I have been running a T/T for about 14 years now. Without getting into the madness behind my thought process of going to a school (the post would be way too long) I recently took three weeks out of my schedule and completed the 120hr CDL course at WestWind.
I had heard alot of horror stories about CDL schools in general. Lack of consentration on the students, poor housing, overcrowded class rooms, exspensive tuition, ect. So I did alot of research and decided to go to the little town of Cuba, MO.
This was my experience from start to finish on the school.
I arrived (drove myself) from Indiana to Cuba, Mo on Sunday 11-4-07. When I arrived I was told to call the school and someone would meet me at the corner gas station when I got there and take me over to the housing.
WestWind has 2 newly refurbished houses in town that house the male students, and a condo style house that houses the females. I was rather pleased with the housing. They were clean, nicely kept up, had cable tv in the two living rooms and a full kitchen. The house I stayed in had 6 bedrooms in it, most bedrooms having two beds a piece. I was lucky enough to have a room to myself while staying there, but most of the time you will have a room mate. There were only a few times during my stay that problems ever evolved in the house. And if you are an adult about things, the problems can be solved rather quickly. I bought grocieries while there, and no one ever touched my food without asking. That was a plus. The only issues were from some of the students wanting to be loud after the 10pm quite hours. And once something was said to them, they quited down..
Class will start each morning at 8am central time. WestWind provides transportation from the housing to the school. (also as a side note, if you need to do laundry, shopping, ect someone from school will provide transportation for this also). The first day consisted of completing an application, taking a physical (if you need one) and taking a drug test. My first day there I was let out of class around 12pm, mainly because I already had everything that I needed, so I went back to the housing and pretty much hung out.
The rest of week 1 will consist of learning the CDL manual for your written test. They go over the book numerous times, and ask questions often to make sure that everyone in the class has a grasp on things. For a person that already knows these things. It will be a little boring, but I passed my time by helping out the other students. Each night I would hold a study group to help the students that were having trouble grasping the written portion. You will take the written test on Friday of that week. When taking the test, you can take each written test twice if you fail the first time. If by chance you fail both times on friday, they will take you again on monday to take the ones that you failed.
Week 2 will consist of learning your pre-trip, learning the skills portion, and getting out on the road to drive. This is when class will start getting fun. The pre-trip in Mo consist of 105 items. And trust me, after they "pound" the pretrip in your head, you'll be laying in bed at night reciting all 105 items. The skills portion is not that bad. In Mo you have to learn the 45 alley dock, blind side PP, site side PP, straight pull through, and straight line backing. Not that bad, especially if you pay attention to where they teach you to position you truck. They can teach you to put your truck into every box besides the 45. And they will work with you on all the skill portions until they are confident that you have them down. Starting out on the driving portion will not be bad. The first time they take out out bobtail to teach you to double clutch, and learn the transmission. All of their trucks have 10speeds, so the shift pattern is not that hard. Later on in the week they will take you out with a trailer and get used to turning with a 48ft box on the back of the rig.
Week 3 will be fine tuning your pre-trip, skills, and driving skills.. On Thursday of week 3 you will be going and taking your cdl test. After passing your test on Thursday, Friday you will be doing a final class on log books, trip planning, safety, ect.
All in all my experience was very good. I was unsure what to expect after hearing the horror stories. But I will say that none of the stories I had heard were true with WestWind. They ensure each students safety, and do everything they can to get you to pass your CDL exam. If you fail, it's not because they didn't do their job, some people are just not cut out to drive a 18wheeler.
-Mark Leathers, school president. He will be doing most of the classroom portion, and will also help in any way he can. Mark is a very good guy, and being a retired Mo State Tropper in charge of CMV, he knows the laws, and will help you with any questions.
-Mardy Leathers, Vice-president. Mardy is Marks oldest son. He is in charge of Financial obligations, and the business side of the school. Mardy is a very good guy also. He will also be doing the last day of classroom with you covering the log books, trip planning, ect.
-Pat is the receptionist. Pat will be keeping in contact with your company and getting any info that they need from you. She is there bright and early each morining, and will help with any question you have about your carriers.
-Corey is charge of recruiting. She deals with getting new students in and out of class each week. She is also quite the advid hunter. Opening season for dear was the first weekend I was there, and got herself a beautiful buck opening day.. Oh, and none of they got one.. Good job Corey..
-Cody is Marks youngest son, and helps with classroom teaching, pre-trip learning, and is also the "grunt". Cody is a good guy, and will also be the one transporting you around town when you need to go somewhere. If you need anything at all don't hesitate to ask Cody.
-Rick is the "learning instructor". He will have you on your first week of driving. He teaches you to double clutch, position your truck for the skills portion, and drive with a trailer attached. Rick's very laid back and has a "easy going" style of teaching. He wont get mad, raise his voice or anything. He will also joke with you and what not.. Just remember he does have a job to do, also has responseibilty of the students safety, so just listen to him and you'll get along great with him..
-Earl is the "finishing instructor". Rick will teach you drive, and Earl will teach you perfect your driving abilities. Earl is pretty laid back also. Just remember to listen to him again. He has over 30 years of OTR driving, and knows what he is talking about.
Overall my experience was a very good experience. Class size is normally 10 (or less) to 1 instructor. This allows for more truck time, and more 1on1 time with the instructor. Remember the instructors are good at what they do, and if you are having trouble in a certain area, don't be too proud and ask for help. They will help you if you ask.
Cost for the total school is also very reasonable compared to most schools. I won't quote the cost, but if you are interested, they have a website that will go into detail about costs.
If you are interested in some good food while there, I would recommend going to Frisco's (applebee's type restaurant) Hicks BBQ (great food for price) and Margies Cafe (the biggest hamburger I've had for the price).
If I had to rate the school I would give it a 10/10. The service they provide is well worth the money. Everyone is helpfull, and the overall attitude is great. I will be stopping by every time I get a chance, and would recommend the school to anyone.
If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask questions, I will answere everything I can, if I don't have the answere, I will get it for you.
The schools website address is
www.westwindcdl.com for those interested.
WestWind CDL School Cuba, MO
