Don't make my mistake....

If you are thinking about attending a driving school please call numerous schools and have a list of questions to ask.

I attended driving school in Fontana, CA and had countless choices. I think I saw around 40 driving schools in the area. I didn't do my homework and just chose the one that was mentioned to me by a trucking company (I think Gordon). Hind sight being 20/20 I made a huge mistake by not calling many and asking the right questions.

Some questions I should of asked:

1. How large are class sizes?

My first day we had about 30 people in class. Sure we slowly weeded them out and by the last day we only had 7 left. But that was still a lot of people you had to fight with for seat time, answering questions, distractions, and such.

2. Do you test in house or at the DMV?

Seems like a silly question but a lot of schools test in house and mine didn't. After completing school I had to wait over 2 weeks for a test date. That is a long time to forget things. But they do let you come back after you fail to do brush ups. A lot of people there doing brush ups every day on top of the 2 classes already there fighting over seats.

3. How many trainees per trainer?

We had 4 trainees per trainer. You spend a lot more time sitting than driving. And when you have 3 other people in the back seat talking and laughing you can imagine how much of a distraction it can be.

4. What happens if I am unable to complete school?

Would seem like a silly question, why would you pay all that money for school if you aren't gonna finish right? Well I wasn't able to finish school. What I mean is I finished all the school stuff but ended up leaving California before my scheduled road test. The school said no problem, just send us a copy of you CDL and we will send you your graduation packet. Well I did get my CDL yesterday and emailed them the copy so will see if they actually send it or not.

5. What happens if my financing falls through?

I had my G.I. Bill so I didn't have to pay out of pocket but one guy in class was 3 days from finishing school and his financing fell through. He flew in from Montana and was basically put on the street. Luckily for him his father co-signed and he was able to finish.

6. What is the lodging/transportation situation?

They added the hotel costs to your loan where I went. So you are paying interest on a hotel room. Also they did not have available transportation besides shuttle from school to hotel. So if you needed to eat or go to a store it was either by foot or taxi. Thankfully I had a car and a house to stay at so I didn't get screwed here.

7. What is the percentage of first time passing on CDL test?

See they told me that 97% graduate. They didn't care to mention that most take 2 or 3 times to do it.

If any of these questions help you pick a school I am glad I was able to contribute to the group. The school I attended was around $7,000 for 3 weeks. Not sure if that is what everyone paid or if they charge the military extra because they can. Either way I do not feel the school I attended was even close to worth that price.

 

Because I was already in California visiting family.

I was looking at company sponsored training but the company I talked too recommended them.

 

Well depends how you look at it.

I paid $0 for school. The VA paid 100% of my tuition.

Now Werner and Schneider will both reimburse me for tuition. Werner I believe was up to $7000 and Schneider was $6500.

So that is free money if I chose to drive for them.

 

I am a member of the operating engineers union and our training center offers cdl testing.

So I just made an appointment with them to road test.

 

They never even asked for one.

A few employers said they didn't recognize the school but no one else even asked if I graduated a school or which school. They only seemed to care that I had a valid CDL and Med card