I was on the other forum

What other forum?

 

Good morning,

i’m hoping I will be going to Sage down in Fort Pierce. They offer one-on-one training. If you check out my thread, you’ll see, I have posted numbers including the cost and companies hiring out of Florida. I hope this helps.

 

My trucking journey

this is my thread. If you have any questions, just send me a PM or post on the thread and I will do my best to answer questions.

 

The owner of "that other forum" gets a headhunter fee for recruiting for mega carrier cdl schools.
Ignore him.
Community college cdl schools are probably the best. Some people just can't get the funds to attend one and choose trucking company in-house cdl training
WIOA Program will pay for community college or private cdl schools. Have to jump through the hoops to get the paperwork done though.
Where is your location; state & nearest city/town? Let us know so we can assist you in finding a good trucking company to get this new career off to a good start.
Some companies will reimburse cdl school tuition back to you, usually in monthly installments. That's not as important as finding a good company to start with as your first trucking job.

 

My company hires regularly from Lone Star College in Spring Texas.Drivers completing that course are good when they start working.

 

I was lucky enough to have VA benefits to use on a local three week school, but I can see where that could be tough if you have to come up with the cash yourself.

In addition to the companies coming in to recruit, they also prepared us to get tank/doubles/hazmat, it was 10 speed manuals and they set up all the testing directly with the state. The only one I've used so far is hazmat a handful of times, but I'm soon going to be looking for a local job and it's good to already have the endorsements to maximize options. Also no "indentured servitude" if you're absolutely miserable at a company and stuck in a contract.

All that said, many in here have had good experiences going with the company CDL training route. Everybody's situation is different. It's good you're doing the homework ahead of time in any case.

 

Pick an employer BEFORE you decide about CDL school. Why do people ask third parties (us) to explain what someone else said? Go ask the "other forum" why they despise community college CDL schools. They made the claim. Mind reading is not very accurate, especially about other people.

In my opinion, the people that think the only way to ge a CDL and a job is to sign a company specific contract for CDL school in exchange for a job are destined to fail since they refuse to even look at the various ways to get a CDL. I suppose spending a few hours to increase their prospects is just too much work. Maybe CR England can open up a drive-thru so the "free" CDL types can sign the contract, quit, and be bankrupt in one afternoon.

Money for CDL Training

 

Some community college CDL courses are just a community college hiring a for-profit CDL school to set up a location at the community college. In some cases, Sage did this in several areas, the for-profit school is getting their costs & profit plus the community college is getting their costs plus profit. Community college courses also often take months to learn the same info as the for-profit school. Sometimes CC CDL schools have a long waiting list to start training while the for-profit schols have a new class starting every Monday. In some cases CC makes sense in other cases it's not the right solution. Think for yourself, only you have your circumstance and your bank account and your goals.The rest of us have different circumstances and goals.

 

80-90% of mega new-hires quit the industry before working 1 year. The majority of CR England and Werner drivers have less than 180 days of experience. Megas have thousands and thousands of drivers quitting every year. That's a pretty powerful "review" in my opinion. Granted the mega and the students rushing into the industry are each contributing to the failure to convert a civilian into a truck driver.

 

Find the first employer that offers what you need before you pick a CDL school. CDL school is too short and they have no interest in getting their students to The Right company, just A Company so their success rate stays high. Half of the companies hiring newbies offer Tuition Reimbursement. In those cases you aren't really even paying for CDL school, just passing through the TR from company to school.