Starting IIRT in Medford OR on June 6th

Things are going great so far, so much info.; it all seems to be really helpful. The instructor is top notch. Takes his time, but yet you blink and we have covered so much.
I am looking forward to the shifting range, and yard work.
Hope to see you around next time.

 

Thanks Bri for this post. I was interested in IIRT because they have weekend classes and well, i drive by them one the way to and from work everyday.

 

Hey Pinetree! I graduated from there 2 years ago, you are in excellent hands! Tell them Jake says Hi

 

I visited both and checked them out. IITR appears to have way more to offer. Their trucks are much newer and nicer as is their entire campus. They also showed me a shifting simulator. Elite was about 1K less but I know why after visiting. The plus of IITR is they are accredited and you can get a tax credit to attend there whereas you can't at Elite so even though Elite is cheaper, it is more expensive in the long run. I also read some posts here from elite students and they said they dont get much hill driving and IITR students said they got lots of it so I'm going to attend IITR next month. I am interested in anyone elses opinion although I already signed up at IITR.

 

I'll weigh in here. Yes, the facility at Elite is a bit smaller, but they do have a real loading dock as opposed to using just cones. Your driver training is mostly city driving-why? Because most accidents are in city driving, as opposed to going straight at 55 mph down the highway. As far as the accreditation crap, companies don't care. I had my choice of any entry level company, and am now at Schneider, in my opinion the best company out there.

 

I recently graduated from IITR in Medford with old pine tree. My experience was excellent. Everything was top notch. Trust me, we did our share of city driving. We took one day and drove south up Mt Ashland and on the way back had to stop at port of entry. Of course, being the school truck, they made me stop, backup, pull forward, flagged to park, log book inspect. Come to find out she was just yanking my chain cause it was slow.
Now I have pre hires with werner, swift, gordon and knight. need to make a decision by monday.

 

Just a quick chime in from an August 2010 IITR Grad.
I was happy with IITR but the real learning starts when you get hired and start driving,school is all about getting your CDL and not so much about truck driving.
You'll soon be floating shifts and doing a lot of things differently than what you did in school but not to worry,the big outfits that hire students know they'll be training drivers and don't expect newbs to be polished drivers.
Like Newbeav I'm a Schneider driver now,I did 4 months with May running Western 11 and then got a shot at a dedicated with SNI and made the jump.
I'd give Schneider a shot if you can,I agree with Newbeav that it's a good company having been there 6 months now.
I'm moving to intermodal for a home every day gig with SNI out of Portland in a few weeks,good deal for me as being it's the same company I keep my benefits and time toward a vacation.
Enjoy your time with IITR I know I did,I was at the Clackamas school.

PS: I deliver Dollar Tree stores and was in Ashland and K Falls Wednesday this week and Medford and Central Point last week.
I get down there just about every week,Mondays I'm in the Boise Idaho area and Wednesdays Medford area.

 

This is good to hear. I just stopped in today to check it out. If everything goes as planed I will be starting on 9/26.