Is it normal to go to a company sponsored CDL school but not work for that company?

I have a friend that could not afford and could not get financed to go to truck driving school on his own, so he went to one of those company sponsored training schools. But he never actually intended to work for that company. He did not want to go over the road and living in West Virginia he was able to get an oilfield job where he was home every night, so after training he got his CDL and turned down the job the company offered him, and signed on with his current job.

Now obviously he is still responsible for paying for the school, and he has been paying for it monthly (his new job even reimburses him for it), so that is how he justified it to me. The trucking company is still getting his money, he got his CDL without having to pay up front or finance it himself, and he got the job he actually wanted in the first place. According to him it didn't put any negative marks against him because he never actually worked for the company.

So my question is this...have you ever heard of this, and is it ethical? My gut tells me no, the company is training you with the expectation you will work for them at least a year. But according to him this happens a lot. What do you think?

 

He actually got a job with another company as soon as he got out of school and never worked for the original company that sent him to training. According to him he never had any problems with the new place when he started. What record do they put it under?

 

Interesting, so what would be the benefit of going to truck driving school on your own? If you have excellent credit I can see the benefit cause you'd get a better rate, but other than that is there a benefit? His truck driving school is costing hm the same $5200 or so that Sage Truck Driving School is gonna cost me.

 

Ah ok, thanks for the info. I never heard of hireright.com, I'm assuming most trucking companies use them? I'm kind of up in the air at this point, my credit isn't good enough to get financing for truck driving school, and I have the money but it would wipe me out. I also want to work in the oilfields but in Texas, and I've spoken to a few companies that would hire me right out of school. But none of them offer company sponsored training, only a monthly reimbursement of your truck driving school payment if you financed it. I thought about going the same route my friend did but don't want to start my career off on the wrong foot.

 

Thanks pattyj for the info, I was unaware that if you went to company sponsored training it shows up on your DAC report. That is definitely something to think about.