Cheapest way to get the Auto only restriction off my CDL

Im in tampa area and trying to get the auto only restriction removed. But im in no position or intrest to pay in the realm of $3500 what trucking schools are quoting me, my current company wont let me test with one of our manuals and the only company that even offered isnt exactly an ideal running area and I dont wanna hop jobs just to get the training then bounce

Where im temp working ill never save that kinda money, im barely covering food/minimal savings to start another job

Any options? Im trying to get it done as cheap as possible no experience on a manual truck except a 5 speed M35 and I could barely pull that off.

3 of the current companies im looking at require manual

 

They are really asking $3500 for you to just take a test? That's crazy...

 

Some local companies will let you borrow an old truck to practice on. In terms of paperwork though, there's no need for further "official" training; All you need to do is pay for a new permit and a new road test. You don't have to retake any of the written tests, and all you have to do on the road test is the actual road portion.

 

Would you be able to just work at a company where you can utilize the auto restriction for a few months til you're able to save up the money to retake the test?

 

Don't forget the applicant needs to have a CDL-licensed driver without the restriction in the tuck while he drives the manual truck on public roads and driving to the test site. He cannot drive the manual truck alone until AFTER he passes the road test. So that is what limits trucking companies from letting people borrow their truck which has insurance, registration, maintenance, etc. The applicant needs to borrow a road-ready truck and driver and pay the trucking company enough to cover the potential damage caused by the applicant driving among the public. It used to commonly cost around a $1,000 and up, assuming you need no practice time.

 

I'd just have to go with a company that has a fleet of automatics for a while.

 

Should not of rush into the auto scam so quickly, seems to be the new norm from schools to kick you out into the industry. Patience will get out further down the road.

 

What do you mean?

 

I think he meant that he should've chose a school that trained him to drive a manual. "Auto-restriction" is no scam. If the company sponsoring the CDL has a fleet of automatics, they probably will opt skip the manual training

 

In my opinion, I think when they see you struggle with a manual, they push you to go for a an automatic. And some students just give up.