Is there a cheap (free??) way to get my CDL-A?

This is the route I took.

I had 7 yrs prior experience,.. gave up my CDL when I moved to another state as I was in a different career field at the time,.. did not think I would need to fall back on my CDL at the time. Hind sight is always 20/20.

I got my CDL-A back for much less.

In Fla its,.. or it was back in 2009,.. $80 to take the General Knowledge, Air brakes and combination tests in order to get your A license.

Study the handbook,.. go take the tests. You get a learners permit. 2 weeks later you can go to a 3rd party like Roadmaster or anyone else who is qualified by the state and who has trucks you can use to do the road test portion of the test. Roadmaster charged me $150 to do their 3rd party road test.

Once done,.. you take the certificate from the 3rd party,. bring it back to the MVA with your learners paper,.. take your picture and viola,.. you now have a CDL-A for less than $300.

At this point your hiring options are pretty limited,.. self employment or one of the self insured bottom feeder companies. I started out self employed doing car hauling for a little over a year. Lost my shirt,.. sold everything and found an O/O to hire me. Used him as a 12 month stepping stone to show OTR experience. Then aggressively pursued working my way back to owning my own truck again.

It can be done. Ambition, fortitude, self control, hard work, keeping your priorities in check with due diligence and you can do anything you set your mind to do. Its not easy. You will pay your dues somewhere along the way. We all have at some point. The key is to stay focused on your goals. Keep your record and attitude in check. Your work history, driving record and CSA are everything in this business. You can do 10,000 wonderful things perfectly for 5 yrs,.. and its that one oops on your record that will make things difficult and hold you back.

Hurst

 

Since your former military, if you can reach out to your last commander or unit, you might be able to get a skills test wavier. I'm currently in the MA national guard, and just did it this way. Get the waiver signed, took the written test, showed them my DD214 from AIT. Two trip to the DMV and I got my class A

 

Check with job centers in your area. Or unemployment offices. A lot of them have programs with local community colleges. Which usually have great programs. I went to a 4 week school at a local community college and I paid $265 out of pocket. Including the drug test and physical. Only thing was I had to have my permit before I started school. School was so good I was taught to float gears lol.

 

I'm not sure where your located in MA? But this place might be a shot, plus I'm sure they would have a 3rd party tester on site or avaiable. http://www.parkercdl.com/pay-as-you-go.php

 

The most difficult part of acquiring the cdl is the pre-trip test. The road test is nothing compared to the pre-trip test.

 

Lots of changes during the short time since you quit driving. You will at the very least need a cdl permit before any refresher training. Go to the DMV and get the permit. Study the CDL practice tests on here first. Celadon will probably take you with the cdl permit. Do their refresher course, then move on.

 

Have you used your GI/Post 9-11 yet? Also like someone said you can use the Military Waiver to get your CDL if you can get ahold of your old unit.

 

Check state laws on the rental, here in NV, you can't use a rental for drive test

 

MA you can, if you have written permission from the rental agency, and have a CDL driver with you

 

that is very true if you do a dmv test. If you do a outside test it may not be. Either way you should know how to do a pre trip, it might save your life.