Started my journey into the trucking industry at TDDS

I started my training to get my CDL at TDDS in Lake Milton, Ohio this past week. We have Frank for the first 2 weeks and then move on to somebody else. The training has been very informative and defininetly hepled me to pass the first 2 sections of my CDL permit tests! Yes we did have a couple recruiters stop by. All I can say is I would rather somebody tell me the truth on their company, which did happen this week, rather than trying to sugarcoat it just get peoples attention! I feel I made the right choice in where to go for training, It is on the expensive side but I think it is worth it. I will try to keep this updated weekly. If you any questions about the school please don't hesitate to ask. I will answer the best I can. On another note I am still trying to figure out how a new driver can make over $44,000 this first year making 30 CPM when the miles are paid zip code to zip code.

 

Thanks Mike. And yes it is a good school. Frank was a cool instructor the first 2 weeks but we moved on to Dave for our last 2 weeks of classroom. It seems like everybody is a straight shooter here, which is good. Which company did you eventually go with?

 

Started week 3 this week. The CDL manual portion is now complete and we moved on to the basics of the industry ie log books, trip planning etc. Today we started with log books. Last week was a good week, got my permit. We also went into the yard for some live coupling/uncoupling training. It was good to actually see what they were talking about in class. And of course we got to get behind the wheel of one of their trucks to get the feel of it. It was a Mack and I must say they do put stuff in some very odd places. I did get 3 pre hires last week and I am glad to see other people in my class getting some also. This group of people are very determined to do their absolute best, which is why I enjoy being there with them.

 

Mike, Roehl is also at the top of my list but who knows that may change. I would like to fill out more my apps but I am not really interested in flatbed. I am pretty set on the 3 I have already gotten pre hires from, Roehl, Werner and US Express. If I decide to add more, Kim already told me what to do for the companies they don't have apps for and would look at me.# Blazer, I will be starting my final week of classroom tomorrow and good luck with your orientation and training with Maverick. Be safe out there.

 

My apologies to everyone for not finishing up this thread. I finished school on 20 May and took and passed my state on 21 May. As for the school once we moved outside. It consisted of 3 days a week for 6 weeks. We had 9 site days and 7 road days. The school tested us on site day 9 and road day 7. I learned a lot from the instructors I had. I didn't just learn enough to my CDL. Fortunately for me the two other guys I had on road days were good enough to where the instructors would give us more knowledge and help us develop it. Of course it also helped I had the same instructor pretty much the whole time I was outside. There were some complaints in our other group of 6 that they were just not getting enough training. So I guess what it comes down to is who you get as instructors. My only complaint is I got no experience night driving. As far as companies go, I went with Roehl. Why you ask? Well a lot people on here say they are a good company to start with and I really like their 14/7 schedule. As a matter of fact I am in Atlanta right now getting ready to start their phase training tomorrow. I will start up a new thread on that.