My honest, no BS, opinion of P.A.M.

Well, yeah...Just have to figure out what is most important to each person and read here to see if its true or not...

 

call norma

 

What a great thread.... I just finished reading every page..My question is this. I have been in the Hot Tub Business for 20 years, time to get out.. Iv lost about everything due to the economy. I live in Indianapolis, or just North of it. I have decided to try PAM for a year after cdl school. I have no wife, and no children at home. Id really like to move closer to my folks who are getting very old. They live in the Jamestown Ny are, which is close to Erie PA... Does it really matter where you live? Can you request loads to certain areas? I drove Tractor Trailers and Dragon wagons in the USMC for 8 years hauling heavy equipment, but know nothing about the real world Trucking.

 

I don't see Jamestown being a problem getting to. I haven't been in a while, but I'm pretty confident we still have loads that pass in that area heading to Buffalo and/or Rochester.

Pretty much you can request hometime anywhere in the lower 48. It's just a matter of getting you there. For instance, I have family in New Orleans and sometimes request to go there. I don't see it being a problem. Just ask your dispatcher before sending in the hometime request.

On a side note, not sure what Dragon Wagon meant in the military, but in trucking, that's a car hauler.

 

Dj Thanks for the info. It just dosen't make sence to keep a residence inIndianapolis if Im the only one living there and I would only be there a few days per Month...I guess I should change my user name, I did't realize thats what it meant in the Trucking industry. In the Marine Corps it was developed in around 1985 or so to replace allot of the off road trucks, Tractors. It recripicated in the middle like a Terex, you could switch the rear units out, say troop hauler, or 5th wheel plate. It would go anywhere. I hauled Amtracts and Tanks mostly. Thanks for the Info.

 

Now Im REALLY Confused. I just spent the last 3 hours reading a thread thats been going for over 2 years about Driver Solutions, and not much was good. I was really getting excited for a career change and Iv always been pulled back towards trucking since my days as a Marine...Now I dont know what to think, and Im supposed to call Kevin at 10:00 tommorow. Below is some interesting facts I found.

I live in Indianapolis and was excited about this school and Pam, thats until I read this thread on another board. There is a Government web site here in Indiana where you can look at a company by name, and see every court case in detail that they have been involved in. This is the 1st result I got when I entered Driver Solutions
" The search resulted in too many matches to display. Narrow the search by entering more precise criteria. ---" SO, I did . Between 1-20-09, and 4-28-09 Driver solutions sued 202 people for their tuition.. From 1-1-10 and 6-16-10 they sued 556 people WOW.. Im Bummed...

What to think now?

 

Dragon the main problem I saw at Driver Solutions in Fort Wayne was to many students waiting in line to practice on the equipment. Also the equipment was kind of old.

However as goofy as the school is certain people who have an edge in their experience can get through it while others are still struggling. For example a yard switcher breezed through the parallel parking course and with some help got the road driving down.

If you have an edge in your experience as a heavy equipment driver and especially stick shifting it will help you get to the head of the class to pass the road tests and get your CDL.

In that sense it Driver Solutions might workout if you feel comfortable being locked into PAM for a year to pay for the course.

I went to PAM to and thought it was okay for a beginner. You just good tips on what to avoid with the company. For example you need to avoid certain PAM repair shops because they're to slow.

 

The reason they sue so many people is because the driver either is fired or quit before their year commitment is done. I've seen a few drivers get fired for repetitive logbook violations. Just stupid things like that. Next thing you know they have to pay back the better part of the $6000 in tuition they were fronted. It's too much of a common occurrence.

 

Lol yeah some of the weird part of about Driver Solutions comes from some of the strange random people who show up trying to drive.

Keep in mind some of the students may even be people with a criminal history or even doing drugs.

 

Hi and I went through Driver Solutions also last Dec and Jan got my Lic no problem and they did what they said but people get into this industry and do not take the time to figure out first that you are not going to be home much and that depends on what kind of runs you are doing I was pulling FedEX doubles from Sidney NE to Aurora NE for 6.5 months and was home Saturday AM till Monday AM and drove 2750 miles per week but that over so its back to ORT for pay till I can get another run that takes me by the house, I live in my truck and that they way it is with OTR and I have found that PAM is just as good as the rest and just bas bad as the rest, you have to get 1 year in and it will be a ##### at times but it won't be any different anywhere else buck up and do it, or go through some one Elise's program but when it comes down to it you have to meet the contract or they will sue you for not its what the contract says