The skinny on 2 schools in Vegas

Well, today I had a meet and greet with 2 local tricking schools here in Las Vegas. AIT was the first one, 10am, followed by Southwest Trucking School at 12.

I got to AIT and they immediately had me fill out an information sheet and as soon as I was done, I got shown to 'Jules' office. She was pleasant and started right in reviewing my info sheet and asking me questions about it. Says they don't take on any student that they think won't qualify or pass or make it. After about 20 minutes of that, we went through the hard sell 3 ring binder presentation about the school, carriers that hire their students, pay, etc, and then I got the watch a 10 Werner commercial on a little 5" portable DVD player.

We then got to the financial part of the presentation. They have 3 different training paths.

The first is called the "Professional Truck Driver". This training is PTDI certified and is 14 weeks. Yah, 24 weeks. It is designed as a part time school, allowing somone to work full time and do this too. You can attend 4 hours a day for 10 weeks of classroom and then 8 weeks of Range/road training. Capping it off with 6 weeks of externship. Or you can do 10 hours/day on weekends for the same amount of weeks. Total cost? You sure you want to know? OK. Here it comes. $8440.00. YIKES!!!

The second path is "Commercial Truck Driver". 10 weeks, M-F. Weeks 1 and 2 are 8-4:30 classroom. Next 2 weeks are Range/road training from your choice of 5:30am-2pm or 2:30pm-11pm. This is again followed by the 6 weeks of Externship. $6940. Yikes again.

The 3rd path is called "Truck Driver". The training looks the same, except it does not detail an externship. I was confused here, as I though this was a given from ANY carrier they used. I need to ask about this because the cost here is $4040. Almost $3k less than above, with is just about the amount you get paid during the 6 weeks of Externship, depending on carrier.

I was told that Werner paid $350 a week during externship and that Swift paid $500. The both offer a mid-externship break, but only Werner offers a $500 bonus if you choose to skip the break and finish in 6 weeks straight.

AIT claims to train on 8, 9 and 11 speed trannys (maybe I got the counts here wrong) and said all students get time on all 3 trannys. They claim to be the only school in the area that has students drive with loaded trailers, all other schools train with empty trailers only. They said all instructors have a minimum 5 years as drivers, and most have more than 10. AIT includes HazMat cert with their program.

They would not give me a firm number of hours driving during the driving phase of the training. But I did get a minimum of '45 minutes per shift in the truck' for the 4 hours per day you spend in the truck for the Pro Truck Driver course. When I do the math, that is a minimum of:
5 shifts a week * 8 weeks * 45 mins a shift = 30 hours of actual drive time, meaning you are in the truck just watching for 130 hours. This does not sound like much to me, but I suppose you get plenty of seat time during the externship.

AIT is state approved and Nevada DOT approved to give testing on site. They have a myriad of financing plans, including in house loans and grants, to go along with the usual other financing possibilities. They push the in-house loans really hard, stating that all carriers have tuition reimbursement. And I asked at least twice about commitment. They told me flat out that there was no carrier commitment, that the carried paid a tuition payment, of about $150/month directly to the driver, and that there was no minimum commitment to the carrier. In her words: "If you drive for Werner for 6 months, they give you 6 months of tuition payments. If Swift then convinces you to leave Werner and go to them, Werner stops paying you, and Swift picks up on the tuition where Werner left off." This is counter to everything I have read here. All the horror stories about if you leave after 363 days with a carrier you are resposible for paying back all that tuition. Something I must ask again.

I finished with AIT and headed over to Southwest. They had me fill out an almost identical questionairre, and took me right into an office for the interview. Much smaller setup and a much more 'family' feel to the place. AIT was BIG and BUSY and seemed like more of a business feel. I interviewed with Liz, a nice young Hispanic lady and we went through much of the same interview questions as AIT. SW's training claim is being "the only truck school that trains on 53" trailers". She spoke of the same starter compaines, Werner and Swift, but also added Covenant.

SW offers a 4 week course only, 80 hours of classroom and 80 hours of Range/road.

Classroom includes: CDL prep, General Knowledge, Air Brakes, Combination Vehicles, Tankers, Doubles and Triples. Pre-trip inspection, backing, coupling and uncoupling, hours of service, map reading, hazard perception, defensive driving, hazardous material regulations, cargo handling, rules and regualtions (FMCSR).

Range/road: Pre-trip insp, backing, city driving, basic control, visual search, progressive shifting, extreme driving speed and space management.

3rd party DMV test administered on site.

Can choose days, 6:30-5pm for 4 weeks, or nights, 5pm-11pm for 2 weeks of classroom and 3 weeks of R/R.

SW has slightly fewer finincing options, and they again REALLY stress the in-house loan. I suppose it is yet another money maker for them.

Cash cost is $3895 and they stress the tuition reimbursement of about $100-$230 a month from the carrier.

Commercial financing is $5195 and payments start 60 days after you graduate. They went over that the carrier would make payments directly to the financier, or pay the student to pay the loan. They state good credit or a co-signer is required.

They mentioned a little about in-house financing.

Finally they talked of Grants, but only that it was really up to us to get them and where to call to get an appointment to get that ball rolling. But in their handout, they do their best to sway you from the idea of grants, because of the time required, and how much money you are losing by waiting for the grants. Uh-huh. Whatever.

I finished up there and went home to try to assimilate all the data that was thrown at me.

More later.
Michael

 

A little more on financing. I called the local grant provider, Bridge Counseling. I got an appointment for 26 August. There are a few things I need to bring, but if I have all my ducks in a row, I can get approved and get a voucher by the following Tuesday for up to $1900. They will then send me to another provider, same week, and if successful there can get another voucher for up to $1500 more in 3 more days. Southwest has a special training price of, coincidentally, $3400 for students on a grant.

Another example of bureaucracy in action. If I get grants, and go to an approved school, I can still collect unemployment during the non-paid portion of the training. If I get my own financing and attend the same school, I lose my unemployment.

Yes, I think I heard right, as I asked twice. If the government gives me $3400 for school, they still pay me unemployment. If I arrange payment on my own, I lose the unemployment. Sorry, can you say that again? Not really surprised, just another example of our tax dollars at work.

I had a follow up call from AIT from the manager about 5:30 today. He said my interviewer felt I was unhappy about some of the answers I got tom some of my questions. He wanted to know if he could get me back in his office soon to 'personally answer' any questions or concerns I may have. When I told him I had just gotten back from Southwest, he asked what I thought of them. When I said I was leaning to them, he immediately asked if I would talk to 2 of his current students, that just enrolled after having less that stellar experiences at Southwest. That kind of irked me. I mean, AIT is the 800# gorilla of a school, why can't they just let the little guy have some of the pie.

Anyway, I am still really undecided about where to go. I guess I will follow the grant money and see what I can get from them. I am almost violently against the thought of a loan, because if for ANY REASON I have to leave the profession, I am still liable for the loan.

More later when things develop further.

Michael

 

Hey thanks for the support!

Liz told me to do the Bridge Consulting first, and then follow with FIT, that they could both grant funds. She seemed to indicate that I could wind up with the full tuition for the schooling.

Did you go with AGS? I am going to go talk to them this afternoon. I was fearing that there was no source of one on one training, but if AGS does that, I am 90% sold on them.

Thanks for the heads up,
Michael

 

Went to AGS Consulting in Henderson yesterday and spoke with Von.

Their school is only 2 weeks long, but it is one on one in the truck for 8 hours a day when Range/Road training starts.

The first 3 days are classroom where they teach you 'what you need to know to pass the written test' and get the permit.

The following weekend is taught by Sarge (ex-green beter) and covers Pre-Trip inspection. This is done as a class group and takes all weekend. You are tested by the school on this.

The next part is the Range/Road and you are alone in a truck with the instructor, for the whole day. I really liked this part of the training, as even though it half as long as AIT and SW schools, I will get more driving time with AGS.

AGS is also authorized to give the driving test, all that is left to the student is the physical and going down to DMV to get the picture taken and get the license.

Cost is $3800. but if you get state grant money, the cost drops to $3400.

I have started apply to companies to try to get some pre-hires, as those help when going after grant money. I have applied online with Swift, Werner and Covenant. I don't really want to work for any of these, but need the pre-hires, and if that is all I can find after getting the CDL, I will have to start with one of them.

Michael