What do thye teach you in driver school?

Go to your local DMV and pick up the CDL manual for your state. Study it cover to cover and you will be well prepared for your classroom time. Plus depending on what school you are attending they may seen you some study guides in advance. Any time you can put in learning and studying prior to attending the school will only make the process much easier for you.

 

I would suggest going to your local dmv and picking up a cdl handbook this will give you a head start on the written tests, very simple stuff. I went to Roadmaster in San Antonio, it was a 3 week class and went by pretty quick. The classroom part of school is pretty boring but they will teach you what you need, don't expect any more than that. As far as the driving part, pretty much the same, don't expect to learn any more than is needed to pass the road test.

When you graduate and go to your first orientation, that is where the learning will begin. Don't be nervous, and everything will be fine.

Some added advice, when you go with your trainer, don't over pack. You should bring only what you need. Weather appropriate clothes, shaving kit with all your personal items, etc... there will not be alot of room in your trainers truck for a bunch of stuff. Good luck to you.

 

You're going to have to know how to do a pre-trip inspection, the manual teaches you at least some of that. Seems like a lot of people get dinked up on that particular aspect of it - when the teacher starts going over that stuff, pay very good attention and take notes. There is a lot to cover in an "official" pre-trip inspection and they want you to know it.

The written test is easy if you study the manual enough - it has all the info in it you need to pass the test. There are sample tests available online - but they differ from state to state - do a google and see if you can find one for your state - well I think they differ state to state because I have done those online tests for different areas and they were different exams.

Whether they teach this or not - I dunno - but you should be up on the safety regulations put out by the feds - you can find all the junk online as well. There is so much of it, it is undoubtedly impossible for anyone to know ALL of it. The little hand book must be a hundred pages long, at least. The online site is ridiculous...........

It isn't rocket science, it's really whether you have a knack for driving or not. Not everyone is cut out to be a truck driver - I can attest to that by looking at some of the nonsense going on the inner-city freeways on a daily basis. Drivers driving trucks like they were a Hyundai Rio or something, weaving in and out of traffic, cutting people off and driving like there's no tomorrow. It can be scary out there.

And - the hardest part you'll encounter driving is backing up. If you can't back a truck, you aren't a truck driver (my opinion, anyway). There will be places that you go that will afford very little leeway in getting in and out of places - if you didn't learn in trucking school, you're going to be screwed out there. The driving test does a series of backing tests as well. With enough practice you'll get it. I've never been through trucking school but I've done the CDL test. The guy I got tried to trick me on several occasions. Changing gears on railroad tracks, parking in front of hydrants, parking too close to drive entryways, making a left turn but not turning into the nearest lane, even if it's going to run out, pulling up past the white lines, asking you after you went under a bridge or wherever, really - what that sign back there just said, definitely asking what the clearance of that bridge is. Don't even think about pulling those trailer tandems over the sidewalk on a right hand turn, even if you have to go out so far as to block oncoming traffic - you have to make them move out of your way. I don't know, there's just a lot they try to get you on.
But then again, it's a big machine and can cause a lot of mayhem and destruction, I really think they should make it much more difficult.

Anyway, good luck!