accredited school mandatory?

I don't know your personal situation , but I do know trucking. For whatever reason you were dropped/fired/sent home I'm unclear on that fact , forgive me for not being able to see why you put the whole industry in bag because in your less than a year in it view. You may have had a "bad" experience...not saying that you didn't ...there are some very nasty , unscrupulous , UN-caring greedy companies in the trucking business. That is a fact....BUT there are many , many more that are really good places to work , and take very good care of their employeeS...only thing is you have to either be really lucky and know someone on the inside , or (like you say , be in the right place at the right time) TO GET A POSITION LIKE THAT. Those places don't advertise , or run ad's in the paper , or trucking publications....they don't need to .Most of their help comes from their employees sending friends and family to apply. Try and open your mind some and give this bitterness thing a break....you seem like an intelligent guy....you know that you just have to LOOK for a good job.

 

It's true I am bitter, and again I say wih good reason. Don't be so sure that I have a year or less with observations and learning where this industry is concerned. I do however completely agree with what you say, and I do know full well there are companies far less nasty than the one I was with. I'll go even further than that and attribute what I dealt with to those I was stuck with working directly under (such as my D.M. who's board I would not be taken off of when I requested it). Had I been under different people, I may have had a completely different experience in spite of the company's over-all bad reputation. I do however, have to speak of what I experienced, and I will use the names of all I was under. I will be posting new threads that will completely spell out what I experienced. That will not be to say it will happen to EVERYONE, but to say what has happened to some, and what can happen to others. The open mind was there until the ownership and enslavement thing happened through unwritten company policies where logging is concerned. Some things go too far, and I also see certain things as a potential to become a hazard as well as complete un-caring by the company.

I do feel bad that this spiraled and degraded to what it did between me and Chris, as well as the thread topic being derailed in spite of my trying to get the topic back when I posted about my observations of C1. But when I see "you gotta deal with this or that" kind of thing, I just see the company I was with punishing me for logging by a book I did not write. The job desperation people have make it easy for industries to create slaves and robots, and also to create unsafe conditions on the roads as they run new drivers like they have 10 years experience out there for the cheap miles while veteran drivers (sometimes with the same D.M. and on the same region as the new driver being run 3,000+ miles a week) sit waiting for loads sometimes for days.

Maybe I gave 1 or 2 people something to think about beyond the bad trucking school (you can get out of the bill if you get rooked over by the carrier you go to that is supposed to do the tuition reimbursement), and maybe even re-think the idea of the industry in general because of the encouragements to disregard things that will in turn make you dangerous and put others in danger out there on the highways. Some of the attitudes I see cause me to side more and more with the D.O.T. / F.M.C.S.A., and it's little wonder to me why they want to cut driving hours even more.

So getting back on topic: I say to anyone with a half ounce of caring of the safety of yourself and others around you that if any school teaches you to do anything contrary to what is in a Federal guideline - RUN! One thing I will give to C1 is they did not teach me to log in ways the company I was with tried to do, and I was not even given the idea by C1 to log off duty as soon as the wheels are stopped regardless of what I can or can not do or what I am doing. C1 just had too many people sent home, and too many people dropped from the carrier they were under contract to go with.

 

Many Trucking Schools work with carriers such as Werner, Swift, Schneider, CRST, etc., who take on inexperienced drivers. Many of these companies do have a reputation for losing or terminating drivers. One of the things I hammer on is the Federal Subsidy big companies receive for creating jobs. In trucking, I've seen jobs created through destroying other jobs by various means. The reality is drivers are not needed as much as the ads say, or would make one think. There are plenty of drivers in the industry.

Be wary of the Tuition Reimbursement Program. Yes, some have been permitted to work their year and have their tuition paid for by the company, but others have not (I am not the only one). I have seen people let go just as unfairly as I was - sometimes even more unfair. To me it's almost like spinning the wheel and see who the company will let go because they need a certain amount of people coming in the front door for the subsidy (yes hammering again). Get rid of the subsidy, or at least put tighter regulations on it (if any regulations exist at all) such as to receive the subsidy, the employee must be retained a year - not just get to training or orientation, there would be less being set up to fail or be terminated, and the only hiring that will be done is the REAL NEEDED hiring. Trucking would be just as hard to get into as most other jobs.

What it comes down to is the Trucking Industry is making money by any means they can in this still stagnant economy, and so are the schools, and this is at the cost (time and money) of the applicant who is only trying to get a job - pretty much falsely lured into an industry not needing the manpower it leads people to believe it needs. It's almost a scam.

Schools that work with carriers get their students through the carrier, and depend on those carriers to fill seats at the school. Additionally: The carriers depend on the schools to get people in their door (at least to orientation) to collect that $5,000.00 - $15,000.00 subsidy for EACH person hired (LOL - hammering again). These schools work with these carriers who may or may not rook you over. The schools know the game - they are part of it in many ways. That's why as far as I am concerned, because I lost because I did things the D.O.T. way, the school I went to lost as well.

Just be wary of the schools who work with starter carriers. Maybe you'll be just fine. But then, maybe you won't.

 

Wow.. that is a lot of reading and a lot of ranting.. I am one of those that did not have a good first experience.. I went through a private CDL school and ran into some difficulties after I got my CDL being hired due to some stuff on my MVR.. which, was not bad enough to prevent me from being accepted into the school and obtaining my CDL with all the endorcements.. but, severely limited my ability to get hired and get trainging and experience...
I did find away and hit the road pulling flatbed with thewho was gonna train me and get me on with his company..
Well that was what I was told and sold and I bought it..
I spent months out on the road with him doing all the grunt work and driving and taking his his verbal abuse and fighting off his sexual advances.. I had to put up with stupid games and power plays like trying to sleep while rolling down the road with the windows open and not turning on the heater and of course the radio loud and hawk.g on the CB..
Well, I finally had to get away while on layover I got a cab and went and bought and bought a cheap car and drove home to lick my wounds and recoup my loses.. $5000 for school, 4 months on the road not even making enough to eat.. then $1200 for a car and $300 for the gas to get

I am not bitter for what I experienced.. in fact now, three years later and ready to become an OTR trucker.. I am grateful... Because, that experience is what taught me how to be better prepaired and make wiser choices this this Time... The night before I bought the cheap car was the scariest of my life.. We were stopped for the night near a vineyard where we were picking up a load of bee's in the morning... Middle of nowhere and no pne around... When he told me he's was going to havesex with me.. of course he was much more vulgar.. I took the knife I bought at a truck stop in one hand and grabbed the fithwheel pull in my other and with all 5'2 125 pounds of me stood my ground with a man much taller and stronger than I... I told him not while I was alive and I would fight him to the death if be tried.. he got in the truck I stayed awake outside the whole night.. when morning arose.. he acted like nothing had happened And said after the keepers loaded us we would go get breakfast.. I played his little nothing happened game and made my break when we stopped at the truck stop..

The one thing I am very grateful for in that whole experience is I found out I am stronger than I ever knew I was.. and I have what it takes to make it as a trucker.. I will make better choices.. and I don't blame the industry, the school, or anything else.. I see the choices I made and how I can avoid those in the futur
... He was wrong in his actions and all the lies I bought into.. and he is accountable for that... But, it was my eagerness and hasty decisions that made it so easy for him to lure me in..
So, yes companies, schools and people lie.. I can't change that.. but I can be wiser and I can do more research and make better choices..

You can choose to be bitter.. but really, what good does it do you.. why fi e your power away.. take what you learned.. good and bad and move forward..

 

Good luck to both you fella's.........

 

True re: reading and ranting. My apologies to all, but I did explain myself. I do hope your post-first experience is better than mine.

You dealt with things no one should have dealt with a fraction of. That's not part of being what it takes to be a trucker any more than what I dealt with was. You should have told the weirdo pervert to spend a few bucks on a Lot Lizard.

I'm bitter, and that bitterness will re-enforce my resolve to not be taken advantage of again, and to be prepared to fight next time by doing as I should have done in the first place - GET A LAWYER AND TAKE THE COMPANY TO COURT WITH EVIDENCE I WILL COMPILE. So yes, I too will be wiser the next time.

If having what it takes to be a trucker includes the abuse, being forced to do things you should not have to do - or should not do, and dealing with other games and nonsense that really does not need to exist, then I do not have what it takes. There's a line between dealing with certain nonsense, and just plain arbitrary and mindless abuse. It's not right, or sane. In some ways, I do blame the industry and the schools. They do not want to be held accountable for their own actions - many of which are unlawful and unfair. Those who run the schools (especially the schools that work with these companies) know the goings on, but work hand in hand with these companies.

My bitterness makes me even stronger, that's the good it does me. In my mind, to put things behind you the way people think I should would open the door for abuse again. I won't allow that. Bitterness keeps my guard up while at the same time, I endeavor to have the resolve to move forward.

You experienced some sick stuff. I hope your future is far better.

Thank you.


I feel bad because I am responsible for this thread topic becoming derailed the way it has. I did want to respond to BedomRider, but hopefully the topic will re-emerge. Again, my apologies for messing it up.

 

I think there is valuable stuff here for those who read it.. and, it isn't as derailed as it appears.. we are talking accredited schools and possible short cuts.. my experience taught me that too hasty a choice and trying to get around obsticles put me in the position I was in..
I do see both sides.. no one should have to experience some of the crap and abuse that many new drivers have had.. the trucking industry is not the only industry where crap like this happened.. many women, and men too.. experience sexual Harrasment and verbal abuse in the corporate world as well as other fields too.. doesn't make it right.. just that is
the truth of things..

The message or advice I have for the OP.. is in this industry you don'twant to make a choice that will limit your options.. going the quick, easy and cheap way to a CDL may do that.. and I shared my experience to show what my short cut got me.. and, your experience also shows that
As far as defending the industry.. many see the short comings and the pit falls... But obviously there is good too, or you and me would walk away and not look back, let alone still want to be truckers and be in the industry...

I dont read or hear many, if any truckers say they never experienced any BS at all.. what I hear is the beginning, getting started, is rough and Rocky.. but hang in there and it gets better.. not perfect.. better..

 

Trucking has ALWAYS been notorious for tons of nonsense. Disrespect, moody office personnel, shop mechanics who look at drivers as scum or just an over-all thorn in thier sides, pay much lower than many are led on to believe it would have been through ads, and the claims of drivers making good money (some claims probably un-true, and the claims that are true are usually from those who've been in the industry a good amount of time and have paid their dues, so don't look to pay a mortgage on a $200,000.00 home as a new driver with a mega starter company), and you have the idiots in four wheelers on the roads cutting you off because of the mindset that your rig is in their way with no regard to their own safety or yours. I went in this industry well aware of ALL these facts, and very willing to accept it all. What I did not know was that I would be given a hard time and set up to fail because I was completely by a book so many drivers and companies hate and are on a crusade to fight. Again, I will write of this later and post as a new thread in the 'Report a bad Trucking Company' section. I will speak of how I was set up to fail because I followed a Federal Guideline (not wanting to do things MY WAY as I have been accused of in the past) to protect a CDL that is MINE - not the company's, my safety, the safety of others around me, and my labor rights. That added nonsense went too far and really soured my attitude when I was driving.

Once again, I will hammer on the Federal Subsidy this (and other) industries receive. There's a lot of money for these companies for each person hired. In my mind, because of a still stagnant economy and high unemployment (yes, unemployment is still very high - don't believe the claims that unemployment is dropping - the numbers are dropping as people fall off unemployment benefits which takes you off as being counted when that happens), the notorious nonsense that has always existed in trucking is only intensified and added to in order to get rid of drivers by them quitting or termination so the company can keep hiring people they do not need to keep the subsidies coming in to make up for lost freight revenue in this lagging economy. Employers will really show their true colors of un-caring for people, and caring only for the buck in an economy like this, and easy pickings of people to keep the door revolving. In many cases, I feel people are being scammed and used for this subsidy. This Government continues to foul things up in this country for the little people trying to make a living. Mega companies feed off of things like a little-regulated subsidy the Government gives, and people just looking to make a living are used for that often resulting in them having no job, wasted time and expense, and bills they should not have.

My post here (post #33) also tells of how the schools and trucking companies work together to keep adding to their accounts. It's not the horror story it may seem to be. Just know I am not saying EVERYONE will fail. That can not happen. If it did, the Federal Subsidies - etc. would stop. Some have to make it. Just know the industry is not hurting for drivers the way the ads would have you believe. Just be mindful that you may or may not end up with a school bill you were told you would not have to worry about - again I say that unlike a college or university, you can get out of that should push come to shove and you have to do bankruptcy.

If you actually go to a reputable school on your own (no contract for a mega company to get out of at your expense), and you find a small to medium sized company, and they hire you - KUDOS! That's probably the best thing.