Looking for a good CDL school in the southeast. i work for a cargo airline and my company has agreed to pay for me to get certified also hazmat. any ideas? i've driven them before when in the military but not enough, more just around base and local area.

 

East Mississippi Community Collage/Mayhew between Columbus and Starkville MS
Shelton State in Tuscaloosa Al both have truck driving classes. Not sure how long their class is but there should be one closer.

 

If you have driven before, don't fool with school. Look around for an O/O & rent his truck to go take the test. Or check around some of the truck dealerships, & rent one of theirs. Those driving schools are a rip off & rarely does a good driver come out of one. Driving a truck is like running equipment, you can either do it or you can't, can't be taught!

 

CDL schools are fine, especially if the boss pays for it, OR you can deduct cost as work-related education. Never hurts, these days to have certificates of any sort.

I went to one and agree that at some point one will want the best trainer possible. I got lucky and had both good instructors and classroom, and at the company I first worked for, a driver who'd been on the road since 1962. Another still current since 1939. (This was a dozen years ago). A trainer who only has a few years might be good in some respects, but rapport with an old-timer can't be beat.

Get your TWIC card, too. Discount if already have HAZ-MAT.

 

Agree that havin the certificate from a school would help one get a job, but they don't help you keep said job when your scrubbing gears, pulling up a hundred times while backing, or pulling in the shop while "empty" with smoking brakes. Seen plenty of those certificate guys come through the door 8 out of 10 don't last till dinner time. They might cut it in the OTR world, but don't in the grading/logging world. In fact the owner of my company would rather hire a kid with NO exp vs a CDL mill graduate. Ditto on TWIC & Haz-mat opens alot of doors job wise. Let my Haz-mat go when I renewed mainly because most Haz-mat freight don't pay enuff to deal with the extra headaches involved. Did get my TWIC card this past may which has come in handy a few times.

 

Question, to get a CDL-B you don't need to go to a school right? I heard that it's basically logging a certain amount of driving hours with the right truck of course and then go to take the test?

 

I would think that any education or training makes a guy a better person, and it always looks good on a resume. If someone is going to be a poor driver, it isn't the training that makes him a poor driver, he'll do badly in spite of the training.

 

You don't "need" school to get any kind of CDL. There is also no requirement to log time behind the wheel. All you gotta do is pass the tests at PENNDOT. There's a multiple choice test that gets you your permit so you can drive with a CDL holder in the passenger seat. Then you can schedule a road test. The pre-trip inspection you have to do before the examiner will take you out on the road is actually the hardest test of all.

 

I do agree that schools don't cause a good driver turn bad, but "most" of the CDL mill schools will pass ANYONE, seen it more times than I care to count. Driving a truck is like running heavy equipment not something that can be taught, you either can do it or you can't!! Seat time is the best way to find out if you can, not shelling out up to $6K for a school where most of the trainers are hacks. Remember those who can't do teach!

 

Amen on the pre-trip being the "hardest"! Lot's of things to remember. I recall from my test, nailing everything on the outside of the truck & trailer. Got inside went through all the lights, horn, brake stuff. Thought I had it all done when the examiner asked me what I missed I thought he was trying to trick me & confidently said nothing. He politely reached over & turned the heater to the defrost setting & said defrost is a safety item! Maybe if i had went to school I would've known that one