If You Could Do It All Over Again...

I wouldn't change a thing. Thanks to the great advice from this forum I seemed to have made the best decisions.

 

If I had it to do over again I wouldn't do a school or company training. They both stink and you have to pay a lot up front or sign a contract that has you by the balls.

The best option you have available is working for a farm. You don't need a CDL, you get experience, and you can test on their equipment.

If I had to I would go with company training. They at least have a vested interest in seeing you get your cdl and working for a few months. You sign a contract but they know if you bail the likelihood of them getting the money is about 0. You also have a job even if it's a crappy one.

 

I would still go with Schneider as the first company. As far as CDL school, I would go with a community college (didn't know they did that before) instead of paying $2600 at a private school.

 

im taking a 6week course at Samba, but since im in Mich they have a program called no worker left behind, so they pay and this way i dont need to sign contract and worry about something happening and have to pay back the money. That being said right now im leaning heavy on Schnieder for my first job.

 

I never went to driving school nor did I start with a carrier that charged me to train. There was no such animal as a commercial driving school when I started. I learned on the job by doing and without a trainer. When I started the government didn't pay carriers to train new drivers. Many grew up around farms or just had a knack for driving. I started by driving a straight truck for about a year and then moved into driving 18 wheelers or semi's as we called them back then. I would not change a thing about the way that I started. It has served me well over the years. I have logged over 4 million miles without a chargeable accident. Few driving school graduates or company trained drivers can match my record.

 

I took vacation and drove straight truck, until I finally made leap to full time truck driver. Why I waited this long I don't know...

 

If I could do it all over, I wouldn't change a thing. I chose to go to a CDL school and I got a loan to pay for schooling myself. I would NEVER get a license by signing with a company. Get a personal loan (if need be) and do it on your own.

Step 1: Move to where the farming is.

The typical response to this might be 'well there are farms near where I am now.' Well that might be true. But there are places where there are farms and then there are places where there are FARMS. In some parts of the country farming is a nitch and/or hobby for the very wealthy. In other parts of the country, farming is one of the primary industries. Go to where its a primary industry and make some friends and apply everywhere.