CDL question

The state also gives hazmat endorsements but that endorsement isn't adequate . FMCSA requires further training .

No argument here

Does your state road test have any mountain grades , icy conditions , or take them through construction zones ? I had a customer tell me a Schneider tanker driver was a day late with a delivery because he got so shook up coming down Monteagle the previous day when he got to the bottom he just parked it for the day .

We don't have any Mountains, and rarely have icy conditions. We do take drivers through construction zones and any other situations that are available to us.

I would think that a driver would have the opportunity to descend a mountain grade like monteagle or Black Mountain during 6 weeks of "on the job" training. I have no explanation for why Monteagle of all mountains would scare someone that bad.

Why do your instructors need all that tolerance ? It's because some students are so unsuited to drive a truck once you take their money and send them to a carrier the trainer will reject them and send them home .

Instructors need patience because they are training students that have never driven a tractor trailer, have never double clutched, and are slightly nervous.

If a person lacks the perception , common sense , and coordination to be a driver no amount of additional training will ever make them a driver .

No argument about that. We make this determination as quickly as possible in training, and discontinue the training if necessary. however, students learn at different rates, some may require an addition week on the backing course before we send them up to test. BTW, we don't charge if we discontinue training and we don't charge for additional training.


If a poll was taken of the percentage of drivers trained without a school still working versus the percentage of graduates still working the ones trained without school would show a much hire percentage of drivers still driving .

A Student graduate can be a great driver if he gets a great driver trainer. Conversely, if he gets a terrible driver trainer he probably won't be such a great driver. The correlation between the way a driver is trained and how long they stay in the trucking industry can be attributed more to the quality of the "on the job" training rather than the way with which they obtained their CDL license.

The reason is those training them don't have thousands of dollars to lose if they tell them they should find another way to make a living . Turning out incompetent graduates that won't be able to keep a job is job security for the schools and it's happening every day.

The reputation of my school is much more important than any profits made from passing an incompetent graduate. Students pay for their tuition to my school over a period of time, so it is very important to me that students stay employed.

 

I am not questioning the quality of your training . My complaint is schools are well aware of the oversupply of drivers in the industry . The oversupply increases daily . Schools are exploting desperate people , many of whom will never get a job or for whatever reason will not last long if they do get hired . What is the main reason the companies you send students to keep hiring ?

 

Point taken.

The current state of the industry, puts the trucking industry in a position where it can begin to change. If we continue to flood the trucking industry with poorly trained, and uninformed students, the turnover problems of the past will just continue as the economy grows, and the driver shortage once again rears its ugly head.

I am currently writing a proposal for an apprenticeship program, whereby the costs of student training will be shared equally between the trucking company, the student, and even the WIA. I'm hoping to direct recruiting efforts toward applicants that are statistically more likely to stay with a single company and statistically less likely to be involved in a truck crash. These statistics are derived from some pretty in depth studies of drivers with 5 years + of tenure at a single company and also derived from studies of the driving records of drivers involved in truck crashes.

I am just in the research stage but my ideas involve a longer period of "on the job training", perhaps as much as 3-6 months with a much higher training wage of 500-600 per week. The idea also involves incentives. Safety incentives and longevity incentives which will carry the student to a minimum of 1 year with the trucking company, and retirement incentives or profit sharing which will tie the student to the company and give them reason to stay well beyond the initial year.

Recruiters such as myself would be further involved with the student beyond the initial training and would take on the role of mentor and student advocate through the duration of the apprenticeship.

I have about 6 typed pages in this proposal so far and I work until about 3am every night gathering information. It's probably just a pipe dream considering the size of the fish I will be proposing this to, but I strongly believe in its merits.

I believe in many of the same things you believe in. CDL mills will continue to cause the same problems they always have. Many of these bad schools destroy the lives of good people, who leave good jobs to attend them. I do not advocate for these types of schools and I certainly don't recommend that anyone leave a good job to get into trucking right now.

I do disagree with your ceaseless generalization of trucking schools. I also disagree with your personal attacks on my integrity.

 

Ok, here I am. First Forum, totally new and frustrated and I am in search of help. I have been through the gammitt when it comes to this WIA funding, the question I have is, Once we go to the oriantation how long does it take to get approved? I have to wait till August 26!!! to go to this oriantation ugh. Also, my husband and I are wanting to be team drivers, very excited, I use to drive a school bus however TT is different. From a females perspective can I get some insight on do's and dont's. Just any info good or bad I just wanna be a sponge. Thank you to any and all for some insight.