A Picture Is Shaping Up

As my research continues, I am developing a view of the entrance portal to "Truck Driver Land'. It seems that there are companies that will train and hire you right out of their school. There are companies that want a minimum 6 months experience to hire you. There are not quite so many companies looking to hire right out of a community college type of training school. I'm m still checking the companies who support the course I will be taking but even they seem to have some higher standards. What do y'all think?

There are not quite so many companies looking to hire right out of a community college type of training school.

Not sure where you got this impression from. First and foremost, most companies require a certain amount of credit hours from your school of choice, be that a community college or a private CDL school. I believe the number is somewhere around 175 +. That's about the average.

It doesn't matter if you attend a community college or private school - there is no frowning upon community colleges. It all comes down to that magic number of credit hours. Doesn't matter if the school is 'accredited,' doesn't matter if it is or isn't a community college, doesn't even matter if the school is approved by another major trucking company. Certain companies will hire from their own list of 'approved' schools. For example, Werner may hire from one particular school, but not Schneider.

I agree w/6 String. When I researched, there were some companies that will list the schools they hire from right on their website. Usually you have to do a little digging like clicking on "I don't have my CDL" or something like that.

I went to one company's local terminal where they suggested the community tech college over the private school. They said they liked the fact that students got more driving/backing time. Additionally, that school's tuition was about 1/2 the private school.

But I found out I could complete a 3 week course and be earning money before the community college class even started. That's because the community college course starts at the beginning of a semester. And then, if they don't have enough enrollees, they cancel the class.

Good luck.

I recommend going to a company that schools you in the "school of hard knocks" and then puts you in a truck to start learning the ropes . . . I personally went to Prime, Inc (you'll find a LOT of Primers here) and I'm sure other companies are just as good. The bottom line for me was NO UP FRONT EXPENSES and the ability to cancel the tuition by working for them for a year. The object of any school is to get you the CDL-A license and make you eligible for hire . . . a company school not only does that, but puts you to work immediately . . . Prime's program is not a "school" per sey, it is more of an orientation that lasts a week and gets you the CDL-A permit so you can learn to drive with a trainer . . . since every company is going to put you through their own training process, you may as well take the shortest, easiest root to that stage by going with a company that provides good equipment to learn in and gets you started down the road (no pun - well, small pun - intended) that much sooner . . . to each his own, but that is my 2 cents worth on the matter . . .

Jopa

There are not quite so many companies looking to hire right out of a community college type of training school

Hey David....actually that's not true at all. Community colleges do in fact tend to have some of the best training programs at the best prices.

Now to be clear, there are two general types of training - Independent Schools, also referred to as "private schools", and Company-Sponsored Training Programs. Community colleges are considered Independent Schools, as are any schools that are not owned and operated directly by trucking companies.

You can go either route. It really boils down to finances and personnel preferences. But to help you decide we have a series of articles that cover How To Choose A School and we also have an entire chapter in our Truck Driver's Career Guide devoted to choosing a truck driving school.