Hey everyone. I'm seriously thinking about a new career in trucking. I have a buddy who drives locally and my wife's uncle pulls mid-west runs. I was talking with her uncle at Thanksgiving dinner yesterday and he recomended I look into MTC driving school in St. Louis, Mo. I called them today and got the ball rolling a little but I was just wondering if anyone has been to this school and what you thought of it? Both him and my buddy said it's a good school but neither of them acctually went to school there either. I dont have the cash to pay for school up-front so I'll of course be signing with a company to get the tuition reimbursement.

If anyone knows anything about this school, good or bad please let me know. I don't want to made a bad decision right off the bat if I don't need to. Thanks all!!

JT

I live in stlouis. Ive been to MTC and all the trucking schools in stlouis. Stay Away!!!! The best deal for you Is Arkansas State University. Their tuition is cheap. MTC is 6000 bucks. ASUs program is only 1400 bucks and u can find a company to pay your way there too im sure. CFI trucking comes to mind. Check out the Better Business Bureau. MTC has a list of complaints. Overcrowded classes, broken down trucks etc.

Thanks for the advice Crunchy. Ive been looking around a bit lately and I cant believe how high MTC is. Even if you sign with a company before school and get the tuition reimbusement it still doesnt pay for all costs for classes there. Ive been thinking of going with Roehl and their classes. Im not sure yet, but thanks for the info on MTC.

By the way if u want to go the company route try CFI. They'll give you 1000 dollars toward any school. U complete the school. Complete their short training program. Then all u have to do is drop one load for them. If you dont like working for them u can quit with no penalties.

I went to MTC and thought they were just fine. They do what they advertise: teach you how to get your CDL and make sure you get it. They won't charge any extra to you EVER if you don't pass the CDL test, and so long as you put forth the effort they will work with you until you do pass it.

I'm sure there's probably better schools out there, but it worked fine for me. There's another member of this forum who went there as well. I'm gonna get in touch with her and see if she can't come up with something better to say about them.

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Keep that diesel burnin' and those tires turnin', but get there safe to keep on earnin'!!

It's too bad that we all (myself included) can't remember our own short comings at the exact moment a fellow man or woman is having one of their own.

I forgot to turn in my dorm key there. I still have it on my keychain.

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America just went to hell.

MTC has it's good as well as it's bad points.
First off, never trust a recruiter. (This applies to any and all recruiters.) You will be provided two meals a day, and nothing at all on Sunday.... however Sunday is a regular school day.
They will probably put you in a motel to begin with, and later move you to the dorms. Take advantage of the free breakfast at the motel while you can.
There is a small gas station down the hill from the dorms. However, you have free coffee in the dorms, so take advantage of that.
You should get adequate behind the wheel training, but the yard is a joke. You spend 99% of your yard time, walking in a circle following the truck.
So, my suggestion for the yard..... When everyone is trying to figure out who should go in the truck, and not wanting to get in it themselves..... GET IN IT AND PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE.
Hopefully they won't send you to ST Louis for your test.
Btw, the schools not really in St Louis, it's in St Charles.

Bring extra money, and study diligently. You'll be fine. Hopefully you're going with Hogan or Star, and not Swift or England, or Werner.

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America just went to hell.

I went to MTC in Hazelwood, MO, last year and wish I had known more about diff schools then, that I do know now. MTC is not accredited, costs twice as much as anywheres else, and one lesson I've learned is that most truck companies won't even touch you if you come from there, until you've driven 6 months or longer. The trucks were always broken down, they had only 3 at the time I was there, and about 20 students per truck. You walk, walk, and then walk some more while whoever is learning drives it. Some nights you never even got a chance to drive the 10 minutes you got in the 1st place if you were lucky. Their "housing" consists of a 10x10 windowless room built next to the garage, that had no ventilation of much, and the food isn't even healthy that they have brought in. It's more of a prison atmosphere once they have your signature on paper than an actual school. The walking for 10 hours a shift, writing andrewriting pretrips if you fail at least 7 times before you can do anything else, watching pretrips for 2-3 hours non stop over and over when the weather is bad, or they don't have enough instructors to handle the amount of people there, plus the hotel they put you in before moving you to the "dorms" (as those 10x10 rooms are called) has health issues of its own. They also place you with the worst companies out there. What a new person doesn't know is that they are the worst ones out there, and also many students placed after school end up paying triple amount of tuition due to quitting swift, hogan, or the other three they use. They also don't tell you that these companies also won't help pay back the tuition unless you actually finish 14 months of employment with them, and then and ONLY THEN is when they pay their portion. Check out BBB in Hazelwood, MO for the numerous complaints, and also remember to check for ANY school if its accredited. I'm living with my mistake, and hopefully no one else will have to make the same one that myself and others have made.

Here is a rundown of my experience at MTC, I recieved my CDL today.
Housing is dorm style 2 to a room, rooms are small and leak during rain storms.
cleanliness is a 4 on a scale of 1-10. Food is provided Mon-Sat (fend for yourself on Sun). Front Office Administration treats you as 2nd class citizens even though they are getting $6,000 of your money (end term). Instructors are wonderful and know what it takes to get you your CDL. However the school is seriously lacking enough instructors. 1 in the Yard (backing manuvours) and 3 on road. (Per shift). As long as the school see's you trying they wont give up on you. However you only have 3 shots at passing the road portion (state law). I passed 1st try most all pass by 2nd try. Total time # MTC was 17 days, I leave for Star Transport on monday.

Day1: Drug Test & Physicals
Day 2-3 Permit Classes
Day 4 Permit Test
Day 5-13 Driving/Yard/Log Book Practice
Day 14 Finals
Day 15-30 CDL Testing at DMV

There is no reason why anyone should have to come here to stlouis to pay a school like MTC thousands of dollars. U can get better training at a nearby community college for 1/3 the price. Keep in mind the turnover rate for new truck drivers is like 125%. With odds like that i wouldnt want to risk anymore than 2500-3000 on a school