Questions to Ask Perspective Trucking Schools?

http://www.truckingschool.com/choosing.htm

That is a good page to start with.

 

How many people in class, how many instructors, how much time per person average actually driving,
what type of equipment, size of trailers ? You don't want to learn on a 28' trailer then go out and start driving a 53'

 

Here are a few things I checked into.


It sounds like you're paying for your schooling, so you might want to ask about their refund policy. Personally, I was afraid I would hate it, or that a good job opportunity would come up in my field of work and I wanted to know that I could get a pro-rated refund if these circumstances arose and I could bail out if I chose to do so. I made sure they gave me a hard copy of the refund policy. (As it turned out, I had a great class and met some great people, instructors were not only good, but a hell of a lot of fun. I ended up having a blast. So far, I'm loving the feel of this industry. Most fun I've had since the Marine Corps!).


Also, to get an overall feel of the school's reputation, I checked on prospective employer websites who listed their "approved schools". My school was listed with all of them. In reality, it may not be a big deal, but personally, it made me feel more comfortable about spending the money. Even better, it wasn't the most expensive school in my area.


Finally, you may want to get input from former students rather than the school. The school will always tell you fluffy things no matter who they are. So I did some research on these forums and other forums, and everyone seemed happy with the school. I'd rather have talked in person with students who went to the school, but that wouldn't have been easy since most are on the road.


By poking around, I found out that a school 10 minutes away from my house couldn't keep their equipment running and it was taking students 7 weeks to get through a 4 week course. Another school had great equipment, but too many students. Some didn't have a big enough yard to have more than a few trucks running maneuvers. My school had a big yard and some old, beat up trucks, but they kept them all running and we never lost time because of equipment. There was a variety of road trucks, dump trucks, city cabs, pup trailers, 48' and 53' trailers. We used them all.

Hope this helps and good luck!

 

ONe more thing... be sure to visit the schools. DOn't tell them you're coming, just walk in and see how they treat their potential customers. There was another school in my area that I visited. I came in without an appointment and there were several girls yapping in the office. They made me feel like I was intruding on their BS session. I started asking questions and they handed me a few brochures. It was easy to scratch them off the list. It's hard to train someone who never drove a truck, in 4 weeks. It's not that hard to make a good first impression when someone walks into your school. If you can't do the latter, how will they do on the former?

 

How many trucks do they have. How old are the trucks. How many students will be in your class. These questions all have to do with how much behind the wheel time you will actually get. How many instructors on the yard. They will put down that you spent 8 hours on the yard but you will only get less than an hour an hour or less each day depending on how many other students there are. Also, what happens if you don't pass the skills and driving portion at DMV. Benewcause then you have another group of students coming into the school but you are not finished. Again, sharing the truck. And honpefully the truck are fairly new and are working.