[myndsplyntur]

So my husband and I are trying to find out if there are any decent truck / CDL schools that are paid for by the company you plan to drive for. We understand if we went that route there would be a year commitment or so, which is understandable.

My concern is, from reading a few different posts, that company paid CDL training seems to only last two or three weeks.

The actual school we were looking at (Tennessee Technology Center @ Knoxville) is an eight week course - in my opinion, the longer course would be better so you have time to actually absorb and learn.

I know the best training would be on the road, like with any other job, but I would rather feel comfortable before going out on the road as opposed to feeling rushed.

Any suggestions on good company paid training, or is it just best to stick with our initial plan of going to a school?

[dle]

In the end you pay for it in some way or form.

The subject seems to show up quite frequently on the forum, so you could probably do a search and get a large volume threads. I would suggest these search words: paid training, training financing, how to pay.

[NevadaJim]

It seems the line "1 year contract" is used here quite a bit. There is no contract that can force you to work for any company...period. If you decide to go the company training route I suggest you call each company and get a copy of their contract. I have researched quite a few and no two contracts are the same. The bottom line is you will end up paying a certain amount if you leave before a certain time, each is different. Some hit you up for the full amount and others only charge you the remaining balance. Tuition reimbursement amounts are different too. Read each contract before you decide.

There is no such thing as free training! Even if you stuck it out with a training company and they reimbursed you 100% for your training you still paid for it. How? Take a look at what they pay per mile and if they are using HHG mileage. Usually the cpm is low and HHG is used. What you think you're getting for free is essentially coming out of your pocket in lost / low pay. So, you're paying either way. These companies have it all figured out and prey on those that can't afford school or can't get financing.

Most companies also take a certain amount out of your check each week to start paying the school note. What happened to being free? My point exactly. It's not free, it's a training program sponsored by the company so you don't have to pay up front, but definitely not free.

Either way, you will pay with these company training programs. So, try a community college or a decent priced school. I'd rather be paying a school each month than a company.

[flood]

Originally Posted by myndsplyntur

So my husband and I are trying to find out if there are any decent truck / CDL schools that are paid for by the company you plan to drive for. We understand if we went that route there would be a year commitment or so, which is understandable.

My concern is, from reading a few different posts, that company paid CDL training seems to only last two or three weeks.

The actual school we were looking at (Tennessee Technology Center @ Knoxville) is an eight week course - in my opinion, the longer course would be better so you have time to actually absorb and learn.

I know the best training would be on the road, like with any other job, but I would rather feel comfortable before going out on the road as opposed to feeling rushed.

Any suggestions on good company paid training, or is it just best to stick with our initial plan of going to a school?

we went to ttc "nashville" yes it is longer than company schooling but you can go with who YOU want and if things don't work out you can change jobs and not owe anyone anything. IMHO the longer school the better.

the 2-4 week schools only teach you how to pass the cdl test (on this turn go to this point and trun) not how to driver. ttc is longer but when you are done you will understand how to LOOK at a turn (any turn) and understand how to set up for it. it will pay off in making you and much better and safer driver.

ttc will have you do some nite driving, city, highway,and will have you go over monteagle a few times so you will have an understanding of how to do it. none of the company schools (that i know of) do this, the 2-4 week schools think that your finish trainer should do all of this and thay will but it is better IMHO to have a good understanding of how to do it BEFORE you do it with an 80,000 lb load..? ( my first load was 79,820 lb budwiser going over monteagle)

and ttc is alot less money too it's like what $1000..? not the $3,500 plus for company school or the $5,000 plus for the other schools ( if things don't work out you will need to pay it back) btw ttc was 12 weeks when we went and we were in the road truck or the backing truck evey day.

just my nickels worth