Career path discussion... from new rookie to seasoned pro....

Ok, I know we are putting the proverbial trailer in front of the truck here, but I wanted to start a discussion on this topic early so I have some food for thought. Perhaps someone else out there is making these same kinds of decisions and can also benefit.....

First, a little background; I have already discussed the minor details of my driving background and my personal situation in a prior post.

I was able to locate a company willing to take me into their driver training program as a trainee, and under a scholarship program offered to honorably discharged veterans, are willing to subsidize the costs incurred by the training (travel to the school, fees for physical, licensing expenses, housing for the duration of the school, and the ability to store my car at what will likely be my home facility while I am in training) in exchange for a 13 month agreement to remain on board as a company driver; so I have time for these decisions. From what I understand, the school is a 3 week school, followed by 200 hours behind the wheel with a mentor/trainer before full licensing. We are past the "If we can proceed" part an are nailing down the "When and How we can proceed" part. I am waiting for an answer to my prime question and should know in the next couple of days depending on the answer (from California's 2nd most hated state run organization: the Employment Development Department, the first being DMV and I dealt with both of them over the last couple of weeks).

Let's say I get past the school and the behind the wheel successfully (I have no reason to expect that won't happen). Where should my next steps be?

I am thinking:

6 months as a team driver
6-8 months as a solo driver
This will give me 14 months as a company driver, at which point, I might consider either leaving, but would prefer to explore pathways to owner-operator (lease-purchase?) driver.

During this time, what certifications should I pursue to make myself more valuable/marketable (besides the obvious thing of keeping a safe driving record both on the job and off)?

Are there any recommendations? Good or bad stories? What should I pursue, what should I avoid?

 

Thanks; this is the kind of advice I was looking for.

 

Ok, I attended the training academy offered by Swift and just returned yesterday. Let me say that I was not pleased and could not complete the course successfully. Here is why:

The academy that is in place with Swift is operated by Truck Driver Academy on their behalf and, had I been asked to pay for it, I would be upset thinking I did not get my money's worth: the charge for the training was $4900 including costs for housing PLUS round trip transportation costs via Greyhound between my home location and the school site. I was there under the scholarship they offer veterans, had I successfully completed the course, I would have needed to stay on as a company driver for 13 months.

The class size was so large, there were 4 students per teacher for driving on the road, and 8 students per teacher in the finer skills (straight line backing, parallel parking, offset parking, and alley dock). Despite repeated attempts on my part to ask for more time and practice on the skills that I knew I needed, I was denied and was dropped. Looking at my notes, the first week was spent as follows:

Day 1: drug screening and DOT physicals, some videos and not much else.
Day 2: 'study' and practice tests for the DMV written exams (which I passed, with no help from this as I had purchased a CDL study book published by Barron's and was reading that instead of the materials given).
Day 3: DMV for the whole group, due to a number of issues, and the class size, it was six hours before I got to speak with a DMV employee that told me that 'Oh, your license is on hold, sorry we cannot do anything'.
Day 4: after resolving the issue with the court (the court failed to lift a flag on my license), I had to return to DMV and did not finish there until lunch; so nearly 12 hours was spent with DMV!
Day 4 and 5: some more videos, and practice with logs.

After that, we spent 2 days with the Air Brakes test and pre-trip / post-trip inspection.

The second week was spent behind the wheel as follows:

AM: on the road 3 students to a truck per instructor; I spent 1 hour driving (for a total of 6 hours in the 60 hour week!)
PM: parking lot practice on fine skills (10-15 minute intervals for 4 hours per day, giving MAYBE an hour per day behind the wheel on these).

In comparison, when I take a motorcycle safety course, which is usually an 8 hour DAY, we spend more than 7 of it on the seat riding the range! In order to maintain the insurance discount and keep my skills sharp, I typically take this course at least every other year.


One of the road sessions was interrupted with a need to return to the site for gas and all of us had time taken that day; another one was interrupted by the need to 'regen' the engine and all of us had more time taken on that day as well.


Since my problem is not with SWIFT, just the school they use and how it is operated, the door was left open for me to complete the training I need elsewhere and return as a licensed, yet inexperienced driver (assuming I do not find a better offer elsewhere for inexperienced drivers in the process). The good thing is that I left with a Class A learner's permit and a DOT physical/long form. That said, I found a local school here that I can get into that maintains a 4-1 student teacher ratio and gives more behind the wheel hours. Their 'range' is set up almost identical to what the DMV uses to test on. This morning, I went to a local one - stop career center to inquire about VA or Workforce Investment Act grants for this (the VA has no program currently that I qualify for since the VRAP program expired without extension); I should be able to get a grant through WIA.

Since the school accepts VA funding, I reported my experience to the VA, hoping that the VA pulls it's certification from the school and stops funding them for GI Bill / other VA benefit recipients.

I will say that, of the group I went with, those that succeeded had prior experience driving, those that did not have the experience, were released; yet the senior instructor claims an 80% success rate..... BS!!!

That said, unless you have prior driving experience, STAY AWAY FROM TRUCK DRIVING ACADEMY (http://www.tdadrivers.com/), OR ANY EMPLOYER SPONSORED TRAINING OPERATED BY THEM!