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I'm ready to start school and have a few questions:
Ohhh I respectfully beg to differ.... You are NOT ready to start school as you do not seem to have any job prospects and or job offers from people who actually hire drivers. You can call almost all of the larger carriers who do the majority of the hiring and training of new drivers. Go to the electronic apps, start filling them out, get ready for a lot of calls and HAVE YOUR LIST OF QUESTIONS READY FOR THEM! You should also have about a month or even TWO worth of money saved up for the entire training process and have cut your debt to a minimum! I'm ready to start school and have a few questions:
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Why are Community College CDL -A Classes 6 weeks and Company Paid Programs/Schools only 4 weeks? Example, Covenant, Stevens, Swift, USA Truck and a few local companies have Company Sponsored Schooling here where I live that last about a month and they actually send you to the same Community College where it takes 6 weeks if you enroll by yourself and fund the school yourself? Does anyone know the answer?
Easy! The community colleges have instructors that are paid by the state and they honestly do not care how long you drive around in their ranges and such. Most people who want to get paid want to get their licenses and get out on the road where they can at least start to make their money back and get their career started. The deep dark secret is that the first few weeks of all these schools is so close to exactly the same that it’s just silly to pretend otherwise. Lots of practice driving around is great and would be great for everyone if they could all take months off to simply drive around in parking lots and ranges. The fact is that no matter how long you train, the second you hit the real world in a real truck in real conditions, you are going to be a nervous wreck and a tad bit lost! Why are Community College CDL -A Classes 6 weeks and Company Paid Programs/Schools only 4 weeks? Example, Covenant, Stevens, Swift, USA Truck and a few local companies have Company Sponsored Schooling here where I live that last about a month and they actually send you to the same Community College where it takes 6 weeks if you enroll by yourself and fund the school yourself? Does anyone know the answer?
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2) If I choose to enroll and pay for my own school so I'm not "tied" via a contract to a company for 1-2 years, will I have a good chance of getting recruited by a company after graduation? The School "claims a 98% job placement rate"?
Everyone should go out and get financed and pay for their own schooling and or get grants whenever or however they do that. What has always driven me up a tree is that people for some odd reason want “free” training from carriers yet magically think its draconian and evil when the carriers then demand something (like staying with them for a period of time) or having to pay for the training that they received if they do not. 2) If I choose to enroll and pay for my own school so I'm not "tied" via a contract to a company for 1-2 years, will I have a good chance of getting recruited by a company after graduation? The School "claims a 98% job placement rate"?
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3) Should I choose to go to and pay for my own schooling, should I make sure that it's PTDI Certified?
Here is what I referred too first. GET OFF the idea of just searching for some school and hoping that it’s this or that. Call companies that you’d like to work for FIRST and cut out the chance. ALL of these carriers have training departments full of people who can answer your exact questions on who’s training that they will accept to hire you. The schools do not! They want to put you in a class.. the carriers want to put you to work. The PTDI cert has become rather laughable and there are schools out there that do not have it but are completely acceptable and even preferable to the carriers who have vetted them and sometimes even sponsor some of them.
3) Should I choose to go to and pay for my own schooling, should I make sure that it's PTDI Certified?
Here is what I referred too first. GET OFF the idea of just searching for some school and hoping that it’s this or that. Call companies that you’d like to work for FIRST and cut out the chance. ALL of these carriers have training departments full of people who can answer your exact questions on who’s training that they will accept to hire you. The schools do not! They want to put you in a class.. the carriers want to put you to work. The PTDI cert has become rather laughable and there are schools out there that do not have it but are completely acceptable and even preferable to the carriers who have vetted them and sometimes even sponsor some of them.