Upgrading my CDL from a B to an A

Shouldnt need a trucking school. You already have your air brakes endorsement. You will need hazmat. Go to your local license office and get the commercial license handbook. Study the book on hazmat. Schools would get you endorsements on doubles and triples. Very few companies will require this and doubtful you would need it. Where you have driven class b you should have the hours driven required by the state. Then its only a matter of having a truck with trailer for the road test.

Some local colleges might offer it. Tho if I were you, I would stick to driving dumptrucks with the class b

 

Let me address your last question first. the US economy is dependent on this industry. So I suspect the future is going to be OK.

Now about that CDL. It is possible to on your own upgrade, but I highly recommend you DO NOT do so. No OTR carrier will accept non-Class A experience so you will just be an off the street rookie to them. Most won't hire and train you without some form of a school certificate. I do counsel you to do some research before you invest your own money to pay for a school. Check out a tech school. If you go the company financed training route you will be forced to indenture yourself for a year. Check out some of the threads in this forum where this has ended badly. @Chinatown will be along soon with more options for schools.

It kind of sucks this industry is like this now. It is what it is.

 

you will need to take the "combination vehicles" written test.

then you will need to take a road test, in a class A rig.

you should already have the air brakes endorsement.

you might want to get the doubles-triples-tankers endorsement as well as hazmat. (these are written tests, and a finger -printing for the hazmat)

PLEASE DO NOT take your road test in an automatic transmission truck, this WILL LIMIT you to ONLY automatics.

also, you should try for a quick 1 to 4 week course on class A, at any local school.

good luck

 

I just recently referred a guy with a Class B to the Virginia Workforce office here. He got a grant that paid for a local driving school. The guy just finished about 2 months ago. Last time I heard he was driving for USA Truck.

 

there ya go, free training

i personally cannot stress enough however, to NOT TRAIN or TEST on an automatic.

 

The transmission problem is not a hot button issue with me, because I really don't care either way. I do think if presented with a choice, train, and test in a manual, it will save possible mucho problems later. The thing is though, some don't have a choice.

 

if they do not have a choice now, then later when they need the restriction removed, they still may have no choice.

hey, maybe it is what it is, but the wiser person should seek out non-automatic training.

 

Ive come to notice something as people post and ask questions...

I always see people say "local co's don't hire drivers who don't have otr experience", then on the flipside, this guy wants to upgrade to a class A and he gets told that even with an A he probably won't be able to find an otr job because he only has straight truck experience.

There are more than several co's out there that will hire a driver with no "recent" experience. They don't pay great, but it gets him what he needs to move up and on.

 

You are looking at this wrong. It's not the overall experience issue as much as it is the class A experience that counts. A carrier won't count Class B toward Class A, they just won't. To them, you are just another rookie. He can get the Class A, but once he gets the Class A he is no different than someone that just got a CDL. Getting the job part is no different either. I can maybe list 20 to 30 carriers that will hire him right off once he gets the Class A. However, he will be with a trainer until such time he gets enough miles or driving hours to upgrade to a first seat driver. I'm sorry, but that is how it is.

Edited: I should also add that if you have a Class A and are driving Class B vehicles that is also not going to count toward Class A experience with these carriers either. They want you actually driving a Class A vehicle. If not they treat you just like a rookie. I know several people that had Class A CDLs and could not get a job with no recent school training. Two of them went to a school, one just said it was not worth it and stayed driving garbage trucks.