Question on Truck Driver Schools !

To help you out more you need to answer me this.

Local or Long Haul Driving?

 

there is trainco in northwest ohio i can give you more info if you want it

 

If you are looking for a local job, I would like to recommend that you go to the local Teamsters Union hall. They do offer an apprenticeship program but it does take 4 yrs to get a Journeyman. You will earn a decent pay while you learn (about 40% of what the Journeymen earn) It is the Unions job to train you but it is tougher and you are expected to work.

Long haul well, any independent trucking school will do you best. They have no obligation to any trucking company but it will cost you about $7000. If you go with a trucking company that offers driving training, you are expected to work for them for about a year. The bad thing about this is that you will earn very little pay and that makes it rough if you have other obligations (ie regular bills, home and family) DO NOT LEASE A TRUCK you do not have the experience. Avoid CR England!!!

The local community college. Can't really make any comments about this since I have no knowledge about it but have heard some good things about it

Getting your CDL is the easiest part. Study the DMV book. Find a local that rents you the tractor & trailer for the DMV test (That person might also offer some sort of training and/or advice) and get ready to take the test. Practice, practice practice.

Basically , you have to do some research. Look around and ask questions. Don't go by the word of a recruiter (they all lie) and don't go by the word of the schools word. Do yourself the favor in doing some research, the more you know, the happier you will be.

Hope to see you on the road.

 

Good luck...short version.. i wore a suit an tie for 20years.. always thought trucks were cool.. mid life crisis.. i ran away from home and was sleeping in a rest area.. very large werner truck with a very little guy.. 3ft max was pretriping and i said if he can i can.. 10years later im paying off my second truck.. its not always easy. and my first settlement i thought they over paid me. now im clearing 120 a year but my truck eats half and it beats 10bks an hour any day.. stay with good equipment.. old rule.. get the best and you will have no problems dont do it for money.. you can have better jobs.. hint jobs.. for me its fun.. most of the time.. big toys. and they throw money at me.. other times.. god the bills are huge... but in the end.. some days youeat the bear.and other times the bear eats you.. its life bro.. there are easier jobs.. chaining a truck in the middle of the night in the rockies ina blizzard worring about the family and the people that are gonna slam into you is no fun.. but its also bring it on babe.....have fun with mid life.. hope ya come to the fun side.. hollow man

 

If you get your training, from a out side training school, then your not committed by any means to any co when you hire on.. Now do realize that some local co, want hazmat, and at least 1 to 2yrs otr before they will hire you.. Most mom and pop operations usually don't. But you will need to do some research and a lot of it, before deicding which out fit to go with.. Read hear in the fourms and ask plent of questions and people here will be galde to help you decide which companies to go with..

 

Howdy Chasis!

I noticed your first post in this thread was on 4/10/08 and your last post in this thread was three days later on 4/13/08.
Are you still out there?

The reason I ask is, I'm wondering if anyone has mentioned to you that over the road Big truck truck drivin' isn't a "job", but rather it's a lifestyle.

If you can imagine what it's like to be away from home and family for weeks, and sometimes a month or more at a time, ..... time and time again, ---- missing special occasions and holidays as a steady diet, ---- and it still sounds attractive to you, ....... you might just make it as a Big truck truck driver.

OH!
Did I mention sitting around in a few flea-bag truck stops, sometimes for days (without pay, --- if the wheels ain't turnin', y'all ain't makin' any money), waiting for the next load to be dispatched to you, ...... often taking you more miles away from home and family instead of getting by the house for your days off, ---- that you now can't afford to do because you've been sitting, unpaid, but still spending money to eat instead of running and making a descent paycheck?
Those bills don't stop comin' in when the wheels aren't turnin', do they?

And, as hard to do as that may seem, IMO, the harder job will be for whomever is keeping the home fires burnin' in your absence. Will they be able to handle the program as you roam the highways and byways tryin' to earn a descent living drivin' a Big truck?

Will the thought of their hardship drive you nuts, wishin' YOU were THERE instead of where ever you happen to be at the time?
Will you come to dread the panic phone calls informing you of troubles brewing, or already brewed, on the home front? Will you be able to recognize the loneliness in their voice(s) as they try not to let on that they're missing you terribly?
Is it possible that drivin' a Big truck will wind up drivin' y'all apart?

How well do you handle stresses like that?

Also, IF you succeed at OTR driving, and you give it up to do a "local" gig, will you be prepared for the cut in pay that will likely ensue?

Have you considered that MANY folks have been displaced as a result of the economy, among other reasons, creating a glut of desperate applicants seeking a solution to their financial needs and/or problems, making it more difficult to find that dream "local" gig? Supply and demand will be out of balance for awhile and probably will become worse before it becomes better.

Will you be like so many others who find OTR truckin' is VERY hard to get out of your system once you've gotten a taste of it? The lure of the open road can be hard to resist. Some try it for awhile, only to realize it's now in their blood and they return to the road at almost ANY cost. Just sitting around the house drives some folks up the walls after tasting the freedom of OTR driving. They're miserable, and it effects the whole family, sometimes, --- all too often.

If you have even the SLIGHTEST doubt that Big truck truckin' might not be the right fit for you, do yourself a BIG favor, ---- don't even get started. It'll have the potential to break up a marriage or relationship. Think of children who will only see you a few days out of the year when they've been used to seeing you every day. How will THEY cope?
Will you regret not watching them grow up and being there to guide them? Will you miss their birthdays? Holidays? First steps? First word(s)? School events? Graduation? Wedding(s)? Grandchildren? Will they wind up resenting you for being away during those times? Should they?

Piloting a Big truck down the highways is but a small part of the bigger picture. And usually the easiest part. What you'll miss at home can never be replayed. Your memory just might consist only of all the things you've missed.
Sound inviting?

My advice?
Think long and think hard about what your priorities are BEFORE taking the plunge into the deep end. Sink or swim or just tread water. Be aware, Big truck truckin' IS a lifestyle and there's absolutely NO shame in admitting you're not cut out for it. Many aren't, yet they can't, or don't, seem to realize that fact in time to prevent what can result AS a result of a quick decision for a quick fix without fully understanding what they're REALLY getting into.

As a general rule, truckin' isn't a 9 to 5 job. Especially at first. Ten to fourteen hour days and nights are common. Seldom will the days be the same. Hurry up and wait. Can't stop now, ...... gotta go! Hot load and it's late before it's even loaded in your trailer. That's when you can just about be sure the weather will change for the worse, just to make it more, ......... uhhhhh, ..... interesting. Or, as some find it, more stressful. It just goes with the territory.

Big truck truckin' has been described as
Solitary confinement -----
with a view.
But, I reckon that all depends on one's viewpoint.

I wish you good luck in whatever you decide to do.

 

The only two people you need to seek out the answer to your question are your case worker with the agency you signed up with, and an administrator with the school.

 

Well I gues I have to look at the dates more closely LOL!!!