i am currently going to get my CDL threw Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington NC..
My suggestion would be to check with your local Community Colleges and see if any of them offer the CDL course, look a little further than the closest community college as well, there are 2 different NC community Colleges that I know of that offer it, one is located in Wilmington NC and the other one in Kinston NC.

if you find a community college that will work for you inside NC, than head to your local unemployment office or inquire at the financial aid department of the college about the WIA Program, they will pay for the course if you qualify for it. I just recently found out about it so i thought i would pass that information on to you.

 

IMO, you are best to get it on your own and not be in debted to anyone, if at all possible. Personally, I found it best to pick the company first and then the school, but that's just me. If you know what companies you are interested in they can point you to the schools they prefer.

As for PTDI, like anything else, it's all a matter of opinion. A few companies, like Crete, do want students from a PTDI school, however, when I spoke to Crete they told me that was not an absolute necessity. They said that they do in fact hire from schools that are not PTDI. May have just been recruiter rhetoric, but that is what I was told. I was also told by a few companies that PTDI cert. didn't mean squat to them. One even went so far to say that PTDI will certify any school that is willing the pay the fee and that they rarely do anything to "check in on them". Again, I don't know this to be fact, but it is what I was told.

Maverick will put you through "their" school which is at ASU, but I thought the commitment was 6 months not 12. I know it used to be 6, but perhaps they upped it? There is a backlog there and there has been for over a year that I know of because there is a limit on how many they will take at one time. This is the only school that they use for "sponsored" training and how many they send at a given time will depend upon how large the class is already. When I was in orientation I saw 4 people headed to ASU. Now say that list is 100 people long and you were at the bottom, even if they took 10 per week you would still be looking at 10 weeks before they got to you.

IMO, it would be well worth the wait because Maverick is as good as any company out there. Of course, I may be a little jaded... :wink:

 

[quote="redsfan"]IMO, you are best to get it on your own and not be in debted to anyone, if at all possible.


Even if he gets it on his own he will be in debt to someone, unless WIA or some other state agency pays for it.

 

"Why have they received the stamp of approval from the PTDI" Because they paid money to PTDI to be certified. BOL

 

[quote="NevadaJim"]Or, if he saves up the money and paid for it himself like he listed as one of the things he was thinking of doing. Then he would be indebted to no one. Personally, if I were going to have to get financing for it, I would do it on my own rather than owe a trucking company.