[A Certain] Trucking School - An Honest Review

I cannot see any school having brand new top of the line trucks. They will have busted up piles of crap because students will tear them up.

The turbo on the truck I tested in blew up and the instructor did not care cause they wanted the truck to die.

I was not happy about many things at my school but only one thing made me make a complaint and that was when a new instructor was verbally abusive to me personally.

And it looks like we ran him off so all this is a mute point anyway. He came here trying to help and look what we did.

That's not how I see it at all.

First of all, he came here ranting about a school, wanting to slam them as hard as possible. That wasn't an honest review, that was a personal vendetta. Why? We're not sure. That's what I was hoping we could find out. If he doesn't come back to help us understand the situation better and pursue this further then you know he wasn't here to help anyone but himself. He simply wanted to vent and lash out. If he comes back and we can have an honest, helpful discussion about the circumstances at the school then maybe we can help. Not only can we make sure his career stays on track, but I can make some phone calls if necessary. I've called schools a few times over the years when I heard what I thought was a legitimate concern and I would do it again if I could get a bit more reliable and accurate information.

And like Old School, I too noticed a number of glaring omissions like whether or not he graduated and got his CDL. I also noticed he didn't have the first good thing to say about anyone or anything at the school. Nothing. An honest review, even a negative one, should include any good points also. There is always some good and some bad in everything. We look for that in order to determine the quality and purpose of the review (or vendetta).

So we certainly didn't run off anyone. We're here taking a lot of time discussing the topic he brought to our attention and we're hoping to help somehow. If I was new to an industry and several experienced people were willing to take a chunk of time out of their day to talk over my concerns I'd be thrilled! I certainly wouldn't run off. So hopefully he'll be back.

Oh well, he never would have made it out there anyway right?

I'm sure he's perfectly capable of making it out there, but so are most people who fail to get their career off to a great start. It's not that they can't shift or backup or navigate the country. It's their approach and their attitude that messes things up for them. They start out with the wrong expectations and the wrong approach. Then they start getting aggravated by what they perceive to be incompetence, disorganization, or manipulation on the part of the schools and companies. It builds for a bit and then they start lashing out at teachers and management. That just makes things 10 times worse because now the teachers and management figure they have "one of those guys" in class that has a lot of attitude and very little potential. They want the student out, the student soon gets to the point they're just p*ssed off about everything, and before you know it he's home surfing the Web again looking for a different career. And of course they often find their way to trucking forums to blame everyone and everything outside of themselves for their own failures. They don't care much about how misleading or harmful their "information" about the trucking industry may be to others hoping for a great start to their career - people like yourself.

So I hope he returns so we can clarify some things, help him keep his career on track, and maybe look into the management at that school if their seems to be some legitimate problems.

Daniel thanks for still talking to me even though you are still mad. I don't have anything figured out. You guys are the experts out there on the road not me. If you re read this thread maybe you will see I was just standing up for someone I felt was unjustly attacked because he gave an honest review of his experience. Just facts. He probably felt the same way you did when you thought I questioned your integrity. Think about that for a second. And it looks like we ran him off so all this is a mute point anyway. He came here trying to help and look what we did. Oh well, he never would have made it out there anyway right?

I got about half way through the second page of this thread and decided I am not going to read any more. But I did want to make a comment about what I had read so far. You seem to think Old Schools reply and judgement was based on this one review. I could be wrong and maybe it was, but I doubt it. I thought several of the exact same things Old School wrote. I question if this is the right choice for him not because of this one review but because I have read several of his threads over the past few weeks.

In reading the review a couple things really stuck out to me but I will just mention one. He said they did not honor the promise of letting him choose the morning or afternoon class. Then followed that up stating when he asked about it the response was "we will try". There is a BIG difference between saying it will happen and saying we will try. It is a small point, but one that is important when considering the entire review.

Sorry if these things were already mentioned but after driving all night I did not want to read 3 pages of what I had already read.

Woody

Jason, did you get your CDL and graduate?

Wow, this topic turned sour quick huh.........i wanted to shut my eyes to the whole thing but I just got sucked in. Not quite as good as the drama that my wife deals with at the bar she works at but pretty darn close. :)

In all seriousness, Brett has asked the question of the day. Did this guy graduate? Interesting how he hasn't been back to clarify. I'd find it hard to believe a school could be that bad and still be in business. But, it's all meaningless if the guy got his CDL

Oh well, just felt nosey and couldnt help but butt in. Carry on. :)

Hey Brett you can see the school name on a smart phone with google chrome when you click the tabs button... I don't know about a pc

Hey Brett you can see the school name on a smart phone with google chrome when you click the tabs button... I don't know about a pc

There's a few other ways to see the name of the school as well.

Just wanted to pop in and say that he says in his other thread that he got his CDL with full endorsements from this place.

As Josh stated, Jason did get his cdl through the school. Also, in Jason's other 80000 pound thread I asked him how the school and instructors were...as my plan is to attend the school at the beginning of the year. From looks of it, its almost a copy and paste thread...to start a new thread to highlight that particular school. I hope all these posts haven't run Jason off, as with any thread made will be useful for me in the future.

I'd be happy to contact them to learn more about this situation and see if there's a problem we should let people know about.

So I can contact them if you'd like me to in order to find out more about what's going on over there. I also wouldn't mind hearing from some of your classmates. If we can confirm that this isn't just a personal vendetta you have and that there is really something wrong with that school we'd be happy to let people know about it. This website will get about 2.7 million visits this year alone and it's still growing at about 40% a year. We have significant reach and we're working regularly with various schools and large companies across the country. So if there's a legitimate problem with that school I'd like to know more about it.

Although Brett's entire first post was spot on IMHO. What I mostly took from this thread, was what Brett offered in his reply. It may not have done much for the OP but, it may have helped others in the future.

Respectfully, Well Done!!!

Larry B.,

You're the same guy who told me that I have no integrity a few days ago. All about a situation that you've never been in but somehow you know all about what to do even though you haven't turned a single mile.

I'm going to post in this thread once and then I'm out, nothing good can come of it and I can't believe it takes three experienced drivers to tell you something without you blowing it off. Go ahead and rule Brett out, after all, he hasn't been in a driving school in many years right?

Alright, so maybe I can shed some light on this considering I went through what the poster went through. I went to a school, I drove on an ancient 1992 Freightliner with about 1.4 million miles on it. I also did my training in the winter time. That trucks transmission was worn, the heater didn't work, and there was 4" of mud on the ground. And guess what? This was a multi-million dollar company running this school. If they can't afford to put us in a brand new truck then how do you expect an independent private school to?

And why do you even deserve the best of the best? You're just someone coming in trying out for trucking. Just because you can fork over 5 grand doesn't mean you'll survive this job. Fact, my class started with 10 and ended with only 2 graduating. So why have great trucks for students when the typical student doesn't even graduate? Your 5 grand means nothing compared to the cost of a decent truck, not to mention the fuel costs that the student racks up driving it as well as all the damage to the transmission that each student causes with their grinding.

If people would stop being customers to these "low budget trucking schools" then they would close down. The last thing they'll do is buy new equipment for their students to destroy within a week.

So lets get back to my experiences.

I never complained about having to drive that 1992 Freightliner. In fact, I fell in love with it. I complained only about one instructor and that was to my wife because this particular instructor just wasn't a good teacher (not all of them are). The transmission sucked but I dealt with it and I bought myself boots for the mud. A successful future driver doesn't complain, they make it happen.

In that school I learned on three different trucks. When I went to take my test I did it in a completely different transmission and truck. I still passed. Why? Because I got to studying instead of going online complaining.

You're right about being a paying customer, but you're forgetting that there's a million grey areas in trucking.

We can't really explain it to you any better. You just have to figure it out on your own when you get out here. But judging from your previous posts, I think you have it figured out better than anyone of us do.

As for OS, respectively, get off his ass. The man makes one "bad" post in 2,000 posts and you raise your pitchforks like you did with me.

Anyways, good luck out there.

Daniel thanks for still talking to me even though you are still mad. I don't have anything figured out. You guys are the experts out there on the road not me. If you re read this thread maybe you will see I was just standing up for someone I felt was unjustly attacked because he gave an honest review of his experience. Just facts. He probably felt the same way you did when you thought I questioned your integrity. Think about that for a second. And it looks like we ran him off so all this is a mute point anyway. He came here trying to help and look what we did. Oh well, he never would have made it out there anyway right?

We don't really know if Jason's review of his experience is accurate or objective. Larry, it's good of you to give him the benefit of the doubt but people who get upset tend to lash out in hyperbole and exaggeration. Sometimes in the heat of the moment, we forget the role that we play in our own upset. I know, I've been there myself. But sometimes even if you feel you've been mistreated, it still helps to be polite, conciliatory, and respectful. You never know, this Mrs. T might actually be a decent person having a bad day or going through a rough time.

While in company paid school, I got yelled at but rather than getting my hackles up, I simply listened. We have the power to control our own reactions to a situation. Sure, I still failed out but they worked with me as much as they could, above and beyond. The instructors even suggested going to a private school because they felt I was close to getting the straight line backup, I just needed a slower paced learning environment. Attitude is key! So, since I was able to maintain composure and professionalism, I got positive support and am now going to attend the school that one instructor recommended.