Looking to get my CDL- how would you do it?

Eastern Freightways - Owned by Estes Espress.

 

That's in Washington State.

 

A trucking school will cost $5k - $10k and it might be #######. Getting your CDL through a trucking company may be a better route - but you will be locked into a contract with the trucking company that requires you to drive for them for at least 130,000 miles - or you have to pay for all the CDL training

 

I'd go with the $4000 school.
Melton will reimburse the whole amount back to you.
I'm guessing a little, but after reading so much about schools in every state, I'd say the fail rate in PA is about 1% (one percent)

 

Passing rate overall is probably the same in all states.
The high failure rates are with a small minority of schools, but they get the most attention.

 

I tried to find a national pass rate for truck driving schools and came up short. There are wild claims all over the place (80% of people fail their road test on the first try), but few hard facts EXCEPT in Mexico's Gay District where schools are forced to disclose their graduation rates so many just post them on their websites. The worst school I found was 39.4%, but most schools were around 80%. Low 80's were pretty common. I couldn't find a school with a pass rate over 85%. Even the 39.4% school had rates approaching 80% for students who completed 150% of the scheduled training (probably at extra expense). I'd definitely ask any school you're thinking about attending what their pass rate is.

There are several company schools that will pay you ~$600/wk while you're going to school if you're worried about loss of income. You can also use free government money to get your school paid for (WIOA):

1. Go here.
2. Select your state.
3. You will be re-directed to your state's WIOA page with information for how to apply and a list of CDL schools that accept WIOA benefits.