Seeking local driver to train me...

Stop being cheap. Pay a school. Learn it right. Or get a job that will train you

 

Their insurance won't cover you or their truck if you wreck it. You will put a lot of wear on the clutch in a few days of practice. Manual transmission experience in a car is not the same, not even close to a truck.

Half of trucking companies have a tuition reimbursement payment for newbies with a CDL school loan. 25-50% of trucking companies with "free training" are decent places to work. You need 1 year of experience before most trucking companies can hire you. Your state likely has grant money from the Feds that will pay for your CDL school. Google WOIA or WIA. EVERY CDL school will find someone to lend you money for CDL school.

 

it takes money to make money could be a myth but many good companies would pay back your tuition so just ask for a school loan or even try the state job placement program

 

I don't think you could get a job anywhere if you just had somebody get you your CDL.

Actually on second thought that's not really true. But if you go through school you can probably just get a job right afterward. If you had someone get you your CDL you would have to find how to work somewhere that they would eventually put you in a truck- it probably wouldn't be an instant thing. Maybe a contractor would do that?

I don't know where you are at but some of the LTL companies will help you get your CDL if you work on the dock. Some of them even have their own driving schools like I believe ABF does.

I'll never understand why someone pays $5,000 to go through school and work for a mega if they have an LTL company near them that would train them. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I think ABF is even a union job.

 

I practiced a couple times with my father in a company truck. After taking all the written.Took test at 3rd party tester.Dad gave me a company t shirt and told me not to say much if we ran into any other company Drivers. He then let me drive about 450 miles while he slept. Had to pry me out. Said I was getting too careless in Cleveland rush hour!!! I we were lucky he really took a chance but saved me about $2500. I don’t know if you will find anyone to take a risk like that. I was on a list to rent truck and take road test but waiting list was too long. Try to find a place that will do that. Don’t know if anyone does anymore. If so you can take a lot of tests for the cost of a 2 week school that doesn’t teach you much.Be careful of getting into so called free schooling. You’ll be an indentured slave for a year or worse used fired and still in debt.A real good way is to find a community college somewhere they are usually pretty good. Affordable and you will have some credentials

 

Back when I started driving, trucking companies ran trucking companies. Today its different, insurance companies run trucking companies, or, at the least, tell trucking companies who they will and who they wont insure. You could hire "Trucker Bob", whos been cruising up and down the road for 80 years in a big rig, to teach you everything he knows and it still wouldnt mean a thing to insurance companies, unless, of course, "Trucker Bob" was on their list of "Approved Trainers"?.

To get into a truck these days you are probably going to either have to have 1-2 years experience driving a truck or either be trained by someone who is on the insurance company's "Approved Trainer" list,which, even then, there are a lot of companies who will still require the 1-2 years experience.

Unfortunately, the fastest way to get into a truck now is to go through the required routine which usually relies heavily on Mega Carriers. There are a lot of options out there, you just have to find the ones that will help you achieve your goal at the least amount of cost to you. There already have been some good suggestions posted and @Chinatown could probably give you a lot more.

I doubt you will find any company driver that would be willing to jeopardize his future in trucking over a small amount of money. As stated before, you might find an owner operator willing to take the challenge but I really doubt that as well in this day and time. Youve got to have insurance to run. If you dont have insurance you dont run.

Good luck with it.

 

They won’t “get off their butT” and help you because there’s zero incentive to. First off, most truckers don’t have time for that, as getting home is often enough of a challenge. Second, most people don’t want some annoying douche stranger in their truck all day. There’s a reason why companies have to PAY their drivers to train new hires, because it’s a pain in the ### 99 times out of 100 and nobody wants to do it.

You sound like the typical, immature, entitled millennial who’s too cheap to pay to go to a school to get properly trained and better your life. Instead, you have the give me give me give me attitude that the world owes this to you. Go dig a ditch, no one should have to hold your hand with that one...

 

see if worksource will cover your tuition

 

Problem number 1 in getting your license without school - you have to do the skills test in a truck. You can't rent a truck with a permit. You are going to have a hard time getting anyone you don't know personally to loan you their truck. There's just too much risk to the owner to just loan a noob a truck.

Problem 2 - most insurance companies won't even allow you in a mega carrier truck without 140 to 160 hours of instruction, which you get from a school. As a learner, you are very likely to hit something without a proper instructor. Again, too much risk to the truck owner.

Next point - community colleges and truck schools know how to get the government grants available to those moving into the trucking industry. CDL school is one of the industries they'll pay 100% of school for. Go tour your local trucking companies, and pick the best one, and ask them about the government grant program. It may take jumping through a couple of hoops, but when it's worth 5 grand, those hoops are easy.

Even if you don't qualify for the grant, many trucking companies have a pay back program for trucking school. Accredited schools have better loans and conditions. And remember, trucking pays 40k to 60k for your first year, depending on the company. It's easy enough to pay off a 5k loan on that salary.

Your very last choice should be going to a company that will train you. You'll be stuck working for a company you hate until you pay it off, or having a balloon payment to pay back when you quit. Don't do it, if you can avoid it in any other way.