Questions for Carrier-based CDL School Recruiters?

Which carrier schools are you considering?

 

This is probably an incomplete list, but ask about:

• Program length and pay (CDL class + training)
• How many times you’re allowed to retake the test. I saw a class mate fail the parking portion of the test because he blew the horn when reversing from habit, forgetting that the examiner told him to blow the horn to end the test. Luckily he signed an older version of the contract and was allowed to retest, otherwise he would have wasted 4 weeks.
• The contract! Ask if they can send you a copy. This will generally outline terms of employment and the probationary period, and how much/when you will owe the company money for training you.
• If you’re far from where you’re going to school, you should know if they offer transportation and housing.
• The carrier’s safety record. You should be able to look this up yourself.
• If you’re planning to drive local or get consistent home time, ask your recruiter if they have a terminal or consistent loads within 50 miles of your home. Your recruiter may lie, so be sure to try to confirm with other forum members employed by that company.

Remember that the recruiters are basically salesmen, and you’ll be fine. The company’s reputation and employee retention is probably the single most important factor, imo.

 

@the_road_runner --

Did you know....

that certain carriers.....

will pay you a salary....

while you get your CDL with them?

They will also provide you with room and board while you do so.

After you get your CDL with them--you (of course) have a job waiting for you....when you finish.

If interested, check these companies out more--by looking them up in other threads here on the Forum:

R E West (located in Tennessee)
Western Dairy Transport (mainly in Texas, and Missouri)

--Lual

 

Are you lying to me?
Do you realize I’ll choke start you if you feed me any BS?
Is there a fridge & inverter in the truck?

 

My first question would be, is the teacher hot?

If you are going to be bored, at least be bored with a babe.

 

Recruiters are car salesmen. They are not transportation consultants, they are not financial advisors. They sell "cars". Meaning no question a recruiter answers will tell you anything useful about the job. Nothing they say is legally-binding. The INSTANT you are hired you will never ever hear form the recruiter again. It is a waster of time to ask the recruiter questions, because the answers mean nothing.

Imagine a new recrit into the US Army telling his Drill Sergeant " but my recruiter said I can sleep late every Sunday."

The only answers that are semi-reliable come from other drivers currently doing the type of truck driving you are getting hired to do at the company you are considering. The recruiter will answer most questions with "I'll have to check with the company, and insert guess here, and get back to you." You cannot force the trucking company to live by the "promises" the recruiter told you.

Make ANY trucking company put current working drivers doing the work you are considering in contact with you and ask them to describe what schedule they work, how much home-time they get, how often they get home, how much do new drivers in this account/type of trucking make, how much do the benefits cost, whatever is important to you. The recruiter will be lucky if they know how many trucks & drivers the company employs or even what color the trucks are, even if every truck is the same clor. Recruiters are not paid to find the right job for the new driver. They are paid to get X number of driver to work for the company, nothing else. If you stay 30 days or 30 years, it makes no difference to the recruiter.

The results you get in trucking are 100% based on your effort and luck. Talk to drivers that work for that company NOW, not 20 years ago, and not a friend of the driver 10 years ago. The OTR drivers won't have info at the dedicated accounts and the dedicated drivers won't know much about OTR accounts.
WHATEVR YOU DO AVOID ANY DOLLAR TYPE STORE ACCOUNT, no matter the name of the dollar type store or the trucking company. It is trucking career suicide for 90% of new drivers. Avoid CR England at all costs, even if they promise you 24/7 backrubs from cheerleaders.