Trucking School Visit

Good afternoon TT members,

I am considering a career change, and have been "lurking & learning" on this site for awhile now. This is my first post, and was hoping to get some advice on a trucking school that I recently visited. Prior to visiting, I did some research on this school, and from what I gathered they seem to be a reputable company. During my visit I asked what size trailers they train on and was told they use 28' & 48' trailers. I was told that you do get time training with the 48' trailer but they do concentrate on the 28' because this is what you are testing with at the CA DMV in there area. I just assumed that testing at the DMV was done with a 53'. From what I can tell this school has solid job placement with the mega carriers as well as some smaller OTR companies in the area. There test passing rate seems to be acceptable, they are around 96% passing rate on 1st try. I've read on this forum and others that "you should only attend schools that train on 53' Trailers".

My question is, do you think this would hinder my training or not give me the training I need by attending this school?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

That does seem a bit strange. I mean, I guess they figure if California will let you test in a 28 foot trailer that would be easier than in a 48'-53' trailer. But it isn't going to help you much when you get out on the road with the major companies.

I would talk to a couple more schools in your area and run that by them. See what their take is on it. But I would be a bit put off by that. You're almost certainly going to be pulling 53' trailers once you get your CDL and get hired. I'd want to learn with the trailers I'll be pulling for a living, not the ones I'll be testing in. If I can't pass a test in a 53' trailer then I'm not ready to go out on the road and do it professionally. That's my take on it.

Brett,

Thank you for your response, and I agree with you about wanting to learn on 53' trailers. I read on this forum and others about making sure the school your looking at has 53' trailers to train on. I am going to call around as well as call this school and get more info on this. This particular school is not a mom & pop type operation, they have 3 schools here in the area as well as Oregon & Washington State. They seems to have a good reputation in the area and they many of there graduates go on to drive for OTR companies (swift, systems transport, gordon, may, watkins/shepherd, dot foods, Schneider)

As a side note, I don't know if California only test for commercial DL with 28' trailers, but today my GF was across the street from the Stockton, CA DMV for her job, and she noticed that there were 3 tractor/trailers all with 28' trailers going through testing.

As a side note, I don't know if California only test for commercial DL with 28' trailers, but today my GF was across the street from the Stockton, CA DMV for her job, and she noticed that there were 3 tractor/trailers all with 28' trailers going through testing.

That's interesting. I never heard anything about California testing that way. Of course I'm in New York so I guess I just now got the memo.

It sounds like the school is perfectly legit and from their point of view it makes sense to give their students the best chance of success during testing. That's the school's job - to make sure you get enough training to get your license and land a job. And it sounds like they're doing exactly that. But it's a personal choice whether or not you want to learn on 28' trailers. Definitely go for a visit to some other schools in the area and see what they're doing.