Well, after spending several months on this forum (thanks everyone for the warm welcomes and great advice) I decided to go to school on my own at ITDS through my local community collage. Just couldn't stomach being beholden to one company if I didn't like them once I started.

I go down for my DOT physcial and school orientation next wednesday, and classes start on the 18th.

Since I haven't seen anything on this forum regarding ITDS here I'll post my experiences here (and on my blog) for folks who are potentially interested in the school. Luckily for me, it is local so I can still live at home while going to school.

I also have a preliminary hire with Crete and Schneider, will prefer to go to Crete however. My research so far suggests they will be the best for me.

I originally wanted to go with Maverick, however their waiting list for non-experienced drivers is 5-6 months long

The school itself is located in Dallas/Fort Worth, goes from 7a-5p Monday through Friday for four weeks and includes Hazmat and Bulk certifications in addition to van training which everyone gets.

Total cost for the school in cash is $4100.00, if you go the finance route it is $5600.00 plus financing charges. The fee includes books, testing at the DMV, DOT physical and a ton of other stuff.

That's all for now, I'll post as I have more info.

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TexasMike
No place like Texas ...

Congrats on getting in the school and doing your research as well.. Keep us posted on your progress.

Well, got up bright and early today to head out to the orientation and such for school. And let me tell you, I was semi-prepared to be bored out of my skull and I didn't disappoint myself.

The actual orientation, where we filled out paperwork (some we had filled out already once before O.0). Met the instructors and got a tour of the facility and got the course outline and study materials went pretty fast. I guess maybe about an hour once we got going.

After that it was off to DOT for our physicals and drug screen. This is where the boredom set in. I got there at 2pm, did my paperwork for them and then had to wait. An hour and forty-five minutes later they called me in and I took my drug test (fill to this line don't touch nothing but the cup, at least they didn't stand over me) then sent me back to the waiting room to wait to see the doctor.

Three hours later ... I got called in for the physical. Got my vitals taken, took my vision tests and then was sent back to the waiting room again! ... ugh.

An hour later they called me back and put me in a room and said the doctor would be right with me (yea ... right). After forty minutes the doctor came in and spent about five minutes with me doing all the groping he could handle and then said, "ok, wait out in the waiting room they'll call you in a few minutes to give you your paperwork."

Well low and behold I barely got my cigarette smoked outside when they called me and gave me my long form and DOT card. That was the only short wait I had all day.

Now I'm back home and cracking the study book, we are supposed to go down next Wednesday to DOT and take all seven tests (hazmat is not included yet). Talk about a lot to absorb in a week.

One thing to note is I was informed correctly about the class sizes at the school. There are only going to be six of us in this class, and there are three instructors. I like that ratio

I'm sure we'll chat again

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TexasMike
No place like Texas ...

Good luck, hope you find what you are looking for in this particular industry!

Great class size.... You will get a lot of individual attention. Good luck!

I am interested in going to school on my own also. Could you explain the connection between ITDS and your community college? I just checked my local C.C. today, a rather large C.C., far and away the largest in this three million person metro area, and they do not offer a CDL course.

Suggestions are welcome.

To be honest I found the class by accident in the course schedule, it is a CE (Continuing Education) course and not a regular credit course. In my case I just happened to come across it. What I would do is call your local campus (where I live there are like 10 campuses for the community college district) and ask them if they have truck driver training in their CE schedule.

The one they offer down here is actually at a third party school (ITDS) but it accredited for CE and is eligible for financial aid through the college.

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TexasMike
No place like Texas ...

Yes, Mike, I did precisely this today. Actually, I drove to the main campus and asked the advisors if they offered the course. They have a lot of campus as well, and they showed me both the CE and regular class catalog with no mention of the driving course in their curriculum.

So I am left wondering who would offer the CDL course if the C.C. with 90% of the students in this area does not offer the CDL course.

It is possible Florida doesn't have the program in their systems, unfortunately I just don't know personally.

I do know that PTDI has several certified schools down there, you might want to call around and see what kind of programs they do have and see if any are affiliated with any CC's.

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TexasMike
No place like Texas ...

World, check out Roadmaster. I just saw their website. They have a site in Orlando.