Driving OTR Is All I Think About And I'm Overwhelmed By All The Info On This Website About Truck Driving Schools And Companies
Topic 8227 | Page 2
Companies that are hiring out of our school here in Sanford:
Werner, Swift, Prime, Stevens, CCC, Windy Hill, Trans Am, US Xpress, Conway, Cypress, Schnieder and several others. No school is going to guarantee you employment afterwards. But they should go the extra mile to make sure you get your pre-hires all lined up so that you can pick and choose who you want based on your needs and desires.
I'm local enough to my school, that I go home every night. But others from around the state are staying at the hotel. Some weeks they have roomies and some not. They have the option to pay the single supplement (if a room is available) to get their own rooms-but they are all guys. They would not match you up to a roommate of the opposite sex. The cost for the shared room for the entire 3 weeks (excluding weekends) is $100. No meals but there are stores close by. If you pay cash for the school, it's $4995. There are other options. It's a three week, 154 hour class so it's VERY intense... tomorrow is my testing day. If all goes well I'll be a CDL A holder tomorrow!! As a class B holder you'll have a leg up! I'm happy to answer any other questions. Oh, I'm attending TDI in Sanford. :)
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Pre-hire:
What Exactly Is A Pre-Hire Letter?
Pre-hire letters are acceptance letters from trucking companies to students, or even potential students, to verify placement. The trucking companies are saying in writing that the student, or potential student, appears to meet the company's minimum hiring requirements and is welcome to attend their orientation at the company’s expense once he or she graduates from truck driving school and has their CDL in hand.
We have an excellent article that will help you Understand The Pre-Hire Process.
A Pre-Hire Letter Is Not A Guarantee Of Employment
The people that receive a pre-hire letter are people who meet the company's minimum hiring requirements, but it is not an employment contract. It is an invitation to orientation, and the orientation itself is a prerequisite to employment.
During the orientation you will get a physical, drug screen, and background check done. These and other qualifications must be met before someone in orientation is officially hired.
Pre-hires:
What Exactly Is A Pre-Hire Letter?
Pre-hire letters are acceptance letters from trucking companies to students, or even potential students, to verify placement. The trucking companies are saying in writing that the student, or potential student, appears to meet the company's minimum hiring requirements and is welcome to attend their orientation at the company’s expense once he or she graduates from truck driving school and has their CDL in hand.
We have an excellent article that will help you Understand The Pre-Hire Process.
A Pre-Hire Letter Is Not A Guarantee Of Employment
The people that receive a pre-hire letter are people who meet the company's minimum hiring requirements, but it is not an employment contract. It is an invitation to orientation, and the orientation itself is a prerequisite to employment.
During the orientation you will get a physical, drug screen, and background check done. These and other qualifications must be met before someone in orientation is officially hired.
OOS:
When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.
You can always tell when a truck driver is lying... when his lips are moving. Or at least when he's telling you about his pay!
Using your best friend's, or Aunt Martha's address is perfectly jopafiable when it comes to trucking. 
Debra, You have nothing to lose by just filling out an application to prime. It is who jopa and I both drive for. The training is top notch as far as I am concerned. Do yourself the favor by checking out the schools section of the site that Brett put up for you. If you have any questions about the PSD program with Prime I would be happy to answer them to the best of my knowledge.
I went through the PSD program myself and I am now an instructor/trainer. The best way to get ahold of me would be to send me a message since it goes to my email account. Hope you pull the trigger and follow your dream.
PSD:
Prime Student Driver
Prime Inc has a CDL training program and the first phase is referred to as PSD. You'll get your permit and then 10,000 miles of on the road instruction.
The following is from Prime's website:
Prime’s PSD begins with you obtaining your CDL permit. Then you’ll go on the road with a certified CDL instructor for no less than 75 hours of one-on-one behind the wheel training. After training, you’ll return to Prime’s corporate headquarters in Springfield, Missouri, for final CDL state testing and your CDL license.
Obtain CDL Permit / 4 Days
- Enter program, study and test for Missouri CDL permit.
- Start driving/training at Prime Training Center in Springfield, Missouri.
- Work toward 40,000 training dispatched miles (minimum) with food allowance while without CDL (Food allowance is paid back with future earnings).
On-the-Road Instruction / 10,000 Miles
- Train with experienced certified CDL instructor for 3-4 weeks in a real world environment.
- Get 75 hours of behind-the-wheel time with one-on-one student/instructor ratio.
- Earn 10,000 miles toward total 40,000 miles needed.
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Let me clarify something ... when I first spoke to Prime, Inc. about their company training program I was a resident of Truckee, CA (still am) ... the recruiter told me they were not hiring from Northern California and DID I HAVE A DIFFERENT ADDRESS available ... I told her, "Yes" my best friend lived in Reno, NV (35 miles east of Truckee) and I could use his address ... she said fine, allowed me to fill out all of the applications with that address and I ended up being accepted into the program a year ago this month ... Now, was that the complete truth? No, it was not but it was a work around SUGGESTED BY THE RECRUITER and it was for a purely technical and temporary situation ... as spoken elsewhere, companies will restrict hiring from certain areas because they don't want to hassle trying to get you home time where they have little freight ... if you are willing to deal with that situation, you can work it around ... the truth is the truth and I'm NOT pretending that's not important but don't act like it is the equivalent of trying to obscure a DUI or some felony record ... when you give them a home address it is a technical thing and only has the residual effect of getting home time ... to each his own ...
Jopa
DUI:
Driving Under the Influence