Questions About Sponser Schools And Contracts

Hi guys, new to the board here I have been online trying to find places that accept people from Florida. Are all of these schools the same? Do they pull you in and try to get you to lease out a truck through their companies so you can only make around $25 a day? First of all let me say, I live in Orlando Florida. I looking to start driving and need free/sponsored cdl training. I am a veteran but used all my Post 9/11 gi bill to pay for a degree that there is currently NO work for here. I have talked to a few places but everytime i google the programs I hear nothing but bad things. First place i talked to was Central Refrigeration. They send you to utah for 2 weeks and then your on the road 5 weeks with a guy, then they send you home with a truck....not sure how true this is. They only pay 28 cents a mile for the first six months and $30 a month comes out of your check for schooling for the year contract. Second place I talked to was MTC and they wanted 3500 up front or I would have to pay a loan on 6400.,...then they would send me to WERNER ...NO THANKS

any ideas of places I can go to that will still hire someone in florida and include the training??

thanks guys

-Dave

Welcome aboard Dave!

Well, at TruckingTruth we've come to see ourselves as not only mentors to new drivers, but ever-increasingly as kind of a rehab facility for those who have serious cynicism toward every company under the sun, and the usual culprit is TheTruckersReport.

Oh, so you've been there many times? You don't say.

Well, the first step in your rehab will be to cleanse your mind of all of the negativity and vile garbage you've been reading over there about every company under the sun. Werner for instance. No thanks, huh? Do you know they have excellent equipment, a gigantic fleet, a ton of various opportunities for home time, and a host of different divisions to choose from? Did you know they have decades of experience mentoring new drivers into the industry? Did you know that they're one of the most consistently profitable publicly-traded trucking companies in North America? Not to mention, they're one of the only company-sponsored programs that hire out of Florida. Sounds pretty good to me!

There are ways to evaluate companies and sources of information that are valuable. There are also ways you should never evaluate a company and sources of information that are complete garbage. Not that you've stumbled upon the wrong ways and sources, we'll show you the right ones.

First of all, you should go through our entire Trucker's Career Guide. It will walk you through every topic imaginable that pertains to understanding the trucking industry and getting your career off to a great start. And although you'll come across these in the Career Guide, I'm going to point out a couple of links specifically for what you're trying to do - find a school and evaluate a trucking company.

For advice on your options for schooling and how to choose one that suits you well, go here:

How To Choose A Truck Driving School

For information about the various types of companies out there and how to choose one that suits you well, go here:

How To Choose A Trucking Company

Basically, what it boils down to when choosing a trucking company is deciding how much home time you'd like and what type of freight you'd like to haul. Then find the companies that hire from your area and match your criteria. You live in Florida so your choices are going to be quite limited. But you'll still have choices.

Then simply look at their pay & benefits, along with other smaller details to help determine which one feels right to you. Simple as that.

And one final tip for now. Do not get your career advice and information about companies from a bunch of anonymous knuckleheads hiding behind fake personas at TheTruckersReport. First of all, evaluate companies on quantifiable measures - average salary, mileage pay, benefits, home time, equipment, types of freight, etc, etc.

Do not base it on things like "AmericanBigRigger2464 at TheTruckersReport says Werner sucks". That is not reliable information. You have no clue who those people are and whether or not their opinions are of any value at all.

If you want information on life at a company you're interested in, go to a local truck stop and speak with several of their current drivers face to face. First of all, face to face conversations yield much better information. People feel more responsible for what they're saying when you're looking them in the eye. Also, you want to know what life is like at a company from drivers that are actually out there doing it successfully day in and day out, and those are the guys and gals that are currently driving for the company.

That should give you a great start. More than anything, please try to drop the cynicism and negative bias you've picked up elsewhere and focus on making objective comparisons between quantifiable facts. You don't want opinions about companies, you want facts.

Brett, thanks for your reply. However, I wasn't talking bad about WERNER....I was saying NO THANKS to the loan amount that MTC wants me to pay upfront or the larger sum without an upfront payment. I have gotten information from the recruiters and I talked to one in general that told me not to get involved with a company that makes you lease a truck. For it isn't the smart thing to take the risk until further in your career. My grandfather drove for twitchel for 42 years. My uncle drives for wiley sanders and has been driving for 30 years. This negativity comes from numerous road experiences I have had with him and various company drivers. Heck, when your on the road chatting with various drivers for info on their companies, I find it strange that a lot of guys will say the same thing about a certain company if asked about the internal affairs.

Anyone on here have experience with Central Refrigeration? I am interested in them, as they said they could hook me up with a truck to keep down here in Orlando.

I was hoping I could get some better insight on these multiple free cdl companies and know the ins and outs. The google reviews I read were about schools and payments and when ten guys say that the school is sub-par not allowing them to get drive time and failing the tests over and over due to this, and the hotels they put you in are close to a ****roach hole, one has to imagine the anomalies that can come from all of this.

David,

Check out Knight Transportation, refrigerated division out of Lakeland. You can find information on their Driver Training Program on their website or give them a call.

David,

Check out Knight Transportation, refrigerated division out of Lakeland. You can find information on their Driver Training Program on their website or give them a call.

they said they werent taking anyone from my area. I called when I saw positions open here. Stinks..

David,

Check out Knight Transportation, refrigerated division out of Lakeland. You can find information on their Driver Training Program on their website or give them a call.

they said they werent taking anyone from my area. I called when I saw positions open here. Stinks..

Hmmm...Steven's Transport, Con-Way Truckload, Comcar Industries. They all have internal driving programs. Not sure how far south they go though. You're in a not so great area for hiring truck drivers.

David,

Check out Knight Transportation, refrigerated division out of Lakeland. You can find information on their Driver Training Program on their website or give them a call.

they said they werent taking anyone from my area. I called when I saw positions open here. Stinks..

Hmmm...Steven's Transport, Con-Way Truckload, Comcar Industries. They all have internal driving programs. Not sure how far south they go though. You're in a not so great area for hiring truck drivers.

Lol , not to mention other jobs around here. I am an X-ray and CT technologist and there are NO jobs!! Most jobs are PRN (as needed) and you only get 2 days a week. That doesnt pay the bills. Sad really. My wife doesnt want to move to the jobs so I am getting ready to hit one of these trucking schools. It will be hard with a 18 month old daughter at home, but I think the first year should fly by and I can land something locally if all goes well. If not, hopefully the economy turns around and the medical jobs pick up again.

David,

Seems to me that you need to open your horizons a bit. I currently drive for Prime, went through their training program, drove for a short time as a company driver before moving over to being a lease operator. I can say from personal experience they treat their drivers well, pay them well, and have fairly good home time schedules.

Anything you want to know about Prime, I will do my best to help. Oh, and they do hire from FL.

Ernie

David,

Seems to me that you need to open your horizons a bit. I currently drive for Prime, went through their training program, drove for a short time as a company driver before moving over to being a lease operator. I can say from personal experience they treat their drivers well, pay them well, and have fairly good home time schedules.

Anything you want to know about Prime, I will do my best to help. Oh, and they do hire from FL.

Ernie

Hey Ernie email me your number so I can call you about all this. Wouldnt want it posted here Prime is starting to sound like a good thing, I just got off the phone with them and they are hiring Orlando students

davidorman600@yahoo.com

thanks in advance -Dave

Dave,

This is the thing I learned in trucking. 1) My mother was a mileage clerk, so she knows a little about how little truck drivers get paid. 2) If you lined up all the truck drivers in the world, we would NOT come to a conclusion. 3) Every company has some good, some bad, and some ugly. 4) The best trucking company is 4a) The one you just left, and 4b) The one you want to go to.

I was fired from my first company. The first thing I did, after I sighed and said "Oh well," was put in more apps. This website has plenty of info on the positives and negatives of both company sponsored vs. private/public school training.

Research the site, and decide what is the best route for you. Right now, I am over $6, 000 in debt, but I got to choose my own company.

Dave