Wolf Driving School Illinois

I graduated on 11/2010. Been driving for a few months now, for a crappy company. Wolf has different recruiters come in, every few weeks if you are interested working for the nationals. They also have decent size yard to learn the skills portion, many of the schools in Chicago have tiny lots where you have to maneuver tightly.

 

I skipped the nationals because, lets just say I would be pissed off to be locked at 60mph at Schneider, other nationals did not want me because of my age, and I dont like the idea of Electronic Log Books. The class size really depends on what time you get there. When the instructor is there, the class might have 20 students , but during the week, you might have 10, 5 or less. Wolf has at least 25 students enrolled all the time. There is no official class start date. Whenever you sign up, thats when you start your training. Typically during the week, you sit and study your permit/ pre trip inspection and Saturdays and Mondays they have a great instructor come in and test you on the truck simulator. When the instructors says you are ready to go to the yard, they will sitdown with you to get your driving schedule. They are a very busy school, some weeks they have 20+ students testing to get their license.

 

The class is 4 week in theory, you need to spend 128 Hours in the class room(10 of them are observation in the yard). If you decide you can spend only 4 hours per day in class then this will extand to more time. 4hrs a day for 6days a week - 24hrs per week - which brings it to over 5 weeks for classroom study alone. If you decide to be there 10hrs a day(IL State Maximum per day), you would be done with your classroom portion in little over two weeks. On average it takes about 6 weeks to get your license. There are students that go there for 4-6 months, while others get it done in 4 weeks.

As far as driving goes, you will have 32hrs of driving, which consist of 16hrs in the yard(skills) and 16hrs of road. In the yard, the instructors will show you what you have to learn, and then you drive by yourself most of the time. When you go on the road, the instructors will be with you all the time. The school will get you a schedule for your 32hrs of driving.

 

This is a standard 160Hour course that every CDL school in IL will offer you. You can go ahead and request extra hours but I dont think it will be needed. I highly doubt they will schedule you for only one week of driving. Most students are scheduled for about 2- 2.5 weeks. After 5 hours in the yard, you should be able to do all the manuvers, after that its just practice time. Trust me, you will be frustrated after first few hours of skills portions(when you mess up), and the extra days allow you to think about what you are doing.


Driving is the easiest portion of getting your license, Pre Trip inspections is a lot of material to cover over the 2-3weeks, especially if you never drove a truck and/or have mechanical knowledge.

 

In my 160 hour course I am in the classroom 48 hours and in the truck for 112. Testing at the DMV tomorrow at 8am.

 

and the cost if you dont mind sharing? I feel driving school should teach you the basics to operate a truck, you learn to drive a truck once you start your job(beggining with training for a few weeks)


Good luck on getting your license.

 

It was $3400. I know it is on the higher side of the costs I have seen from other schools, but it has been a very positive experience. All the instructors are former CF drivers with 30+ years experience. My instructor has 36 years behind the wheel. He goes beyond just getting you ready to pass the CDL test, he actually teaches about driving. There were 4 people total in my class. When it came time to be in the trucks they got a second instructor and split us up 2 students to a truck. I have logged almost 900 miles driving plus extensive time in the yard. While I am far far from knowing a lot, I feel more than prepared to pass the test and go to work very soon.