financial aid in trucking school?

thealfa.....whatever you decide to do make sure that the school you decide to attend is recognized by the trucking industry. Many companies will hire recent CDL graduates but the school has to be recognized by them.

 

It is called PTDI Certified, stands for Professional Truck Driving Institute and in order to be certified by them there is a long list of criteria the school must meet and the short course cheap schools do not qualify. That applies to the mega trucking company schools also. You can not have your cake and eat it to.

 

If you don't have any experience it is very hard to get a decent driving job. If you graduated from a CDL school that is PTDI certified school it makes getting a better job some what easier. The better companies are more wiling to hire you with a certificate.

 

It will not be PTDI certified, not long enough to meet their requirements, it is a very long list of requirements, a minimum number of driving hours of which 10% must be at night and on and on. Pretty hard to get their certification, have to pass an extensive site inspection.

As to whether it is worth the extra class time and tuition, only you the student can make that call. But you have to look at the long term benefits and quality of job you are able to get
not just how fast you get behind someones steering wheel.

You might Google PTDI, that would give you a better idea, the details are just too lengthy to get into on this site.

Hope that will help you make a wise decision.

 

Most of the companies that hire CDL graduates don't demand a PTDI accredited school but here is a quote from Tri-Macs site.
"Trimac requires a minimum of one (1) year Tractor/Trailer experience in the United States. However, if you have graduated from a PTDI certified school, we will consider waiving the one (1) year requirement for exceptional candidates. Trimac also has an exclusive list of additional schools that meet our requirements, but are not currently PTDI certified (please see below)."

 

This stinks. If you are being asked to shell out $5000 of your own money to go to this trucking school you may as well attend one that will get you done in 160 hours and pay a couple of thousand dollars less in the process. Schools where I live charge about $4000 which includes your physical, drug testing permit tuition and license. And the best part is you'll be out on the road earning a paycheck months before you would ever finish this other course the higher price.

 

I guess the longer courses offer you more practice on the driving range, road driving and night driving. If you have the financial means and the luxury of time it may be a good choice for some people. Companies that hire CDL graduates will send you out with a trainer for 4-6 weeks before they send you out on your own. If you are fortunate to get a good trainer then you'll get the extra training anyway.