"CDL MILLS"

Your cool man....sometimes the details are overlooked...

 

thanks port!!

 

See? This is the trouble with the industry. The simple connection between the instructor and the student is ruined with all this greed coupled with the company lies.

I liked the days when we trainers just took the new hire out on a run and taught them to drive while they were earning a wage for it....So simple it worked!

 

I know my situation is probably a little unique but i thought i would share. I am going to the DMV office in the morning actually to take the written test. I am not going to a school or anything like that. I live in florida and the written test is free to take at the DMV.

My dad was in the air force for 13years. he was a flight engineer on the C-141 cargo planes. He then retired from the air force and went to a commercial airline. When 9/11 hit, he was layed off. Right after that, he went from $130,000 a year to unemployed. He immediantly went and got his CDL, because a freind of his owned a truck and he began driving for him.

He then went back to another airliner hauling car parts. Well, while there, a fellow pilot told him that he was looking for an investment and had always wanted to start a business. tey got to talking about trucks and the guy told my dad that if he would run the business and drive, he would buy the truck and trailers needed. So thats what they did.

So my dad now has a truck, 3 trailers, and he recently merged the company with a company he used to work for. (he became pretty good friends with the owner) the owner is about to retire and my dads company is buying his trucks. So my dad now has 5 trucks and about 10 trailers.

Anyway, back to me. I recently got behind the wheel for the first time in my dad's truck. He set up cones in an empty parking lot on Thanksgiving day and i did all the manuevers. I parrelle parked on the passenger side my first try with only one pull-up.

I have been studying the book and he basically acted as an instructor and made me go over the entire pretrip list and answered any questions I had.

So, in january, when he has more trucks, he is putting me on one.

I will be doing the same route everyday. I will leave at 5am and be back around 2 in the afternoon, mon-fri. i will be getting paid salary $750/week
My wife is also doing paperwork for the company getting paid salary $300/week. Thats $50,400 a year between the both of us without having to go to school. I personally think that is a pretty sweet deal.

So in my case, I think it wouldnt be wise to go to a school.

whats do you guys think?

 

What I think, electriceel, is that you should lemme know how to get ahold of your dad so I can talk to him about drivin' one of those trucks. I also live in FL. and will be getting my "A" in a couple of months.

 

A good place to meet friends...LOL

 

I went to a "mill" in '98 (Crossrtoads Driver Traing School, Goodlettsville, TN., formerly Franklin Driver Training School of Paducah, KY.) and the ONLY company I was refered to was at the time Burlington in Indiana. Since I have not the ability to sleep with the wheels rolling even when as a youngster in the family vehicles, I was summarily dismissed from this company (after a week OTR with an Owner Operator) and the "school" claimed I did not graduate.
I had the CDL for which I went to "school" to get, so I really did "grad-i-ate".
The "school" cost was a mere $4200.00 and I put the "bill" on an alternate SSN which is called an E. I. N. I have NOT made one payment to this "loan" nor shall I ever do so as the "school" was a rip-off where other charges were the students responsibility like; motel, cdl testing, etc.

My wife went to a Truck Driver Training School in Thomasville, NC and she paid only $2200.00 and the school was and probably still is very good.
They had(/have) quality equipment and quality trainers plus they had(/have) weekend classes.
She went to Gainey from there for the three females in a truck training program Gainey had (has) at the time.

College courses offer what they do and some folk have utilized these alternate ideas. College courses were not available to me in '98 yet if they were I wasn't aware of them then. I would've gone that route had I known of availabilities.

Thank you fur yeu tym.
BEst of WELLness 2-u-n-urs-n ALL (ad)ventures!!

 

The world needs more people like you...Why couldn't you find a few
like-minded people (maybe on here?) and start your own school?

What do you think of the practice of promising 44 hours of "behind-the-wheel", and it turns out that includes pre-trip practice and beside-the-truck time which can knock off 10 or more hours of that time? And this is Sage ~ one of the certified, PDTI-approved, "best" schools. Why do they call it "driving time" when you're not driving?

 

I studied the book and went and took the tests in florida.

got my cdl permit.. bought a truck... hired a cdl holder to run with me and hit the road.

after 6 months paid 350 bucks to a school to road test me and passed.

so glad I did not spend thousands to learn to drive