Special Alert!!! Truck Driving Schools

now first let me say i have never been a fan of truck driving schools, they all lie and are quick to take advantage of a new driver trying to get a start in this business, but the way things are today the new driver doesn't have much choice but to use them.

there is none that i can recommend but i can offer this, before you decide to lay your money down remember whatever school it is they all lie to you and they all forget to tell the whole story all they want is your money.


before you decide the first thing you need to do is get on the phone or even better arrange a face to face with a trucking company, a good one and see if there is a possibility of getting hired if you go to school , after you graduate your money is gone if you don't have a job waiting you could run into serious problems it could be a long wait to get a job the way things are out here right now.

and bear in mind that a lot of trucking company's are as bad as the school they lie and sell a lot of rose colored glasses you have to be careful what you believe.

i cant begin to tell you how many future drivers i have talked to that are looking for work that have spent as much as 6000.00 dolors on a school only to find that no one will hire them is it right , hell no ,can you do anything about it nope you can not unless you do some research before you lay your money down on a school.

most of these new people just cant afford to lose that kind of money and most have a family to worry about, YOU REALLY NEED TO DO SOME RESEARCH ahead of time .

you need to bear in mind that this industry is based on a perpetual lie and if you get hooked on the lies your in trouble before you start.

now don't misunderstand me this is a good business and i wouldn't do anything else but just trying to get started you need to be aware of what your up against once your in the business and you have a job it becomes a lot different but even then there are those that are out to take your money.

if it sounds to good to be true , believe me it is , if a trucking company tells you how great they are beware , there not if there all that good they don't have to brag about it drivers have a way of finding out without all that..

the main thing is do your research it free , read forums like this one you can get a multitude of information and it all free, a lot of people will try to help you , drivers are basically good people most of the time just the ones that look bad are.

just no where your going before you lay down your money and don't give up there is room in this business for you.

remember you never loose till you quit.-----southernpride

 

Some folks "willfully sign" a loan "agreement" with a co-signer.WITH the contingency that should that student NOT attain the CDL and all endorsements through the accredited school,those individual are NOT liable for the schooling expenses.
***shrugs my shoulders***
Didn't take a civil court action...just proof that a person "graduated" their school, with no CDL, simply a "temporary"CDL",and the training required...FOR THAT "SCHOOL"...

 

Wow, it sounds like this is a pretty cutthroat business. I had no idea.

 

dear truckers - wan-ta bes,
I have been out of trucking for about 9 years now and things have changed a lot. but one thing is true if you don't know how to drive you have to learn.
Driving schools are a very must now for the insurance and the basic experience.
The best thing to do is to research the schools. then check with the trucking company's they may have their own schools and won't take you any other way.
I went to school back in 1984 and it was a joke. I learned to double clutch and down shift and i learned some other things but I didn't learn to back up. or to go up an incline or how to go down either. we didn't have jake brakes in my company's trucks so I had to learn all that by experience. thank goodness I drove team at first for 3 months.
Now all I can say is you have to want it bad and take the stuff you're going to get thrown at you, until you get your contract paid off. it is called paying your dues.
God bless you driver wan-ta bes. Hope you make it and end up loving it like I did.
wild bird was my handle because I had no home but my truck.

 

The best thing to do is ignore recruiters and read company financial reports , Department of Labor reports telling how many of jobs are lost in the industry every month , and the Transportation Services Index http://www.bts.gov/xml/tsi/src/datadisp_table.xml to see when freight gets up from being the lowest its been in 10 years . Sorry , but only a fool would invest time and money to enter this industry now unless you have a friend or relative that has a solid job offer for you .

 

Interesting stuff here about the schools. I have only my own experience to speak of and so far it's all been good. I will finish my schooling in about a week in tucson Az. I was fortunate enough to get financial help through a Veterans program. With a Hazmat and tanker endorsement it cost about $3200. We had two weeks in classroom and 3 weeks range and driving. 3 students per instructor. It worked out real good. The instructors all came from or worked for different companies. There was no bias or bashing any one company or pushing to hire on with any one company. I found no evidence of special favors from any recruitors or co. reps. We did have visitors from Eagle,Werner,Covenant, etc. Remember, all recruitors and office people are snake oil salesmen. They have to be, it's their job. What we have to do as newbies is to go out to the truck stops and the internet with an open mind to gain as much info as possibe to make a educated choice. Many of the seasoned drivers will be glad to share their experiences with you. Because of my situation and location I have chosen to go with werner for at least one year. I will be taking much of what I have learned on this forum with me to ask some of the hard questions. I have spoken to one recruitor and so far my answers have been on the money of what I needed to hear. I also asked to receive this info in writing with a co. leterhead. No problem,yet.
The school I attended is Southwest Truck Drivers School. They have been surperb in their methods and approach to new drivers. Very professional in the attitude of safety and equip. New Petes and FL's. Very helpful staff and ready to answer any of our dumb questions no matter what the case. They teach you how to be a PROFESSIONAL TRUCK DRIVER !! I hope this has been helpful to some of you, I'm pleased with what they have done with me, thank you. Road Deacon

 

hey guys im new here and need some info on schools in tn please

 

I have been cheeded, screwed over by TDI...they suded me...and now have a judgment against me....i would like to counter sue them...is there any legal action that is going on against TDI ...

 

You should have gone to court, that was the Best time to avoid the judgement !!

Just remembered, there is a broker in summerfield, he knows a lot of truckers. Maybe talk to him, forgot his name-hes in the yellow pages.

Also, Montgomery/Margie Woods is cranking back up. I live down the roads from the mines, they're hauling again !! Good Luck.

 

See what Dan Rather has to report about driving schools! you have to LISTEN to the numbers you hear. Pause so you understand what he's telling you. Then at the end listen to Dan put this moron owner in the corner and he has to admit that he actually DOES own a load company! Most of them are just the same as this low life!

http://www.blip.tv/file/3072766


Now you will hear some of these rookies say that it's not true! They are screws (small mammal that lives underground with a bad attitude for even their own kind!) for the schools! Put up to post crap that they got the best training money could buy and the company they hired on to treats them like gold! Well if you read more of the threads here you'll see that some of these drivers got lucky as hello to get a good company and some of them DID but the majority of you will fall in with these major 1000 -2000+truck trucking companies just to fill a seat to have a truck in an area light on loads so when a load does come up you're there! Pay at .21- .30 and call it "training pay" I made .18 in 1975 with my 1st company so figure it out and ask why.

Anyway watch the flick and just sit back and think about trucking in the REAL world not the one those recruiters (spelled SALES MEN) tell you about!