What driving college was like for me thus far

Discussion in 'Trucking Schools and CDL Training Forum' started by J Man, Jan 1, 2012.

  1. J Man

    J Man Medium Load Member

    302
    192
    Dec 31, 2011
    Middle of nowhere
    0
    Newb here. About to finish up school in the next couple weeks and in reading here I see some people like to see what kind of experience different students have with their schooling. I'm not sure if my school would be considered Great, good, fair, or more on the other end, but I think they are doing a good job.

    ORIENTATION - Local technology college. Course is open to anyone that has $4k (covers all school expenses, tests, certifications, endorsements, etc.) and 11-15 weeks to spend in class. No prior experience, documents, testing, etc. required. Trucks are sleeper-style, mixed brands, mixed transmission types, mixed trailer types. One is rotated with another college so each week there is a new truck type to try out. Normally there is 2-3 students in a truck and 1 instructor.

    FIRST WEEK - this consisted of showing up to class Mon-Thur 8-4 and Fri 8-12. Day starts the same way for everyone, we all meet in one classroom (about 8-12 of us, fluctuates) with a program admin and the 2 or 3 driver instructors. There is a discussion of what the day will include, who will ride with whom and who will stay behind for class work or yard work.

    Since I'm new, I stay behind the first day for a one-on-one with the admin, but before that I go out with the rest of the group and we do a pre-trip on the 4 trucks in the yard. This will be the norm every day without exception. After pre-trips those that are driving disperse and those of us staying behind go into the big classroom where we do classwork. Orientation, a few videos, some paperwork, vehicle orientation, then a run to the doc office down the street for DOT Physical and pee test.

    For the next two days I studied my Utah CDL handbook then was driven to the DMV where I took the first three tests: 1) General 2) Combination 3) Air Brake. Passed those so I was driven back and handed over to a driver trainer. Plopped me in the driver seat, helped me start a log and then turned me loose on the backstreets with a lecture on how the shifting was done. Shift up, shift down, shift up, shift down for an hour. Exciting, scary, intense.

    Fridays are classrooms and we cover a range of topics that are rotating so that older students aren't getting the same ones over and over. Defensive driving, chain-up, coupling, air brake inspection/adjustment, and so forth. Those that don't need the class focus on textbook, endorsements, or practice yard work.


    MIDDLE WEEKS - same routine every morning, pre-trip, find out where we are driving and with whom and off we go. Each student averages about 1.5 hours driving time a day, 4 days a week. Most often in a Kenworth or Peterbilt (the most common trucks here in the oilfield) and usually on 18-speed transmissions (also the most common here). When you aren't driving you are in the sleeper watching someone else drive and trying to learn from their successes and mistakes.

    During this time frame there is not a lot of thought put into where we drive, just whatever sounds good for the day and most of the time the 2 or 3 trucks will stick together and break for lunch together. Here in NE Utah there are a lot of rural roads and hills so the type of driving runs just about everything. Occasionally we run through Vernal, UT and focus on city driving (if you can call it a city :biggrin_25525:). Lots of hills, playing with engine brakes, coming off the mountain a couple times, a little shifting on hills (not as much as I would like). No backing to speak of. This is all done unloaded, too much damage was done to equipment when they let the class run loaded years ago.


    LATER WEEKS - now the emphasis shifts to an evaluation of the student and what he/she needs to improve on. More yard time now practicing backing, coupling, that type of stuff. Only one truck in the yard so only 2 persons can stay behind on a given day. Now we make runs into bigger cities or into neighboring states and might pull down a 10 hour day, so each student gets 2-3 hours driving. But these type of days are rare. We also get to try driving loads - normally concrete barricade walls on a flat bed with a GVW of 68,000 lbs or the very rare load for a local company, maybe food for the food pantry or gravel, that type of fun stuff.

    During this time our program admin will help us formulate a resume and he'll get our recommendations from our driver instructors and steer us towards the companies that hire from our class - there are a few that feel the class turns out good enough drivers that they will waive the 1-2 year experience normally required to apply with them. This is oilfield work (water, frac chemicals, oilfield products). We aren't guaranteed job placement but if you take it all seriously and respectful they can almost always get you hired.

    FINAL WEEK - when test-out approaches you get to choose what you focus on. Ask the instructor to take you where you want to go, focus on the driving style you need, the vehicle you need practice on, or normally this is when you get your yard time practicing the backing for the test. The actual testing is done when the instructors and you agree that you are confident and ready.

    Testing is done by our instructors in the equipment we are familiar with and in our own yard and within the town we are based in. So that part is nice.


    EXCEPTION - there is an accelerated 2-3 week class for those that are already employed by a company that needs them to drive and pays for their training. This is negotiated with those companies as there is a mentoring requirement and limitations put on the students (as well as much longer training days) that are not available to the general public.


    SUMMARY - that is school in a nutshell. Hope my summary helps someone. Let me know of any questions or any opinions you have. :biggrin_25519:
     
  2. Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  3. RickG

    RickG Road Train Member

    12,812
    6,135
    Jul 22, 2008
    Owensboro , KY
    0
    Good post BUT all the school does is get you a CDL . What matters is the carrier you get hired by . High placement percentages by a school mean nothing when students go to a carrier with a high turnover rate .
     
  4. J Man

    J Man Medium Load Member

    302
    192
    Dec 31, 2011
    Middle of nowhere
    0
    The majority of drivers being trained here are oiflield types and some of the companies are good and some are not.

    In my case I plan to come right out of school and haul water to get a couple years experience and then make the transition to hauling crude oil from the wells here to the refineries in Salt Lake City or into Colorado. Its not a bad job if you can tolerate the same run day after day and the pay and hours are usually good.
     
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.