Phoenix, Az area Truck Driver training.....

I have read through a few pages of posts here and haven't seen any posts that give information regarding truck driver training schools in the Phoenix, Az area. Having attended truck driver training school recently, and having gotten my CDL A with HazMat and Tanker endorsements, I think I can contribute some info to a thread for wannabes in this area. In the Phoenix area, Southwest Truck Driver Training School, Swift Transportation Inc., and American Institute of Training are three of the ones that are prominently mentioned. There are also others that offer truck driver training. I attended Southwest Truck Driver Training in Phoenix. Glendale Community College also has a program in Glendale. Each program costs different amounts and varies in length of time to complete. How much time it takes to complete depends on your desire, your abilities and your experience. The program at AIT takes 3 months to complete because they go into much more depth. The Southwest program can be completed in one month if you attend the daytime program versus their weekend or nights program. The costs range from about $3000 at Glendale community to over $6000 at AIT. There is also a program available through WorkForce Connection that gets your program paid for in advance through a Pell Grant. The price then ranges from free to anywhere in between to $6000. For individuals who have good driving experience and abilities, the expedited class at Southwest Truck Driver Training is excellent. The staff is very knowledgeable and experienced. And they have the ability to pass that info on to the students who apply themselves. I passed the road test, 7 step airbrake test, pretrip inspection test, parallel parking, serpentine backing, 45 docking test, 100 ft straightline pullup/backup test, the CDL general knowledge test, tanker written test and the HazMat written test the first time. For those who want more indepth and class room time the AIT program may be more to their liking. They cover other subjects like finance and expense. A friend of mine that attended that school took the night course and took the full three months to finish it. I finished up at Southwest Truck Driver Training in one month. We both ended up with the same CDL A license.

 

Hi Larry. When I attended Southwest I had no actual experience driving an 18 wheeler. I suppose it is possible to get through the CDL without going to a truck driver training school. But, from everything I looked at, once you get your CDL, you probably couldn't get hired anywhere. I had experience driving other trucks, tractors, grading equipment, paving rollers, etc. But no over-the-road driving experience in large rigs. I drove truck for UPS years ago as a delivery driver for a brief time. I had a chauffeur's license back in the 60's. The course at Southwest cost me $3995. I could have gotten it paid for by going through one of those Govt. sponsored training programs. I just don't like giving the Govt. my personal details just to get the money. The course was ok for me because I got time behind the wheel with a trainer over-the-road before I took the driving test. And, they have a yard set up to teach you how to do the 90 degree back, the serpentine back, the straight back and the parallel park back. So, for me it worked. Others may need more less time and attention to certain details. You really need to find out from the school in certain exactly what they will teach you, and how much time they spend on the specific activities. A friend of mine attended driving school with Swift driver training school. They spent a lot of time in the classroom. He told me personally that he wasn't prepared properly for the backing exercises and he failed their test the first time around. So, it isn't a given or a guarantee that going to any particular training school is going to set you up for success as a driver. The training course should be arranged to meet your personal driving experience background to prepare you for passing the CDL test. I see young guys and women driving OTR who will not change/check anything on their rigs. They insist that the company fix/do it all. That's not the real world. If you get out of the corridors like I5, I17, I80, I15, I40 etc, there may not be repair shops to fix everything and change your wiper blades for you. That's my take on it anyway.