Hi everyone! Please help me out!!

You're best bet is to get your cdl from a cdl school, but there are tons of companies out there that will send you to school through them

 

Will you hack my computer if you don't like my advice?

If you have the financial means, you are better off to go to a community college or private school to get your CDL ... because if you go to one of the mega companies, they may train you, as poorly as possible, then you must sign a 1 year contract, in which time they will pay you barely enough to afford enough food to sustain life, drive a slow ugly truck and get home twice a year. If you get your own CDL you don't have to make that commitment and can work anywhere. How old are you? Trucking isn't going to go anywhere anytime soon. It is both the best and worst job in the world - at the same time. For me, the first few years of OTR and seeing new roads was great, now I am into the grind of just going to work every day. The home time is becoming more important to me as time goes on. I still love trucking, but just want to do less of it. Maybe you could take your computer skills to a job where you can save up money to pay for your own schooling. There is also much less liability in computer programming ... PLUS you get paid for ALL of your time you are at work. Many times truck drivers sit at loading docks for hours on end for low or no pay. Or at a truck stop for either nothing or a low 'layover pay' ... Trucking OTR can also be hard on relationships. Do you think you have an ultimate goal for what you want out of trucking yet? As in, go OTR to see the country, then find something local? Maybe go OTR for a while then get into flatbed or heavy haul? Oilfield work maybe? Run your own company some day? Or just do it for a few years then say you did it?

 

Put where you live in your profile....general area...please...where you live is a HUGE factor in this business.

 

Welcome! I will not throw conjecture or hypotheses out there. I will just tell you my story.

I wanted to attend Roehl Transport's school, but they didn't take students for their school in Marshfield, WI, from Nevada. So I attended a private, cheap, quick, local school out of pocket, then immediately attended Roehl's 10 day orientation. (I got my temp CDL on Friday, was on the plane on Saturday.)

I believe that Roehl has (or at least had, in Sep. 2012) one of THE best training programs in the country, along with decent pay, and respectable, helpful support staff. They hire from most areas of the country. I went the flatbed route and have enjoyed almost every minute of it.

After over a year with Roehl, I switched to Central Oregon Truck Co. in Dec last year. They do not have a school, and rarely hire drivers without at least a year of recent experience.

So go read up on Roehl in the truck company forums. Whatever you do, be sure to make an informed decision! And good luck with whomever you choose!

 

First off... edit your name off your post.....never post your name or personal info on the web.

If you were a true computer whiz you would have known better than that.

Next.. if you go with the company paid training route you will selling yourself as an endentured servant to that company for the extent of that contract and ruin your career if you break that contract.

My advice would be to pay for your cdl training yourself even if you must borrow the money. Most companies have a tuition reimbursement program to defer the cost of the loan.

You should identify the company you want to work for and ask them to recommend a cdl school that they would accept you from.

Recommending a company would be difficult without knowing what area of the country you live in. Also,what type of trucking do you want to do....otr(over the road),regional,local...dry van,refrigerated,flatbed or tanker.

Also,as far as i know there are no 16 speeds out there... 10,super 10 , 13 , 18 ,automatic and some 9 speeds are still out there.

Most starter companies are a crap shoot where you will primarily go to get your 1 year experience before moving on to better things. Some will tell you that you can get the perfect job right out of cdl school but for every 1 that does a thousand do not so good luck with that.