[merrick4]

I keep hearing that these big companies get paid by the government for every student they put through their training. If it is true than it makes sense why they abuse people and could care less if they have a revolving door in their hiring department.

However, as wreckless as the government is with our tax dollars, I find it highly unbelievable that the government just writes these companies blank checks.

Does anyone know if this is true about the grants and could someone show me something or somewhere it is written. I was bored one day and was going through Swift's SEC filings and didn't see anything in the revenue section about money from the government.

Thanks.

[GMAN]

At one time the government had a program where they would pay employers to train people to work. The length of time they would pay depended on the training period. They basically paid half of the trainee's wages during the training phase. Once through training, the employer would assume all compensation. I have heard that some trucking companies were able to take advantage of this type of program, but have no direct personal knowledge. As far as Swift's government business is concerned, I am not sure they would be required to separate that figure from general revenue dollars.

[greg3564]

I don't know if they get money. But I'm sure they probably get tax breaks. Especially if you were on food stamps, unemployed, etc. Most businesses get some sort of tax break when they hire certain people.

[Sentinel]

Originally Posted by GMAN

At one time the government had a program where they would pay employers to train people to work. The length of time they would pay depended on the training period. They basically paid half of the trainee's wages during the training phase. Once through training, the employer would assume all compensation. I have heard that some trucking companies were able to take advantage of this type of program, but have no direct personal knowledge. As far as Swift's government business is concerned, I am not sure they would be required to separate that figure from general revenue dollars.

In general, blank checks are not written for these training programs. The applicant must apply and meet the requirements for entry. The programs do exist under such names as "Workforce Investment Act of 1998" ( http://www.doleta.gov/regs/statutes/wialaw.txt ) and others. Many states (Texas included) use this as the basis for their grant money to students. Some of these other programs might even provide various other stipends and payments for your other expenses while training. Many trucking companies run their own training programs and take advantage of these grant programs. Texas training opportunities can be found at the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) WEB page http://www.twc.state.tx.us/customers...jsempsub5.html . For example in Texas the following trucking companies participate:

CENTRAL REFRIGERATED TRUCK DRIVING ACADEMY
MESILLA VALLEY TRAINING INSTITUTE
SCHNEIDER TRAINING ACADEMY, INCORPORATED
STEVENS DRIVING ACADEMY OF TEXAS, LIMITED PARTNERSHIP
VALLEY TRUCKING DRIVER TRAINING SCHOOL L.L.C.

The TWC (unemployment bureau who administers the funding for these programs) has a service called "DECIDE, Consumer Reporting System" (http://decide.cdr.state.tx.us/ASP/intro.asp) that is suppose to provide the consumer information regarding performance of these, and other post-secondary, educational institutions to allow consumers to make informed decisions. What's interesting to note is you will not find these institutions listed. It appears that Texas does not force any institution that receives public funds to participate. I find that a disturbing condition!

Is there money to be made by the trucking companies regardless of whether the student graduates and/or whether they are offered a job? So far, in my research I have been unable to find definitive information regarding that. There have been claims that some of these companies might be using their training schools to line their own coffers. If you are a new driver, or driver returning from a hiatus, and applying for a Texas based company, or one with a Texas based school, they might require you to fill out the TWC paperwork before they will even give you a drive test for a position there. Is there something unknown with that? Don't know.

Before you sign on with any company I would recommend that you perform a little research, whether it is a company school or a school used by the company you intend to sign with. Ask them if you will be signing any type of grant paperwork or government mandated paperwork connected with the school. Ask them to send you all of the required paperwork you will be signing, whether at the time of application or when arriving at the school. Some of this paperwork may have implications beyond just a simple contract of indentured servitude to pay the company back for training. It might possibly affect your ability to collect other benefits if you do not complete the school, follow-on OTR training with a company trainer or fail to pay back the loan. The grant money might also have repayment terms if you fail to complete the training and stay employed. Beside that, I'm sure it would not be a good experience to talk "The Dog" (Greyhound) 1000 miles to a training facility just to find out you are going to be presented with more contractual, or otherwise detrimental, paperwork before the company allows you to stay and complete your orientation or training.

[Sentinel]

Originally Posted by merrick4

I keep hearing that these big companies get paid by the government for every student they put through their training. If it is true than it makes sense why they abuse people and could care less if they have a revolving door in their hiring department.

However, as wreckless as the government is with our tax dollars, I find it highly unbelievable that the government just writes these companies blank checks.

Does anyone know if this is true about the grants and could someone show me something or somewhere it is written. I was bored one day and was going through Swift's SEC filings and didn't see anything in the revenue section about money from the government.

Thanks.

Sorry GMAN, I meant to quote merrick4 in my response.


In general, blank checks are not written for these training programs. The applicant must apply and meet the requirements for entry. The programs do exist under such names as "Workforce Investment Act of 1998" ( http://www.doleta.gov/regs/statutes/wialaw.txt ) and others. Many states (Texas included) use this as the basis for their grant money to students. Some of these other programs might even provide various other stipends and payments for your other expenses while training. Many trucking companies run their own training programs and take advantage of these grant programs. Texas training opportunities can be found at the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) WEB page http://www.twc.state.tx.us/customers...jsempsub5.html . For example in Texas the following trucking companies participate:

CENTRAL REFRIGERATED TRUCK DRIVING ACADEMY
MESILLA VALLEY TRAINING INSTITUTE
SCHNEIDER TRAINING ACADEMY, INCORPORATED
STEVENS DRIVING ACADEMY OF TEXAS, LIMITED PARTNERSHIP
VALLEY TRUCKING DRIVER TRAINING SCHOOL L.L.C.

The TWC (unemployment bureau who administers the funding for these programs) has a service called "DECIDE, Consumer Reporting System" (http://decide.cdr.state.tx.us/ASP/intro.asp) that is suppose to provide the consumer information regarding performance of these, and other post-secondary, educational institutions to allow consumers to make informed decisions. What's interesting to note is you will not find these institutions listed. It appears that Texas does not force any institution that receives public funds to participate. I find that a disturbing condition!

Is there money to be made by the trucking companies regardless of whether the student graduates and/or whether they are offered a job? So far, in my research I have been unable to find definitive information regarding that. There have been claims that some of these companies might be using their training schools to line their own coffers. If you are a new driver, or driver returning from a hiatus, and applying for a Texas based company, or one with a Texas based school, they might require you to fill out the TWC paperwork before they will even give you a drive test for a position there. Is there something unknown with that? Don't know.

Before you sign on with any company I would recommend that you perform a little research, whether it is a company school or a school used by the company you intend to sign with. Ask them if you will be signing any type of grant paperwork or government mandated paperwork connected with the school. Ask them to send you all of the required paperwork you will be signing, whether at the time of application or when arriving at the school. Some of this paperwork may have implications beyond just a simple contract of indentured servitude to pay the company back for training. It might possibly affect your ability to collect other benefits if you do not complete the school, follow-on OTR training with a company trainer or fail to pay back the loan. The grant money might also have repayment terms if you fail to complete the training and stay employed. Beside that, I'm sure it would not be a good experience to talk "The Dog" (Greyhound) 1000 miles to a training facility just to find out you are going to be presented with more contractual, or otherwise detrimental, paperwork before the company allows you to stay and complete your orientation or training.

[merrick4]

Yes that makes sense about the Workforce programs. I got my CDL at a local technical school and I was the only one in the class that had to pay because I didn't meet the workforce guidlines.

A friend of mine is now in Covenant and going through the same exact experience that the guy in the other forum has been railing against these last few days. The kid told me that he heard that Covenant got like $7500 for every person that they put throught their training. He actually had his CDL before he was hired. I highly doubted that they get that money.

The really only reason I ask, is I'm only OTR for a couple of months now and while I love being out there driving I am shocked at how abusive this industry is to those just entering the field.

Thank you for your detailed post. I am going to dig further into this and this was a very good start. Thanks again.

[spencerian]

Sure they do!!!

At least CR England does.

In orientation they boast about how tight CRE is with Salt Lake City and Utah. They boast about the amount of pull CRE has, and that CRE gets government funding for EVERY student.

CRE really is the Home of Bottomfeeders.

[cdreid]

Thanks for the post Sentinel. I get tired of hearing the BS and rumors a lot of the more nutjob drivers spout. Course with those people mere facts never stand in the way.

[Sentinel]

Originally Posted by cdreid

Thanks for the post Sentinel. I get tired of hearing the BS and rumors a lot of the more nutjob drivers spout. Course with those people mere facts never stand in the way.

You're most welcome!

Human nature is such that we are all quicker to negatively criticize rather than provide constructive criticism or praise. However, regardless of what is said, whether good or bad, we should take with a grain of salt and verify if possible. Even those that criticize do provide useful input when we are researching career paths in the transportation industry (or any industry for that matter).

For example I have gleaned small bits of information from some of the more radical posters here. These are little tidbits that I could not obtain otherwise. I then perform further research to either prove or disprove it while looking into a company. It has helped me considerably to steer away from significant potential problems.

I will say it would be nice if the Feds stepped in and took a more active role. I truly feel that all transportation companies should be required to lay out their entire employment agendas to prospective new hires prior to them leaving their domiciles for orientations. This should include full background checks and all other pre-employment screening actions. If a person then accepts all these conditions, terms, etc. and is fully pre-screened then there would be considerably less to complain about after the fact.

[GMAN]

Originally Posted by Sentinel

Sorry GMAN, I meant to quote merrick4 in my response.

Not a problem, Sentinel. That is interesting. I think this FREE government money is the main reason some of these carriers continue running their training schools. Carriers used to train drivers for FREE. I suppose there is no need for them to do that if the government is funding the programs. Perhaps we would have a higher caliber of driver if the carriers had to pay for the entire expense themselves. Perhaps one reason there is such a high turnover is because there is such a financial incentive to get people through the door and into one of these training programs. They probably could care less if a driver stayed or not. They will simply grab another individual and put him into their program. It is money in the bank for them. :evil: