Week 1: Community College

Hey TruckersReport,

Well, I have officialy begun the process. I started my CDL class on Monday, Jan. 7th. It is a 7 1/2 week class from 8am-1:15pm Mon-Fri at my local community college. My teacher has 22yrs experience behind the wheel. We are driving 10 speed Freightliner Columbia's. The class is very laid back and relaxed and a great leaning environment. We have plenty of time to learn without rushing through. The best part of the class...are you ready for it...there are only 2 students in the class. During my first week, we have been in the book learning log books, hours of service, and parts of the truck. Next week, I think we are going to get into trip planning, pre trip, and intro in to the driving range. The other student and I will be able to get endless amounts of driving time. We will basically get our own seperate truck during driving range time, and be able to practice the whole class period. We will also split up the OTR time where one will drive to the destination, and the other drives back. I was very excited about the class and even more excited now that I know I will have so much one on one learning time. When test time comes around, we will be doing our skills test at the school in the same trucks we practiced in. The school has a 3rd party examiner, who is a retired commercial truck driving teacher from the school. Everything seems to be starting out perfectly, I just hope it continues that way. I will try to keep a weekly update about the process for those who are browsing and interested in getting their CDL. I am working full time while going to school so I have limited time at the moment. As always, if you have any questions or comments please feel free to post on the thread or contact me through PM. Goodluck to all my other fellow newbies!

 

pattyj,

My class was also cheaper. I believe without a doubt that I made the right decision. I would not advise anybody to do it any other way if possible. I know there are some special circumstances though.

 

MountainWind,

Goodluck! I wish you all the best. See you soon out on the open road!