Schooling with Continental Truck Driver in Dallas, TX

Today I enrolled with Continental Truck Driver Training in south Dallas, TX. I'll share my experience with Continental here since I haven't heard of anyone else training there. I'll post highlights here. Will have more detail on my truck blog.

For starters, who is Continental? The full name is Continental Truck Driver Training and Education (http://www.cdlcareers.net). Primarily I dealt with Rafiki (I believe is how it is spelled.) I only dealt with women. Rafiki the recruiter, Brook the job placement adviser, and Tish, the admissions agent. I met, in passing, Ray (?) the classroom instructor.

Before I went to Dallas I called Roadmaster School in San Antonio. The lady was very nice. However; they were around $6k. I asked why they cost so much more than Continental. She said, "They train you on automatics. Forgive me, but my grandmother can drive an automatic. Carriers need you to be able to drive stick-shifts. Also, you need to make sure they're accredited and give you at least 160 hrs, which is the minimum and that you will receive a certificate of completion. We are accredited and give you 160 hours and a certificate to verify it."

Continental is NOT accredited nor seems to be a member of any affiliation. They essentially discounted the affiliations as someone who gives you a label to use for you doing something for them.
I understand this concept because of a previous job the owner would participate in things that amount to nothing but to have an impressive label on the website/letterhead/wall that inspired people who really knew nothing about it. He failed to attend an annual meeting. He said, "Since I'm not there to defend myself I'll be elected president." Sure enough, he was. But I digress.

Continental: A very small building from what I imagined. They do NOT accept checks, so bring a money order or credit card. They have a discount special running this month which brought my total to $2,700 which included off-site housing. They have a near 94% job placement rate and lifetime job placement assistance.

They start classes every Monday. I'll be starting August 15, 2011. Classes are 4 weeks, 200 hours and, yes, they give you a certificate of completion. No, they have stick-shift trucks. I'll update this thread again as things start rolling. Again, more detail will be added to the blog. Who wants filler in a forum thread, right?

Let me know if there's anything in particular yall want me to find out about or anything I should pay special attention to.

Cheers!

 

I fumbled through different training schools. Honestly I would have preferred them to have a bit more on the credential side as per some kind of affiliations. I am very much at unease with them seeming somewhat stand-alonish. However; as a trucker friend of mine said (paraphrased), "No one has ever asked me about accreditation. They just want to know if I can drive. And they'll test me on that before they put me in their truck." But yeah, as per anything about trucking, the one thing I'm at unease about is backing. Oh, and now that I know parallel parking is part of the driving test, that too. heheh

But they were running a special and I got school/housing for $2,700. I hope/pray it's worth it.

 

Started school @ Continental today. It did not exceed expectations. All employees are nice. But class is not very structured. Check my blog for more details.

 

Today was a much better day @ school. Tomorrow should be fun. Recruiter Wednesday. Get to spend the day listening to recruiters blow smoke about how their company is the best.

 

Finally studying something new to me, logging & trip planning.
On an off note, found out we got ourselves a football player in class, Marcell Gipson. I don't follow sports. But he was picked by the Vikings earlier this year and requested a waive due to death in the family. He's hoping to get on with the Panthers by this weekend. More on my blog. Have a good un!

 

Bumped over to the driving range today. Word from other students, the only "good" trainer was fired today. That leaves two. They are short tempered and will cuss you a lot. On the upside, the cussings don't last long. Because they go to the break trailer and tell everyone else to take it from there.

Much more detail in my blog. Anyone considering Continental, the office staff is great. Give me a couple more days to form a better judgment of the driving instructors. But keep searching.

 

Practice makes perfect.... unless you're from Nepal. We got a Nepalese who failed his road tests AGAIN this morn. He's a super nice guy.... but ... man!
"What we have here, is a failure .... to communicate." I hear the DMV ladies are about ready to fail him based on his persistence to show up and give them heart attacks.

And he's apparently not the only Nepalese to bomb out. My last two days in class was with another Nepalese guy that I understood was having to start over. They English... ehhh... not too good. You know? Yes? Good, good.

 

SCORE! I bagged my CDL today! YAY-OHHHHH! Out of the last two business days, 5 of us tested, 2 of us passed. One of the instructors (black) made an odd comment to me (white) in reference to another student. I blew it off, but I see the inside..... oh yes. Check my blog for more details. It's already typed up there.

In the meantime, I only have but to serve out my school hours and I'm ready to bounce! Paycheck, here I come! WOOT! WOOT!