TRUCK DRIVING SCHOOL OPTIONS

MILE MARKER #42


Truck driving schools are popping up all over the Nation, hoping to get your new business. Naturally, a interested driver is excited and wants to dive in head first to start a trucking career. I definitely recommend doing research on these schools first, and sorting out the good from the bad.

I'm going to briefly discuss a couple of the options an interested person has for choosing a school. I don't want to go into great detail here, because I discussed it in greater depth on previous blogs, which are in the archives. The usual way to get started in trucking, is to research schools in your area and choose accordingly. It's a pretty basic procedure. A future driver finishes school and has an employer in mind upon graduating, or a driver finishes school and has his/her pick from waiting recruiters. Recruiters from various companies will be there after graduation, to try and get a graduate's employment for their particular company.

Both of these options are a good bet, but let's look at this option. If a future driver knows where he/she wants to work after completion, why not check out the company before hand and see if it has a school available. Larger trucking companies have or are starting their own schooling on their premises. This will actually save a step towards the employment side of the process. You might be surprised that the selected company's school might be a little cheaper also. This option puts a student with the company together from the start.

I personally called a large trucking company in my area and asked a recruiter a few questions for you. Road2Trucking is not being biased because our World Headquarters is in the state of Wisconsin, but two of the top school-graduate friendly trucking companies are in Wisconsin. These two outfits are Roehl Transport (Marshfield, WI) and Schnieder National (Greenbay, WI ). You can visit both of these reputable company's websites below, and check out their schooling options and future employment information.

I called Roehl Transportation and was informed that, it didn't matter what school a student graduated from, they would love to hire graduates from any school. A driver doesn't need to be enrolled into Roehl's school program to be an employee. The other thing that was interesting was that Roehl's schooling was only $3300.00, which included lodging during school. The Diesel Truck Driving School in my area is $4500.00. That's a big savings.

So, before signing up for a random school, research and look at the newer option of a company's offered school. Research the particular trucking company also. When you see their drivers out on the road, ask them questions: How long have they been employed there, The equipment, Time at home, etc. Also, most of these larger companies have a referral plan set up for their drivers. If a driver takes the time out of his/her busy schedule, ask them if you can use their name as a reference. The driver can always use a couple of extra bucks, and you leave with valuable information.

I can't mention enough on researching your trucking future.

http://www.roehl.net/
http://www.schneider.com/