Stevens Vs Self Paid CDL through Lone Star

A CDL is a CDL. No one will ask you what school you graduated from after you are hired. It's not like the arguement, "Is Yale better or Harvard?"
That being said, and in the spirit of full disclosure, I work for Stevens.
I drove, and now I work inside in operations.
It has always been my opinion that you are better off to get your license independently for several reasons.
An independent school will usually include getting all your endorsements.
Stevens does not.
If you pay for and get your license independently you are not tied to the company. It doesn't matter what company, you are tied for a certain period, and while you can leave, you will owe a lot of money for that license. The system in ALL of the companies is bent toward your having to work at least a year before it becomes financially feasible to leave.
The school cost at Stevens is much higher than with an independent school. After a year, or whatever the minimum period of time, it will be just about the same. But for that year or better, you are an indentured servant for all intents and purposes.
Now if you like Stevens, it won't matter. But if you don't, you will feel trapped and bitter. There are a lot of people that don't stay around for various reasons. One, and must be considered very carefully is whether you will like trucking. The most common reason for new drivers leaving this business is they just don't like it. For various reasons. It's not for everybody.
With an independent license you can pick up and go to another company very easily.
As for reimbursement, Stevens will pay you $25 per week for reimbursement to a maximum of (I think) $3,500.
As for all the information above, you can pretty much insert any company name instead of Stevens and it will fit.
I can't speak for Lone Star, but I'm sure they offer a full CDL Class A. The question to ask is if they guarantee your getting a license and which endorsements they'll include.
The guarantees I know about simply say you can continue going to school there until you finally pass.
I had one student that spent 5 months in CDL school (for a course that normally took 5 weeks) before he passed. I have to say, he was one of my BEST students because he wouldn't give up. He was slow, but when he got it, he GOT it.
He's still driving, has a perfect driving record and very happy.
It just goes to show...you never know!

 

It is not entirely true that it doesn't matter what school you attended, to most carriers it does!

Usually all they care about in a school is:

1) Is the school accredited
2) How many hours was the course (350 hours is about normal)

U.S. Title 49 makes no provisions or requirements for formal training at all. In fact you could o down to your local DMV ask for a free book and just study it yourself. Then pay the fees to DMV take the written test and receive your CDL permit. Only draw back is you will need a truck in order to take the road test in order to receive the CDL and like I said most companies won't hire you unless you attended a school.

Something to think about:

If you attend school at a trucking company your stuck there for the term of the contract and your paid what they say your paid. You also lose the tax credits for attending school and all the expenses, the carrier receives them instead.

If you attend school at a trucking driving school you don't have to agree to any contract and most carriers offer tuition reimbursement up to $10,000. While in school you may find you are interested in driving another type of truck all together like flatbed, van, refer, tank, house hold, car carrier, container, etc... Plus you can claim the school tuition, your books, pens, paper, lap top purchase, printer purchase, ink, internet connection, housing, meals, cost of medical exam, and even you travel time to & from the school on your taxes. With many carriers you even start at a higher CPM than students coming out of their own school.

 

Starting pay at Stevens is the same whether you come out of their school or come with a CDL.
CDL is right, that you need to attend an accredited school with a minimum of hours for most carriers. This is an insurance company driven requirement. But the original post was comparing Lone Star with Stevens school. Lone Star is accredited.
Any expense you go thru for attaining your CDL will be tax deductable. You don't give that up.

 

Hello The Tech-1,

I am also looking into getting my CDL in the Houston area. I was going to originally study for the written exam and then "rent a truck" to get ready for the driving test. I am now considering taking a short course.

I've been researching a bit and ran across your post. I like the fact that Stevens is a three week course but I don't really want to be tied down to a company for a year :-/

I'm curious to know if you've looked into other schools/programs in the Houston area and the pros/cons of each.

Sorry for jumping on this thread but since I am a new user, the forum would not let me send you a direct message.

I would appreciate any help.

Thanks

 

"Most carriers " means a handful of low paying starter carriers . There are hundreds of carriers including private fleets where all that matters is you have a CDL .

 

If Lone Star will pay go that route! Trust me been there done that and got the t shirt you will starve to death at Stevens. I was a company driver and in their Alliance Lease Program. They do great training, got top of the line trucks but 0 pay and extra ########!

 

Little known fact, you can go to school at Stevens, sign a one year contract and NOT have a $7k bill to pay and NO weekly deductions. They offer if in some regions to boost recruiting but nothing that says the cost of the school or terms is non-negotiable.

I signed a one year contract, will only have deductions for the cost of my hotel, and weekly stipend during training.

 

I live in Ft Worth, TX where the Barnett Shale is "booming". I had been told by alot of people that if I had a CDL, I could get a job driving a water r sand truck without schooling. All they required was the CDL.

I got my CDL on my own without going to school. Took the test on my own and rented the truck for the driving test.

Then when I started looking for all of these jobs, I never found one company that would hire me without the schooling or 2 years experience.

As far as I am concerned, "most carriers" means just that, most! If there are "hundreds of carriers" that only require a CDL without requiring you to go through a school, I never found them. Im sure that there are a handful out there though.