Looking into starting an OTR career, with a slight twist

That is a 10.5-week program? I found the website here: http://www.southeast.edu/programs/TRUK/default.aspx it looks very good, I am just not sure if I can sit in a hotel for 10.5 weeks to take training.

I am going to keep searching for a Community College anyplace in the USA that has a 6-week (160 hour) program priced in the $1,000-$1,200 range. I tend to think a CC program (after research shows it is good training) will look better on your resume as a more established program than a commercial school.

 

384 hours in 8 weeks, is that right? That is 48 hour per week, is it 6 day a week classes? May I ask what school this is? I prefer 6 weeks, but I could do 8 if I really like everthing else about the program.

I noted the Community College in Iowa, in my post above with a 6 week program at $4,300. That seems to be an excellent, PTDI-Certified program. However, if I can find a Community College program at a 75% discount, even with no certification, but still has a good reputation, that will be the way to go for me.

Thanks for the posts.

 

Schneider has a list of schools they accept on their recruiting website. You might start your community college search there.

http://www.schneiderjobs.com/company-drivers/driving-school-programs

 

Remember, there are no short cuts. I called around and most companies I talked to would take the 240 hour, but not the 160. Just saying.

 

My program runs from 7am to 6pm, five days a week. I figure I'll be falling into bed when I get home every night.

Beware of the expensive community college programs. Some of them have commercial schools teaching under the name of the community college.

I'm going to Johnston Community College in Smithfield, NC. Renting a room in Goldsboro, which is a 1/2 hour commute to the school. I did check out the training range and they have a lot of equipment. Not sure how it will all work...I may post here to share the details.

There is also a program at Davidson Community College in NC, and there are several listed on Schneider's or PTDI's websites. I'm not convinced about the value of PTDI.

 

The community college near my old hometown does this, they contract out the teaching of the class to an outfit that runs a commercial school about 40 miles north. I don't really mind this as at least with the college oversite, the program will have a layer of accountablity that you would not get if you went direct to the commercial school. I would take the this program near my old hometown but the schedule does not work for me and it runs about 4K for a 6 week program.

I think the PIDI cert. is great and makes sense as a 3rd party that will inspect and certifiy standards, but like you, I am not convinced it is worth paying 3 or 4 times as much.

Thanks for the link and post, I'll check it out.

 

You'll need to establish residency on the mainland before a company will hire you.
This could be where you decide to go to school, but it will need to be a PHYSICAL ADDRESS for your CDL.

 

High turn over has little to do with what type of school you choose to attend. I've known people who graduated from two week mills and still truck drive years later, and then I've known the guys who take three month CC courses only to find they can't hack a life on the road and quit in 15 days. A majority of what you learn will come when you're actually out there with your trainer/mentor. Most CDL schools exist for the primary purpose of making quick private and federal dollars, only giving students the absolute bare minimum skills they need to pass DMV testing. Even CC courses cannot truely prepare you for what you'll actually face on the road. Success starts with the OTR training you receieve once you're out on the road with a trainer and can truely decide if the lifestyle is for you. If you have the time and the luxury to do so, CCs are not a bad deal. But attending an accelerated "mill" course most likely won't put you at any sort of disadvantage when it comes time to train...

From the way some noobz talk about trucking school, I often mistake this for a forum on the studies of advanced science and technology. What we're doing isn't rocket science, it's truck driving. And I'm sorry to say it, but if you can't get the basics down within a week or two, you probably need to look for a career elsewhere

 

You guys who want to "live in your truck" need to keep in mind that the Internal Revenue Service has very specific guidelines about what a "home" is. As a truck driver, there are many tax deductions that can be taken. After starting trucking you need a good accountant who knows the tax rules specific to our industry. An accountant seems expensive, but a good one will more than pay for themselves with the tax savings they know how to get you. But if you do not have a "home" as outlined by IRS regulations, many of the allowable deductions will not be legally available for you. The IRS figures the tax breaks are because you have a job with added expenses due to being away from home. But if you live in your truck then you are always home. So they can, have, and will disallow many deductions.

 

Exactly. It's not like you're deciding on whether to attend Harvard or Boston College, where one school is far superior to the other and therefore more desirable to potential employers. You learn enough to pass the DMV test, get your CDL and little else. The REAL schooling begins OTR. Some schools might have better trucks, better facilities, decent instructors...a slightly more pleasurable experience, but all that matters is getting that CDL in hand. They'll do nothing to prepare you for the OTR life.