Naive?
Topic 9005 | Page 2
For me when picking a truck driving school you want to make sure they have connections with trucking companies or some sort of Job Placement program. Make sure Companies like your Werner, May, Roehl, Western, JBS, and others are willing to hire you out of school.
Truck driving Schools job is to get you a CDL. Nothing much more then that. Those pre hire letters are important because you want a company that will say "Yes once you graduate from this school I will hire you."
So if a truck driving school is able to get you some of these Pre-hire letters and their students seem relatively happy with their pick in a school then I wouldn't worry to much about it. Even if he calls a DAC report a DAX report.
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 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.
DAC:
Drive-A-Check Report
A truck drivers DAC report will contain detailed information about their job history of the last 10 years as a CDL driver (as required by the DOT).
It may also contain your criminal history, drug test results, DOT infractions and accident history. The program is strictly voluntary from a company standpoint, but most of the medium-to-large carriers will participate.
Most trucking companies use DAC reports as part of their hiring and background check process. It is extremely important that drivers verify that the information contained in it is correct, and have it fixed if it's not.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Chris - Fried green tumaydo with mustard ;) Thank you all for helping me feel better about this. I initially felt so silly for even being concerned but it was eating at me (maybe I should get some ketchup too, Greenhorn)! So far, I've gotten 6 pre-hires (May, Werner, Voyager, Henderson, JBS, and Schneider) and am waiting on one from Prime (recruiter was on vacation) and Swift (also on vacation). I'm going to keep racking them up, like you said Jenny, so that I have a lot of options. I agree about going to private school - it lets me be a bit more free to choose my own destiny and not be tied down to one company in particular. Don't want to job hop (I'm trying to make really smart decisions so I can stay at least two years before switching if need be) but just not being under contract with someone right off the bat will help take some pressure off. The school recruiter has been really helpful in getting me company names and contacts. So from what you're saying, Max, I'm in good hands there. He seems to want to steer me in the right direction, which may be why I freaked out over the misunderstanding (been burned...wound still fresh). Thank you, Old School, for easing my worries and for clarifying the company accreditation status! I'll try to find a way to talk with current students and drivers about their experiences. Maybe another thread in the CDL Diaries forum? Magoo, I'm on pins and needles about some things being too good to be true, so it's good to know that I'm not alone in being a bit neurotic about things like this.
WHEW! I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER!!! Thank you all for taking a minute out of your day to help me re-focus on the important stuff :)
Happy and sunshiney driving!
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.
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Too much neurosis going on in here...
Just to clarify a few things mentioned in this thread... Accreditation of a truck driving school really means absolutely nothing other than they paid a fee to be a part of a certain group that calls itself "accredited" - there is no standardized accreditation procedure for these schools.
And SunshineMelly, I've heard people in this industry for decades pronounce it as DAX report... it means nothing, don't let a little thing like that bother you.
And one more thing, you simply cannot judge a school or a company by a recruiter's knowledge or understanding of the industry.
Talking with current students at a school, or speaking with current drivers at a company are some of the best ways to get a "feel" for what things are really like at either place.