Amarillo College Truck Driving Academy

Hello everyone! Thanks for having me on the boards.

A bit of background information about myself before I move on. I'm a 30 year old resident of San Diego, CA looking for a new career change. I was previously a defense contractor for the US Navy until the defense cuts kicked in and I'm sure you know the rest of the story. This happened back in May of 2010. Since then, I have been (unsuccessfully) been looking for an office job and I'm virtually stalled out. I'm tired of sending resumes for no responses in return. So, I decided on a career change and have been investing myself on the prospect of becoming a driver. I understand the commitment of being one (fortunately I'm single) and I do enjoy driving, as my Jeep can attest to that for traveling to my off-road excursions.

Now some questions: is anyone familiar with or has any information regarding Amarillo College Truck Driving Academy located in Amarillo, TX? Should there be any concerns of going to a community college where the academy is hosted? Any differences from a community college to a stand alone truck driving only school?

My reasons of wanting to attend this school is primarily price (just shy of $3000), but also 200 total hours of 5 courses over 5 weeks which can also include hazmat. The courses are divided up as so: Defensive Driving - Professional Truck Operator (16 hours), Commercial Drivers License Written Skills (48 hours), Commercial Drivers License Driving Skills (48 hours), Advanced Driving Skills I and II (40 hours for I and 48 hours for II). From what I have gathered so far, on paper for price to hours of training, this is one of the better schools I have come across. My only problem is lack of reviews regarding the academy that I can't seem to find anywhere on the internet. And, unfortunately because of my distant location, I am unable to speak to any of the attendees to get their honest opinion and expectations. I also have relatives living in Pampa, TX and I was planning to live with them as I attended the academy. Of course, I have discussed my plans with them already and they are completely fine with it, and understand my situation.

If I wish to attend a truck school here in CA, my quoted prices have been anywhere from $6000 to as high as $8000 for 150 to 186 hours. Not only do I not have that kind of money, but the reviews for the schools around southern California have mostly been negative. Also compounded to the negativity of the schools is virtually every representative I have spoken to seemed more interested in getting my money or getting off the phone with me as quickly as possible, giving direct answers rather than going off into detail about the courses and school.

The representative at the Amarillo Academy, however, was very nice, went into extreme details of what is involved, what I will be learning, and even assisted in calculating my overall cost and living expenses for 5 weeks! So obviously I'm already feeling a positive vibe coming from the school already, but is this the right course of action? Am I putting myself into a hole or considerable risk?

Opinions and thoughts strongly welcomed, and thanks in advance!

 

Guess this is a very under the radar school then, or very few have heard about it.

 

Unfortunate to hear your experiences with the school nck_sht.

I'm currently attending the school right now and I have to say I'm pleased with what we have learned so far, at least as far as concerning driving paperwork (defensive driving, doubles/triples, general knowledge, etc.) Next week we'll get hands on with the trucks. For my class, 16 total enrollment and four have already dropped out, and since there was supposed to be 4 students for every driving instructor, that number has now dropped to 3, but we'll see next week.

Perhaps there are far more enrollments for the summer portion, as we are the only class currently.

As far as the condition of the actual trucks, they are worn, stripped of unnecessary equipment (CB, Qualcomm, etc.) but overall they look functional, and get the point across. I wasn't expecting to be driving brand new Kenworth T700s, but we aren't driving 1970 Mack trucks either. They are early-mid 2000s Freightliners.