Champlain Valley Driver Training School

Okay. I haven't seen this truck driving school posted in this forum section.

Starting at the end of this month (April, 2015) or beginning of next (May, 2015) I will be attending Champlain Driver Training School in Burlington Vermont. It seems to be run by a veteran of the industry and is endorsed by the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles. I have spoken with the owner of the school who seems to have to little time to respond to phone calls and responds to email at the end of the day. He is very helpful and thorough in his responses to the questions I have asked so far. The school runs Monday through Friday and I don't remember the hours that the classes run. (Eight hours or so a day) I was told by the owner that they are flexible with scheduling. I can attend full time in the week or one day a week. Depending on what my schedule is, the school is willing to work with it.

The tuition is around what seems to be the average cost in the state of Vermont which is $5000 (actually $49??). There is a part time school I looked into that is more expensive than Champlain Driver school but is suited to those who work a current full time job; ie. that particular school runs only on Saturdays. Vermont requires a minimum of 148 hours of training before going off to take the exam at the DMV (written and road). All schools provide a truck and trailer for the road test. I still have to find out if Champlain Driver fronts the bill for a drug test (I mean is included in the tuition cost). I haven't asked yet.

I will post more information about the school I am attending as time goes on. In doing so I hope to assist anyone doing research on trucking schools who reside in Vermont. I will be providing my experience with Champlain Valley Driver Training School.

 

So as it turns out I could not get funding for the Champlain Valley Driver Training School and I had to take an alternate route. Company sponsored training. The company I chose is Swift Transportation.

I'm currently in my fourth day of the training process and Friday we jump in the trucks to start our pre-inspection and driving skills training.

This worked out especially good for me. I discovered that Swift will pay all costs of hotel and training for military veterans as long as the contract is fulfilled. So my original plan was going to cost me $5000 and now my CDL will be free (as long as I fulfill the contract with Swift). So win win for me.