IITR in ORegon

My brother attended IITR in Albany, due to the proximity of his house and their place. He paid his tuition up front and got down to business. He said that the training was fine as were the trainers. They gave the students plenty of extra time if they needed it if something was difficult for them, backing up, more road time etc. etc. He had a job lined up as soon as he was done, so he didn't use their job placement program that they have. He did about 7 mod. OTR and left for a local job, home every night, weekends off, excellent pay and bennies, sick pay, vac.pay, blah blah blah. So overall he said that it was just fine. Good luck!

 

Actually there is if you dig a little...Navajo will hire recent IITR grads, Watkins-Shepard will too, and Watkins has a terminal in Vancouver, WA.
You'll put in some over the road time before you will be considered for something a little more local. Also IITR is accredited, which is good.
My brother said to get all of the endorsements that you can before you are finished with IITR. There are tanker jobs out there as well.
Schneider has a big tank division and has an intermodal division in Portland, so that is a good possibility for you if everything works out for you with them. I check their job board once in awhile to see what they have to offer, and the intermodal looks pretty sweet. Mainly shift work,day cab, but you are home every night and working steady. A family member of mine worked for Schneider for several years and said that basically your attitude dictates your success with them, as well as just following their rules, no tickets, no accidents, no big screw up's and you will do great! He made good money too. He did well in their tanker division and then eventually started his own company and got his own authority and left on good terms with them. Granted others will bash them, but there's two sides to every story, and usually the bashers were sent packing for not following the rules, speeding, being late,breaking ####, DUII or whatever else you can imagine. You will be gone for quite awhile after you hire on with them, so don't plan on seeing home very much during your first 6 mo. or more, depending on which division you get on with. Everyone pays their dues at first. I did, and that's just the nature of the beast. Good luck, the time will fly by before you know it, and its all about what you make it out to be.

 

That's great! Take advantage of those military benefits, you've earned them, and thank you for your service.
I used to be a water treatment plant operator for a government location, and I used to always talk to the tanker drivers that came to deliver our treatment plant chemicals, chlorine...etc. and they all seemed like a pretty happy bunch of guy's. Mostly day trippers, but they all made good money. They all had prior over the road experience. Long haul typically, that got them to where they were.
That is one job I would do in a heart beat, but I'm onto different things at this time. Tankers aren't for everyone, but it is a diverse field
and there is opportunity for you if you chose that direction of work after awhile. Schneider loves ex-military. My family member was also ex-military when he was hired by them. You'll do fine with IITR. I know others that have gone through their school, and they all had more than the typical 160 hours of training time under their belts, along with all of the endorsements to excel wherever they went.
One place my brother is considering driving for is Central Oregon Trucking. www.centraloregontruck.com located in Bend. They are a specialty flat bed company that pays well, takes care of their equipment and gets their drivers the miles they need to make a living.
You need 2 years of over the road experience to apply. Flat beds can be tough on guy's, because of the tarps and the climbing, but it will keep you healthy, baring an injury of course. Hopefully IITR can get the night class situation resolved so you can be on your way.
One thing my brother said to do is get your backing skills down the best that you can by doing the extra practicing when and while you are there, you'll be glad that you did. Charge!!!!!

 

You'll be done in 4 weeks. As i explained to my wife about over the road; it isn't forever. It's just for awhile, and the time will fly by.
You have to pay your dues somewhere. Some have been lucky, but very few in regards to avoiding OTR. Just get iphones and do FaceTime with each other if that helps. My brother got by with 6 mos. OTR before he landed his current local gig. So it's possible.
Navy See bee and my cousin was Army infantry, Iraq. My cousin owns his own rig now (Peterbilt classic cab with a Cat under the hood) and 3 trailers, Freight, Refer & Curtain/flatbed. Has his own authority too and is kicking ###. He too did a year OTR before better options opened up. It's all about the experience that is essentially dictated by insurance companies. Swing for the bleachers!

 

No, My brother got everything through IITR, including his permit. Ironically he used to drive long haul for several years, and then got into dispatching and let his CDL go. Huge mistake that he later regretted, thus ending up at IITR. Don't let your CDL go...ever. My wife and I have apple gear everywhere. My Macbook I'm banging this out on, iPad, iPods, & iPhones. I'm planing on going back out on the road and with FaceTime she feels a little better about the time away from each other. We have no kids together, my daughter is 13 and with her mom, shared custody, and my son is old enough to do his own thing, so the home issues aren't really there. Having young kids and long haul doesn't go hand in hand very well, but it can work. It's harder when they hit the teen years. I've witnessed major relationship breakdowns because of those factors, but its more in a couples parenting style. Got off track, but it is a reality of the road. Young one's are what took me off the road perviously, but my goal is to get back into the game and get my own authority with my brother and run our own business with our cousin whose kicking butt and doing great. No leasing to any major carriers either.