Looking into truck driving

In my experience, most regional want a year of otr. If you can prove us wrong though, great.. Secondly, were you go to CDL school makes no difference. CDL school is just to get you CDL. You actual learn on the job and for get everything you learned in CDL school. Just make sure its on the approved list fo the carrier you want.

 

La Mona, Welcome to TTR. I see you've just joined, and as I write this have posted once. It's a little early to be checking out schools and potential employers. What you need to do first is to thoroughly research this career choice. Truckers will be the first to tell you that it is not for everyone. It can be a very difficult lifestyle, and the vast majority of new drivers wash out before they make it to one year. There is a ton of information on this site and others about what being a driver is really like and what it involves. Do yourself a favor and take the time to really research it and think carefully about it. If you're then convinced it's for you then go for it, but do not take this career choice lightly. This thread is a good read. You can see that the OP was highly motivated to become a trucker, but he just disappeared after going through school and a few months with Swift. http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...rivers/112266-help-a-trucker-wannabe-out.html

 

Please stop spreading that "locked into a company" BS. NO company-sponsored training school that I've looked into has that requirement.

Let me use Swift Academy as an example, since I am currently enrolled there, and had to sign the required paperwork. And yes, I *did* read the contracts.

The first contract that I signed was the enrollment contract. In it, I agreed to pay them a certain amount of money in exchange for my training.

The second contract I signed was the repayment contract. I agreed to pay a certain amount of money each week, until the loan for the schooling was paid off. For the most part, a standard installment loan contract. Had I paid cash up front, I wouldn't have had to sign the second contract.

Company-sponsored training schools usually have a clause in the second contract regarding having the company pay off your loan for you. Most companies pay off a good chunk at six months, and the rest at one year, provided you continue to drive for them. This is over and above what you earn as a driver. Some companies go by miles driven. Swift reimburses me for half my weekly payment each week, but for twice as long as my repayment, again provided I am driving for them. If I decide to drive for someone else, either from the start or some time later, I am free to go; Swift simply no longer gives me my reimbursement.

As for the tech schools giving a better education, well, I have an issue there, too. I checked into the local tech schools before I made my decision. School was eight weeks long, 40 hours a week for 160 hours total. They didn't start backing practice until the third week, which meant two weeks of pretrip. And when they did finally get out on the road, it was with four students in the truck, and the truck was out for four hours a day.

By my calculations, at Swift Academy I'm getting closer to 170 hours of instruction; three weeks, six days a week, 9.5 hours a day. I started doing straight line backing on my third day. Most of the road time was with two other students in the truck, so I got quite a bit of wheel time.

Regardless of what school you go to, they teach to the test. You leave with a CDL, and the basic knowledge of driving a truck. It's the first month or two with the company where you learn how to be a trucker.

 

the Swift training is very good, i went to the one in Phoenix, we did 7 days a week though with no days off for 18 days, class was from 6am til 4pm everyday except a couple. Some of the private schools you spend a week or more just studying for the permit, with Swift you study before you get there and take the permit test on the 2nd day and get into trucks like the above person said by the 3rd day.

Swift does not allow pets in company trucks anymore, guess people abused it and had several pets and tore up trucks from what I was told, if your an owner op then yeah you can have a pet. Only some companies have pet policies these days.

I started off OTR but im now western regional, they kept me mostly western anyway once I went solo. The east coast has a lot of freight so you shouldnt have trouble staying east.

 

very untrue with this economy, I was out of work for a year and a half and had no problems at all, all they wanted to know is a short explanation of the gap, I didnt have to go into detail, get letters or any of that crap. People spreading this info just does not help all those who have been out of work and need a job, I know plenty of drivers who were out of work for a long time before getting into trucking.