Learning on an automatic... Worth it?

I agree with MrIT check and make sure your not shooting yourself in the foot before you agree to giving up the money.Make them give it to you in writting that way you dont have to just take their word for it.

 

Yea they seem to have their ducks in a row unlike some trucking companies here I've noticed...my fafsa was approved overnight lol so it seems the next step is to get all the info together and get a class date and give my job my two week notice.

 

Learn on a manual.

 

Not worth it. You will have a T restriction on your license and won't be able to drive a manual. Don't assume you can get into a company with auto's. Many that have them are going back to manual's and you never know when you'll need to drive one. I work for a beer dist that 90% of the fleet is auto's. The job I got hired for was doing grocery delivery in the city pulling a pup. A much higher paying route opened up which I applied for and got, but now I'm pulling a "real" trailer and my truck changed from a single to a dual rear axle and it's a manual. If I road tested in an auto and had the restriction I'd still be making much less money. It wouldn't have been worth it.

http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/DriverLicense/endrsRestrictions.htm

 

Their is another acct from a driver from YouTube not sure if it's accurate but theirs a door supplier that's supposedly great with miles.but I'm hoping to fill in a slot here in San Antonio within the next two weeks.

 

Hey Buddy,
I had a TERRIBLE time at truck school because I had never before driven a manual transmission (other than a motorcycle where I shifted with my foot). So without some understanding and training in the art of shifting, when you hit truck school, driving those 10 speed or 12 speeds is a VERY difficult thing to wrap your head around. Fellow students who had driven sticks (in passenger cars) picked it up much faster. That #### shifting caused me to fail my driving test at the DMV and have to go a second time.

 

My experience with putting 100's of students through CDL school would indicate that you were the exception to the rule. Students that knew how to drive a standard shift car or pick up truck already had so many bad habits it was hard to teach them the right method to take off from a dead start, double clutching and down shifting. I would much more prefer to work with a student that has never driven a stick shift.

 

Yep my first trainer told me to watch her. Seriously, that's how i would learn. I watched for 6 days and learned nothing. On day 7 she learned that she is no longer a trainer.

Anyway. Cat3, you don't want to limit yourself later on. You need a CDL that lets you drive shift too. If you didn't learn it, you won't be driving it.