Do I need a Trucking School Diploma to get insured/hired?

Yes, you can still go to school.

 

Good on you for going against the flow.

No they do not. A company that requires a "diploma" from a cdl mill isn't a place you'd want to work anyhow.

 

This is true. You will run into some companies that won't hire you until you've had your CDL for a year (or even 2)- but some companies will give you a shot. Just gotta be aggressive and knock on doors and sell yourself. It's still a people business and if you've got people skills someone will give you a shot.

 

^^^^^He has it figured out.

 

Most large companies will still have you go through at least a refresher training. I went with Builders Transport back in the 90's. I got to shortcut a few things, but had to do the classroom work.

 

It's not the companies that determine if you can come to work, it's the insurance company they have.

Most trucking companies have trucking policies that review every driver. Some companies that also own trucks (farms, loggers, concrete, gravel pits, etc) have policies that don't review each driver. Those are the companies that can hire a rookie.

If you have the initiative to get your CDL on your own, a lot of companies can use you, but before you can go OTR, you'll have to pay your dues somewhere, and driving a farm truck or a concrete truck is not a bad way to do it.

 

^^^^^^

I am no expert, BUT I would figure that if you go to a training company, who takes in students, of course, you have to have your CDL in hand. You have to ride with a trainer because you do not have verifiable experience. In orientation, you are going to have to take a road test. Nothing difficult, just drive a rig around the block, and not hit anything, and you have to be able to shift gears. If you cant do this, something that people should have learned in school,or had to be able to do to get your CDL from an inspector at the DMV, they will send you home.

So, it really doesn't matter how, as long as you have your CDL, can pass a DOT physical and get a medical card, and can pass their around the block road test. If you can do that, they will give you a trainer and a job.

I didn't go the CDL school route either.

 

The funny thing is that I never got a trainer when I started 3 years ago. My first load was 10' wide into a residential neighborhood and my second load was a Volvo haul truck 11'8" wide and 14'8" tall. Talk about being nervous.

 

A true heavyhauler. You were thrown to the wolves, and now you are wearing a wolf's hide.

 

I wish I knew what the obsession with birth certificates is. A valid US CDL, a valid US passport, SS card and even a US naturalization certificate isn't enough to satisfy identity, residency and permission to work in the USA requirements?.

Maybe they want to be sure that you were actually born and didn't come by all that other documentation by assuming a human life-form when you landed on earth. I suppose they might also want to know your birth weight to gauge your potential for becoming a fatso after they put you in one of their trucks.

The main issue I have is carting all that documentation around. Stuff that will be a nightmare to replace if it gets lost, damaged or stolen.