Why Go to school?

So I'm planning on going to school to get my cdl but, I keep getting the same reality punch in the gut.

If i go to school and pay $2500 for 12 weeks of unpaid training, it looks as though I'll still end up needing to go otr to get experience to even get a job where the company is probably going to jerk me around (all jobs jerk you around). If I go with a company to get cdl training, I get paid (albeit not much) and I get experience and after that one year of driving i'm pretty much free to go where i choose.

Please advise me again why I should spend my time and money going to school if the outcome is going to be the same if i don't?

 

Do you have your own truck available to perform your pretrip on and road test in? There's reason #1, right there.

 

Because it makes the school happy, of course!

I didnt do the school thing... But I am not a driver. I work on stuff that requires a CDL.

From what I hear... you go to a school, get training, its easier to find a job. Some companies will hire you to get your CDL and work for them. Others want to see that you went to school.. they will take you in and 'train' you as they see fit, and set you off on your own. Or, you can always go out on your own, take the test, and pray someone takes you in with zero credible experience.

Those are your 4 options.

 

It's easy to understand if you do some research and find out what the schools offer. The insurance companies say the new drivers must have been trained. Once you go to school yes you can expect the company to put you with a trainer to satisfy the requirement of you knowing enough to drive and not kill someone. Did you expect that the CDL schools are going to teach you how to drive? It's not that simple. However, you have choices. You can go to a company paid school or go out on your own and complete a school of your choosing. I think if you read enough postings on this site the drivers that went to schools on their own vs drivers that went to company school you'll find that a school of your choosing is better.

If you pick a school that a company pays for then you'll be contractual obligated to that company for a year or more. If you fail anywhere along the line then the company will want their money repaid for your school after they fire you. If you're out of work they do not care. Besides that, there's plently of postings that tell that the company paid schools are hell because when you go to work the company knows they can give you any load they want and you've got to take it. So who do you think gets all the loads nobody wants?

If you go to a good CDL school then you're obligated to no one except where you got the money to go. But those lenders of cash do not put bad reports in your DAC record that effects your driving career. I know the community colleges have schools that on the majority are good and they are cheaper than most.

If you try to enter the industry without a CDL schooling then you'll be fighting an up hill battle right off the start. So it's smart on your part to do the research to find what's the best training school out there that will benefit you in the long run. If you can live on hardly any pay weekly them maybe a company paid school might be for you. If you're looking to get the best and have goals for a long career in trucking then a private school may be the way to go. It's up to you but it's also responsible for you to check out all avenues and not to just take the easy way.

 

I had a class B CDL for years, I just recently upgraded to an A CDL on my own. Every single place I apply to says I either need 3-6 months OTR, or I need to have recently completed schooling to get a job with them. If I go local it does not help me with finding an OTR job. Most local jobs here are 10% driving and 90% busting your butt unloading building materials. Been there, done that. No point it in tearing your body up for $11 an hour.
Right now I am working on getting my own authority (intrastate) to start. Getting a small single axle tractor and a 3 car hauler. 500 mile insurance restriction, (progressive may let me sign up with no restriction) due to no OTR experience.

After 1 year I will be able to get the insurance restriction lifted, then I can get my interstate authority. Haul cars acrosss country for a year. That will hopefully get me the experience I need to get a job with a good company.


Of course if I can drum up enough business to make good $$ hauling cars, I may just upgrade to a bigger truck and trailer and keep doing what I am doing.

If you have never driven a truck before The school is a good idea. I learned on the job starting out in a little Izuzu cab over, then jumped in a 26k truck, passed my CDL b, moved up to 33K truck, ended up in a 66k boom truck delivering drywall. 7 years with a CDL driving trucks, none of it counts as experience for an OTR job.

If you go on your own, good luck in the job search.

 

thanks for the responses. This is the best site concerning trucking. No i don't have my own truck , hell, i don't even have my permit yet. I've been reading threads on this site and in my research i see go to school and it'll give you a better chance at getting a job but it's contradictory according to this site. What is commonly stated is that you'l need at least a year exp to get on with anything above "bottom feeder companies" so my reason for questioning was just to "question".

One member even said that schooling is just to get your cdl, the real schooling starts when you're with your trainer. It's hard to argue against that when anyone over 21 knows that you learn most of a job by doing it. It may sound like i'm anti-school but i'm not. I just don't wanna waste time especially since i live in a small town and there's not a lot of info on my tech school's cdl training division.

 

A buddy of mine went to school with Millis. I went to a community college. We both have cdl's, But, if i decide to quit and go to another job I wont have pay anything to the company that I work for. If he leaves Millis he will owe them for his school.
So far he is happy and making money so it is not an issue with him. But he owes them just the same. I am happey and making money so its not an issue with me either. but like i said, i dont owe them anything and he does, so theres your difference.
b

 

ok so far i'm understanding that i'll basically be in little to no debt if i go to school as opposed to compnay training, and that is a HUGE factor. im really excited to see more info and how others feel.

 

Depends on if you have the money to pay for the school. If you have to finance the school then yes you will have debt. My understanding is that private school runs about half the cost of company schools.
The other difference is private school you have set monthly payments, if your unhappy with the company you end up driving for you can always switch and continue on with your monthly payments. Job jumping looks bad on your DAC though so watch that.
If you go with a company school and your not happy with them and quit or switch jobs they are likely to ask for debt to paid in full with 1 lump sum payment. if you dont have the money to pay in full, they could hammer your personal credit and your DAC.

 

Being in debt to finance company is far better than being in debt to a company. Besides the inability to determine what you want to do for a YEAR, 365 days. If things are bad, a day can seem like a week, drivers live life 10/11/14 hours at a time.

With the company plan, your fleet manager could be incompetent, no support means less loads, means LESS MONEY! Or they could simply be on a power trip, you speak your mind once and your screwed, for A YEAR! Looking back, even though it is working fine for me there are dozens that it is not, controlling your own destiny is preferable to owing your services or yourself. Having your financial destiny in the hands of people that more than likely you will never see, who ultimately could care less about you or what you think. You don't like it, fine, we have a stream during right behind you to fill your spot. That's an attitude you could find to be a reality.

My company experience has been ok, but from what I have seen, I'm the exception, not the rile. Make a good choice, its one that will follow you.