I don't want to pay for my "CDL school", so how about......

It's not a matter of being willing to pay the money...I just want to get my money's worth. There's at least one carrier out there that puts students on the road with trainers within a week. They don't run freight through my area though. I thought about moving (legally, physically) to an area that would satisfy the carrier's requirement but then thought, what if?

 

I tried them but their recruiter, Thibidoux, didn't like me. He said I talked funny!

 

The same is true here in Mississippi. What I really want is to spend my "training/schooling" money wisely. If CDL schools, for the most part, only prepare you to pass the written exam plus throw in a minimum number of hours behind the wheel so you can pass the driving portion of the test, then I'd rather go about it the "old school way", i.e., trained one-on-one by a veteran driver. I know this is a pipe dream, but I'm bound to explore as many options as I can before I put up the bucks. I've been accepted at a community college near my home and will, unless I find another way, go through their driving training program this coming summer. What just burns my butt is paying someone to "teach" me how to pass the written part of the CDL exam. I've already passed the general knowledge portion of the exam just to get my CDL B. I could go tomorrow and pass the remainder of the tests for every endorsement offered. I haven't been sitting on my butt since I decided to investigate a career as a driver. I've been studying.....a lot!!
I guess the part of the "pipe dream" I most interested in is having a mentor 24/7, one-on-one. And I'm willing to pay for it!!!
I know this smacks of a large dose of naivete' but I've got 3 months before school starts and I'm just renegade enough to try to buck the system.
Whatever way I have to go about it....clear a path! It's gonna be ON!

 

I know the school you are talking about. They want $6000 for 3 weeks! That's 3x what the community college wants for 8 weeks. It's "real" time in the first seat with a qualified mentor that I want. I just imagine what I could learn just having a veteran's ear for 8-10 hours every day for a few months (excluding hometime of course). I think Prime puts a fresh recruit with a mentor pretty quickly (in less than a week, I think) to get you ready for the CDL road skills test, then sends you out for an extended (and extensive) period with another mentor. Problem, I'd have to move to another area.