I went to the C 1 trucking school in St Louis today...I talked to the man in charge of all the instructors. The school seems nice. Nothing special about the buildings. It's in a bad part of the city.

You do your first three days in a trailer, then after your permit tests on the third day: you start driving the trucks...backing, straight-line stopping, pre-trip instrucktions, shifting, log books... etc.

They have several MO cdl testing sites; which are 2-3 hours drive from the school. They load up a truck and head to the site in the morning and are back in late afternoon. Usually, everyone helps drive there....you know for a little experience.

There are more than just Driver Solution students attending the school. There are people that pay cash, people on unemployment(WIA) , displaced workers, etc.

Several of the instructors gave some advice to me concerning hazmat, licenses, and the school in general. They all seem very nice and helpful. If, you are close to St Louis..I would go and take a look at their facilities. I did...and, now I'm going to leave much sooner than I was planning....even yesterday! I'm gonna try to go either on March 24 or March 31.

The time is from 6am to 3pm M-F, Sat 6-1, and Sun 6-1. First weekend is mandatory practice. The second week you are driving on the roads, if you pass the instructors lot tests. He said the second Saturday/Sunday of driving is up to you. If, you want practice....Go! If, not....Stay home...It's up to you.

He said the class right now has 16 people. 2 will probably not pass the drug test, and 1 will change his/her mind about trucking. So, 13 will most likely graduate.

The Budget Inn is nothing fancy...Really Bad part of St Louis! The motel has a security gate/guard 24/7. But, I wouldn't let it stop you from going to the school.

I'm thinking about staying at my brother's home...just across the river in Illinois...about a 30 mile drive each way...Since the motel costs an extra $400...I figured out that buying the gas and driving each day would save me about $265. 1,080 miles at $3.09/gallon of gas.

I hope this helps someone.

Well, I posted this thread in another part of the Forum, but I'm going to stick it out with PAM. I meet Averitt's "Image" guidelines (no long hair, piercings, or tatoos, etc.), but being the "happy wanderer" that I am, I decided that PAM would offer me more miles. I graduated from C1 Indianapolis on 3/18, and start with my trainer this Tuesday 3/25. Wish me luck!!

Well, by this time you are on your way to PAM. Hope you did okay at school.

I START C-1 TRUCK SCHOOL IN ST LOUIS ON MONDAY MARCH 31...

I'M SO EXCITED!

I'M GOING WITH PAM, TOO.

I WON'T HAVE ACCESS TO INTERNET...SO, WISH ME LUCK...

TALK WITH YOU AFTER SCHOOL....I LEAVE ON SUNDAY.

Im currently attending a school in Malden, Missouri about 3 hours south of St.Louis and seen a C1 student come down there to take the CDL test and needless to say, he didnt do very good. While going around the course I think he forgot to flip the switch to get back to the lower gears and was trying to test using all the high gears. The school im at has several students that come from other schools and uses the testing site there. The school Im at is the Southern Missouri Truck Driving School. All the instuctors are former truck drivers themselves with several years under their belt.

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"The difference between genius and stupidity is; genius has its limits". - Albert Einstein

Averitt pays mileage as per Household movers guide, so the mileage you actually drive is NOT what you get paid. I was short every week from 10% to more than 20%. Plus, they are very reluctant to pay detention, layover or unloading. I went with Averitt because I thought they were one of the more reputable companies. WRONG!