Preparing for Training

IMO the single best thing you can do to make your entry into and career in trucking go the smoothest is find the trucking company you REALLY want to work for BEFORE going to CDL school.

Some great trucking companies have their own schools or only hire newbies from certain schools. If the company you want to join uses their own school why pay for your license out of your pocket? Some really crappy companies have their own school.

Half of trucking companies have Tuition Reimbursement to help repay any CDL school loan. You are better off paying for school out of your pocket than working for a crappy company that also has Tuition Reimbursement. Pick a good company.

A good company is one that matches your needs. Like shoes, an expensive pair that doesn't fit you is not good. A cheap pair that fits you but falls apart in weeks is not good. Define your needs for pay, home time, region of the country, type of trucking. Then research companies. You can start trucking and be home every day if you live in certain areas and do certain types of trucking. Define your needs. You will not make a company work your way. You have to fit THEIR ways. Research. Eventually you MUST communicate with working drivers at the company you work for to find out The Real Deal. Reading web pages and ads IS NOT enough info. Make the company put you in contact with drivers BEFORE you decide. Good companies will, bad companies will not.

Learn the tests.
Find the employer.
Go to school.

 

Brain dumping is good to ensure you pass. There are also some really good apps available for your phone free of charge.

You can go down to your DMV and get a CDL manual for free. Read it that way you get some good knowledge. I just read it while I was at my night job and got my learners permit on my own. I didnt have to worry about the book study in driving school.

 

You need 1 year of experience before you can get better jobs. When researching companies imagine working under their rules for 12 months. Finishing 1 year at 1 company is best. Don't jump from company to company. It makes you less attractive to the next companies where conditions and pay are much better. Don't put yourself in "the junk pile".

 

There is such a thing, I don't know where you could find one though. Carlyle used to have one that guys had to pass befor ethey would let them on the haul road.