decisions decisions......

way to go panhandlepat! at least with a loan you are not obligated to one company. i wish you much success!

 

Hey Pat

CFI(contract frieghters inc) in Joplin, Mo. has a training program for $1740 in 2 colleges, one in Mo. and one in Ok. they are 4 weeks. They also have a school that they work with in Texas that will finance altho I know nothing of the particulars there.

Be careful of what TDI tells you. Do your homework!!! I went there for 1 weekend and they told us all kinds of great things most of which turns out to be B.S. Find out EXACTLY how much your tuition reimbursement is going to be. The way I figured it The reimbusement barely covered the interest on the loan(the school recruiter never told me what the % rate was gonna be even after I started to go there. I quit) Which means you could be paying that loan for many years to come. TDI also had flyers and posters for Rhoel transport and got me all excited about going there till I called and they told me they dont hire from here.(central Fl.) Huh??? Also TDI wanted a you to name the company you are going to work for before you get out of school. And made you feel that this was manditory! First of all, what business is it of thiers who you go to work for? Well thats just it, Business. They are getting some kind of kickbacks, concessions or something from all these companies so they need you to hire on or they dont get thier consideration, whatever that may be. The owner at the school I went to came right out and told us that he gets $500 from CRST for each student he sends to them. I had already made up my mind but they tried to change it at least 3 times.
Now, if your going to school, staying in a hotel with no internet access, how are you supposed to research? Or you just take thier word for it? LOL!!! Thier word and $.75 will get you a coffee and you dont thier word so how much is that worth? Also there were about 25 to 30 students and 1 instructor. Now this was the initial start so I imagine they would bring in more when you start to drive but it just seemed to me there was gonna be a lotta guys in that truck. Dont quote me but I beleive CFI has 6 students per class. Bottom line IMHO TDI sucks. You would do well to look elsewhere.

Take a look at CFI before you do anything. I researched for months before I chose to go there. I could not find anyone with a better schooling/ company deal. I got my CDL thru a local mill because Fl. state paid for it as I was unemployed but my wife will be doing the whole deal. Read my other post "Going to CFI" to see the deal. LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP!!!!!!!!!!

Good luck

 

Some places will pay you 2 to 4 cents per mile less and then make tuition payments of about $150 month. The loans themselves are very high interest. Up around 20%. In effect what it does is make you maintain employment to that one particular company. Dont even dream about $900 a week.

 

Plus all those companies you saw posters for on thier walls---- They all suck!!!!

 

Research, Research, Research!!!!! There ARE state sponsored schools out there!

 

Should anybody else from Northwest Florida be looking for commercial driver training: Washington-Holmes Technical Center in Chipley, FL, has been training truck drivers since the 60s. http://www.whtc.us/
Tuition is roughly $1,500 for eight weeks. Just FYI.

 

see if unemployment will pay for it there doing it for me

 

Pat,
I went to Roadmaster, I learned a Lot, I already had my CDL but lacked the experience, all the companies I applied for told me the same thing "Get training then come talk to us" the companies all gave me several schools to contact, so I did my research and went to night school with Roadmaster in Salt Lake City. I had a job with Crete waiting for me before I graduated, and have been offered many other jobs since, I can practically choose from a variety of companies. I have no complaints about the trucks, I mean of course they are not brand new, but would you trust a new truck to some people that have never seen the inside of a truck before?
Good luck in whatever you decide to do. Hope you find the right school for you.