I have received multiple emails asking the question “What is the top school for truck drivers?” or “Which truck driving school do you suggest I attend?” To receive free truck driver training, should you pay for it yourself or enter into a contract with a school run by a trucking company?
I don’t know anyone who can make the claim to be an authority on truck driving schools or the most effective way to pay for your truck driving school. The majority of people have only attended one trucking school, so if someone has attended more than one, I’d advise you to steer clear of them.
The decision between a private truck driving school and a school run by a trucking company is a personal one that is based on your particular circumstances. Location, funds, and so forth. If you can afford to pay for a truck driving school on your own, by all means do so.
If you are paying out of pocket, confirm that the school has job placement with a respectable trucking company. Depending on how long you drive a truck for a particular trucking company, some of them will pay all or a portion of your tuition. If you pay for your CDL training out of your own pocket, you won’t be bound to any trucking companies and can leave whenever you like. The job placement services offered by a truck driving school are a good indicator of their standard.
If several big trucking companies hire from a particular truck driving school’s graduate pool, that school must be doing something right because otherwise the big trucking companies wouldn’t want to use that school’s hiring pool. Because you’ll be working for them and operating their trucks, company trucking schools will typically give you excellent training. Make sense?
After some time behind the wheel, you’ll realize that the majority of your learning takes place on the road and that the truck driving school didn’t do anything more than prepare you for your CDL, teach you the fundamentals, and help you find a job.
When I first started driving, I went through the Schneider Training Academy. Looking back, I can say that it was a good school and that they probably overtrained their students. Although I don’t have anything to compare the experience with, Schneider is renowned for having one of the best truck driving schools in the trucking industry. Truck driving school was something I only ever went through once.