Worries Regarding Acquiring A Cdl

Here is some great timing. I just got an email from someone who went to a private school and here is what he said:

[After graduating from school] I took a driving test but I didn't pass. My examiner explained what I needed to work on. I called the school and conversed with them but they wouldn't help me. The school is in Ga I live in South Carolina. They never taught me how to Alley-Dock!! I called a lot of people within the school but no help. Last week I had a meeting with them and they refused to help me. But stated to me that I should reapply and come back to school a second time!!!!

So now what does he do?

Here's the thing........the Paid CDL Training Programs are investing their money in training you. The only way they recoup that money is if you go on to become a successful driver for the company. If you go through training and they let you go for any reason they lose all of their investment.

A private school accepts your money up front and then tries to train you in such a way that it's profitable for them. The more time they let you spend in the truck the less profitable they are. So they want to push you through school with the least amount of training necessary to get you out the door. If you fail to get your CDL or you fail to have a successful career, it's no skin off their back. They made their money. Your career is your problem now.

That's what happened to this student. He paid for the schooling, graduated from the school, but failed his driving test in the school's truck. Now the school is refusing to let him get any more practice or retest.

For another example, look at Marc Lee. He went to private school, got hired by JB Hunt, got injured very early on, and the company immediately let him go. It's no skin off their back. They didn't invest the money for training him. Now if they would have fronted the money for his training do you think they would have just tossed the thousands of dollars and months of their invested time down the drain? Heck no. He'd still have a job.

We have dozens of these type of cautionary tales and in fact I think we're going to go through and round them up so people can learn from them. These are just two recent examples. There are many, many more from over the years.

I went to a private school myself back in '93 because I had no idea there was such a thing as paid CDL training. I had never heard of it until I was already a driver. So we never said that it can't work or that people get no respect for going through that type of training. What we are saying is that paid training is a much better alternative for a long list of reasons and we have tons of cautionary tales to prove it.

So if someone is going to choose private training over paid training it's important they understand all of the shortcomings and risks involved with that path.

Another reason I recommend company sponsored is no outside distractions. You are there 24/7 to do nothing but work on getting the CDL. Trying to work 8 to 10 hours at a job then going to school completely exhausted? Some people just cant learn that way. Not to mention you do t have the famiky/friends distractions. You are completely immersed in nothing but trucking.

But yeah, compiling some stories is a good idea. Monika in the ladies section went to CDL school, then went to her company and was told she needed to go to a doctor and get more certification for a condition she didnt think would be an issue.

Theres a thread now I honestly thought was a joke. 2 Drug possession convictions, DUI , posession of prison contraband, attempted possession of stolen property, wreckless driving , and license suspensions. He paid for school and will never get hired.

SoI got a little more info on that guy's situation. He's from South Carolina and he went to a school in Georgia. He can't test in Georgia, and the school won't give him another opportunity to test in South Carolina, so right now he's stuck. He graduated from school but doesn't have his CDL and isn't sure how to get it now.

That’s an abysmal situation to be in.

“PLEASE.....DO NOT give any of your hard earned cash to a private Trucking School. DO look into Company Sponsored Training.”

Really? The private school I graduated from had three recently retired Schneider drivers as instructors. Not all companies offered training in my area.

I have just as much respect for drivers regardless of who they trained with.

Thanks to tuition reimbursement, I’d say my experience was as good as any company-sponsored school.

I respect everyone’s opinions on which path to CDL is best. But there are many variables when choosing and it just seems disingenuous to flat-out tell people not to go to a private school.

No one is necessarily saying the private schools are "Bad" or worse at instructing students. Its just that having a CDL and no experience doesn't guarantee you a job. Company sponsored training will get you a job, and a company that has a vested (literally) interest in your success. They are, shall we say, "Pot Committed" to you, so if you have a few minor accidents during your first year, they will probably be able to get past them.

Drivers from a private school have to be almost perfect or else they will get dropped like hot potatoes. The company didn't invest in you, so they don't care if they let you go for a rookie mistake.

Obviously, results may vary, but in general, that hold up. I look at 10-30 driver applications per day, I can pretty much tell you how someone's career has gone so far.

Drivers from a private school have to be almost perfect or else they will get dropped like hot potatoes. The company didn't invest in you, so they don't care if they let you go for a rookie mistake

May be true at some places, but Diver Driver went to a local school then came to.Prime. He wasnt dropped like a hot potato after one mistake. But as stated earlier, Prime pays less during TNT and makes CDL holders run 10k more miles if they didnt go through Primes schooling. So you are disadvantaged by not going to the company school route.

When I took a trainee from an outside school, my FM said, "Whatever your school taught you, forget it. Now you need to learn the Prime way."

I also know for a fact my FM doesnt keep up on who had their CDL or went through Prime. He wants all drivers to get through training and succeed. Hes greedy so "make me money" is how i tease him.

But when accidents occur, they scour your record. Someone with multiple incidents will be looked at negatively. Someone going to a local school is going to have a disadvantage over someone who was trained on newer equipment. I was trained on a 2015 Cascadia and that is what my first truck was. Huge difference from a local school with a 1999 day cab.

Brett wrote:

SoI got a little more info on that guy's situation. He's from South Carolina and he went to a school in Georgia. He can't test in Georgia, and the school won't give him another opportunity to test in South Carolina, so right now he's stuck. He graduated from school but doesn't have his CDL and isn't sure how to get it now.

I'm confused why did this guy go to CDL school in Georgia and not in his home state of South Carolina? It would have made better sense for him to go to school in South Carolina. Does South Carolina have a requirement that out of state CDL drivers transferring into the state to live have to retake the written, skills and road test again like Illinois requires?

I'm confused why did this guy go to CDL school in Georgia and not in his home state of South Carolina?

I'm really not sure. I didn't get any deeper into it because I was only trying to help him figure out what to do about it now.

no team driving with a trainer

You never went out with a trainer? You got your CDL at private school and immediately went solo?

Well if they’d just put everyone through the HRTP they’d save themselves a LOT of trouble. 😊

But seriously, I didn’t say I didn’t go out with a trainer.

I went OTR with, what Schneider calls, a Training Engineer (TE) for six days. Other than the four hour “demonstration” drive he did, the rest of the week he was in the passenger seat or outside supervising the backing.

We ran only one 8/11/14 clock each day. When my clock was up, that was it. I spent each night in a hotel room, on the company’s dime.

I really appreciate y’all making me feel so special. I don’t consider myself better than anyone else. But maybe...uh oh! Might not be able to get my head out of the sleeper in the morning. 😆

Okay. I’m very fortunate, Blessed, whatever you wanna call it. But it started here. And I’m glad you put this website out here...and free.

I hope your week is challenging AND rewarding!