Where to Start.

In the states, you almost have to go to a trucking school. It is the insurance companies down here. And yes, they are way over priced. Best bet, hang out here and ask away. I have no clue how many Canadians we have here, but it is an excellent place for info. The best I have seen on the internet other than a pay site I belonged to.

Mike

 

If you were in Alberta, I'd tell you to apply to some of the oilfield companies. You can get your class 1 or 3 license for free.

I got my Alberta class 3 license through the oilfield. I went onto other things for a couple years and when it came to the decision to upgrade my license all I had to do was book 2 days with an instructor. They had a 6 hour upgrading course that included the 1.5 hour driving exam spread out over 2 days. I took it all, along with the eye exam, medical, written test and road test and got my license. (already had my airbrakes course completed when I got my class 3 license).

Total cost was just over 600 bucks for the upgrade, medical, and eye exam. I heard from some driving schools out here it costs an average of around 2000 dollars for someone to get their license if they've never driven a truck before.

Honestly, even just shifting a truck is different than a car, and I really don't think you would be able to write the written test, read some books and just jump into the truck for a road test and ace it. Either get employed with a company that will train you, or go to school so you don't kill yourself or someone else.

 

Well there are a few options for you..
1) Go get the Air Brake book and study then go do your test to get your Z endorsment. Then you will have a G Z which will allow you to drive some pretty large straight trucks with Air Brakes.

That's likely the only one I would say to do without going to a proper trucking school. Yes they are expensive ($4000 for mine) but they will teach you the right way to do things and give you experience with shifting ect...

2) Go to school for your D Z. This will allow you to drive such vehicles as Dump, Garbage, or Roll Off trucks.

3) And this won't be for you if you don't want to drive a 18 wheeler, but Go to School and get your A Z, And that will let you drive a "Big Truck"

When I started I called a good local truck driving school and got started with them. It cost me about $4000 for 30hrs in class and 30hrs Driving instruction. They gave me all the right information and skills I needed to get past my road test and into my 1st company. I got my A, C, and Z all at the same time as the C (Coach Bus) was just an extra 20 question written test. This allows me to drive just about anything but a "school purposes vehicle", or an "in service" emergency vehicle. I like it as it gives me options if I ever have to stop OTR trucking for some reason. I could just go get a job driving a garbag truck or even a bus.

I know how expensive school is bt I do believe that it is the best way to go if you want to get into anything bigger than a cube van. I can't imagine trying to do my road test without ever doing any on road training in the truck.

Good luck to you and keep us posted.

 

Well I almost went this route myself before I got my A. It's basically just a large moving truck but it has air brakes. The only thing is I'm not sure how many places have them. Most I see are slightly bigger and require at least a DZ. As for training, all I can say is it never hurts. However in this situation I bet you culd get a job without it. Medical I don't think you'd need anything special, as the medical requirements are part of the A and D classes themselves and not for G.

- 1st off, a "Roll-Off truck is a truck that picks up and hauls dumpsters or scrap bins ect..

Regarding training cost for the different classes; yes the cost of training can and usually is ceaper for a C or D than a A, as the A usually requires the most work/time.

As for getting them; you can get whatever you want whenever. There is no order for how you get them. However you should be aware that with an AZ you can also drive DZ or GZ vehicles, you don't needto get them all. The only thing I'd say that you need to get at the same time as anything else would be your Z endorsment as it's unlikely you would find a A class or D class vehicle without air brakes.

Hope this helps.