Truck Driving School or Company Training?

I like the idea of going to a local college to get my CDL. The main reason being is that every company that i talked to before about training wanted me to work for them for 1 year or more and pay tuition fees back. This way I get my license and will not be tied down to a single company if something better comes along.

 

I am currently going to school at the National Tractor Trailer School, its an 18 week program and it costs a little over $9,500 dollars. I considered doing a company training program, which would be half the time and money, but I would most likely be locked into a contract for X number of years, and I just didn't like that idea.

My school is awesome (some are, some aren't). It is very highly accredited, the instructors all come from driving backgrounds (one of them actually attended the school many years ago!), they train you to get your CDL permit first with class room instruction, and then after some more class room instruction after you get your permit and endorsements, they put you on a shifting simulator, and then out into the training yard to do different maneuvers...mostly different backing techniques, paralleled parking, ect. Once you get that down (and you pretty much do this until you graduate) they mix in road trips where you and an instructor actually get into a fully loaded truck and trailer, one on one, and they take you driving and actually grade you the same way the DMV would grade you on a road test. They start you off on back roads, then go to highways, and eventually city driving, and the road trips usually last approx. an hour.

Seeing as how I have no experience I figured that this way would be the best option for me, and if people do have experience then they also have 7 week or 10 week programs. Some companies offer some sort of tuition reimbursement program as well. Just thought I'd share. =)