Going To Tractor Trailer Training....For Free!!!

[RadarRider]

As some of you might know, I had been laid off by my union job & with the unemployment rate in RI, there are no jobs available in my union(Local 57 IUOE). There are a lot of members of my union that are sitting on the bench waiting for a job, & most of these guys have scabbed somewhere for another company just to make ends meet. I've been on unemployment for about 3 weeks now, & I decided instead of waiting for my union to find me a job, I've been wanting to get my Class A CDL for quite some time. I recently went to a so-called 'acredited' tractor trailer training school that has commercials all over TV & radio that claims they'll help you get your foot in the door with no problems. The school is about 12mi from my house. My wife & I went through a bunch of red tape to meet the finacial advisers & get the loan process going. They take a bunch of my info down, look @ my wife's & mine '07 taxes, & a couple of other things & they said they'll send us a letter in the mail letting us know if I've been approved for the loans. During this waiting period, I passed by another TTT school that I had no idea was even a school until my wife had told me a girl she work's with has a husband that's going to this place. We found out that his unemployment is going to pay for this school in full & he won't have to pay a dime out of pocket. I went down to this school to get some info on this, & it turns out this school is actually better than the one I'm trying to get into. The 1st school claims they're THE only acredited TTT school in New England, the class is 480hrs., & tuission is $7800. The 2nd school is 240hrs. but is mostly hands on with little classroom time, you get more seat time, tuission is $4500, & despite what the 1st school said, these guys are acredited too! I found out from some of the 1st school's students that they actually went to the 2nd school to get more seat time because they were clueless after only getting 15min of seat time. They also found the instructors from the 2nd school are more friendly & their rigs are in better condition. So I went & talked to the admin of the 2nd school & they got me all the info I needed. All I have to do now is get a background/driving record, talk to the unemployment counselor, & I'll be getting my Class A CDL for FREE!!! I cannot wait!

[szyd]

Sounds cool GOOD LUCK

[RRonning1984]

Sounds great, good luck with the school.

[d7rxr]

This is the down time of the season on top of bad economy. Did you talk to you BA about transferring to another district? I've heard a lot of markets are still doing good.

[19558077]

good luck man. i wanted to be an over the road driver, but i dont like being away from home. wal-mart drivers get paid very well,if you have that opportunity

[TexasR.N.]

Way to take the initiative and go out on your own! Good luck with the school hope all works out well for you and you have a job soon.
Craig

[strokerguy]

nice score, and can you pm me the name of the school and any other info you have

Thanks Ben

[ford_trck]

Hope it works for ya. I was looking to do this about this time last year when I lost my job but I didn't want to be away from the wife and kid for that long. I'm glad I waited because I found another job and now have my Class B CDL.

[RadarRider]

Thanks a lot, guys! I've been waiting for my window of opportunity & I've finally found it! I've wanted to be a trucker for quite some time & I can't believe I'm finally on my way! I'm ready to start another chapter in my life! Thanks for all the support & advice! It's all very much appreciated!

[Gear Jammer]

Not trying to be a di-khead. Get your CDL since you can for free but i would try to stick with the union job. Driving trucks is a dead end job. Go to truck driving forums like Truck Driving Jobs at Trucking Companies - ClassADrivers or Trucker's Dawg House. Alot of good info on them sites. I don't know how much money you are making now but 1st year truck driving is like 35-40k and then 2nd year can be 45-50k. You can top out at around 60k a year. That is peanuts when you are away from your family for weeks at a time and working 70+ hours a week. Just giving you my 2cents. Good luck in whatever you do.