Training options to choose between

Most places want a 160 hour course due to insurance reasons.

 

Are you near Williamsport?
Go for the Community College or 160 School.

 

A&S Kinard - 34 hr. restart at home. Average $78K.
A&S Kinard Trucking and Logistics
https://askinard.com
A&S Kinard Logistics is a wholly owned subsidiary of A&S Services Group, harnessing the power of our combined resources for you.

 

Fed-ex has a driver apprentice program. Look into that and see if your local hub is hiring for that position. Youll be a dock worker while they train you and get experience driving. Will take longer but its paid and youll have a job with no previous experience.

 

I’d suggest the community college
In my state that’s the best training by far, and also the least expensive .
They spend two weeks in a classroom learning the rules and regs then one week learning how to do a pre trip inspection , 2 weeks learning how to shift gears, then two weeks backing trailers in the parking lot

You’ve got a couple of months to work overtime and save some money ,
The course shouldn’t be expensive but the not working while you’re in class can be hard, although you can work part time somewhere nights and weekends when you’re not in class .
Most states have some form of tuition assistance , either loans or grants .

in my state the community colleges and vo tech schools are “third party testers “ if you pass the class , get your CDL,
The class IS your road test .
there will be plenty of recruiters at the class , and some of the companies will actually be good ones to work for , you just have to figure out which ones they are by asking the recruiter the questions that no one else will .
Everyone will ask about average earnings, you need to ask about training , opportunities for advancement , (which usually don’t exist in trucking , you’re a driver , what’s above that ? Nothing )
And ask about turnover rate , most companies brag when their turnover is less than 100% a year . and ask about home time .

some companies will guarantee home on weekends , and some companies will have you on the road for months at a time

my nephew completed a CDL class at a state vo tech school last year , and there were tons of companies recruiting , but one company did oversize overweight and super heavy haul.
And they hire people with new CDLs
But they haul secure loads and are very selective , and required an extensive background investigation, and only 3 of the 29 students were even eligible to apply for the background investigation, the other 26 students had bad driving records , terrible credit reports, or criminal arrests .
The background investigation application is 250 pages and includes your siblings , parents and in-laws, since the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
And the background investigation takes 6-12 weeks .
My nephew got hired and after completing the company’s 12 month paid training program is now driving a 2 yr old 600 horsepower , 18 speed W-900L hauling 12 foot wide loads that gross 110,000 lbs , and home every weekend
After you drive another 12 months for them , they issue the driver a brand new truck , and send the driver to the KW dealer to select the color of the new rig

there are some good companies out there to work for , it’s your job to find them ,