Can the driving school you attend make a difference?

Depends on the company you apply with. Some companies don't care as long as the school is 160 hrs. or longer. Some have a list of schools they hire from.
Some tanker companies go by a list they have, but Schneider Bulk doesn't care which school and it's a good outfit too.

 

Yes, at least in Alberta and BC it does.
Mountain Truck Driver Institute in Castlegar, BC is recognized by insurance companies in these two provinces as the equivalent of two years driving experience. Many companies will hire directly from this school.
They ain’t cheap, and they won’t pass you if you can’t handle it. They are in the deep mountains of the BC interior, not a flat stretch of road around there for many miles.

 

I believe the answer is no. My CDL school was accredited and that’s what mattered to my employer. It’s not like colleges where some big names give you automatic prestige.

 

Forget all that. All colleges say they are the best at something. Ugh. That's for suckers who require that little booster.

School will teach you enough to drive a State CDL Test in a Semi and hopefully your endorsements too without you royally screwing everything up.

Your REAL SCHOOLING will begin when dispatcher hands you a load paper packet, tells you that Cabbage Pass is Chains and 2 feet of snow coming that night there between you and Portland with ice behind that on 84 in the Dalles.

Oh by the way your late already appt time is 7 am tomorrow morning get out of here. (After waiting around driving lounge listening to BS stories from everyone all day....)

Schooling Ha. Many companies refer back to our Colonial times with a form of Indentured servitutde and debt service in which you are liable for thousands if they fire you over a tire cut.

Pay all your own tuition cash. Whatever school you go to. Most schools are not able to fail anyone unless they are seriously... special in some way and cannot do anything in a semi on a 10 acre gravel lot, much less going into Hunts Point inside NYC across the GWB at night.

 

Open secret; Yale, Harvard, Stanford and a few others pass Chinese students even if they fail the exams. The reason is the schools don't want to lose the out-of-state tuition.

 

Apparently if the school is certified by PTDI, the carrier's insurance co. considers it as three years driving experience.

 

Yes, it can. I know of one company that will only hire an inexperienced CDL holder if they graduated from a certain school.

I recommend that you focus on researching companies and make a short list of companies you think you'd like to work for, then contact the person that does the hiring at each and let them know of your interest and ask if they have a preferrrd school that they hire out of.

 

Yes it absolutely does. Its not as much about the training as the job placement services. Better schools focus on maintaining training agreements with better quality carriers and will help guide their students in better employment and career directions so that their students make wiser choices after graduating.

Many schools allow garbage companies to recruit there because the company pays them for students, the school couldnt care less what happens to the student after they graduate.

Quality run schools are advocates for their students, not the carriers.

 

I went to the school of hard knocks. Was around trucks my entire life with father/pappy, and uncles whom drove. Have seen and heard about trucking schools and company schools that will help a new driver, but one must be careful, and read all the small print, and even the invisible ink drys. I agree with x1 heavy. Real training comes on the first load you are assigned by your dispatcher. O.T.J is where real life experience comes into play. Simulators, flat dirt lots, skid pads, etc will not give a driver the real experience he/she will face when out on the real highways/roadways of the country. Mountain driving, snow storms, thunderstorms, traffic, idiot 4 wheelers, and other inexperienced CDL drivers out there.