Looking to get my cdl

You can always find local companies to train you also on a dock to driver program. The pay is generally much higher than most starter companies that train but you won't get out and see the country if that is what you are looking for.

 

Our new guys average between 60-70 their first year depending on how much work they want to take and we train. It's not really big money but it's a hell of a lot better than many other options our there when you want a company to help you get your license.

 

I can go get my cdl on my own at a localish school but like i said they are pushing me to sign onto a company and them pay for it. Im assuming its because they are getting some sort of kickback or something for it. Heck there website even says pay in cash 4k for classes habe a company pay and its like 5500.. But then when i said ill pay cash she says well same price 5k... Even when i said your website says 4 she goes its 5.. All I know is with all the horror stories I read I jist want to set myself up for sucess. Im 37 and time for a change. I sold cars for 10yrs and been in realestate for 5 now and im ready to go a different route and driving a truck really appeals to me.

 

Most are forgetting about the supply & demand factors of companies & drivers. Factoring inflation from 20 years ago when I drover OTR at 34 cpm now alot of drivers are starting at 58 to even 65 cpm. I believe that newer cdl drivers should aim for the best even with minimal experience when they can. Alot of companies rather have a driver in the seat paying a little more oppose to having trucks sitting in their yard.

 

I work for coca cola. All bottlers are independent so coke could be different where you are because it's a different bottler but it's not out of the norm for beverage companies. JJ Taylor (Coors) trains and pays pretty well here and I know they are also in the dirty jerz so that's a possibility. Beer and soda are like the entry level (swift) of ltl work so they do a lot of training and the pay is low for ltl work but generally speaking way higher than most training companies. That being said there are exceptions to every rule before someone jumps on here and tells me about another training company that pays like 70cpm and calls me an idiot lol.

 

If you know that you want to work for a particular company that happens to have its own school, then it's a pretty easy decision to sign the contract and go to that school. Just keep in mind that if things don't turn out as you anticipated with that company and you decide to move on, you will be on the hook for the cost of the school tuition (often more than private schools cost) and you may be barred from working for competitors of your original company if their was some sort of non-compete contract amongst all of that paperwork that you signed when you joined up with them.

However, if you want to work for a particular company that doesn't happen to have their own school or you just want to be free to choose from the many options that you will probably have when you have your shiny new cdl in hand, then a private school might be the better choice.

The idea that company school is the choice for those of us that happen to be broke is nonsense. Every private school that I looked at offered some sort of financing of the cost of school. And lets be honest, that is all the company schools are doing as well. A company school is usually just floating the costs to you and then deducting payments for your school debt from your paychecks (in addition to paying you at a lower rate than you would probably command at another company - that you weren't in debt to). In my class, at a private school, none of us were able to pay up front. Every one of us was financing the cost of school in some way. Most went with the school's finance plan. I was able to put it on a credit card, using a very low interest credit offer, and I paid it off quickly after I started working.

I also think that private schools have a greater interest in your success in school and in getting you hired on somewhere good. Their success as a school depends on their reputation and their reputation depends on trying to get all of their students through to getting a cdl. Company schools, on the other hand, bring in lots of candidates with the intention of weeding out a lot of people that they decide they don't want working for their company for one reason or another.
A high perecentage of company school students do not make it all the way through to getting a cdl. The vast majority of private school students do successfully get a cdl.

 

Schneider Bulk is a good place to start a trucking career. This company will reimburse your cdl school tuition back to you, up to $7000 dollars. They have either customers or a terminal in Knoxville.
www.schneiderjobs.com has information on tanker jobs.

Over-the-Road (OTR) Tanker truck drivers at Schneider travel the country and specialize in the safe transfer of bulk liquid chemicals - 2/3 of them non-hazardous. OTR Tanker truckers earn up to $0.53 per mile* with a weekly performance pay up to $0.04 per mile (up to $80,000 per year with accessorial pay) and get home every other week.

 

DirtyJerz, I got my CDL at Smith and Solomon 19 years ago. They offer lifetime job placement and work with some of the larger carriers. Not sure where you are in NJ but you may want to look into if there is a school local to you. Good luck man!