Is TDI In Murfrersboro, TN A Good School Choice? Also Unemployment Question

I am starting school Monday and I was curious if there were rumors or horror stories of this school. It seems like a nice school and the people I've talked to about being enrolled have been super nice but I'm curious if maybe it is too good. I would also like to hear from recruiters if they have worked with anyone from this school.

It is roughly $275 out of pocket and the companies that hire will gradually pay the rest of the tuition. It is a 3 week course with 150 hours total and is state certified. They say I will know if I am pre-hired by the end of the first week. I am just curious if any of this sounds "too good" to anyone else or is the norm in the industry.

I also had a question about my actual chances of being employed, I am 2 years out of college with most of those 2 years (October 2011-December 2012 and Feburary 2013 until now) looking for career opportunities but nothing has appeared pertaining to my interests and qualifications. Do you think those 2 years will inhibit my chances of getting hired on by companies or do you think I could slide by with my otherwise perfect application?

Thanks to anyone and everyone that responds, it means a lot!

I think you'll be a good candidate for any trucking company. With todays economy, the trucking companies have finally figured out that there are going to be people who will have breaks in their employment history. If you use your tax returns as part of your work history evidence, then they won't question it. Good Luck !! And welcome to TT !!

I'm kind of finding it funny how most of the comments on this thread aren't actually about my questions. Anyways, I talked to the student services and she is having me to have 3 people in town to say I've been unemployed for those periods of time and have the notarized. I hope that is enough because I want to get through school, get out of this house, and make some money!

Hey Craig. Sorry about the confusion from some of the off-topic posts. I deleted most of em. I don't know what happened there - must have been something in the air that day!

Ok, as far as choosing a school to attend, there are two major factors:

1) Do major trucking companies hire their students?

2) Do the current students at the school recommend it?

If major trucking companies will hire from a school then you know they're at least a legitimate school to consider. If the current students like the school then you know they feel they're getting their money's worth by being treated fairly and trained properly.

We have an excellent series of articles for you to read through on How To Choose A Truck Driving School - have a look - you'll pick up a lot of information.

As far as the two years of unemployment - some companies will not hire you because of that, others won't care. It will simply depend on how desperately they need drivers at the time. Trucking Companies will alter their requirements regularly to increase or decrease the size of their candidate pool. We're entering the busy season for trucking so a lot of companies will lower their requirements, especially on things like this because they're ultimately not very good indicators of potential. So you may be ruled out of a few jobs, but ultimately the unemployment won't keep you from getting your trucking career underway.

As far as pre-hires go, you do not need to commit to a school before applying for pre-hires. We have an excellent article written by the owner of a truck driving school about Understanding The Pre-Hire Process - have a look at it.

But you can apply for pre-hires on your own with trucking companies. They'll review your application and tell you if you qualify based on your background. If so, you can tell them which schools you're considering and they'll let you know if they hire students from that school.

So go ahead and get the pre-hire process rolling if you haven't already. Also, speak with some of the current students at any school you're considering. Show up before or after classes, or at lunchtime, and speak with some students privately about the school. Believe me, when someone puts down their money to attend a school they'll definitely want to let others know if they feel they're getting a fair shake. So that's a great way to find out if the school is well-run or not.

Hope this helps!

I graduated from TDI and can say they are a good school. Like all the schools it is fast paced so be prepared to study hard and make sure to get time in on the range. They have a night drive up Mt Eagle on US 41 which gets tight but is good experience.