Im looking at schools right now and

Not stupid questions at all. Usually they pay or reimburse you to get there, although you probably need to have money for anything other than shelter. In my class, some were paid by grants, but the majority were company sponsored. That was expected being C1/driver solutions. If it is company sponsored, shelter will probably be provided. If you choose to arrange your own transportation, they will reimburse a certain amount.

 

I lived in the same town I went to school, so I just drove back and forth from home - no mileage reimbursement to school an back because a shuttle was provided for the motel students. Since it was through drivers solutions, it was that much less I owed (no motel bill).

 

oops. it posted twice. Sorry about that.

 

Before commit to a school, talk to companies that you want to drive for (companies hiring in your area). Try to get a pre-hire. Some companies run schools and will only take you if you come from one of their schools. Some will only take you from a list of approved schools (they can give you a list of schools in your area). So if you get your CDL first, you are esentially limiting yourself in selection of employers.

 

by the way, a good judge of who is hiring is by using juju dot com. it is basically a job website search engine.

 

All the above is good info. Just be sure, no matter if you go company sponsored or the technical college route, it is very important to get your OTR training with a company soon after you get your cdl.

 

If there's anybody on this board that's gonna become a truck driver, my money IS on Denise--if ya don't wear out your keyboard first !! I'm curious as to the labor market up there, how's it looking? And something nobody has mentioned, and please don't take it the wrong way, but age discrimination is rampant in this country. Even in trucking, regardless of what others say, be forewarned...OK. I've just noticed it recently. Regardless, you are going to do fine. And yes, you can still train with a person, and get hired, however school makes it easier. Type at ya later..Jim