school not PTDI certified

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by scarecrow56, Nov 17, 2006.

  1. scarecrow56

    scarecrow56 Light Load Member

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    Oct 31, 2006
    palm bay, fl.
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    I see what your saying. Lemme ask a question. Pardon my ignorance.

    Is the school not basically to get your first job? What I mean is, if the company you want to work for, say Schnider for example, will take a student from this particular school then what is the problem? If you put your 1 year in and get your REAL experiance on the road, then how likely is your next job to care where or even if you went to school? You see what i'm asking? The way I understand it is that the school is just to get your foot in the door. Once you have real exp. you should be able to get along on your own merit and the schooling becomes redundant. Or am I wrong in this? Are you saying that your school exp. will stay with you forever?

    Once again, Pardon my inexperiance. Thanks

    P.S. I keep remembering things as I go. The director also told me that they do the drug screen, physical and (i think) the DMV report BEFORE they take your money for the school to insure that you are hireable first. I thought that was an honest gesture.
     
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  3. kc0rey

    kc0rey Medium Load Member

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    Jul 5, 2005
    Macomb, IL
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    The certification means that you will get a certain standard of education......xx amount of classroom...xx amount of road....xx amount of actual driving.

    Know this up front, The school is there to help you get your CDL and the majority of your training will be with a trainer for your company. Whether you do well or poorly depends on many things including the amount of knowledge you bring to a company when you hire on. The rest comes from how good of a trainer you get, the amount of time the company is willing to dedicate to your training and the training standards of the company..........

    Most companies put a new driver out with minimal training and it is time to sink or swim. Most new drivers sink because of improper training. If you're lucky you hurt nobody while you are sinking. If you kill somebody there is a huge chance you'll go to prison for doing so, not to mention the financial obligation that occur following an accident.

    There is an old saying in many industries.........Cover your *** (CYA). It is up to you, because nobody else will. This is especially true in the trucking industry.

    Lastly, I trained new drivers for 7 years. You can tell right away who went to a good school and who will be still driving a truck in a year.
     
  4. kc0rey

    kc0rey Medium Load Member

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    Jul 5, 2005
    Macomb, IL
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    I forgot to mention that because a company says that a company hires from them, that does not mean that they do. The company may have never hired from that school or may have hired 1 driver from that school.

    If you desire to go the Schneider I highly suggest contacting them and finding out what schools they recommend.
     
  5. scarecrow56

    scarecrow56 Light Load Member

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    Oct 31, 2006
    palm bay, fl.
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    Thanks kcorey.

    This makes the process alot more difficult and confusing. The only schools around here are TDI and Roadway which I have been advised to stay away from. And, of course, the one I mentioned. There are community colleges but they are several hours away. I just dont know.
     
  6. Silverfrost1

    Silverfrost1 Bobtail Member

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    Nov 15, 2006
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    I noticed that Schneider is PTDI certified. They have a CDL school in Charlotte, NC. And I believe they pay you to attend. Sounds like a pretty good way to break in to the industry. Correct me if I am wrong, but it looks like company training would be the best there is.
     
  7. TurboTrucker

    TurboTrucker Road Train Member

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    Feb 23, 2005
    Rossville, Georgia
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    It's also apparently a recent addition to the ranks.
    PTDI is a bit more than what he led you to believe.

    The price is mid-range, but the training will be little. It's another two week wonder academy.


    Professional Truck Driver Institute, Inc. - Advocates of Safety Standards in Entry-Level Tractor-Trailer Driver Training


    Well...the best way to inform yourself is to go to the source....
     
  8. Rook

    Rook Light Load Member

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    Sep 22, 2006
    Texas
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    I met a guy that had to pay the school I went to for a refresher course because the non certified school he went to and paid 5k for only gave him 2 hours in a truck.
     
  9. TurboTrucker

    TurboTrucker Road Train Member

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    Feb 23, 2005
    Rossville, Georgia
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    They really won't. Your record AFTER school, will be what is looked at the most. It may be possible that if you only spend a year on your first job, that an insurance company that insures a motor carrier you apply to, may want to see that you DID attend a school of some sort, so keep that certificate handy for at least three to five years.

    After you clear three full years of driving, your experience and considerations will be based solely on your work and driving records with carriers, and the references that they provide about you.

    The reason I throw in the three year reference, is because your entire history, and what you were doing during those three years, will be checked VERY closely, in the background check process. Once your CDL training has passed the three year mark, it will not be considered critical information, to anyone.
     
  10. bobbyw

    bobbyw Light Load Member

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    Oct 20, 2006
    Orlando Florida
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    I have talked to several recruiters werner ,windy hill ,covenant and a couple in oregon where I plan to move after I graduate,no one even mentioned pdti, but if you have time go to a public tech school 320hrs. $2000 do it, I actually was offered a free tuition and dont have to pay it back, I am at Ridge Tech in Winter Haven ,Fl
     
  11. TurboTrucker

    TurboTrucker Road Train Member

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    Feb 23, 2005
    Rossville, Georgia
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    PTDI isn't a standard that everyone uses. And I never meant to imply that it was.

    What PTDI does do, is evaluates a school's program to see if it meets their standards, and it's totally on a voluntary basis. Schools have to apply for their endorsement.

    The reason why I single them out as being a worthy institution that does endorse schools for their programs and training, is because it is the LEAST corrupt of the educational endorsement institutions out there.

    All of your endorsers have ties to big money in Washington. They all receive grants or money that is earmarked for retraining displaced workers. There are many triangles of schools and the carriers out there that are directly tied to these institutions, for the sole purpose of siphoning much of this money into their bank accounts as they can get. It's exactly why we see so many companies that are so horrible to work for, and who have outstanding turnover, still thrive in spite of what should be putting them out of business. There is no standard set by the Government for how these schools must operate, and it is largely left to the states to keep them in line. As we read from time to time, a school every now and then will be busted for skirting training, or abusing third party CDL testing rules, and the jig is up. It's corporate welfare at it's finest.

    Then on top of that, training carriers will cook the books to basically demonstrate that what the Government pays them does not nearly cover all the costs of training drivers, so they then turn and soak newbies for more money, or at least the evidence of a contract that shows they lost money due to defaults on those contracts. A name on a piece of paper is worth several thousand dollars to them. Why should they care if the driver stays or goes? They're raking in more by churning people in and out of their doors, all under the guise of training drivers for a new career.

    Now, there are exceptions to the above, both in terms of companies and schools. The point is, that it's very hard to distinguish who's really bad, and who's using legal manuevers to shore up a bottom line to survive. PDTI actually does work to evaluate a school, and at leasts attempts to set minimum standards for CDL training. So, at least they are working some, for those handouts. As for the rest, most all of them are nothing but leaches, who do little but collect checks, and dole out funds to carriers that will play along with them in their schemes to defraud the taxpayers out of their hard earned money.
     
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