how to choose the right school

new to this world so to speak. have several uncles who have driven and are retired or deceased now so my advice is outdated and jaded at best. they were all owner oporators and lived it oldschool. not like trucking today has become. with that said i have looked at many avenues of getting into this career and wish now i had acted before the economy went south in a hurry.

with that said i have looked into company paid training versus independent schooling. after reading about amny companies and dooing much research on this forum more then anything i have found that i am going to try to go to an independent school rather than a company paid school.

something about servitude, crappy pay and maltreatment just does not strike me as appealing. now i know any seasoned vetran of this industry will tell you that you have to pay your dues and i am well aware and expect so. it is to be expected with any new career change.

i do however fidn it hard to make many choices and need experienced advice so that is why i am here.

as previously stated i have already decided to go with independent schooling and currently i am going through necessary red tape to get some grants or defered loans to take the schooling.

my recent delima however is in the fact that not all schools are created equal. they range from 3 weeks to 10 weeks. some have hazemat and tanker training included and some don't. the sad thing is some include more training in such little time it makes you wonder how they actually train you on all of this stuff where others contain so little and take so long.

i need advice from experienced drivers or company people here. what should i be looking for as far as who they are acredited by and what should i look for in the additional training available like tanker and hazemat. i know i want the most for my buck and want the most i can get on my liscense so i am open to as many opportunities as i can be when it is done with but the choices in ohio are limited.

i have seen where some people have gone to schools for nothing as the companies do not consider it an accredited course and so forth so i am looking for some advice and heads up.

thank you in advance for you time
keith aka goose

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