New To Trucking Not choosing a company paid CDL training

Padre

Active Member
Been doing hours of reading reviews on and outside of company websites. Many of the negative reviews seem to be written by snowflakes, "they're making me live up to the contract" (in a whiny voice). Roehl responds to a lot of the negative reviews but is strangely silent on some that make me question the company. So, whether it's Roehl, Swift, Stevens, or whoever there is a thread that makes me step back a bit. That is the idea of being locked into a position for up to 2 years to satisfy a contract with a company that may or may not have questionable practices. I read the positive reviews as well but it seems the majority, not all, are from former employees.

So, I'm looking at paying a CDL training company to get my CDL. I started taking practice tests just to see what would happen and found myself passing just about all of them until I got to the Hazmat tests. Then I got the handbook. Seems to be a lot of common sense. I think going this route will give me better opportunities.

Now to find a good, inexpensive (yeah, right), school here in the DFW area. Any suggestions?
 
They didn’t have a school but they would train you
That’s what a school is isn’t it? A place that teaches you something?
 
That’s what a school is isn’t it? A place that teaches you something?
I don’t know. I didn’t learn much when I was in school. But whether the call it a “school” or not it has the same end result. But I know a lot of the guys at the LTL places start on the dock with no license and work their way to driving. They don’t have to sign some darn contract either.
 
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I don’t know. I didn’t learn much when I was in school. But whether the call it a “school” or not it has the same end result. But I know a lot of the guys at the LTL places start on the dock with no license and work their way to driving. And if I had know. They don’t have to sign some darn contract either.
That was my point, if your goal is to get your CDL those are viable options
 
A lot of those places don't get you a Class A license. Or you won't get a a combination endorsement. Also with some you won't have OTR experience which is required by most if you want to go OTR. It really depends on what someone wants to do in the long run which one would be best. I personally wish I would've went to UPS when I was young. The delivery drivers have a pretty good job.
 
A lot of those places don't get you a Class A license. Or you won't get a a combination endorsement. Also with some you won't have OTR experience which is required by most if you want to go OTR. It really depends on what someone wants to do in the long run which one would be best. I personally wish I would've went to UPS when I was young. The delivery drivers have a pretty good job.
They will get you a class A and hazmat and doubles endorsement and now tank endorsement.
 
They will get you a class A and hazmat and doubles endorsement and now tank endorsement.
UPS does not for all of the delivery drivers. They might for some. They actually have a problem right now with their training program not meeting guidelines for how long trainers have been driving. My future son in laws family has been with them for years. He was an idiot that quit and his father and brother are both drivers.
 
UPS does not for all of the delivery drivers. They might for some. They actually have a problem right now with their training program not meeting guidelines for how long trainers have been driving. My future son in laws family has been with them for years. He was an idiot that quit and his father and brother are both drivers.
Ups runs package trucks most other LTL carriers don’t. I don’t really consider ups an LTL carrier anyhow. I know they do some, but parcel delivery is their thing.
 
UPS does not for all of the delivery drivers. They might for some. They actually have a problem right now with their training program not meeting guidelines for how long trainers have been driving. My future son in laws family has been with them for years. He was an idiot that quit and his father and brother are both drivers.
I specifically said in my post where I listed the carriers UPS Freight.
 
UPS does not for all of the delivery drivers. They might for some. They actually have a problem right now with their training program not meeting guidelines for how long trainers have been driving. My future son in laws family has been with them for years. He was an idiot that quit and his father and brother are both drivers.
I thought the whole driver training requirement thing got put on the back burner?
 
I thought the whole driver training requirement thing got put on the back burner?
I have heard both. I wonder if UPS was doing in house testing and that's the problem? I know in TN if someone will let you use their equipment you can schedule a test at some of the DMV offices. You had to of had your CDL permit for a certain period of time before that though.
 
If you can enter with your permit (or even nothing) and end up with your CDL at those places, that's news to me.
Welp looks like you got some news today because you absolutely can. Seen it a bunch of times, at Fedex to get in the “driver apprentice” program you have your CDL permit which is no problem to get as we all know. If you don’t you can hire in on the dock and get your permit while there.

https://careers.fedex.com/freight/jobs/25892-386930?lang=en-us&previousLocale=en-US
 
Welp looks like you got some news today because you absolutely can. Seen it a bunch of times, at Fedex to get in the “driver apprentice” program you have your CDL permit which is no problem to get as we all know. If you don’t you can hire in on the dock and get your permit while there.

https://careers.fedex.com/freight/jobs/25892-386930?lang=en-us&previousLocale=en-US
Well color me flabbergasted. Sorry I had no idea. I thought we were on about two different things.
 
You might give CFI out of Joplin Missouri a call about training. I've talked to a few of their drivers since they took the company back and they have all been happy with the company so far. Joplin isn't all that far from you and I don't know if they are still doing the same program since they reopened as CFI, but they used to put you up in the dorms at Crowder College in Neosho Mo and pay for you to go through the training there to get your CDL. That school is and has been one of the top training tech schools in the country. You will drive local streets and interstate both loaded and empty if it's still the same, and you not only learn to back on a cone course but you will back into real docks as well.
Now when Conway had the company, they only paid for $2000 of that school and you had to either pay for the rest or get a grant or scholarship to pay the rest, so I'm not real sure what CFI is doing on that front, but it would probably be worth a call at least. I don't work for them, I work for Freymiller out of OKC, but I have lived in small towns around Joplin all my life, so I know the company's history and have known a few of their drivers. They always seemed to treat their drivers, both new and old, good and fair.

As for the life of a driver, the others here have covered that and given you a pretty fair idea of what your getting yourself into. I'll never forget, I had some super trucker tell me once, on one of these forums no less and I have never met this person in real life, he told me six years ago that he could tell just from us arguing on the forums that I wouldn't make it out here and he would still be moving along not giving a crap. Your going to get that from some drivers, just blow then off and do it for you. What he didn't acknowledge even after I had told him, was that I had been driving class B trucks, which in most cases were there exact same trucks these super truckers are pulling a trailer with, but with the fifth wheel removed and a tank, box or dump bucket mounted on them instead, both local and over the road. My first sentence was I want to be a truck driver and from that point on I never waivered for forty years and when not driving straight truck I was still usually in jobs working closely with truck drivers. Now I have pulled dry box, water tanker, Frack pumps and reefers all over the country. I'm currently in the last year of a lease purchase pulling a reefer and making good money doing it and I'm the guy they call when someone else can't or won't make a delivery on time because this company knows I plan my days to the last minute and that if I don't make at least 650 miles in a day, something outside my control happened to hold me up. That's how you show these guys how to eat crow. I'm not afraid to gloat a little because if anyone doubts what I say, I will give them the phone number and extension to talk to both my dispatcher and my lease purchase coordinator to ask them about me. So what I'm saying is, yes, work your way into it, but plan on being that guy and you will get the miles while all the other whiners are sitting on their phones complaining.

With that said, and sorry for the long post. Now would be a good time to get started because right now until the end of March is the slow season for dry box and reefer which are the likely candidates for you to hire into, and just about the time you finish school and riding with a trainer would put you out right about the time that hopefully freight is picking up. I have a feeling the slow season is going to be really slow this year, but hey that's just my opinion. We shall see. I wish you the best of luck and hope you and yours and everyone on here have a very Merry Christmas and a great and profitable New Year.
 
I did company paid training at CRST Dedicated. It was 11 month contract and it has better pay than others. DO NOT SIGN A CONTRACT WITH CRST EXPEDITED! You will get a very raw deal if you go with expedited. From what I have gathered crst dedicated is better than; swift, englund and any others I heard about.
The reason people don't finish contracts is they are getting a raw deal and cannot make enough on top of it. If I had to do it again again I would not go with any other than crst dedicated. Don't get me wrong this company sucks but dedicated division is better than other. After a month or two you will get the same run every week and home once a week if you get the same deal I got. After 11 mos I became a fedex custom critical contractor but wasn't getting the miles so I got a job hauling crude oil for 6k a month. I went from low pay to 6k in 18 mos.
so if you can leave crst on good terms it helps you get down the road.
Thats my experience with company training and my advice based on what I know.
Good Luck.
 

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