Company Schools VS Private Schools Questions

You could rent a truck and get your CDL on your own, and go with a company that will actually train you.

If you'd rather go to a school, go to the college. I cannot ever recommend d a company school to anyone, not ever.

 

I wouldn't do a school unless its roehl or a very top company. Or I would do a private school like for example I go to NETTTS it has Pell grants and there is no contract other then being drug free and random drug screens.

 

Depending on the situation, there is nothing wrong with company sponsored training. The economy is terrible; so what's wrong with signing a contract for a 1 year job after training? South Florida is tough, because it's not in a hiring area of many companies. If you have your CDL now, Maverick will hire you and give you driver training. Prime Inc. you need no money & they even front the money for food while your in orientation, then pay you $600.00 a week while riding with a trainer. Central Refrigerated is another with no money up front for their CDL school.

Contact these 3 companies & check the websites. If you're not in the hiring area, use a relative or friends address that's in a hiring area. Probably have to change the address on your liscense also.

There are several avenues to enter the trucking career, so use the one that best fits you situation.

 

There are several problems with company sponsored schools:

1. The training typically sucks, with only the bare minimum to pass the CDL road test being taught.

2. The starting pay rate at most of those companies is an absolute insult. Stay away from any company that won't offer you at least .33 per mile starting out. I know that Prime starts out much higher, so they're a good choice (as long as going through their school doesn't reduce the starting pay rate), or Maverick is good if you already have your CDL or just want to get it and start your real training,

3. By having you sign a year contract, they own you. They are under no obligation to give you miles, keep you running, or treat you decently. I went $6,000 in debt by bailing on one of those contracts because the training was so horrible that I wouldn't even finish the program. Once I heard fleet managers at this particular company ordering the trainers to falsify their logs, I had them drop me off at home immediately.

4. Typically, the "trainers" in those programs are themselves inexperienced. My first trainer was 3 years younger than me and only had 1 year experience. You will NOT get the quality training you need for this type of work.

i would suggest getting your CDL on your own and then going with a company like Maverick, Prime, Rohel, or any of the others that hire new drivers without requiring graduation from a CDL school. If the company makes you sign a contract, I'd be very wary... Any company that wants you trained right won't make you sign a contract and will treat you well enough to keep you from leaving. Simple as that.

 

And I understand what Chinatown is saying, but don't use someone else's address to get hired. The reason companies have hiring areas is so they can be sure that they can get you home often enough. If you live outside the hiring area, they'll have trouble getting you home, and if they find out you gave the wrong address you'll likely be fired.

 

Why don't you check with the college for financial aid or a student loan? Or they might let you make payments. My local college let people pay their tuition in payments. Or maybe a bank would loan it to you, $2000 isn't much and you'll. have it paid off pretty soon after you start driving.

 

I'm paying out of pocket for school. I had a driver tell me yesterday that was just stupid I just smiled.next he told me he is on his 5th job in a year or 2 I don't remember. Wow 5 jobs in a year or 2. I say pay myself and be in charge of my own destiny

 

If you pay out of pocket and go to an actual college or community college, you can get it back on your taxes, so keep your documents.

Also, call your states unemployment offices and see if they have a state grant program for new job skills training. Most states do and it's a grant, you don't have to repay it. They can direct you to the correct place.