ATDS: Student Experience

After much research here and elsewhere, and living in East Texas, I decided to enroll at ATDS in Elm Mott(Waco), TX. Most of the information I had found on them was nearly 10 years old, so I am posting a review of my personal experience at this CDL school for others in the area that may be interested. I am going to attempt to keep this as objective as possible, whether good or bad. ATDS has been around since 1980, and currently has 3 locations in central/east Texas. The program is 210 hours(4 weeks, M-F 7-5. They have a weekend program but I'm not familiar with the details), a self claimed 100% DPS CDL test pass rate(more on that later) and 96+% job placement rate(more on that later as well). The current cost is $4995 plus any lodging/dps/dot fees incurred at an individual's expense.

Before enrollment, communication was spotty between the admissions director and myself. I have to take at least half the blame on this as my previous work schedule did not allow much phone contact during regular business hours. We played an extended game of phone tag with intermittent messages relayed between her assistant. Response to emails was nearly nonexistent.

Day 1: Started on Tuesday due to Labor Day. Showed up at 645 am as instructed and ended up waiting until 830 for the rest of class to show before getting started. Frustrating considering there are only 5 guys in the class(myself included). Our instructor, Larry, seems to be a pretty knowledgeable guy with a good attitude, though a bit disorganized. Most of the day was spent doing paperwork and watching safety videos, Also had Dr on site to do DOT physical for those that needed it. On a side note, for those that may be looking at completing a college degree in the future, ATDS is sponsored by McClennan Community College and completion of the course counts as 2 college courses(9 semester hours, electives I assume)School Director, Gary, filled in for Larry towards the end of the day. Gary has been with them since the 80's and is a trip! Extremely knowledgeable guy and has a story to give a reference point for any and everything he went over. They had a 10 speed manual in the classroom with side cut out and he showed us the ins and outs of how everything worked. Was pretty cool to actually see it in motion. Went over sections to study to get CLP. Given the next couple days, I would HIGHLY recommend that any prospective students get their CLP before beginning the course. Checked into hotel. They have rates set up with Holiday Inn, Days Inn, and Motel 6 depending on if student with presigned company or self pay, at least that's what I was told before arriving...More on that later.

Day 2: Fortunately, everyone that showed up did so in time. One guy didn't show, kinda strange for 2nd day. His loss. More videos and some paper quizzes. Broke for lunch then went to DPS. Took a number, waited for an hour and a half, then was told they couldn't process because school did not send over copy of DOT medical card. Called office and they agreed to fax them over. Got another number, waited another hour, then DPS employee announced their payment system was down and they could not process anything. We decided to not wait around any longer and headed back to school. More time wasted. Back to class and rode in back of tractor(sleeper gutted and 4 seats placed back there) while one guy who had his CLP drove with instructor in passenger seat.

Day 3: More videos, tests, went over pretrip, and did a ride along. Broke for lunch then back to DPS. Waited 2 1\2 hours to get called up. Sat down to take tests. Passed TX Special Requirements and General Knowledge, but missed one too many on Combination Vehicles. Wording of questions threw me off. I was too focused on the tractor trailer aspect and neglected studying straight truck, buses, etc.

Day 4: More videos, tests, went over paper logs and we each did 5 days worth of logs from specified trip dates/times/locations. Broke for lunch. I didn't feel like waiting through afternoon DPS lines so skipped eating and went straight to DPS. Fortunately it was a good move. Got a parking spot right up front, and didn't have to wait at all to take Combination Vehicles and Air Brakes test. Passed with flying colors and got my CLP with time to eat before heading back to class. Had office make a copy of CLP and they scheduled 2 days for testing periods(10/1 and 10/3). More on logs and pretrip and they let us go a little early for the weekend.

That's where we're at so far. Will update this coming week as I get the chance. Now on to the side notes.

100% pass rate: Some students from previous classes are still practicing their driving/backing/parallel parking. They have a couple instructors dedicated specifically to helping students that fail the DPS tests get to where they need to be in order to pass. They do not charge any more for this extra service. The instructors seem to care about the students passing, though it may just be to protect their record and/or keep the college sponsors happy/money flowing in. Haven't really been here long enough or have the inside information to tell for sure.

96+% job placement rate: Instructor asked on Day 1 what company we are going with. 3 guys in class are already locked in, and 2 of us(myself included) are 'free agents'. Office asked what companies were looking at when filling out paperwork. I got a raised eyebrow when I told her my top 5, almost a "We're gonna have problems with this one" look. Another instructor asked me the same and shook his head when I told him. They may not like it, but I'm ok NOT having a job right away if it means getting on with a better company. They haven't pushed any company yet, but have said Schneider and Werner recruiters will be coming to speak with us. No thanks. They definitely have propaganda from both companies everywhere in the classroom along with PTL.

Hotel lodging: This is my only real complaint so far. When I first contacted ATDS, I was told that the group rate was set up for $705 for the 4 weeks of class. Thought that was pretty good even for a cheap hotel so I said cool and didn't think any more of it. Checked into hotel after first day of class with no issues. Gave front desk my ID and told them I was with ATDS and that was it, or so I thought. Got a call from hotel manager on Day 4, Friday, around 2pm, asking me when I was planning on paying for the room. I told her I assumed it was being handled through the school since they didn't ask for a credit card. Manager told me no, I was responsible to deal directly with them. Ok no problem I said, I will swing by the front desk when I get out of class today. When I got there she asked me if I wanted to pay by day, week, or for whole month. I asked what the group rate was for and she said $395/week was the discount set up with the school. Hold up what!?! That's $1580 for the month, over double what I was quoted!!! Told her I only needed it for 4 nights/week as I would be going home for the weekends. She said they "renegotiated" their rates and it could be $74.99/night. I did the math and politely informed her I would be checking out and finding my own lodging. She gave me my bill for $299 and change. I said hold up I only stayed 3 nights. Told me that since I missed checkout time they had to charge me for 4th night. How convenient they didn't inform me of any of this until after checkout time. Debating on whether to contact their corporate office or contest the charge with my bank. I found a room at the same hotel chain only ten miles further away from school for $48/night and booked for my remaining stay. I suppose this should be an early trucking lesson for me. Don't trust anything they say. Get it in writing!

 

Yup lesson learned. Trying to look on bright side. At least it was only 3/4 days instead of finding out at end of month and being stuck with entire bill. Told hotel I'd stay with them if they'd match their sister hotels price, but I guess they didn't want/need my business that bad because they said not a chance. Oh well. I'll gladly drive an extra 10 minutes to save $27/day.

 

Day 5: Started the day with an open book test over regulations. Larry says they just want to know that we know how to look things up in the little green book. Followed that up with our written final exam of 101 mainly multiple choice questions. Did pre trip inspection and finally got out on the road after lunch. 4 students took turns driving with instructor in passenger seat. Each of us got about an hour drive time in. This non synchronized transmission is definitely going to take some getting used to!

 

Yes, 4 week school M-F. Weekend class available but I'm sure that one would be at least 8-10 weeks.

 

Will do! There are definitely good and bad schools out there. ATDS is PTDI certified(though apparently this doesn't mean as much as it used to) and partners with Workforce solutions. They also seem to get a lot of guys sent there from Schneider, Werner, and Halliburton.

The main reason I chose them is that they were one of the only schools in my area that was on my too company's approved student hiring list. With anything, however, you only get out what you put in. As I'm paying for this out of pocket, I'm doing everything I can to get as much out of it as possible. I realized the first week that while these guys may be great drivers, that doesn't necessarily mean they're all great teachers. I had a situation where one of the instructors asked me to lower the landing gear on a flatbed so we could uncouple it to take the tractor to the shop. I lowered it in high til one of the legs touched the ground, then he told me to pull the handle out and turn 15 More times. Ok done. They ground wasn't level and since he watched me lower it I thought he had seen that(he was 3 feet from me). Well when they pulled the tractor out, surprise the trailer settled...loudly. He looks back at me and asks why I didn't lower it all the way. I told him I did but the ground wasn't level there. He says oh ok and turns to walk away. It was up to me to take the initiative to ask what I should do in order to avoid that situation in the future.

Little things like that aren't a big deal as long as a student is aware enough to ask the right questions when they need to. The instructors are very helpful when approached with a sincere desire to learn. Please don't let this example deter any potential student out there. I've read stories on here of schools pulling straight up criminal things over on their students. So far, my overall experience has been very positive and I've learned a lot in the last week!

 

Day 6: Started out great! We took turns doing brake tests, then did straight line backing for awhile. Everyone took a turn uncoupling a trailer, taking a lap around the yard, then recoupling the trailer, then we did more straight line backing before breaking for lunch. After lunch, we all took another turn uncoupling/recoupling trailer, then went out for road drive. My day took a bit of a turn south here. We were in a different truck with a different instructor from yesterday. I did ok yesterday but today I couldn't seem to get the thing to shift right, and instructor had almost a drill sergeant mentality that was not helpful for myself and another guy who was struggling a bit. Once we got back to the yard he tells us that the tractor we were in had a smaller motor than any other they have and you have to shift it quicker than the one we were in yesterday. Wish he had told us that when we were driving! Ugh oh well moving on. Instructor had us watch a video on shifting then sat us each down in a tractor with engine off and went through double clutching from 1-5 and back down for last 30 minutes of the day.

 

Day 7: Today went WAY better than yesterday. Started out doing pre trip inspection outside truck, then took turns doing air brake test followed by straight line backing. We then had Mike, the backing instructor, come over and show us offset backing. This guy is a riot! Looks and sounds like Larry the Cable Guy and explained the offset backing so simply that almost everyone got it the first try. We started forward, then offset backed to drivers side, pulled forward, then offset backed to passenger side. After everyone did that, Larry took us for a road drive in the old Freightliner. He said it's more forgiving than the new ones because the big Cat engine takes longer to lose RPM's which gives you a little more time to complete the shift. He was right and it was a breeze to drive. Each of us got about 30 minutes behind the wheel before heading back to the yard and breaking for lunch.

After lunch we each went through the air brake test again then went for another road drive. This time we took the tractor we used yesterday that myself and another guy were having some trouble shifting. I did some research on here last night and found a post where someone mentioned using the snaps from the Adam's Family theme song to time your shifts. It sounds a little silly but if I find it again i am going to thank them because it worked perfectly! Instructor had other guy who was struggling yesterday keep to the service roads, but when I hopped in had me get out on I-35 and head into Waco. Yikes! I got about 45 minutes of drive time in through more heavily congested traffic and tighter spaces than before, but I think I did pretty well overall. Also have to give major credit to the instructor. He adjusted his coaching style from previous day and it was much more effective for me which was greatly appreciated. I don't mind being corrected when I do something wrong but I don't react well to yelling in my ear from a couple feet away. Just tell me what I did wrong, why it was wrong, and what to do next time and we're good. Everyone got their turn and we headed back to the yard.

On a side note, I asked instructor when we would be covering endorsements, to which he responded that I don't need to worry about those until I actually get my CDL. That seems to contradict what people have been saying on here so I accepted that I'm on my own if I want to get them and read through the chapters for doubles/triples, tankers, and haz mat. Also went through some practice tests online and going to try to hit the DPS office on a lunch break when I can.