Company Schools VS Private Schools Questions

What does it matter if you have to sign a contract with a company? This always blows my mind when new drivers ponder this! I don't know about you but I would much rather be on the hook for the money with a trucking company then to sign a bank loan and have them take my house if I don't pay them back!

So what if you decide to quit?! They can't take your license back! They can't take your house! They will just send you a bill for the remainder of what you owe them. If you want to pay it, pay it, if you don't, then don't. They will threaten to take you to court most likely but they won't because it will cost them more to do that then what you owe them.

Personally I think company schooling is a "no brainer"! You get to go through their school of which you are pretty much guaranteed to pass provided you don't crash the truck! Its no money up front and they also pay your transportation and lodging and usually food too! So you pretty much are getting your license for absolutely no money up front! The biggest bonus of going this route is that once you do finish your schooling YOU ARE GUARANTEED A JOB!!!! Like I said..... "no brainer"!

Now get to work! (or school) goodluck....

 

There's several things wrong with your post, chompi.

1. Quitting a company and owing them money, refusing to pay it, and then getting a judgement in court against you is a great way to ruin your credit rating. Not going to have much of a chance of buying your own truck, a vehicle, a house, or anything else if you stiffed someone.

2. What good is the job and how long do you think it is going to last without the proper training? If they don't train you right, not only could you lose your job, you could end up in jail for negligence. This industry is NOT a joke. It will hang you out to dry if you don't know what you're doing. And EVERYTHING depends on proper training. No one can drive a semi truck safely, properly, and successfully without good training. Period.

3. You're tight, no money up front, and no money at all if you stay with the company. All I can say to that is "You get what you pay for."

4. And finally, you're right... Company paid training is a "no-brainer". So anyone considering it should get some brains, do some research, and avoid company paid schooling. Get your training from a college or accredited school. Please don't get out here on the road and kill a bunch of people before you realize that maybe you should've driven More than 8 practice hours before jumping on the interstate with $350,000 of someone else's freight.


And to Solo_Seat - Maverick isn't just flatbed, I drive a refrigerated truck. There's something here for everyone

 

I generally agree with a lot of what you say, but I gotta say I disagree with your attitude on the contracts. If you're locked in with a company, they've literally got you and your CDL by the throat until you pay them back. And chances are, if you didn't have the money initially, you wont have it weeks or months down the line with interest piled on top. Anything can go wrong when you're employed under contract. They could fire you at will for just about anything, you could have unresolvable issues with staff that lead to a forced voluntary resignation, the company itself could take a major financial dive that trickles down to the driver...and then you're basically stuck. On the surface, company sponsored training sounds great. But thats only because you really know very little about said company until you're actually working there. And then, unfortunately, its too late. When you combine that with the fact that there are so many low and no cost county, state and federal job training programs available for the long term unemployed, I couldn't ever see the value in company sponsorship...

 

You talk like there is a difference in quality of training. There's not. Doesn't matter what school you go through you still aren't a professional driver when you are done. Either school only is there to get you your license and prepare you to go with a trainer. If you think a CDL mill is proper training then I have some ocean front property in Arizona I'd like to sell to you! Wake up and smell the diesel! Neither of these options is going to "properly" train you! They want your money and then they want you the hell out of their school so they can take someone else for $6000! Hell most CDL mills put in writing that you're guaranteed to pass! Sound like proper training?

If you want proper training, you're in the wrong industry! Most of these companies wouldn't even send you with a trainer if it wasn't so financially beneficial to them! Riding with a trainer just means that the company has a driver and a half to run miles at a third of the rate! They can run that truck 5000 miles a week paying one driver $.34 a mile and the other $300 a week for 2 months!

As far as owing a company money... you missed the point... yes it will damage your credit, any loan you don't pay back will damage your credit. The difference is you aren't signing a contract with a bank! You're just signing a contract with a trucking company saying you will drive for a year in exchange for training. So why then would you rather be on the hook with a financial institution?

Also, why would a company have your cdl by the throat? They can't take it back. Once you have your cdl its yours. They only thing they can do is tarnish your DAC will most mega-carriers will do anyway once you leave.

If you guys think that paying $6000 for school is proper training then knock yourselves out! I'm willing to bet you also believe you have to go with a mega-carrier for a year to get experience.

Either way, don't pass false information or something you don't know about onto others. There's no difference in quality of training it just a matter of who you want to be on the hook with. Company training at least guarantees you a job when you're done and most companies only put you on the hook for about half of what the schools charge.

 

I'm paying $6,000 for quitting USA Truck before my contract was complete. I doubt you'll find anything that low that is company sponsored.

A community college program WILL properly train you. Most of their programs are 2 to 4 months long, cost a lot less, and they must adhere to minimum standards in all of their courses to maintain accreditation. I've never run across a real program at a community college that did not train properly. Conversely, I've never run into a company sponsored school that was worth anything more than getting you your CDL.

All I can say here is that you're going to regret it if you go wi company sponsored training. Make of that what you will.

 

Im sorry, but you're either completely ignorant, or you're a company recruiter plant...

When you sign a contract to work for a company in exchange for schooling, that company owns your CDL. Not Literally, but de facto. NO OTHER OTR company will risk a lawsuit by hiring you when you're still under contract with your former company, and because local jobs are nearly impossible to come by with no experience, you will essentially be assed out of the industry all together.

I never once said that private schools offered better quality training. Often times, the company itself will sponsor you by sending you to a private school and fronting the money via contract. A CDL mill is a mill. End of story. What I did say, though, was that you'd be so better off looking in to local, state and federal training programs that will subsidize your expenses to attend said mill. That way, you'll have the freedom to choose any training company you'd like once you've completed school. And you'll have the freedom to change companies if one isn't working out. I'm not in favor of government spending, but the money is there regardless, so why not give it to the long term unemployed.

Perhaps you found success in company sponsored training via contract. Thats great and I'm genuinely happy for you. But when it comes to giving other people advice, i'd never advise anyone to lock themselves in to a situation where they'll end up owing double or triple what training is worth, when all is said and done and should they choose to leave, especially when there are other low and no cost options out there that will provide the student more freedom and choice to boot...

 

Well said! Not to mention that leaving the company before your contract is up might look negative on your DAC.