Pro North - Should I work for them???

I am looking at retiring after 27 years in the military and interested in becoming a trucker here in North Bay, ON. I recently emailed 3 local companies (Pro North, Erb and Manitoulin) requesting information on the trucking industry. The only response I recieved was from Pro North. They actually made time for me and scheduled a meeting.

Now the only complaint I have heard from drivers and a mechanic is the company pays low wages (cents per mile) compaired to the others in the local area, is that true? Can any drivers from North Bay give me there thoughts?

Another thing I am wondering about....I was told by the Pro North employee that after successful completion of a drivers course (AZ) there was a 6 week period (or longer) they train new drivers and that pays $50.00 per day. After the training period and if they were to hire me I also had to sign some sort of contract stating I will stay with the company for 18 months AFTER my training is complete.

From other threads I have read if a company pays for your course THEN you sign an agreement to work for them. This seems fair as they paid for the course.

But the way the gentleman from Pro North explained it sounded like I needed to have my AZ, go through 6 weeks of thier training and then sign a contract stating I would work for them for 18 months. Am I missing something here? If I am paying upwards of 7k to take a course why would they make me sign a contract? Is there driver turn over really that bad??? What gives? Whats the contract for?

I have served four tours overseas (including Afghanistan) and have had so much c**k fed to me sideways I am not too worried about the BS that seems to come with my potential new career choice. I have learned over the years to take things into perspective.

Looking forward to some honest comments.