The $350 CDL in 3 days

Hey RickG I have a question about that. When all that goes in affect it shouldn't affect us newbies that recently got our CDL (old school) should it ?

 

No , it will only affect new students when it goes into effect . Like I said , there has been no final decision . Mike _MD would know more about it . He works for FMCSA . To the best of my knowledge there has been no final rule . It will not go into effect until 3 years after the final rule http://www.dot.gov/affairs/fmcsa1307.htm

 

Cool, thats what I thought but I've read about people on here that had to go and retest so I wasn't sure. Thanks Rick

 

You are probably thinking of all the Swift drivers that trained in Memphis that had their CDLs suspended .

 

Ya thats what it was

 

You are correct- Each state will need to implement this requirement within 3 years after the final rule is announced. We were expecting an announcement sometime this year. However, since the new administration has yet to appoint a new FMCSA head, it may be in a holding pattern.

More than likely, each state will set their own phase-in period within the 3 year window. We expect California to be on board within 90 days from the final announcement.


Here is a comprehensive outline of the proposed rule:

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/administration/rulemakings/proposed/E7-24769-12-26-07.htm

 

Good points . Its true . All states know the standards and could require them at schools within their states right now if they wanted to . Id like to see simulator training required . I have no doubt some students could not even take the stress of simulator training under certain conditions . Weed them out in school rather than have them be a hazard on the highway . Maybe I should write to Public Citizen about that and have them challenge the proposed standards in court .

 

$10,000 and 6 months later {with school loans} I have my CDL A with endorsements.

 

Cost me $85 for a third party examiner to take my road test, and I gave a guy I knew $100 to let me use his grain truck to get my class A, since all I have is a straight truck. All I do is drive my own truck and drive milk and dump truck for a friend. If I were planning to get an actual OTR job I probably would have looked into schooling.

 

Thanks for setting the record straight on that RickG. There's a CDL truck rental facility in my area. I've planned on renting it to get familiar w/ the set up and then taking the test to get my CDL. There's a company around here that hires guys part time to shuttle trailers around their yard. The only requirement is that you have a CDL. Might be a good way to sock away a little extra cash if I could do it on nights and weekends. We'll see.

I was watching TV the other night and saw a commercial for RoadMaster. In the commercial, they mention they offer night and weekend training. That sounded interesting so I looked them up online and saw they have locations everywhere, even where I live, so I had one of their recruiters call me.

The gentleman I spoke to was nice, but there's no doubt in my mind, after speaking with him, that this is some type of CDL Mill organization. I mean no offense to anyone who went through them to get into the industry, as it is a legitimate way to go about getting a job, but I am not interested in spending that much money for what they offer, just my opinion.

First of all, I knew before I spoke with him (from reading posts here) that people fork over $5,000 - $6,000 to this school. When I asked him about how much it cost, he totally dodged the question, and said I'd need to come in and talk. He said, "I don't want to just through numbers out there because we're not sure what type of financial aid you'd qualify for, we wouldn't want people telling others how much it cost, and we need to see if you qualify first". I just kind of chuckled. I knew it wasn't worth it to get into it with him.

He did not shy away from telling me what great money I'd make. He said they train you and have jobs ready for you as soon as you graduate making $800 to $900 a week. I asked if they had a relationship with a specific company, to which he replied, "oh no, we place with lots of great companies like Swift, Werner, CRST, Trans Am, Rhoel, TMC, etc".