Companies Providing CDL Training IL - New Permit Holder

Honestly? with all the regulations today, If I was a young man, I might seek employment in another field other than driving a truck

 

We went to Wolf CDL also and would recommend it to anyone. We paid $2,000 and when we graduated...had the freedom to go with any company we wanted without having to stay there for a year. Keep in mind that this industry has a 100% turnover rate and majority of the people never make it past their first year. The company that helps you get your CDL may not turn out to be a good fit for you and then you'll be stuck there or owe them $5,000+.

The most important thing your first year in my opinion is having the freedom to leave a company or the industry without having to owe anyone money.

 

I went to Star Truck driving school in Hickory Hills, IL and I would recommend them any day. Jim the old 40+ year chain smoking trucker will be out there on the yard going over pretrip everyday in his own unique and vulgar way LOL. Then driving around the town he gives his commentary on all the moron drivers on the road. He would have been an awesome guy to team with, just hilarious. Plus all of his roadside emergency mechanical fixes would be useful in certain situations.

If you're in the Chicago area last thing I heard is that Schneider will pay your tuition up front if you sign a employment contract with them. But the best thing to do would be pay the tuition up front if you can and you go anywhere that's accepting rookies.

 

I'm a current student at Wolf, nearing completion of my classes there. There are a couple of girls in the office, and don't be scared off - the office there is always humming so it may have been a bit difficult to understand everything over the phone if things were particularly hectic. As Chris outlined, the requirements for a license include classroom hours, observation hours and behind-the-wheel hours. Aside from driving hours which are scheduled, you attend class for however long you are able on your own discretion until you have met your classroom hour requirement. You are not allowed to get behind the wheel of a truck or to drive until you can demonstrate in class all of the brake skills and knowledge of the systems, parts of a tractor and trailer and so on- and it takes about 80 classroom hours (roughly) to become proficient with that material.

The order is probably standard for any school: In order to train to test for a driving permit, there are computer hours that you complete- about 12-18 of them, which outline common sense truck procedures. Once you learn that material, you test at the DMV for a permit. You can also attend classroom and yard pre-trip observation during the time you do computer hours.
At roughly 80 classroom hours, you will demonstrate to a class instructor that you have knowledge of safety and driving procedures, and they will send you to the office to work out a driving schedule.
At any time during the program, you must attend 2 seminars that detail log-books and hours of service. Those are about an hour each.
Once you complete the rest of your classroom hours, and your behind the wheel hours, you review all the information again with the instructor and test for your license.

Occasionally recruiters come in to speak about their companies. Class is open to come and go from. Four weeks is not really a possibility for most people. It could be done, but it's very unlikely because of needing to coordinate schedules with the driving instructors. It's a well-priced school in my opinion. No fancy equipment, but you will definitely know your material inside and out before you test for your license or they will not send you to test. There are several driving instructors and the ones I've been with have been very helpful and encouraging. Because there are several, each one has tips and advice and the different approaches are useful. I chose the school option over the train-while-working combination because of the flexibility involved in the hours at the time. For me, it was the better choice. With only two weeks of behind-the wheel left before the license test last Dec., I needed six months off when a family emergency happened. They were very understanding and there is no time pressure to finish- save for the 1 year driving permit renewal.

 

where u located in Illinois, Fed Ex freight terminal out of silvis Illinois will train you if you are the right person. I started out delivering milk, driving straight trucks then moved my way up when a tractor trailer route came open. I then just kept getting driving jobs that went further from home. its funny because I remember calling Schneider when I first got my class A 13 yrs ago and the recruiter was like "im sorry but you do not have enough experience and you will have to go through our training" um no thanks. glad that happened. I have always been fortunate enough to find someone to hire me, and every job I went to I made sure I was going to get more experience than I had before. this is how I did it as I do not care for school much, may not work for you but if you can get your foot in the door with someone who has both straight trucks and tractor trailers, then you can probably avoid school