Central Refrigerated Service vs. Community College

Being from Mississippi, the poorest state in the union, and having a buddy that just went the community college route for training, I can tell you that you can probably qualify for some kind of financial aid. He got grants from both the federal and state government. If Mississippi has grants to give for training, I'm pretty sure your home state does as well. He got his from the employment security commission, which is what our state calls our department of labor. It was called a "workforce development grant". Between state and federal grants, his training was completely paid for, and he owes nothing to nobody as they say. There is no limit of time, in that he doesn't have to pay the grants back if truck driving doesn't work out.

You are correct about devoting at least a year to someone in order to get your foot in the door of this industry. But do that one year because you WANT to for the experience and hopes for a better gig, not because you HAVE to in order to pay back on a training agreement. I've seen a lot of people get burned out of this industry because of companies giving drivers the impression that they owe them something for letting them work at their companies. I put it in the same ball park as leases. The only thing official I'm signing with any company, figuratively speaking, is the back of my paycheck. They can keep their training and ill let them pay their own truck notes.

 

Aceking,im going to be headed to central,next week can you give me some up dates on central.i will be doing the two week class then going with a trainer their after,what will the two weeks be like. what should i expect in that two weeks,i already have my cdl a.thanks

 

Not everyone that gets into the trucking business is distressed enough financially. Hence, not everyone is in a situation to qualify for grants. However, if you can qualify for grants then more power to you! As for as I'm concerned, however, everyone should seek out the cheapest route available to get his or her CDL, as a CDL is just the bare minimum necessary to get your foot in the door of this industry.

Again, not everyone is financially strapped enough to qualify for government grants. Hence, they will have to seek out other avenues of getting into this industry and in that case one should seek out the cheapest route available, which most of the time will be company-supplied schooling and training.

 

With the exception of just a few companies that screen their applicants very carefully, the vast overwhelming majority of training companies will take anyone with a CDL that they can legally get qualified because it's a valuable source of revenue for them. In addition, most prospective drivers have only a tiny probability of being hired on by one of those companies that carefully screen applicants because the population of such companies is so tiny and the competition to get hired is so major. Thus, to pay extra to get a CDL with the hope of getting on with one of those companies is a huge gamble that most people will lose, as again only a tiny amount of new drivers will be lucky enough to get hired on by such companies, and even if they do get hired on by such companies, there is no guarantee that they will ultimately make it to professional driver status. So if you want to spend a small fortune on a gamble with the odds stacked extremely against you, then by all means go ahead and be my guess, but it certainly doesn't mean that I'm wrong. Meanwhile, I'm sorry but the better option is not paying extra money to attend a Community College to get a CDL, because a CDL is just that a CDL and the bare minimum necessary to get your foot in the door of this industry. It certainly isn't a 4-year college degree or anything like that, as again this career requires on the job training and actual experience. Indeed, a prospective driver with just a CDL can just barely operate a class 8 truck and isn't anywhere near becoming a professional driver without the mandatory training and experience.

Excuse me but the vast overwhelming majority of new prospective drivers will have to settle for going to work for a training company that you cluelessly misrepresent as being a bottom feeder company because again, the number of companies that pay more and screen their prospective employees closer is so tiny and also because the number of drivers those few companies will end up hiring on an annual basis is so miniscule relative to the rest of the industry. You are erroneously trying to make it seem that if you pay more to get your CDL that you will somehow miraculously be guaranteed one of those few positions, but I'm sorry to say that is not the case. Moreover, paying new drivers a training wage does not make a company a bottom feeder. It makes them a training company.

Again, training companies are not bottom feeder companies just because they pay trainees training wages and, by the way, they also don't force their drivers to work under terrible conditions either. Now they won't baby them as some people expect and they won't hold their hands either, of course, but that is not terrible working conditions. It's easy to see that you believe only one side of the story, and the side where prospective drivers end up failing and blame their failures on the trainers and the companies involved that gave them their opportunities. Nevertheless, there are always two sides to every story and most drivers fail because they are just not cut out for this industry, or it wasn't what they expected.

Uhm...I've already completed my career before I ever got into trucking as a second career. Nevertheless, I definitely don't agree with you because you are painting very false and unrealistic expectations of this industry. Sorry, but I have to call it as I see it.

 

Just posting what I've seen go on for many , many years in this industry , But , Your opinions are your own Space Cowboy....But I can definitely see your logic. We'll just have to agree to disagree I guess. But I wish to thank-you for being civil and adult in your response to my post.

Got to go in few minutes to get my nephew....taking him turkey hunting at daylight. wish him luck , this will be his 1st bird if I am able to get one to come to the decoy set. Don't know who is more excited.....me or him.

Thanks again...Drive safe Tony

 

Looks like there has been great info presented both ways thabk, for me and I was shocked to hear the college cdl course also was the equivalent of 7 credit hours. Also on your post you stated not being able to get a local job and having to go over the road was a concern, of course nothing is guaranteed, but students in my area have been given local jobs right out of school so it is possible. Again look at all your options and keep asking questions which sounds like what you have been doing and good luck. Feel free to keep posts of your decision and how things work out to help others that are also considering the same decision.

 

it looks like we essentially agree on the goals, if not the path that we take to get there. I'm all for the most efficient way of getting trained, because I think it's the "whole experience" You have tolook at. What I mean is that you have to cut your teeth for a little while, usually at least a year, before you can actually start seeing some progress. That year includes getting your CDL and any endorsements you want, get hired on with someone, spend your time with what hopefully will be a qualified trainer, and finally, start going out solo. I'm all for the community college route because I've seen it work first hand when you know how to navigate the system, be it paying out of pocket, grants, student loans, whatever. The point I would like to make against going through a company for your CDL is that at the end of the day, I don't want to owe anyone my "services", meaning that I don't want to HAVE to work for anyone or they are going to come after me to pay back some loan. If I had to take a loan for a community college, I would rather owe the lender and keep my choices and options open. To me, it's almost like I'm paying the company for the privelidge of working for them.

Its kind of like visiting your in-laws. I hate my ex wife with a passion, but I hate her family even more. She wold make me visit them from time to time in another state. I absolutely refused to stay at any of their houses. I would get my own room at the motel, because I'm not going to owe any of them anything for letting me stay at their house. I don't pay for any meals, I'll drink my own beer from my cooler in he car, I'll buy my own dinner, and so on. Again, I don't owe anybody anything.

If I had 5k burning a hole in my pocket, I'm still going to find a community college because again, I'm to paying a company for the privelidge of working for them. I guess we can just call it principle.

First and foremost, check for grants and make your choices after that.

Again, I see your point and agree with about 75% of it. I've just learned that companies are like in-laws. They show up at your wedding, congratulating and welcoming you, then before you know it, they are calling you looking for money.

 

You throw everything into the mix....time , cost , living expenses away from home vs local CC , plus the amount , and quality of time spent 1 one 1 with an instructor, not to even mention that most CC's give you some sort of help with either a job placement service , or they have rep's of companies come in for you to talk to , instead of being obligated to fulfill a contract with a company school...in the long run, the CC route is the cheaper way...but opinions vary.....