Bank loan for private school?? Anyone Ever?

Ultimately each program while somewhat different is designed with the same goal in mind. To get the student their license as quickly as possible. Most 160 hour programs are only 4 weeks in length and you spend about forty hours in the classroom and the balance of time is split between the backing pad and driving, sharing trucks with other students. The more efficiently they can get you through the licensing process, the quicker they can bring in new students to train (and profit from).

The possible exception would be community college programs. I have heard of some that guarantee as much as 300 hours of actual behind the wheel time. However these programs are few and far between and, sometimes have waiting lists. YMMV.

Of course the reality is that no matter how much time that you spend practicing in school, the first time you bump adock in the real world is an eye opening experience.

I do understand your point. My view point is that, the school doesn't matter as much as does the quality of training that you recieve on your first job. Some companies are better at this than others.

Not neccesarily. If one of those weeks is spent doing little but logging classroom hours and the shorter program offers more hands on training in a shorter time .... see my point?

Knight Transportation seems to have a good trainee program under their Squire fleet and Schnieder has a well regarded school ( IDK if they are still running it though).

As far as independent schools, I seem to recall hearing a few good things about Sage.

Other than that I really believe that its a crap shoot. Both in school and with a trainer.

........... Jim

 

The overwhelming majority of companies that hire new drivers have them work with a trainer for anywhere from two to six weeks. This is after they get their CDL.

Some trainers are pretty good .. others... well, not so much.

For instance Werner only requires a driver to have about 4 months of experience before becoming a trainer. It doesn't mean that all of their trainers only have 4 months of experience, it means that there is a good chance that you will get an inexperienced trainer. Also, trainers make money by training. So you have to take that into consideration.

Typically it goes like this;

Attend school (either company sponsored or private) and get your license.

Hire on with a company and attend orientation (usually several days)

Go out with a trainer (you are paid for this) for the company's prescribed period of time.

Return to a terminal and go through a testing process.

Be assigned a truck and begin delivering loads on your own.

The process details vary somewhat from company to company but, this is a pretty broad over view of the general process.


Here's something for you to think about. == Attend a company sponsored school and then after getting your CDL, if you don't like working for the company, take the bank loan and pay off the balance that you owe the company.

Minimal risk and assured independence.

......... Jim

 

a few of you guys are speaking about Pell Grants, student loans and such, but i will address your's Chrome Dome.....

School's at one time, especially the "accredited" schools had an "in" so to speak with trucking companies. the schools could almost always guarantee as many students as the companies wanted. bear in mind, companies that WERE around back then, either are not today, or they changed thier recruiting process, to NOT hire student drivers.

case in point, JB Hunt, Schneider, North American Van Lines (the Com-Trans Division is what they were known as then), Munson (to be Swift later in life), to name only some of the major players in recruiting. Werner was NEVER in this, as Werner DEMANDED 2 years of driving experience.

one by one, these companies either went out of business, or started "in house training", Schneider being one of them. JB Hunt decided to stop recruiting as the costs were prohibited, and decided to just pay their drivers MORE money, and then wanted experienced drivers instead of students.

ok now let's fast forward a little bit.......no more major companies recruiting like they used to. companies out of business or merging with others. the demand actually fell off for new drivers coming out of schools.........

students graduating.......but no one is hiring like they used to. there is a "pick and choose the best", or the "only the cream of the crop" will we hire..........

this leads now to many new licensed drivers, scrambling for work to pay off those student loans. no jobs to be found, the default rate sky-rockets.......the government takes away the student loan program(s), the schools lose accreditation..........

it's a "domino principle"....

when i was a student back in the 80's, we were told, "PAY YOUR LOANS"....!!!

reason being, the school i went to, lost thier loan program due to lack of paying off those loans....then it takes a LONG time before a school can get it back again, (both the accreditation and loan programs).

it does not matter the length of a schools program, it does not matter the cost, it does not matter the education.......

what matters is JOBS after graduation...!!! no jobs means no loan paybacks which means lost accreditation, which means harder ways to finance, which means schools close, which means people go with company training, which means indentured servitude, which means an unhappy employee, which means a drop out from the job, which means unemployment all over again....

the accreditation's a school can get, only means the financing available for the program, and a bare minimum of specific educational requirements for the students.

now, i personally know of this and these reasons for accreditation, loans, jobs, and such from "both sides" of the fence.....one as a former student (1980's), one as a driver, and lastly, as an instructor facing these very same quandaries on a regular basis.

until the actual demand for drivers is actually needed, too many people will be WASTING their time going to trucking schools all across America.....as no or not too many jobs will be available. people STILL SEEM TO THINK, that rucking IS the career to get into when the economy tanks, or they lost their jobs, or they "always wanted to drive, or like to drive, or like being alone".....WHATEVER.......those are NOT THE REASON'S to get into trucking. but like lost sheep, they still come in hopes of finding a better way of making money.......then they biotch and cry and moan and groan when they cannot get financing, or cannot get a job, ANY JOB, let alone a good one...!! and what's equally FUNNY is, NO ONE WANTS to go OTR......they ALL WANT LOCAL......!!! well kiss my butt.........there are TOO MANY driver's out of work, WITH experience that WILL GET THOSE JOBS........!!!!

and now, add into the all too real fact that NewPenn a HUGE LTL company will be closing it's doors soon, meaning some of those drivers, HIGHLY EXPERIENCED LOCAL DRIVER'S in fact, that will be wanting LOCAL JOBS........any wannabe or newbie really think he has a chance.....?????

 

FYI. The WIA is great and your local government ran job center can help you get it BUT it is a once in a lifetime Federal Grant. Don't waste it if you get it. I did and I'm kicking myself in the ##### right now.