So You Wanna Drive A Truck?

Just a quick note to say Howdy to all of you wannabe truckers! I was once in your shoes, not sure if I wanted to drive a truck for a living. I had plenty of questions and no one to talk with about it. I called around to truck driving schools, spoke to truckers at truck stops, and in general, got a lot of information I couldn't make sense of. This is one of those professions you have to experience to really understand. But you can avoid making the same mistakes I did (I hope so anyway), with free advise in my blog.

CHOOSING A TRUCK DRIVING SCHOOL

There are several ways to learn to drive a semi. Most students either enroll at a privately owned and operated driving school, or they sign on with a carrier that runs their own driver school. I chose to go to a private truck driving school. What I learned later taught me I made a spendy mistake.

To go to a private school, you must pay tuition upfront, which means you need to qualify for a bank loan. All students who graduate sign on with trucking companies, most of whom agree to pay off your tuition. I signed with a large OTR carrier and things seemed fine until I had to get off my first trainer truck due to a family emergency. What they don't tell you in truck school is if you don't return to work for the company that first hires you - no other company will agree to pay off your tuition. So now you are stuck paying the remaining amount. For me, that was several thousand dollars.

Now I know what I'm about to say may ruffle the feathers of many who read this, but after working for several companies - some of whom run their own driver training academies - I honestly wish I had been trainined at a company-run school. The reason? Flexibility. If I had the same emergency with a company that just trained me, I found they are much more flexible about reinstatement. Why? Because they just invested upfront in you, instead of the other way around, and they want to recoup their expenses! So it stands to reason they will be far more flexible in this regard. If I had signed up to train at a company-run driver school, I would have earned my CDL, had a well-paid job, and a little more flexibility towards my situation. You work off the tuition one way or another, regardless of who you first work for or how you get your training, but a company-run school wouldn't have cost me as much, and wouldn't have taken very long to pay off, unlike my first arrangement.

Just my two-cents. It may not work for you.

Happy Trails!
Dusty




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Category Posted: General