1st Year Of Trucking

No. You will go with a trainer for 4 to 8 weeks in most cases. When I did my training, we were home on the weekends because that's how the company operated.

 

Hardly any companies exist that will give you the keys without additional training after you obtain your CDL, no matter how you got it.

Provided your trainer is worth anything, you will learn more in training than you did in school.

 

That is exactly what my first company did when I started out.

I do not recommend it!

 

You don't need to be with a trainer very long unless it's some specialty hauling.

TransAm - 11-12 days
Watkins-Shepard - 10 days
Howard Transportation has a terminal in NC and I think the training period is short.

Two weeks is plenty of time unless you want more or in specialty hauling.

 

IMO Trucking is a profession best learned by easing into everything. For example a Trucking school that is 3 months long is better than one that is 3 weeks long. A training program at your 1st company that is 5 weeks long is better than one that is 2 weeks long, and one that is 2 weeks is better than one that is like mine which was zero. Just remember around 90% of the people who enter the trucking industry wash out. A significant percentage of the ones who do had too many accidents/incidents and became unemployable for trucking companies. Maximizing your time spent under the surpervision and instruction of experienced hands will increase your liklihood of future success and prosperity in this industry. Just my opinion of course.

 

Of course all of that is dependent on the quality of your trainer/training. 6 weeks in a truck with a moron is much worse than 6 days with a very experienced driver who knows *how* to train. The difficulty is in figuring out who is a moron and who is a teacher.

Also bear in mind that people learn at different rates. Some need to do the same thing over and over until it sticks. Other just need it explained once.

 

I got my CDL much the same way through a State funded program at workforce development.

Problem was the school wasn't accredited and many big carriers were gonna make me travel many states away and do theirs.

Tried smaller places no experience wouldn't even talk to me so I found a roofing job for the summer.

Eventually a Swift recruiter cold called me off an old application and said we can team you with a mentor so I went out to Gary for orientation and spent my first month with a trainer.

The first week he wouldn't go in the sleeper until he felt safe then when he felt comfortable we ran like a team truck.

Basically I did all the backing up and map reading plus I hadda crank the dolly, open doors, fuel and check oil all the dummy work etc.

After about 4 weeks I took a road test and I went solo.

 

Sorry Chinatown, usually I agree with you, just not on this one

This I have to agree with