What to take to training.

I'm a newbie to but I have been told by other drivers I personally know that you may want to take some cash with you (enough for 3 or 4 weeks) depending on what school you go with and if they provide meals or not. There may also be a test you might have to pay for. Also, you will need to (unless the school provides them) a trucker road atlas, calculator, and it was also mentioned to me the best thing for paperwork is one of those plastic things that have a clipboard on it and you open it up and has other space for papers, pens...


Hopefully someone else will give better advice... just thought I would tell you what I have been told so far..

 

i took a 13 inch color TV with me to ASU, they have basic cable in the apts.

 

Take as much money as possible and try to make it last. You never know what kind of situation you're going to get into. When you go out with your trainer, you may even want to get a motel room every now and then just to get some time by yourself. But, usually, you're low on cash starting a new job and you end up having to borrow money from your trainer.

Other items: laptop, movies, books, employment history, gloves, boots, etc.

 

Your gonna want to take food with you unless you have a good bit of cash available for the training. I underestimated how much it would cost from the get-go I blew most of my load eating out for lunches, I took food for dinner but the lunches ate my lunch money...pun intended.

one thing to look out for, as an Arkansas resident its going to cost you 48 bucks to get you license at the end. as well as $50 for your CDL packet to get started. those two items caught me by surprise as well, my recruiter told me that in-state was only $6 to get the license so I wasn't ready for that.

looking back on my experiance at ASU Newport, I wouldn't go with less than $500 for expenses, but thats just me in hindsight. I went with about $200 to start with and after fees I had to take some out of savings to get through.

from what I've heard ASU is allot better than N little rock, I was scheduled to go to N. little rock but asked to be sent to Newport. its a nice school with good rooms and facilities but you have to drive back and forth to class...about 10 minuets one way.

 

Hey man I am from Beebe, and I graduated from C1 in NLR on wend. the 23rd. I do not know much about the newport campus, however I can tell you the instructors at NLR are excellent. They not only get you ready for your tests they pay attention to your progress very closely. I was in a group with 3 guys who were not as quick to pick up on driving as I was. The instructors noticed this and put me into the advanced group. I was able to test and got my cdl in 2 and a half weeks and start my new job on Sun. I tested in Russilville. The examiner there told my group that we scored the highest of any c1 group to ever go though his sight. By the way are you paying your own way or are you sponsored? I was singed up with usa but they dropped me 3 days into training. No explanation why either. I went ahead and financed myself and it was the best thing i could have done. So just remember to keep your options open if possible. Look for the company that fits you best and give them what they ask for as fast as possible. That will get you on in a hurry. You do not want to have to sit around staring at your plastic when you could be making money. Any other Q's you got for me just let me know and i will do my best to answer them. I have found allot of good advice on this sight so I hope you stick round and keep us posted.
Good luck at school.