Hey everyone I havent seen much on this site or any other message boards about North American Trade Schools(NATS) in Baltimore. I went down there the other day for a visit to check things out and here were my findings.

Upon arrival, I checked in and was greeted by clint within 5 minutes of arrival, he welcomed me to NATS and promptly gave me a course catalog, with policies of the school and course descriptions.

Admissions Rep Clint was very cordial and friendly was genuinely interested in answering any questions I had.

You will watch a short video on what NATS offers as far as courses. They off diesel technician program and cdl program as well a couple other courses.

You have to take a test to get in. Its not that hard and its just math and basic english and reading skills. Nothing too Terrible, I finished 45 out of 50 questions in the 12 minute time limit and passed.

Once the test is done you will meet up with your rep and he will ask you wether or not you have any more questions. Then you will have a short interview about yourself (kids, dependents, work schedule, criminal history etc)
After the interview they will fill out the necessary paperwork, and let you review everything and tell you the program costs and startup fees. Tuition for the school is 4300. Fees-25 registration fee, $75 enrollment fee, books and supplies $99.75. Since I already had my DOT and my permit the only thing to save me a spot in the upcoming class in february was $25. ( They didnt try to make me pay the extra fees and stuff like allstate would make you do even if you have the DOT and the permit) (if you dont have class a permit and dot card you will have an extra 168( I did put 25 bucks down to reserve a spot)

Then I visited financial aid and talked with Lee. Lee was nice and straight and to the point, NO BS. Basically told me that I made too much money last year to qualify for any grants so the only thing I would be able to do is put 2500 on student loans, and pay the other in monthly installments of 333 a month. He gave me a bunch of fianancial aid forms and he highlighted everything that needs to be filled out and told me to give him a call to schedule an appointment to come back with the completed forms.

Then I spoke to Felicia, another admissions rep, who didnt pressure me in to signing an enrollment agreement that day. I had time to think it over. I liked the "no pressure atmosphere" that was at NATS. Felicia and Clint thanked me for coming in to talk with them and see their facility.

Ok a couple Quick stats on NATS

completion rate is 89%

No pressure in enrolling the same day.

Course is 10 Weeks long 320 hours
They have 3 yard tractors and 3 road tractors, and 6 trailers (3 45' and 3 48')

Average class size is 15 The next class only has 2 people in it so far me and a woman. Max ratio is 4 to 1 on the road and in the yard is 10 to 1.

Course is divided into 4 segments the first 2 are a combination of classroom and range and the last 2 are a combination of road and range.


They are approved by the MD higher education commission and members of BBB ATA. Also they are an approved offsite test admistration center for the MD MVA.

Classes start monthly they only start 1 class per month.

Sorry for writing a novel guys but wanted to give some people out there some insight on NATS. What do you think of this? Would I be better off going to school at NATS on my own or go to a company sponsored training?

I went to a trade school as well and the cost was about 3000 or less. In GA we have a thing called HOPE and they payed my whole tution. The only thing that i had to pay for was crimnal background check and for books. You should look to see if your state have something similar to this. I think that its is better to pay for your own school so you are not oblige to sign a contract with a company to stay for a year. Good luck and God bless

You should have went to All-State. A new driver is going to need more than 10wks of school to properly train them to drive a rig. NAT is nothing but a fly by night course. I'm not saying that you"ll be a lousy driver but I've seen the results of NAT grads and they weren't too impressive. GOOD LUCK in whatever you decide to do and STAY SAFE!!!

You addressed '10 weeks', but not the number of hours (320 in this case). In your opinion, what would be a good length of education prior?

A good amount of hours would be around 480. That equals 200hrs. of class time and 280hrs of range and driving time.

Is that a seat of the pants estimate, or do you have something to back that up? Also, how would you split the 280 hours? What would you cover in class? I had around 60 hrs of classroom, and without talking about specific kinds of work (OTR vs LTL vs dumps vs etc...) what would you be covering?

(I know this may come across as snippy or as a method to show that you are an idiot, but I'm curious. I also think the training may be insufficient, but I don't have enough experience to know what I don't know.)

hey guys im still around, been trying to save some bank for school. I didnt go to NATS. I am looking at both of them (allstate and NATS)again. Allstates classes will work with my current work schedule, and I can still make a paycheck and go to cdl school which i have wanted to do for a while. I wont be over working myself either as allstate is only 20 hours a week.

i'll let ya know what happens

Hey everyone:

check out my truckingschool blog at http://bigmiketruckschoolandjob.blogspot.com/

i'll be posting there quite frequently through out my schooling at north american trade schools. I'll take the camera with me when I go to the range and take pictures for you guys

Thanks for the detailed description bigpapa7272. Just talked to a friend of mine a couple of days ago who is thinking about attending trade school. He is not yet sure which to choose but Baltimore is definitely on his list. I'll forward your post to him! I bet this helps him a lot! :thumbsup:

No updates since August 23rd.
Anyone heard from this guy?