Looking For Recomendations

[TCAT8324]

I'm Moving To Southern New Jersey This Month And I Am Wondering If Anyone Can Recommend Any Northeast Companies That Pay For Training. Ive Been Lookin' On The Net But There's So Many I Don't Know Where To Start And They Don't All Say Wether Or Not They Would Cover Your Training Anyway. On Top Of That I Gotta Wonder If A School Is Offering A Course That Only Takes Three Weeks, Does That Make It A Crapy Coarse? It Seems That Most Schools Take 3-6 Wks Or More And That Sounds More Realistic. Anyway Thanks For Reading, Looking Foreward To Hearing From You. Be Good.

[Lurchgs]

TCat,

I've no experience *yet*, but am in pretty much the same.. um.. boat as you (even in Colorado we have boats, you know. Just no ships)

Anyway, I've been plotting this course for a few months now. Very early on I opted to not - if at all possible - get my CDL training through a trucking company. I never found one that would simply train you... and, to be honest, if there were one, I'd be uncomfortable. There are apparently enough ways to jigger the system that I'd rather learn from an unbiased source (or, as unbiased as possible)

A *lot* of trucking companies offer 'student loans' and pretty reasonable rates. But, a loan being a loan, you have to pay it back. HOw that's accomplished seems to vary quite a bit. But - it boils down to: you have to pay them back.

Ergo, I prefer to pay out of pocket and be beholden to no one company. Sure, it changes the odds of getting hired out of school, after all, if you get a loan from ABC trucking, they're probably gonna hire you so they can A) get their money back and B ) get some return on their investment.

I have applied for a WIA grant (usually administered by the local county) to cover my schooling. Being a government grant, there are hoops to jump through. but so far it's not been insane. Just stupid. Around here, the response is rather quick = which I appreciate, being rather underemployed at the moment. Pretty much 2 weeks from start to finish (yes/no answer). They pay the school directly, so, once you have an answer, you should be good to go.

Anyway, after deciding to not go through a trucking company for my schooling, I started researching local CDL schools. From community colleges to specialty schools, there's a BUNCH.

I finally settled on one particular school based on comments from truckers I know and on responses I got when I mentioned the school to trucking companies. In fact, a fair number of companies use them nearly exclusively to train their own students.

It's a 4-week course.. which, I admit is a little shorter than I prefer... but I can live with it. No worse than military MOS schools, after all.

Any school you choose should help you with job placement - see what their record is. Make sure they at least get you (or at least help get you) pre-hire letters (not a commitment, but a statement of willingness to hire if you pass the school and meet their requirements).

Also, and again this is a point I'm less than comfortable with, see if they are certified to actually ISSUE the CDL license and endorsements. If they are, you'll be tested in a relatively familiar environment, which should cut down on test anxiety.

Let's see. Oh, yeah. Find a school that's been around a while. The first school I investigated (because I drive by them just about every day) is defunct. The web site is still there, the buildings and equipment are still on the lot, but the school is gone. Makes me think uncomfortable thoughts of companies airborn in the dark (fly by night).

All this is, of course, MY reasoning, and may not apply to you. Your priorities are almost certainly different from those of an ex-Coastie (yes, I'm over 6' tall). But I think it's something anybody getting into the biz should at least consider.

Never fly a ship you can't afford to lose.

[kiddkev]

Originally Posted by TCAT8324

I'm Moving To Southern New Jersey This Month And I Am Wondering If Anyone Can Recommend Any Northeast Companies That Pay For Training. Ive Been Lookin' On The Net But There's So Many I Don't Know Where To Start And They Don't All Say Wether Or Not They Would Cover Your Training Anyway. On Top Of That I Gotta Wonder If A School Is Offering A Course That Only Takes Three Weeks, Does That Make It A Crapy Coarse? It Seems That Most Schools Take 3-6 Wks Or More And That Sounds More Realistic. Anyway Thanks For Reading, Looking Foreward To Hearing From You. Be Good.

Try going to your local employment office first, they usually offer grants to go to school that you don't have to pay back !
USA Class A CDL Truck Driving Jobs

[JLKKLJ777]

Nemf has a training course last I heard. They are a union ltl outfit (machinist union not teamster) that is based out of Elizabeth Nj.

They have many terminals in Nj such as Elizabeth, S. Plainfield, and Pennsauken.

They also have other terminals such as Carrier in Edison and EFW in North Brunswick.

I believe they recently opened a new terminal in Northeast Maryland to add capacity to the system (Baltimore couldn't handle it all I guess).

The company itself uses older equipment especially for their local drivers but they do have some equipment as new as 1 to 2 years old for their line haul or road drivers.

[fxf74]

TCAT8324 check your PM's