Newbee, Best Method To Get CDL?

Seeking advice from those who have been in the industry a while. What are the advantages of getting CDL on your own versus being sponsored. Obvious advantage of company sponsor is no out-of-pocket. But, does being trained by a company for CDL limit income possibility due to time obligation to them after? Pros and cons of each please. Also, what are the most respected companies to drive for?

Now, sadly, I do not think I have a really good golden answer for you :/.. But I will share what I did and what my team driver did.

Myself- I started off grain hauling and doing a few flat bed loads. I took the written tests on my own and driving tests, all without instructor or going through a school. I am not goin to go through any company (who in the world wants to deal with Qualcomm?!?!).. My business partner and I purchased a truck and trailer together and that is how I am getting started for my OTR driving.

My partner- they were sponsored by a medium small company out of northern illinios. They were stuck at that company for 2 years and they hated it, the company actually encouraged drivers to cheat their logs books and drive for dangerous hours...

I don't know all how many companies work, I know there are some that I like to poke fun at and use within jokes about driving (not saying them in here in case anyone on these forums works for them).

Hopefully my comment will bump this so maybe someone a tad more insite can really help you, at least I tried!!! Haha Have a good one!

What are the advantages of getting CDL on your own versus being sponsored.

First of all, I am not one of "those who have been in the industry a while," so take what I write with that in mind. Secondly, it depends on what you mean by "getting CDL on your own." If you mean studying on your own and then renting or borrowing a truck to take the driving test, that will benefit you very little. I doubt you could find any major carrier that would give you anything more than an "A" for initiative. They will not accept you as having had any kind of training at all. If you know who you want to work for and they offer training, that would probably be the best route. i am undecided on which company to go with and am diligently researching it. If you can afford it, you can probably pay for the training up front and not worry about the deductions later or a contract. I have gone the public college route. I am using my veteran's benefits to pay for the schooling. There are different options for financing college classes. Surely more than would be available for a private trucking school. I also believe that colleges have more vested in the student's success. Community colleges usually have been in the neighborhood for a long time. They try to provide what the community needs. The Truck Diving Academy is not their bread and butter. Their reputation is what they have vested in the students. I believe that a few of the private trucking schools are longer and give you more behind the wheel time. That would be a big plus. But with that said, some are really short and get you through the driving test really quickly. 160 hours is a key number. Mountain girl, on this forum , can attest to that and I called a recruiter yesterday and she asked if the school I am attending was 160 hours. Whether you go company sponsored, or private or public school on your own, that is only you admission ticket. Your real training begins after orientation with the company of your choosing. Notice, I didn't say, after you are hired. Each company has a different way of training. Some you have to drive so many hours and some it is so many miles or it could just be a time frame. The time frame it takes to accomplish the training seems to vary a great deal as well. It could be a few weeks to over half a year. After successful completion of the company training, you're hired. Rather lengthy, but I hope I answered some of your question.

I think it depends on what you're willing to commit to and what you can afford. Company training like you said is good because they pay for it. Down side is you'll be committed to them for at least a year. Mainly do they can recoup the cost if training you. But if you don't have the funds then this may be your only option.

Private school is a good choice if you have the money available. School can cost between 4 and 8 thousand dollars, so it's not cheap. I opted for this option myself. I had enough saved in a retirement account to take out and pay for it. The advantage to doing it this way is you open up your options to where you can work. I was able to find a great local job getting me home most nights and great pay. So that could be an option as well as still being able to choose between the big national companies. You'll wanna make sure though that the company hires students from the school you attended. That just takes a call to the school to askho hired from then. Also you won't be committed for a year and have to pay it back. Although the general rule would be you should stay with your first company at least a year.

So to sum it up. What can you afford? What can you commit to? And what type of job are you looking to get into?

Good luck

Some excellent answers above....

it depends on what you mean by "getting CDL on your own." If you mean studying on your own and then renting or borrowing a truck to take the driving test, that will benefit you very little. I doubt you could find any major carrier that would give you anything more than an "A" for initiative. They will not accept you as having had any kind of training at all. If you know who you want to work for and they offer training, that would probably be the best route

Said perfectly. To get started you can use our High Road Training Program to learn the materials you'll need to know in order to pass the written CDL permit test and the endorsement tests. You can go through our program (it's 100% free by the way!) and then go to the DMV on your own to take the written tests. At that point you're going to choose what type of schooling you'd like, either Independent Truck Driving Schools or Company-Sponsored Training Programs.

The two main reasons for choosing one type of training over the other will be money and the company you'd like to work for. As was mentioned above, if you find a company you'd like to work for and they have their own company-sponsored training program then that's the best route to go. If you don't have the money to pay for an independent school up front then of course company-sponsored training will again be the way to go.

If the company you want to work for doesn't have their own training program or you would like your choice of companies after getting your CDL then an independent school is the way to go, assuming you have the funds to pay for it up front.

Either way will get you where you want to go. One form of training isn't better or worse than the other. It's really just a matter of personal preference and finances.

But you definitely do not want to try renting a truck and learning on your own or learning from someone outside of an official school. The major companies generally will not hire anyone who hasn't gone to a legitimate school so your options will be severely limited and that's no way to start off a new career properly. Get the right training and go through the normal channels.

We have an excellent series of articles on How To Choose A School and we also have a chapter in our Truck Driver's Career Guide that covers choosing a truck driving school.