Is Paying Out of Pocket Still Worth it Despite the Lousy State of the Industry?

Most mega's are picky about spotty work history. There's a misconception that mega's will hire anyone, but that's far from the truth.
If you want steady work year round, bad economy or good economy, then go with refrigerated trucking. Food and medicine never stops.

 

Go to the closest community college who offer a truck driving school and see what they offer. Some employers, will reimburse for community college CDL’s. Also, you need to investigate what financial aid might be available to you. There’s absolutely no way I’d just settle for paying everything out of pocket or going to a mega, before thoroughly investigating all options.

 

If you can pay for the training yourself, do it. You are then a free agent. If you let a mega pay for the school, you are now under a contract requirement up to two years. If you dont fulfill the requirement, then you owe them the cost for the school. Some prorate, some dont. Most carriers offer a tuition reimbursement option if you cover the school yourself.

 

Roehl Transport pays salary of $616.00 weekly while attending their cdl school. Meals & lodging are provided.
Most companies do have a contract which runs from 12 mos. to 24 mos. Nothing wrong with contracts as long as the paychecks are decent and you're driving a comfortable truck.

 

I got my CDL per posts #3 & #4 above.

As a result--I had a very modest out-of-pocket outlay when I was done.

As indicated above--I was later not under a contract with any carrier--and was thus able to go when/where I chose, afterwards.

I can highly recommend this approach.

Is it STILL worth it now.....you might ask?

Well, especially if you investigate/utilize grants, scholarships...and such--definitely yes.

You'll get a return on investment fairly quickly.

But....it also depends on what you then do next, with that CDL.

In the current CDL market--one can't start out and be as picky as say, a year ago.

To get some worthwhile beginning experience--one may well have to (instead) take what's available.

A lot of the so-called "starter" carriers now want 3-6 months experience--even for jobs that were available with no experience several months ago.

So....is it still worth it? That's all up to you. Answer: how flexible/adaptable are you?

-- Lual

 

Very true--indeed.

-- Lual

 

Hiring may be slower than previously, but it hasn't stopped. And you don't need 40,000 unfilled driver jobs, you need one. So if the timing makes sense for you, don't worry about what you think the job market is at the moment. You'll get your shot. The rest is up to you.

I paid out of pocket for school, and for me it worked out fine. I was able to start out local, home daily, which was important for my family situation. My first employer offered tuition reimbursement after six months, so it ended up not costing me anything.

 

No, I recommend you find the job BEFORE you decide about what CDL school path to take. The good job is the goal, not the easiest, cheapest, shortest CDL school. Don't prioritize a very short-term decision an the expense of the long-term consequences. If the good job has their own school, use it. If the good job uses one particular CDL school, use it.

You wouldn't rent a church, pay the pastor, hire the bartender and catering company, hire the DJ, and then as a last minute thought hope you meet a good woman on the way to get married on that wedding day. Focus on the long-term, and that will sort out a lot of bad short-term decisions. How man more years are you going to spend before getting into trucking?

 

Problem with the carriers that give “Pre-Hires” is that they aren’t likely to invest any time actually checking your background.

Schneider gave me a pre-hire years ago but wouldn’t hire me after I got my CDL.

I ended up in Michigan driving a white Volvo for a guy who could barely speak English. Was the best darn job I’ve ever had!