Pam CDL Training Down payment/ Deposit

I'd suggest looking at a community college program in your state. I attended the CFCC program in Wilmington, NC. Cost around $1000 with books, took 8 weeks and I wasn't contractually obligated to work for peanuts for a year. If you can afford to go that route, I'd highly recommend it over a company sponsored program.

 

Why PAM??? You can do so much better. Even if you can't afford a private school, give Prime a look. I am not a Prime driver, but they seem to have good drivers and I like their training, almost went that route. Go to your un-employment or jobs and family services office, each state has money that they will give you, as a grant, so no re-payment necessary, and will pay for your schooling then you can choose what company you want to work for.

 

I'll second that. Prime was my backup plan when I started my CDL training. They had the best pay for trainees at that time. They are, however, very selective with regard to the trainees that they select.

 

That's not an option with any carrier. If they foot the bill, they require at least a year's commitment.

 

Every company I talked to was very open with the fact that they were not obligated to put you on even after training. Its business loss write off, and you still have your lic. Not a terrible situation.

 

Well what you need to try and understand is that we do not know the cost PAM is charging you, YOU should know that much, I mean you are inquiring with them, right? Why can't you call them and ASK THEM how much you can make as a down payment?

Same as home time, why can't YOU ask the recruiter when you have them on the phone? I mean not for nothing, but since YOU want to go to PAM, and IF you have already been in contact, with them, why didn't YOU ask these questions? AND if you haven't yet called them then what are you waiting for? Anyone there at the PAM recruiting dept would be more than helpful since after all, they WOULD KNOW the cost!

 

Call my advice/information wasteful, all you had to do was CALL THEM FIRST and ask them? The time it took you to post here AND WAIT for an answer, you could have had ALL your answers with in a few minutes of a phone call.

I think that was a very reasonable advice/information for you. DO you realistically think that the prices stay the same year after year? Don't you KNOW that usually at the beginning of every year, the prices for MANY things goes up? You need to adjust your attitude, lest you get walloped by a driver trainer for it.

 

NCTrucker86, you're right to post here instead of relying on a recruiter for truth. I almost went to PAM several years ago. The reason I didn't is that when I asked them some of the questions you're asking here, I was basically ignored. They even went so far as to delete my new recruit login/profile on their website.

Go to the unemployment office and find out which community colleges near you have CDL training. It should not cost more than 2K, and if you have been unemployed through no fault of your own, you will be eligible for WIA (Workforce Investment Act) tuition grants (you don't have to pay back). If not eligible, you will certainly be eligible for other types of tuition assistance which you will have to pay back, but will be much more reasonable than indenturing yourself to a mega carrier for a year or more. Keep in mind, if ANYTHING happens that forces you off the road with mega carrier, they will charge you back for the training and it can affect your credit. I'm not saying definitely don't use a mega for 'free' training, but there are other options you should consider first. There's absolutely no reason at all to rush into it and don't let a recruiter tell you there is.

But to answer your question succinctly, djtrype is probably dead on. The only way you'd be able to do 6 months would be to commit for a year, then leave after 6 months. At that point, you'd be obligated for half of what jacked up value they place on their training program. Probably somewhere in the 4K range.

Good luck.