Truck Driving Schools

Trucking driving schools are a popular way of getting your CDL but it is not the only way. Whether it is the best way for you or not depends on your situation and personal needs.

3 Common Options For CDL Training

• Community College CDL Training Course
• Private Trucking School CDL or 3rd Party
• Company Sponsored Trainging, also know as free

For more details on the types of CDL Training follow the links

1. You can attend training at many of the major trucking companies headquarters (commonly referred to as free training or company sponsored cdl training

2. You can go to a school that exists only to train truck drivers. This is most often referred to as a private trucking school or 3rd party training).

3. Or you can attend a community college to get training for obtaining your CDL. Community Colleges for CDL license

Free Training v.s. Private Training v.s. Community College

As with anything else in life the different ways to obtain your training all has it's own advantages and disadvantages. You will see some of them listed below. Along with the disadvantage I add some additional information for overcoming or dealing with what the disadvantage would be. (Which in some cases would make it not be a disadvantage but something that is most suitable for your situation since you will make a conscious decision being aware of what to expect.)

Pro's and Con's of Free or Company Sponsored CDL Training

Advantages of Free or Company Sponsored CDL Training (Pro's)

- It won't cost you out of pocket for the training
- You have a job most times after training

Disadvantages of Company Sponsored CDL Training (Con's)

- You will sign a contract to work for the trucking company who sponsored/paid for or provided the training for a specified amount of time, usually 1 year. If you break the contract you may own fines in addition to the tuition. There are ugly stories associated with this. If you go this route do what you can to NOT BREAK the contract.

- If you don't like the company you feel obligated to stay until the terms of the contract is done. It may well be in your best interest to stay whether you want to or not. If you have a poor relationship with the dispatcher or company this obviously would be stressful. However most drivers don't mind staying and don't have a serious problem with the company or dispatchers at the company.(Yes you Will see/hear some horror stories out of hundreds of thousands of drivers)

- You may be promised a job but in today's economy some trucking companies are training drivers and having them wait around (not at the trucking terminal) to began driving weeks or even months after training.

- Some trucking companies are not paying during training. Also there are different expenses such as meals, hotel, or travel during training that some companies are not paying now. Know what expenses will be covered, ask questions and see it in writing so you will KNOW what to expect.

Find Company Sponsored CDL Training

Pro's and Con's of Private Training for CDLs

Advantages of Private Truck Driving Schools (Pro's)

- Usually is the quickest way to obtain your CDLs
- You can go to any company that will hire you after graduation

Disadvantages of Private Truck Driving Schools (Con's)

- Since a company didn't sponsor you don't automatically have a job lined up after graduation. However, most school do offer job placement. Some times you can get a pre-hire agreement from a company before even going to school
- usually the most expensive way to get your CDL license
- Regulation of schools has some loopholes. Go to a reputable school. Making sure the school is Certified or Accredited should help assure you of quality of training.

Pro's and Con's of Going to Community College or Public School for CDL training

Advantages of CDL training at Community College/Public Schools (Pro's)

- This is usually the cheapest way to get your CDL.(Updated 2011. This is changing, compare prices.)
- You can go to any company that is willing to hire you after successful completion of school.
- You can have confidence that the program is ran well if you go to a accredited community college. Some of them are also PTDI certified.

Disadvantage of CDL training at Community College/Public Schools (con's)

- Usually takes longer than Private company to get CDL (Update 2011, lucky you, this is changing too. Many community colleges now have dedicated instructors that teach truck driver training full time all day. You may find training in the same time as private schools now. Depends on the college.)
- You will have to find a job after getting CDL. Most schools do have job placement. Some have relationships with recruiters or better yet local companies needing truckers. You'll have to check and see what is the case with the community college your considering. (updated 2011. This is changing, many schools offer accelerated classes now, your wait may not be excessively long, don't assume, call and check)

My Truck Driving School Experience at Alliance Tractor Trailer Training

I attended one of the Alliance Tractor Trailer training centers in Dunn, North Carolina. It was a pretty good school in my opinion. I learned all I could in a class environment and most of the class passed the training course on time. (You had addition time to retrain and retest if you didn't pass the first time)

Most of the equipment at the time was in great shape (most...lol some was just in good shape, lol) and the instructors were knowledgeable enough to teach and at the same time entertaining enough to keep your attention.

(I think I fell asleep only once!)

However remember this is just my opinion on my experience. All I know is I learned a lot, I passed,got licensed, and they let me come in at the last minute so I really did appreciate that.

Oh yeah I remember them being real flexible at the time with the financing of the truck driving training. (half cash and half finance) I remember them being average price and financing being high. (3rd party financing)

(I think my trucking school training was around $5,000 back then not sure it was like 1997) In any case there are a so many ways to get a CDL now that there should be a training center of some type within a reasonable distance from you for a reasonable price. You will have to browse around to see what works best for you in your location and situation.

Type your town, city or state then truck driving schools or CDL Training to see if there is local CDL training near you.
Ex. "Truck Driver Schools in New Jersey" or"Florida CDL Training", "Charlotte Truck driving Schools"

Training at Home for Your CDL License/ CDL Home Study Courses

It is possible to study on your own to learn the information needed to pass the exam at your local DMV and then find someone to let you drive their truck to take the test.

You can also take online courses to prepare for your CDL A Test in fact you can take the Test Online in most states. Obviously this is not suitable for everyone, some people do better in a class environment with hands on learning. Most people also won't find someone with a personal tractor to let them practice and take the test on.

But if you do want to see the types of information you will need to get trained for your CDL at home visit General Knowledge CDL Training Videos

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Truck Driving Schools
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