Anybody taken a "CDL Refresher Course" to re-learn how to drive a manual?

Hey guys, I'm an OTR driver coming up on 2 years experience driving reefer and dry van, all with the same company and all with automatic transmissions. Haven't driven a manual since CDL school when I got my Class A License.

The company I'm with has been real good to me, but I'm thinking it may soon be time to make my next move and advance my career.

I got my CDL Class A License by testing out in a manual, so I don't have a restriction on my license. That said, I was never very good at driving a manual and that was 2 years ago when I was getting practice with it every day for about an hour and a half a day (I have never driven a manual stick shift in a car either).

I was thinking about trying to apply for an LTL company like Old Dominion or Estes running linehaul if I would be so fortunate as to get a job with them. I know I would need to be ready to drive a manual at a moments notice and possibly in mountain terrain too.

I was looking into CDL "refresher courses" around my area. It looks like there's one 3 hours from home, for only 4 days Monday - Friday at a cost of $700 including tuition + misc fees/taxes. Would include pre trip stuff, backing and road driving. I would be going mainly for the road driving in a manual and get all the driving time in that I could get.

Anybody use one of these refresher courses? Did you feel you got your money's worth? Or would it be better off to rent a truck and hire someone for a day or two to ride with me who knows how to drive a manual in a semi-truck? Maybe it would make me more employable to a company if they saw I took initiative to brush up on my driving skills before applying to them?

 

Hey Lovesthedrive, thanks for the reply. Did you read my post or perhaps I wasn't clear in my OP? No recruiter is asking me to take a refresher course. I have 2 years driving experience in an automatic but tested/got my CDL Class A in a manual. The Refresher Courses that I'm talking about are run by community colleges. No recruiters are asking me to take one. I was interested in taking one myself because I have not driven a manual in 2 years and I believe that I need a refresher so I can feel safe about driving a stick, especially through the mountains.

Yes, drive time in a manual in whatever refresher course I would take, that's what would be most important to me. I was assuming in my OP that LTL companies like Estes or Old Dominion aren't wanting to go over how to drive a manual, they are going to want you to know that already coming in. Which, I mean, I do, but again, I feel I would need a refresher before driving one again.