Maverick CDL Sponsored School

Yes, orientation pay is $550 in the form of a VISA card. They'll buy you a bus ticket to come down to their headquarters in Little Rock. During orientation, housing, breakfast, and lunch is covered. Then, they put you on a bus to Arkansas State University for the 4 week CDL program. Housing plus breakfast + lunch is covered. (The $550 should cover dinners) Once that's complete, you have extended hometime before they assign you to a driver trainer. Training lasts about 3-6 weeks or longer depending on if you're ready to go solo or not. They want you to be confident on the road. They'll forgive the cost of CDL School at $500/month. This doesn't come out of your paycheck, they just forgive it. If you leave the company early, you're on the hook for the rest of the cost though.

 

Just finished week 1 of Maverick CDL School at ASU-Newport. Turns out the orientation pay of $550 will be on my first paycheck but they also give you the gift card. Orientation was smooth for me, but about a dozen people disappeared during the week for various reasons - high blood pressure, drug history, family problems, financial problems, etc. The physical/agility testing made me a bit nervous because I'm not strong at all, but I was able to do everything. A lot of people struggled with map reading and trip/log planning. The instructors are patient though and offer help. Lots of little tests, but they were open notes, plus the instructors went over everything, you usually read the chapter, watched a movie, and then took the short test. And if you don't pass you take it till you do.

As far as CDL school goes, M-Th morning we went over Chapters 1,2,5, and 6 of the CDL manual to get ready for the permit test. In the afternoons we did straight line backing. Once you get your permit Thursday, they start putting you with road trainers and began 90 degree backing. All of the instructors are very old school southerners, which I'm not used to, but they have decades of experience and are really good at what they do. They really want everyone to succeed and have something like a 96% pass rate.

If you struggle with learning, make sure you study your butt off for the CDL permit (General Knowledge, Air Brakes, and Combination Vehicles). There are plenty of YouTube videos and online quizzes but make sure you READ THE BOOK! A few Maverick guys didn't pass the first time and one didn't pass the second time. That means he has to pass the skills test the first go around or he has to start all over. But don't stress, like I said, they have a 96% pass rate.

I'll keep you updated on the next few weeks, but all the instructors (both Maverick and ASU-Newport) have been good and only want you to succeed. It's a good program and Maverick is a great company so give it a shot.

 

And another thing about the CDL school is they have about a dozen trucks. They're all 10 speed manuals and mostly older (1985-1997) freightliners. No AC and it's been in the 90s all week. These are only used on the driving range. The three trucks they have for road training are better with working lights and brakes and such. If you can handle these trucks, the automatic 2017 Freightliner Cascadia will be a breeze to drive.

 

So you do orientation in Little Rock, then Newport for the weeks of training? All my family is in Jonesboro so that would be fantastic.

Do you get free in the evening to leave and eat or do they keep you on premises? I know Newport isn't very large.

How much is their CDL training that they are forgiving?

 

You probably need to just study up on CDL training and don't have any distractions.

 

I guess I missed your answers to my questions in the midst of your advice.

 

Outside things can just be a distraction for a very important time in a new lifestyle a lot of the time.

 

This is just training...I think I'll be ok.

Any information about Maverick as a company I should know? Reading recent threads at the moment getting ideas.

You could just PM me if you're lonely and wanna talk.

 

I doubt that @TROOPER to TRUCKER is that lonely....