Lost

Thanks, that's a load off my mind. Hoping to be somewhere different within a year anyways but was afraid it might make starting things off a lot more difficult. The local craigslist here has a lot of trucking ads placed regularly but they very rarely say where the company is based. Wasn't sure if a lot of it is just recruiter spam across the nation or if they are legit.

 

Schooling

I have enough money in savings I could go to a truck driving school, but it is a pretty major expense for me as I no longer have a current job (still looking and applying though) as I will likely need to get a hotel room for the duration (mon-fri), or maybe just a single night depending on scheduling of classes (like going weekends only). I live on the Central Coast of California (four hours south of San Francisco, four hours north of Los Angeles) and 30 minutes from the 101 freeway. The closet school to me is in Santa Maria, CA and called the Truck Driver Institue (I have not foundany info online regarding this place and have yet to contact them). There is also a place in Ventura about 2 1/2 hours away. One is Dootson School of Trucking. The other is 101 School of trucking. Only a couple online reviews of each of these so far. Dootson advertises 30 minutes sessions at $48 each, they also have a package deal but I dont know the costs involved yet. $48 per 30 minutes I could imagine getting really expensive really quickly though. About $3800 for a 160hr course. Plus the cost of commuting and hotel and daily food.
There is a place in Visalia, Ca.(~140 miles each way) that I'm leaning towards though. They are called Advanced Career Institute. They seem to offer a lot of training on their website (things like log books, trip planning, entry level driver requirements, various cargo handling, safety, pretrip, etc. etc.), not sure of cost yet and not sure how thorough they cover any of these subjects either. Anyone been to this school before? Their website is somewhat vague as far as class time, schedules, costs, and other things. I've emailed them but haven't got a response other than the canned email they send everyone.

The other option is driving to L.A.or the Sac./ Stockton area. Those schools range from $1300 to $6800 (people mentioned the prices in reviews I read in various places so it could be +/- $). It also means the cost of fuel to get me there and a hotel for at least one or more nights as the drive would be 4-5+hours each way. Money is scarce, so I would rather not get into anything over $2-$3000 if at all possible. At the same time, I don't want to skimp on training as it is the foundation of what would be a long term career.
How to tell if the driving school you pick is worth while? I don't know much about what to look for other than unprofessional instructors, or what to look out for on their equipment other than broken or heavily worn components and such. I imagine these training trucks get the #### beat out of them daily though by new drivers so I'm not sure how much to judge them in that way. On the other hand, if the equipment is 25+ years old and falling apart all over the grounds that's an obvious red flag. I think once I begin attending classes a lot of these questions will be answered, but my money will also be gone down the drain if I feel i'm not getting what I need out the school.

Questions I've asked in first contact emails:

What are the normal school hours offered?
What is the length of the program?
When do classes begin and so I need to be enrolled for them?
What do I need to begin class if I have no truck driving experience? Permit, DOT physical, etc..
Do I need to have a CDL permit before starting? Would it benefit me to get the permit before starting (possible reduced school time or costs, or maybe more behind the wheel time)?
What are the average class sizes?
How many instructors are there per class?
How many trucks available for practice/ testing?
How old is the equipment students practice and test on?
What is the average success/ failure rate of the students acquiring a DMV class A license?
What does the entire program cost?
Does the school provide everything needed to prepare and take the DMV's written and driving tests?
Does the school offer any housing or possible motel/ hotel discount rates to students that live out of the area?

Are there other questions you guys think I need to be asking? I will get my physical this Wednesday and assuming all is well, I will really start digging into schools (probably scheduling visits to the actual schools if that's normal fair) hopefully finding one in the next two weeks or so.


Will a cdl school teach me everything I need to know to actually get into an entry level truck driving job (that's the claim)or is it basically just to get me the class A? Unless the place is a total farce going into it, its tough to know for sure until you drop the coin and start/finish the program right?
I would assume driving companies are used to hiring noob drivers like myself and have a good idea of what to do to help new people get started otr with no experience other than the short amount of truck driving school. Right?

 

Getting the Class A license:
When taking the final driving test at dmv, are you pulling a trailor or simply just driving a truck?

What documents other than a class A license are required for most drivers?

I read mention of getting a passport. Are they referring to just a regular bluebook passport for international travel?

Someone else mentioned getting a hold of a TWIC. I searched and found that to be a Transportation Worker Identification Credential. When do you apply for one of these (before/ during/ or after the final CDL)? I assume I would be able to get one of these as I dont have a shady past and was a security guard and passed their background checks about 10 years ago.

I also read about needing a medical card. How long does it take to receive the medical card after passing the physical?

Do you turn in the completed physicals paperwork or does your dr.? If you do, does that form go to the DMV?

Will my need/ use of a CPAP be problematic for me getting a medical card? I do use it everynight and plan on continuing to do so. Would this require me to have another sleep study, or could I likely just tell my Dr. "hey the CPAP works great, can you give me a medical note for reference of treatment saying that I am being treated by using the cpap and just continue doing so" and then attaching that to the long form?

I read Schnieder trucking was great about assisting/ making accommodations for drivers with sleep apnea (among other things) and had considered applying to them as a first job.

What about my chronic back pain? Itis manageable without meds, but I dont know how its going to look on paper when someone 1000 miles away is reading my employment application. Do they even look at the medical form or do they just see you have the medical card and pass you through?


How about endorsements? I hadconsidered driving a tanker so HAZ/MAT and Tanker endorsements would be on the list. Do I take the DMV tests for these the same day as the CDL permit or the CDL final test? Does it matter? I've been practicing the online tests and doing surprising well considering I have no training in the field. Can you get all the endorsements? Should you/ any reason not to?

Any other paper work/ credentials to consider? And if so, what are they and when does one apply/test for them? Any of this I should start taking care of even before finding a trucking school?

 

Got the DOT physical taken care of today. All clear at this stage. Back pain and sleep apnea was almost no concern. Forgot to ask how long it takes the urine analysis results to get returned to me/ them.
Should I wait to return the DOT physical paperwork to the DMV until I get the UA results?

Does this sound like the proper steps in the proper order to take at this point:

Research driving schools
Take DMV permit test
Take all endorsement tests (can I take all of the endorsement tests the same day as the permit?)
Select school to attend (need to get this figured out SOON)
Apply for HAZMAT through TSA
Apply for TWIC through TSA
Apply for FAST card
Decide while in school what type of job I'd like (leaning towards tanker at this point)
Begin applying at truck companies two weeks before getting CDL

I appreciate the comments and advice from you new and more experienced guys. Thanks

 

No, not collecting unemployment currently. I was officially terminated from my job so I believe that disqualifies me for it. Plus I only worked part time so the benefits would be basically nothing. That's actually why I am trying to expedite things, get as much free and realistically solid info here as I can before I drop a bunch of money on school and everything else. I checked into the WIA program and unfortunately that can take quite a bit of time to even qualify for assuming there are funds to be had. I'm hoping to get into a paying job before something like that would actually get me into the school. I don't mind paying the money for schooling as long as I feel like I am getting what I need out of it. Trouble is, I don't really know exactly what I need out of it other than a class A and some school can be absorberently expensive. Plus cost of living while I do it. I asked some questions about schooling so hopefully someone can chime in.

My plan is to do exactly as you say though. I'll be getting the endorsements and applying to Schneider. I will probably have to start off in a dryvan though as I'm hoping to stay somewhere out west (California, Arizona, Nevada) and they don't currently have any tanker jobs in those areas. They run out of L.A., and through Las Vegas and Phoenix though. I'm about 250 miles north of L.A. and they want someone within 50-100 miles from their terminal in Fontana. Not sure if they will let me get running with them before I move into one of their service areas. I really need a job before I move though as most places renting want to see a source of income before they let you sign a lease. Catch 22 there.

There is another place called Gazelle trucking that offers percentage based pay running tanker really close by but they want at least a year otr experience. I was thinking about applying there anyway as soon as I have the CDL in my hand just for the hell of it.

 

I'm working on it. I think its out there. I think. I appreciate the kind words though

 

Are there any central or governing bodies that overlook truck driving schools? Anywhere that actually reviews the schools without being biased?

After researching tons of places, it seems like a crap shoot at best picking a company (company seems more fitting than school) that you will get your monies worth out of.

Going into this, my train of thought was "Find a school that's going to prepare me for an entry level job". After reading about schools and what they are about, its more like "We will get you a CDL". There is a big difference between those things.

Any recent graduates in California have a school they would recommend and could give me some basic info about it?