for that. Yes I know it will be more demanding and I dont believe I am underestimating it. I know its not the recommended path but its the path I need to take right now.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Black and Gold: I feel your pain. I had to make a choice between trucking company training an independent school training. I choose the independent school route for the following reasons:
1) I didn't want to be obligated to a contract. 2) I could afford the $4,000 total that school cost me. 3) I live within driving distance of a very good school and could be home every night. 4) Many companies offer tuition reimbursement. 5) Some companies offer sign on bonuses. 6) I wanted the time private school allowed me to learn about trucking and ask for a lot of advice before I hired on with a company. After graduating from school and passing my CDL examination, I am now in a better position to evaluate my choices. 7) Time in school allowed me time to digest a large amount of information from Trucking Truth about choosing the best company for me. I have also participated in the forums and asked pertinent questions.
Everyone's considerations are different and specific to their individual circumstances. You want to go local. I want OTR. Just don't be hasty in making a choice, and good luck!
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.
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.
OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
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.
BlackandGold,...not sure if you had a chance to read the links Old School sent you; especially the one about local running. If local is your only option best to prepare your mind for the rigors of this type of job now, better than later. I urge you not to underestimate how much more difficult the learning curve is.
I have not read those yet, but I definitely will. I did read a good portion of Rob T's diary and that provided excellent insight to the demands of that type of job. Thank you Rob for that. Yes I know it will be more demanding and I dont believe I am underestimating it. I know its not the recommended path but its the path I need to take right now.
As far as I know, no company school will put you straight into a local route, but I could be wrong.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Bruce K. thank you for your feedback from your experience. The school I visited is $8,000. I was expecting it to be in the 4-5k range. Theres another school I want to check out also. I'm hoping they come in at a lower cost.
Bruce, you said:
1) I didn't want to be obligated to a contract
4) Many companies offer tuition reimbursement
You're only going to get the reimbursement if you stick with the company for quite a while, usually 1 - 2 years. So jumping companies early on is going to cost you that tuition reimbursement, plus the lost wages from the time between jobs. Then you'll also be starting again from the bottom at a new company so you're almost certainly not going to get the miles you may have earned at the first company, which is going to cost you even more money. Then on top of that you immediately have a reputation as a job hopper, so if you don't like your second company, which you probably won't if you left your first one right away, then what?
For anyone considering the private versus paid training route, make sure you read these articles so you understand the reality of this situation:
Why I Prefer Paid CDL Training Over Private CDL Training
As far as the "not being under contract thing" so you can job hop as a brand new rookie in a new career, check this out:
Podcast Episode 4: Why Stick With Your First Company One Full Year?
Private schooling in today's industry has quite a few disadvantages I'm afraid. Back in the day it was a little different. You can still get there with private schooling, but most of the time the things you think are advantages really are not, and there are a lot of disadvantages most people don't understand. So read those articles and listen to that podcast before you decide.
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.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.EPU:
Electric Auxiliary Power Units
Electric APUs have started gaining acceptance. These electric APUs use battery packs instead of the diesel engine on traditional APUs as a source of power. The APU's battery pack is charged when the truck is in motion. When the truck is idle, the stored energy in the battery pack is then used to power an air conditioner, heater, and other devices
I am now in a better position to evaluate my choices.
People mistakenly think this is the case. I believe most of them are somehow trying to justify the fact that they just laid out good money for a license, but they still don't know the first thing about becoming a successful driver. This decision of choosing your first company should be very simple. You could easily make a wise choice in ten or fifteen minutes, yet people who are afraid of committing to a contract waste inordinate amounts of time making a commitment to their first company.
We try to help people see the folly of this but we never succeed at it. After a year or so, those same people are either job hopping like crazy, convinced there's this super secret company somewhere that will make their trucking career wonderful, or they have settled in somewhere face palming themselves when they realize how much money they would have saved by taking heed to what we tried so hard to explain to them.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.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.
Well, like I said, everyone has their own circumstances to take into consideration and I wouldn't try to sway someone one way or the other. In my case, I read everything on Trucking Truth relating to schooling and training, I talked to numerous recruiters about their programs and then made a choice to go to a local private school. But my situation differs from the younger generation looking to get into truck driving. I agree that company school works best for most people. And I certainly can testify to all the com- ments about private schools just being focused on teaching the basics needed to obtain a CDL. That was clearly the case with the school I attended. My schooling cost $3,200 for a three course, but by the time I paid all the related fees, it totaled just a little over $4,000. I am very satisfied that it was money well spent. Great instructors and great classmates I will always remember. However, if you are trying to start truck driving on a limited budget, by all means go to a company school. What other industry has such a great way to train the next generation of professionals? I
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.
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Advice For New Truck Drivers Attending Truck Driving School CDL Training Choosing A Truck Driving School Choosing A Trucking Company Company Sponsored CDL Training Getting Your CDL Local CDL Drivers Paying For Truck Driving School
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I am currently in school at Sage, and without an extremely important reason to pay for it yourself, I highly recommend a company paid program.
Though most will be for over the road jobs. You might luck out and find a regional job, or flatbed seems to get you home for the weekends. If home time is important check Maverick, Roehl, and Melton, for starters.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
Regional:
Regional Route
Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.
Over The Road:
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.