Do I need to take a training class to obtain my CDL?

I didn't take a course when I got my class A. I learned the pre-trip and the maneuvers in my free time at my previous job (where I was hoping to get a driving job once I obtained the license). When that didn't pan out I went to Conway and went through the apprenticeship. Yeah I had my license and could've started driving right away, but I had almost no driving experience, so that would've been a bad idea.

 

Google : WIA and see if you can get free tuition for CDL school.

 

You're right. But its not all that hard to find a school that doesn't have that attitude. They're out there and its not too tough to figure out which is which.

Well there are actual apprenticing programs and then there are 'yeah I have a buddy that I apprenticed with and he taught me what I needed to know' type deals. Not sure which you're talking about here. The actual organized apprenticeship programs will usually teach you about as well as going to a good school (emphasis on good) with the caviate that they can be hard to get into and you have to sign a contract to work for the company in question for some period of time. That can be a great thing or a horrible thing depending on the company and its not always easy to know which is which before you sign.

As for the 'yeah I've got a buddy so I didn't go to school' type people, I've worked places where I had to break in new hires. You could fly an airplane through the holes in the knowledge base of every guy I ever trained that got their license that way. No idea how air brake systems work, no idea what clutch brakes were or how they work or why they're needed, no idea whether a loaded truck or an empty one takes more distance to stop and why, that sort of thing. I know a lot of drivers learned from a buddy or family member back in the 1970's and 1980's. But this ain't the 70's anymore and every guy I've personally met who got their licence recently without some kind of formal program had some dangerous shortcomings in their knowledge base.

It already has. But that doesn't mean that good schools don't still exist. They do. And going to one, and thus not being contractually bound to work for a company that could end up treating you like an indentured servant afterward, is a very good way to get into the industry IMHO.

 

There are grants out there to be utilizied so it's worth looking into what you might qualify for. After my boyfriend went through school, finances were such that there was no way I could do it at this point. But I found the WIA grant after some research and qualified for it. That just put me through school and even covered my DMV fees for my license AND all endorsements. So while we will still be paying off his loan even though he graduated months ago, I am shipping out for orientation in two weeks with no out of pocket expenses except for the gas I used driving back and forth every day.

 

I'll take your word for that, never went to a school, and I don't trust them.

And just about every driver I've met that have come out of driving schools have had dangerous shortcomings in their knowledge-base. No idea why you don't run as fast in hot-weather or with small tires on the trailer and why. No idea how to read suspension-load guages, what a drop in boost pressure and smokey exhaust means, a complete and utter inability to back a trailer up in any sort of reasonable time, even when its a simple 45-degree into a slot at a truck-stop.

I won't deny that there aren't good driving schools out there, there are, and yes, there are certain people who learn better in that environment. Yet, I can't help but question your claim about driver's who learned "from a buddy" when I did, and I'm towing these sorts of loads at 21 years old:



If a driver doesn't know how air-brake systems work, why a truck takes longer to stop when empty rather than loaded (up to a point), or what the hell a clutch brake is for, I don't care if they're from a school or a "apprenticed", they shouldn't be in a truck.

But, that DOES NOT mean that learning "from a buddy" inevitably means they will have short-comings in their knowledge. Just like a school, its important who you learn from if you apprentice from. If you can find a good driver's to learn from, I'd wager on the student driver knowing as much, if not more, than a CDL school student when they go in for their road-test.

I apprenticed, and have no contractual obligations.

The best way to start in this industry? With the most complete knowledge-base and skills set available. How you get that knowledge-base and skill-set is not mutual to going to a driving school.

I'm not trying to say I'm a perfect driver. I tell myself that the moment someone thinks they know everything about this industry is the moment to get out of it, because there is ALWAYS something to learn. But, you're claim that "all driver's" who have come out of the "learned from a buddy" sort of method inherently, and without exception, have dangerous gaps in their knowledge is outrageous, and frankly, wrong.

 

I think we agree more than we disagree. Whether its a good school or a good apprentice program, you're still learning from someone who presumably has at least some background in the concepts of teaching and who presumably understands the material being taught inside and out. Doing either would be far more desirable than having a buddy show you enough basics to pass a CDL test. And that is I actually thinking of when I said going to a school was a good thing. My point was trying to do it without a formal training program, whatever that may be, is a bad idea. In my opinion anyway.