I have decided that I my pursue a career in trucking. This brings me to my next question.

Is there any particular STATE that it's better to attend school in?

Is there any particular SCHOOL that is unquestionably above the rest?

I have the option of picking ANY state to learn in and I would like to use that to my advantage. I understand that some companies train their own drivers and I am taking that into consideration as well.

I know that I would like to be an OTR driver; the longer I am on the road the better. I have not determined that one company is best for the though... though I think that eventually I'd like to be an Owner / Operator for Fedex Custom Critical.

Thanks again.

 

In my personal opinion Fox Valley Technical College is above the rest. but my experience is limited.

Check them out.
www.fvtc.edu/truckdriving

 

X2

 

X3

 

Hard to answer. I believe most CDL holders have only attended 1 school so that would be the only school they can speak on.

A large number of CDL holders (like myself) will also boast that the school they attended was the best choice.

A few key questions you may want to ask is:

1.How many hours will you get with your but in that drivers seat?

2.How many hours will you get praticing backing skills?

3.If you fail your CDL test the 1st time what is the procedure for retesting, do you have to pay for extra instruction (per day). The school I attended started charging if you failed after the 2nd attempt (but the guy at the yard was cool and refused to take your money and he would give you at least a 3rd attempt without charging :lol: )

 

Not necessarily. I didn't attend FVTC, but everything I've seen about them tells me they are a great school.

 

I didn't attend FVTC either. Back when I started out there was no such thing as a truck driving school, but when I had my dump truck business I employed a couple of people that were graduates of FVTC.

They were excellent drivers and only had good things to say about the school.

I've also conversed at length with one of the instructors who works there, and was impressed with what I heard.

I haven't seen any of their training trucks doing bonehead maneuvers around here, unlike the "orange turtles" clogging the back roads around Green Bay.

 

I can't comment on others because I only went to one, but you would have to get up early in the morning to top Central Tech in Drumright Ok.

You have 102 hours minimum in the classroom (it's more)
52 hours behind the wheels (it's a LOT more)

You take decent sized road trips the last week, 300 plus miles with decent sized cities (Tulsa Ok) and plenty of both interstate and 2 lane roads.
They have a 5+ miles paved 2 lane closed course you will drive well over 200 miles on just getting used to the truck through stop signs, rail road crossings, truck washes, truck stop style parking, alley docks, fuel islands, and so on before you ever see the road.

Every instructor I interacted with there was professional and damn good at what they did.

You spend 2 days of NOTHING but straight backing a 400 ft course with 12 foot lanes to get the feel for it before you ever go fwd.

You spend 4-5 days doing 90 degree backs on 9 different locations so you can't get used to a landmark to make a turn, you have to learn to back the damn thing, not just repetitive motion.

They test you for the CDL 7 working days before graduation, if you fail, they restest you 2 days prior to graduation. (at no additional cost)

You pull both empty vans on the highway and loaded (65k gross) on the highway and if you are going to pull skateboards, they also have a fleet of them both loaded and empty and teach you load securment.

All in all, I could go on but that's the gist of it. The only downfall is the cost, they aren't cheap but they are PTDI and a damn good school in my opinion.



The only thing I CAN say without a doubt is the quality of instructor is top notch and then some. I was in the Marine Corps for 12 years, towards the end of that I was injured and took a position as an instructor (not the drill instructor type lol). We had to complete college level public speaking courses as well as instructor courses prior to ever stepping foot in front of a student and then had to be evaluated daily for 6 weeks following that before being able to teach alone.

The last 6 months I was in I was an instructor evaluator and because of that, I find myself subconsciously nitpicking EVERYONE I see that speaks in public and normally nitpicking them to death.

Both the instructors I had at Central Tech were excellent instructors, knew the material by heart, knew how to convey in a way that was not mundane or boring making you just want to go to sleep or leave. They were also frequently evaluated by the training director without notice. These guys had their A game on and I would recommend them to anyone.

 

If the "x 2" is still allowed? Then, Central Tech... x 2.

 

It is very good to see that there are some good schools because there sure are enough bad ones. http://fvtc.edu/truckdriving has my vote. i have 1 week to go and have learned alot. would not be as well trained in 4 weeks. i just do not understand how them 4 week schools can stay in business. 4X the money and 1/2 the training. what a waste of $$$$