How much is too much to attend school?

And if the price is more is it worth it?[/QUOTE]


NO. this isn't one of those things where you get what you pay for. Generally speaking, the more you pay, the more you get ripped off. most of these "schools" are absolutely worthless CDL mills that teach you just enough to pass the test but not nearly enough to pass a road test with a company.

I paid $925 at my local community college, got 380 hours, 10 hours a day, 5 days a week for 8 weeks, and ended up with just over 750 miles in the seat and so much backing in different types of situations I could almost do the excercises with my eyes closed......and out of 5 students that attended the orientation with the company I went with, I was the only one that made it past the first day. and they paid 2500-4000 for thier 'schools'...... one of them even had a preventable accident on his road test because he didn't get enough training at the 'school" he went to. i can put you in touch with some other students that got equally as poor training where they went.

do your research into the school you pick. how many hours. how many miles you can expect to graduate with......nothing better than time in the seat. who are the instructors and what are their backgrounds and how many miles have they driven? all of mine were old farts with more miles backing up than I'll have in several years of driving forward lol and it showed in their lack of tolerance for stupidity and the quality of instruction we received.

what types of comapnies recruit from the school? are they just the mega bottom feeders or do smaller local companies recruit there as well?

cost does not equal quality in this business. do your homework and do the legwork of actually checking things out before you go.

you'll be glad you did.

good luck to you

 

Good info Flyingmusician...

Who do you drive for up there? I used to live in HighPoint.

 

schools run $700 to $10,000

Like flyingmusician said check who hires from the school and check to see how many hours the course is, if its less then 180 hrs dont waste your time, not many companies hire drivers with less hours then that in school.

Community colleges offer the best training and the most hours.





American Trucker

 

I went with Epes......their terminal is just above the airport on 68

class act.....very family oriented, newer, well-maintained equipment ( I got a 2012 with 24k on it fresh out of school ), home every weekend, good miles and rarely sit wating for the next load.....in fact, 75% of the time I'm preplanned before I finish the load I'm on. Above average pay for a newbie and so far so good.

They've been straight up from the beginning and done everything they said they would. Of coursel, it's not a perfect company and there are frustrating days just like anywhere else ( think northeast and 95 corridor over and over lol ) but as far as trucking companies go and especially as far as opportunities for newbie, I chose well.....the research and time and effort i put into checking things out beforehand paid off

 

I went to Sage at the local community college. I paid $4200 out of pocket to go. 180 hrs class, 60 hours drive/backing time. One on one training.

Very important you get one on one and not 4-5 guys in a truck at a time. Can't learn nothing that way.

 

I almost paid $5000 for school before I figured out how to get it for free... Was actually paid to get it from my employer at the time. I was trained as a "relief" driver. Best darn thing I ever did.

 

I cant believe you guys paid, $4200, and $5000 to teach you to drive a truck. If I had to do that back in the day, I would rather work at McDonald's. Where do they think its worth that much to teach someone to drive a truck. Find a trucking company, work the docks, in spare time, jump in the truck, and only in the yard, back that thing in the docks as many times as you can. Then ask to be the spotter for another 3 years, go on the road for local deliveries, and after 5 years, you should be ready for anything. But winter driving is a whole new ballgame. I have said it before, Practice, Practice, Practice, makes you a driver.

 

insurance, maintiance, fuel, paying instructors enough to actully take the job, etc not saying that much is warrented but its not exactly a cheap biz to start or run.



American Trucker

 

Farram1 couple of the other posters did a very good
job of covering this ! I will stress to look at which
carriers hire out of the schools you are looking at!
The better carriers will hire out of the better schools
. I am a trainer with Epes and will back up what flying
had to say about them. May be best to eye a carrier,
then work back to the school. Then select a school
that fits best on the money side . No need to pick
an school who degree will not yield the job you want.
or over pay . Do your home work , and best of luck!
Epes hires out of select schools ! Pm me if I can
help!