need it straight forward

Have you look at prime inc. while in training you get $200 a week to help you out. all though you will have to pay that back.

 

I went to the trenton school. Bill is the instructor and runs the school there, great guy with decades of real experience. As far as hands on ... you will be doing something with the truck every single day you are in school except for the first and last couple days because there is paperwork that needs to be done. Everyone in my class passed ( 6 people total, 2 of us already had CDL's)

We stayed at the Days Inn and had a company minivan to use while we were there to shuttle back and forth from the school (we all had personal vehicles but the minivan was still nice).

Week one you can expect 7:30 till 4 or 5pm ... Week 2 and 3 are the road driving days and you'll start earlier and finish later in the day. Weekends are off.
At some point during this initial school you will be matched up with a road trainer that you go out with following the school for a minimum of 5 weeks and to pass your road test back in your home state for your CDL if you dont already have it.

One of the nice things about the millis school is that it is actually at one of their real terminals so you have constant access to drivers. Many of the drivers will stop by and simply say hi or open up their trailers to show what typical loads look like or anything unusual that they may be hauling ... it's good hands on stuff. You get to crawl up in their trucks(if they let you) and pick their brains for information.

I can't think of anything I needed or wanted from a truck driving school that wasn't provided. Bill has a lifetime of experience so if you walk away without knowing something its because you didnt ask or listen.

 

You need 100 bucks to reserve your spot in class and then another 400 bucks the first day of school. I don't know if they help with this, everyone in my class had the money. You should probably ask Alice.

The rest is all financed through Millis at 0% interest and once you start earning pay they will take 30 bucks a week back to pay for it (20 for school and 10 for hotel). After a year with them they will forgive 2500 of the school cost.

When you go out with your trainer you need to have enough money to get through the first couple weeks until your first training check arrives. Your trainer is not going to appreciate it if you are flat broke in his truck and cant afford to feed yourself.

Training pay is 500 bucks a week for the first 2 weeks then it goes to 550 a week for weeks 3 and 4 and then 600 a week until you get your own truck and start earning mileage pay. You dont start earning training pay until you are on the road with a trainer .... there is no pay during the schoolyard time so you need to have enough money to get through this.

 

DO NOT GO TO CR ENGLAND. you will waste your time and can get messed up bad from the beggining. If Millis or stevens calld you , one of those would be the way to go. just saying

 

DO NOT GO TO C.R. ENGLAND... I REPEAT... DO NOT GO TO C.R. ENGLAND.

I went there, they will fully defund you and promise you the world while making you pay out of pocket for the training (do you have $500 to take out of your kid's mouths?). I'm single so heed my warning... they literally put me in the poor house. They will bus you to Indiana (they pay and I guarantee you there will NOT be a round trip fare), house you in a flea bag hotel, require that you make the daily grind to classes at a secure facility with no creature comforts but a classroom and an inactive cafeteria with vending machines, try to weed you out after getting a financial, non-refundable commitment and put you in the company of some beautiful equipment designed to lure you into a lease agreement.
Do you want to loose that wife and kids?... they promised me home time.

Know when I got home? How about 5 MONTHS later after I quit and paid my own airfare home ($1000 on short notice and you know the baggage issues... I left most of my belongings in a dumpster in Salt Lake City, Utah).

Go with MILLIS... DO NOT GO WITH C.R. ENGLAND

'Bigfoot'

 

I went to school at Stevens. I feel that the schooling was very good and the training afterwards was great. They hold your hand and wont let you make mistakes. Pay sucks but remember, its a training company. You will starve pretty much where ever you start out but you are paying your dues. I left Stevens after 8 months and now make a week what I did in a month there.

As most are saying, I would stay away from CRE, Werner, Swift, etc. Look into Stevens, Millis, Prime, etc...

Good luck...

 

Your not even signed up yet, So you'll be home for xmas, Probably would not start till after the new year.
Richfield started a class last week, Trenton starts a class monday the 26th