Pay for CDL school or go with a company school.

$3500 is a good price if the school is 160 hrs. minimum. I'd go that route.
What type trucking are you interested in?
We'll give you some company names and you can contact them and say, "I'll be attending community college cdl school here in Houston; I'm interested in your company at graduation."
Some websites have a "Quick App" you can submit if you want; many students do it this way.

 

Thinking a driving school sounds like easy money. What a be a partner...

 

Here's a company near you that recently started hiring new cdl school grads:
Click here > Drive with A&R | A&R Trucking Careers, Company Driver Jobs ...

 

Noted @Powder Joints. But that's one of the reasons I've waited to make my decision. Jim Palmer seems to have a good syllabus. First week or two, you get your permit and do all the basic control training (backing, shifting, basic driving). Then you drive on your permit for 3-5 weeks with a trainer in real world OTR. Not as a team, they just sit in the right seat as a mentor and check driver. Then you test for your CDL license. If you pass, you go back out for an additional 30,000+ miles with a trainer, not running as a team until the end of that, the last 10,000 miles or so. If all I cared about was a piece of paper that said I was qualified to drive CDL-A, I would have done it months ago. One of the reasons I'm glad I put this on the back burner was the $7,500 "value" of Swift and CRST training. Jim Palmer is $3,500 and I could buy that out the day I get my CDL (or prepay it is an option). What I care about is quality of training. I want to be as safe as I can be on the road for myself, you, and other drivers.

 

Melton Truck Lines hires in Houston and will reimburse the cdl school tuition back to you.

• Average Driver Made $60k-$70k in 2018, Top Driver Made $100k+
• Special Sign On Bonus Promotions for Experienced Drivers
• Tuition Reimbursement & Paid Apprenticeships
• New CSA Friendly Equipment
• Health, Dental, and Vision Coverage
• Free $20,000 Life Insurance
• On-Site Health & Dental Clinics
• 401 (k) Retirement Program + Company Match
• Performance, Referral, and Many More Bonus Programs
• Paid Vacations
• Liberal Rider & Pet Programs

 

Freymiller will reimburse cdl school tuition back to you:
Click on website, then click on "Recent Graduates."
Click here > Company Drivers | Drive Freymiller

 

pay your own way. PERIOD.

 

I am a qualified trainer, means little. experience and your good judgement is the most important thing. Theres not really much to coach you on going down the road, now in truckstop, backing into docks,pretrip planning , you bet. Teaching you the basics is not that tough, teaching common sense impossible. Tell me in 20 years how it worked out

 

If you're fresh out of any CDL school, any company hiring new CDL holders is going to put you with a trainer for a little bit anyways, so this isn't really something special you're seeing for that company. Also, a trainer could be someone that has been driving for 6 months longer than you.

 

I guess it could be all antidotal, but I've been "that guy" in the past, I've seen them on the road, when I get that piece of paper, I want all the skills, training and experience, to keep me from being "that guy" again.