Student Driver Saying Hello

Hello All,
I'm over 1/2 way through private CDL school. Got my permit (obviously) and air brake, hazmat, tank, and doubles / triples endorsements. Excited to start my driving career OTR. Just dropping in to say hello!
WA

 

Sure thing! I went to DCS School of Driving. Great program. I heard some schools don't even teach you to couple / uncouple trailers, these guys do. I passed my CDL test this past Saturday with my first attempt, this week is my last week. I went to the 8 week evening classes. Not sure if they are offering that in the summer, might just be day classes, which is only 4 weeks. It's a 200 hour program, which satisfies the hourly requirement above and beyond what most companies want to see (around 170 hours). THe instructors can sometimes take a "drill sergeant" approach, but they do a great job teaching you want you need to know. Most road trips are done in cities, towns, and back roads. Some schools only take you on the highway, which I believe is a huge disservice. They teach beginning yard skills and maneuvers on automatic day cabs w/ 53' trailers so you can just focus on backing and not shifting. Then they teach you how to shift on 13 speed Kenworth T600s. The last week of class they will get you in their 10 speed since most companies are using 10 speeds and not 13 speeds. All road trips are done in the manual transmissions. Yard skills are done on the manual transmissions in the later part of the course. PA State CDL skills test is done on-sight, since they are also a 3rd party testing sight. I couldn't recommend the school highly enough. They will push you to get better, it's definitely intense. Certain companies in southeastern PA only hire from this school - they have a 'tough' reputation among trucking companies, meaning that companies know they're getting a graduate that is more prepared than most graduates. Here's a link:
http://www.dcsdrivingschool.com/

 

By the way, I live pretty close to Harrisburg myself, and it was worth the 30 minute commute down to York. Oh, and they are on a lot of the mega carriers 'approved' school list, like Werner, Prime, Crete / Shaffer, Schneider, TMC, etc... In fact, recruiters from all those companies, except Werner and Prime, will visit your class. Smaller companies' recruiters also visit. LTL companies also hire out of the school. Old Dominion visited our class, which is kind of unheard of.

 

One more thing, these guys really care, they are NOT a CDL mill. In fact, they screen you like most companies will, since they want to uphold their reputation of graduates. You will have to take a DOT drug test and physical, and can't have a DUI that's less than 3 years old, as well as certain other traffic violations. Their list of requirements is on their website. I already have a 2 year medical card since I had to get one to be accepted into the school. Of course, I'll have to take another DOT physical and drug test w/ my first company.

 

I know, they have a really good reputation! The company list can be a little misleading though. Not every company has hired their graduates right out of school, since some of those companies don't hire graduates. Case in point, you mentioned Bulkmatic, which is a company I'd like to work for. I called them and they said they needed experience, I think 1 year. I think they were just trying to show all the companies that have hired their graduates. They do provide a list for students on the first day of class for the companies hiring students. I was surprised at the amount of recruiters that visited, even though they only graduate up to 6 at a time.

 

I wrote a 'review' of the school in the school section of this website. Figured I'd share the love.

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...54083-dcs-school-driving-york-pa-private.html