To Drive or Not!!!

whoa whoa, whooooooa. first things first - what makes your school "not worth going to?"

you have to take what you read with a grain of salt (whatever that means.) for every person who says something good about Fords, you WILL have 5 Chevy fans who can tell you why Fords are so awful. if you turn on the news, how many stories are there about something bad that happened, verses good things that happened?

that's just the way it is. I could tell you a million things about the last company I worked for (I was there for 2.5 years,) then you would not want to even put in an application. but then why would I have worked there for 2.5 years? some of these people talk sheet about companies where they have 15-20 years in! others talk about working for dozens of companies, never finding the "right" one. maybe in some of these cases, it isn't the company, or the industry. ya think??

 

Well, I am seriously considering Roadmaster as well, and I would not say it is not worth going to. I don't doubt they place a huge percentage of their grads. More to the point is whether paying Roadmaster $6,000 is the right thing to do if there are solid companies with training programs for new drivers.

My thought is that it might make more sense to choose one of those companies, work the first year for them at a moderate to low rate of pay, then pick a new employer.

 

First of all-- have you ever been to an institution (high school, college, work, a hospital, a church, a camp, etc.) were there weren't any naysayers?

Second, everyone here deals with individuals. A large company is bound to hire one or two bad guys and those bad guys make it hell for a couple of unfortunates. There's no way to avoid this. Look for better-- and best-- not good or bad-- since most people here agree the industry is OK as a whole.

Third, don't forget that your first job is for a year, and that trucking is for a lifetime.

 

I agree with everyone on here.. no matter what you choose to do in life (whether it's trucking or even flipping burgers!) there's going to be people who tell you you're wrong or talk down about it. That's just the way life is, not everyone is going to be happy with every situation.. I think that's what makes our industry so strong - even though many people have bad trucking experiences, there are 2x as many who have good ones! It's just the bad ones use places such as these to write about it

On another note, if you decide that you don't want to go to Roadmaster and pay upfront for your tuition, I suggest the program I went through: Driver Solutions. I was very happy with the 3 weeks of training I got there, and unlike RM (which I also looked into) the training is paid upfront by your company and you're prehired before you even start school so as long as you pass, you're guaranteed a driving job. Pretty sweet deal for a newbie. I always suggest that as an alternative to people who are nervous about RM and the cost - that's a ton of money!!

 

truckinggirl is right ... no matter what you do and or where you go, someone will always tell you that you are wrong... but as the saying goes .. you are not out to please everyone ... you please yourself ..

when it comes to companies and naysayers .. well they are right too .. for every 5 people who hate fords, 3 priase them .. for every 5 who hate jb, swift , usxpress, etc .. they are a few who never had probs with them ...

if you feel driving is what you want to do or try to do ... go for it .. if that is what makes you happy ... you will gain experience .. talk to other drivers along the way and find out where the good companies are ...

like now .. nobody hardly says anything bad about maverick and barr nunn ... not too much is said about tmc ... i know a guy who has run for a few big companies didnt get too many miles .. he went to shaffer and couldn't be happier .. he is averaging 3600 miles a week ... but he kisses dispatcher butt .... but it works for him ...

my neighbor says bad things about every company and that is just the way he is .... he likes to get into a company.. say he will run as much as he can then tells the company he wants to be home every weekend ... then when they dont run him ... he gets mad and quits and becomes a naysayer ...

i told him like this ... if you want to run the miles and want to be home weekends, run local or find dedicated .. if the only freight going out on a monday is west coast .. you will not be home every weekend ... they wont give him a west coast run knowing he wants to be home every weekend ...

told the same thing to the guy who went to shaffer and he decided i was right ... stated maybe every other weekend and he is booking up them miles ...

needless to say ... you will have naysayers no matter where you go ... not only from trucking ..but coke or pepsi .. mcdonalds or burger king .. ford or chevy .... jeff gordon or earnhardt jr .... no matter which you choose someone always will say you are wrong .. but you are not out to please them .. you are out to do what you feel you were put here to do ....

 

Could you provide a bit more information about Driver Solutions? Web site, contact information for recruiter, how the education is funded, location of training, etc. This is the most likely web site, as it uses the terms Driver Solutions, but the web site is otrdriving, which might not be the same program.

 

Fact is, NeedtorRun, while good news travels, bad news travels faster. That's all that news is; just people making sure other folks don't get burned.

Head to the "Favorite Trucking Company" threads if you'd like to hear some really good news (if you haven't already).

God bless and drive safe,
Cub

 

Needtorun? I attended Mid Florida Tech's orientation just yesterday afternoon and here are some facts (the following is a repost from the "Getting Started" thread):

Their cost for a CDL Class A license is $2007.06 and they have financial aid (which is going fast), they've an 8-week course (Monday through Thursday, 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Do Not Miss A Single Day because they can't stop class just to catch you up), you do get homework, and I saw about half a dozen good-looking rigs on a rather large paved schoolyard. They said their Class A folks each get 1,250 miles on the road during training.

Before you can register, they'll need you to attend their orientation (Tuesdays in Portable 4 at 11:30 a.m.), take their TABE test (to see if you have 6th grade reading skills), get your CDL learners permit (available at any Driver License office) and take a D.O.T. physical in a Centra Care medical facility (it's the best and cheapest folks they can find; they're looking out for your pocketbook here).

Mid Florida Tech looks darned good to me.

P.S. Concerning the Roadmaster near Orlando, I've heard through the grapevine that they got into serious legal trouble a few years back for their training practices. Now that was a few years ago and I don't know if they've since cleaned up their act or what the story is; I've never visited there. To Be Clear - I Do Not Mean to badmouth the Roadmaster folks in Orlando; I am just passing along what I heard; Nothing More! You copy?

Good luck, Needtorun, whichever road you take.

God bless and drive safe,
Cub