School choice

From what I can tell, all the schools actually do is get you prepared for the CDL testing. Just teaching you the basic requirements to achieve this goal. You actual driver training is with your first company. This is when you will learn more of the rules of the road. And how to actually drive safely. (If you have a good trainer anyways) this will likely be in the form of OJT of actually driving while receiving some feedback and guidance on your driving skills. Along with more experience, you will become a better driver.

Just my opinion, but going to a school that drags the same material on for 12 weeks, or goes over additional training that the company is going to train you their way anyways and have you forget what you already learned, is costing you a lot of time, money and aggravation that will extend your training even longer. In addition to tuition, you will also need to pay for a place to stay and to eat each day. All with no income yet. And still have to go over it all again with the new company.

I am sure, if you ask 10 different people, you will likely get 9 or 10 different opinions on this too. All are probably correct to some extent. But there are a lot of variables for each person's needs and circumstances.

 

Hello Bsrlinmaz, The course you speak of is 10 weeks and 6 of the weeks is a (240 hour extership). I also believe there maybe a weekly pay for that externship as well. I believe it is 400 a week. But, please do not quote me on that since everything is subject to change. AIT seems like a descent school that requires you to get pre-hired with one of their companies or have a pre-hire letter from the company that you want to work for before you can start at the school. Just another heads up on this school at this time to my knowledge they don't pay for one of your endorsements so keep that in mind. I will say this again this could change over time and the decisions the school makes for the future. Now, if you do not have a company in mind on who you want to work for. AIT has their preferred carriers they use. The real decision is if your good with working for their preferred carriers unless you have something else lined up. This is all just food for thought. BTW, I do not work for AIT. Just throwing out the information I know that may help you or others. Everyone will have there own opinions on how they view something. From my own time and research I think a 160 hour class should be enough and then get the real training at the company your going to work for from their trainers.
Just make sure what ever company you choose to learn by is going to care about you as a student. Meaning, everyone is different some maybe solid with the 160 hours and then you might have someone who may need another 20 more hours of road training to be able to pass their CDL. Just make sure the school is willing to give you additional training at no additional cost to you. I hope this helps you or someone at least a little bit. Good luck on your future decisions and take care.

 

Find out if you test on the same truck that you train on. It makes a difference. Seems like we change trucks everyday. I told them i feel as though they are just setting me up for failure.