My wife's experience with MTC Truck Driving school in Missouri

Looking over the threads I want to offer up some advice to anyone thinking of going to a truck driving school. I started my Truck Driving career in 1999 and I went to MTC to get my CDL. It doesn't sound like much has changed. First of all many people have way too high expectations for truck driving school. The name is misleading. You are not there to learn how to drive a truck. They can not teach you that in the short amount of time you are there (typically 4 weeks). A more accurate description would be CDL School. I had a total of about 5 hours of drive time behind the wheel from the school when I went to take my test. That seemed to be about the average. They try to fit as many people into the class as possible in as short amount of time as possible to make as much as possible. Is that good or bad? Welcome to Truck Driving. It's the nature of the Beast. Is it worth it? Sure. Don't let anyone tell you it's not a good living because it is. For those who have not gone to school yet it really makes no difference where you go. There is no perfect so called Truck Driving school out there. They all have their good and bad points. The end result is all that matters. They are all based on the average amount of time it takes a person to learn the basic skills required to pass a CDL test, yard skills, and road test. Now, not all people pick up on these skills at the same pace. Some grasp it quicker, some slower. Many people, just as I did in 1999, end up going to Truck Driving School, because of a lost job or layoff and need to get back to work as quickly as possible. So you show up to Truck Driving school and are bombarded with a huge amount of info in a short amount of time. If at all possible, get the CDL book before you decide to go to School, study yourself and go get your permit before you show up to school. There is really nothing the instructors can teach you about taking the written test. They will read right out of the book, because the questions are taking from that information. Don't expect them to have some special knowledge or tricks on passing the written test. There's really only one way. Read, read, read, read, and re-read. Then go take the tests and get your permit. Now sign up to a Truck Driving School. When you go don't expect to know how to drive or back a truck up when you get done. You will only have a basic grasp of how to operate the vehicle when you are done and when you get to your company they will teach you how to drive. That's the way it was then and that's the way it is now. You will never find very good equipment at a truck driving school because there is just too much abuse to those vehicles. Newer equipment is just not cost effective and either truck driving schools would cost way more in order to maintain better equipment or they just could not survive. I was a trainer and taught drivers how to drive for around the last 7 years of my career and all of the students I had from all over from a ton of different schools around the country all say the same thing. The trucks that were at the school they went to were junk. So don't expect the school you go to will be any different. Keep an open mind, pay attention, and keep focused on the goal at hand. YOUR CDL. Pay attention to what they teach you and how they teach it. Almost all schools will teach you to pass your test by using some sort of reference points to guide you as you drive or do your yard skills for the test. It is the quickest way to teach you to pass your test so pay attention to what markers they are teaching you to use. Lastly, the simple fact of the matter is there is no exact science to teach you how to pass your test. They will teach you markers to use as a reference, but not all people are created equal. Taller, shorter, bigger, smaller, we are all different in some way and you must adapt the markers they teach you to reference to your own self. Is it hard to pass these tests? NO. Is it easy to pass these tests? NO. Is Truck Driving for everyone? NO. Do most if not all Truck Driving schools suck in a least some way or another? Yes. Were you told one thing and then found out another when you got there? Yes and Good God Welcome to Truck Driving. Good Luck to everyone heading down this path. It is the best job, you will ever love to hate. WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! Once it's in your blood, it's hard to go back to doing anything else. I love it, I hate it, and by God I wouldn't do anything else. C'mon.

 

I'm hearing alot of bad things about this school but what I'm going to tell myself is if I can complete 11 weeks of Marine Corps Recruit traing, surly I can complete 17 days of MTC.

 

I just graduated from MTC. All I can say is this, the instructors and coordinators are great and do a fine job. And no, they would NEVER ask you to falsify your logs. Now, that being said, the owners are the culprits, all they do is collect the cash from the poor students relying on the school to get a fresh start. And many of the students that come through the school have nothing, and have given up everything to come to this school to get a new start. Anyone that would prey upon people that are down on their luck are complete trash. The owners have no jobs at the school, the old man will drive around the parking lot mean mugging everyone all day everyday, but that is the only involvement I ever saw my 3 weeks there.

All the instructors care about you, well, I should say that most of them do. A couple of the "Road only" guys could give a hoot, one has long dreads and the other wears a stupid hat, stay away from them if you can, they will teach you nothing and are only there for a paycheck.

All the yard instructors are great and will teach you as much as they can with the time they have with you. They are all very knowledgeable and will help you any way they can.

I already had an idea of what I was doing when I showed up at the school, and when I wasn't at school I was watching youtube at people doing their backing maneuvers, in other words I was serious about it, I wasn't there to make friends and have a blast, I was there to get my CDL and I did on my first try. This school will help you in anyway they can, but in the end it is up to you and how bad you want it.

Another thing you will find, is that the instructors will often times agree that how the owners run the company is wrong, but the instructors are trying there hardest in spite of the douche bag owners, so just remember that when you go to this school. If you are serious and come there with an open mind willing to try your hardest to learn, you will be good to go. If you are there to flirt with the girls/guys that attend the school and be the class clown or are a know-it-all, then your stay at MTC will probably be lengthened. Just put your head down, study study study and work your hardest, and you will be a one and done like I was. Good luck to you all.

 

My fiancé plans on going to MAC in park hills , Id like to know some info on this school please, ??

 

Im getting ready to attend the mtc school in akron ohio can anyone tell me about that school