Truckin' with Tamie
From CEOs to mechanics to truck drivers, women are revolutionizing the transportation industry. Tune in to "Truckin' with Tamie" where host Tamie explores the ins and outs of trucking, showcasing how this formerly male-dominated field is now opening its doors to women worldwide. We cover the issues affecting women entering the industry for the first time, CDL Schools and training programs, and adjusting to life on the road. We will interview women in various positions in the trucking industry, and get the real scoop on what to expect as a woman in this field.
Truckin' with Tamie
Episode 4: Unpacking the Price Tag of CDL Training Schools
This episode reveals the troubling realities of CDL training schools, questioning whether they justify their high costs with quality training. We explore firsthand accounts from former students, examine federal training requirements, and discuss the importance of adequate behind-the-wheel experience in preparing new drivers.
• The average cost of CDL training ranges from $3,000 to $10,000
• Many schools prioritize classroom time over practical driving experience
• Federal requirements lack concrete mandates for behind-the-wheel hours
• Case study illustrates consequences of insufficient driving practice
• Community colleges often provide better training than private schools
• High tuition does not guarantee job placement support
• Financial aid options include scholarships and grants
• Researching schools is critical for prospective drivers
• Understanding training quality can influence future career success
• Importance of adequate preparation for novice truckers
Welcome to Truckin' with Tammy, the podcast where we navigate the highways and byways of the trucking industry. I'm your host, tammy, and today we are talking about a topic that is my hot button. Are CDL training schools overcharging for the instruction they provide? I say yes. So let's buckle up and dive in. So, first off, let's set the scene. Did you know? The average cost of CDL training can range anywhere from $3,000 to $7, dollars, with some schools charging up to ten thousand dollars or more. What are you getting for that price? Is the quality of that instruction and the return of your investment worth it?
Speaker 1:I've talked to students, I've talked to instructors, I've talked to industry experts, and they all say basically the same thing. So I talked to a student driver that said they paid about $5,000 for their course, but they were rushed. They went in, they did the classroom, they spent a lot of time on the classroom, but when it came to the actual driving, he said they were just checking off boxes. So they give them the sheet, right, it lists all the things that they are supposed to learn. You know, stop signs, stoplights, making a left turn, making a right turn and they just check off those boxes as they go and you do it once, one and done Later, gator, and that's a common sentiment that I've heard you know.
Speaker 1:So what exactly should be included in these comprehensive CDL training programs? All right, according to experts, a well-rounded CDL training program should cover classroom instruction. Of course you got to learn regulations, the green book, safety, road rules and extensive behind the wheel experience, which most people don't get. But why does the price seem to balloon, right? So if you are also getting your hazmat or tanker, there's extended price for that as well. New trucks more price. They're not doing a whole lot of manual training anymore. Most of it's automatic. So high price doesn't always translate to better training, right? So high price doesn't always translate to better training, right?
Speaker 1:So what are the requirements of the classroom and behind the wheel experience according to federal requirements? Okay, so in the classroom you're supposed to learn basic operation, safe operating procedures. Basic operation, safe operating procedures, advanced operating procedures, vehicle systems reporting. You know your DVIR, your hours of service requirements, driver qualification requirements, driver wellness. You know they're supposed to cover how to handle if you're sick on the road, things like that Whistleblower protection, which is crazy. I guess they're worried about all the coercion going on, all this classroom stuff. You're supposed to score 80% on the classroom part of it in order to pass. Okay.
Speaker 1:Then we have what's called behind the wheel training. That behind the wheel training is broke down into three sections your pre trip you have to learn that truck and trailer front to back, all the parts, whether it's been broken, you know leaking air, et cetera. You got to learn basic vehicle control skills. You got to learn how to drive it and then you got to take it out on the road. And you got to drive it to learn how to drive it, and then you got to take it out on the road and you got to drive it. The problem is there is no specific federal mandate on the number of hours required for behind the wheel training. Oh, we're going to charge you $7,000 and give you three hours. True story I had a female student who finished her CDL training, came out for her first job as a CDL driver. She had three hours behind the wheel with her training company. Okay, equipment Training is supposed to be conducted in the same class of vehicle.
Speaker 1:The student will be tested on for their CDL. If you want to drive a, manual training must be tested on for their CDL If you want to drive a manual, training must be in a vehicle of manual transmission. If you don't train in a manual transmission truck at the school, you will get a restriction on your license that you can only operate manuals. Then schools offer endorsements, right. We have Hazmat, we have TANCR. Those include additional training, or they should. I mean Hazmat, we all know it is a whole nother level, right. So that's what you have to learn.
Speaker 1:What does the training provider have to provide? You know what are their requirements to even be able to offer their training services. Well, they have to be on a registry, right. They have to fill out paperwork and show, meet whatever requirements that the government is handing down for actual training providers right now. Okay. So, and then that training provider, when you finish everything, they have to issue a certificate to you that says you finished the curriculum hours in theory and behind the wheel, and you have a timeline to do that. So once you start, you have to complete both of those with that training provider within one year, okay. With that training provider within one year, okay, um. So that's a lot. No actual number of hours behind the wheel, though. So you can pay 10,000 and have a couple, or you can pay 5,000 and have 20. Um, so not having an actual set amount, a number of hours, is a serious issue in the training program. Okay, so what kind of training programs are out there? I went to a community college, so most of the community colleges offer a longer training program. Um, your other CDL training schools are basically set up on a four week training. Bear with me one moment.
Speaker 1:I had to get my coffee. I was getting a little dry there. You notice I have a spoon in my coffee. Yeah, everybody likes to tease me about that. That is my coffee spoon. I don't share it, it's my spoon. Everybody in the house knows to leave my spoon alone, right? Okay, so community college versus other CDL training programs? Right, so the best training normally comes from the school that's going to focus on real world scenarios, right, but the problem is majority of these CDL training schools only are there to train you, just to pass the CDL test, so you're not fully prepared when you're coming out in the real world. They're not taking the time to prepare you. I talked to prepare you. I talked to, uh, many drivers.
Speaker 1:I talked to a young lady a couple of years ago actually called me crying um from a weigh station. She, uh, had went through CDL school, she had went to a mega carrier. She got hired. She had a trainer who was not me. Um, she went out on her own, got called into a weigh station. She was overweight on her trailer, on her tandems, and she didn't know how to slide the tandems. And the DOT officer told her that if she could demonstrate knowledge and she could slide her tandems and get her weight correct, that he would let her go. So she called me crying from the road and I had to take this panicked, freaked out, anxiety ridden female and I had to walk her through how to slide her tandems. She went through school, she went through training with a kid and still did not know anything about weight distribution and sliding her tandems. And that is a serious defect in our training and that is one story of many.
Speaker 1:It's the value right. So they're saying there's a domain for truck drivers. So why is there such a gap between the cost and the quality? It's the business model of these CDL schools. They are driver mills. It's like a puppy mill for drivers. They are just taking in this high volume number of drivers doing the littlest that they can do to get them to pass the CDL and sending them on their way. They're promising job placement and then they're not placing them in jobs. You know they're. They're making these high expectations and then they're not preparing these drivers for the real trucking world. And it's brutal out here.
Speaker 1:I talked to a gentleman last week on one of my TikTok lives. I talked to a gentleman last week on one of my TikTok lives and he had went to a CDL school recently. When he went he told them due to his family situation, that he had to have a local job. There was no other alternatives for him with his family situation. The school says, hey, we have job placement and we have local jobs. We have job placement and we have local jobs. So the guy put out over seven grand for this training program to turn around and not be placed or have options for local drivings. There were none and that.
Speaker 1:That that's uh unbelievable to me. It's like recruiting gone wrong. I mean that's a lot of money to spend out and then not to be used. I mean what? You take that shiny new CDL and you just throw it in a drawer somewhere because you can't use it. I mean who wants to spend $7,000 on something that they can't use on something that they can't use, you know. And that's not to even talk about the companies that offer CDL training in exchange for a work commitment.
Speaker 1:So you know, I had another gentleman who was on my life who was working for a mega carrier. They paid. Now he didn't have anything negative to say, he just said he paid a lot of money for his and uh or it costs. He didn't have anything negative to say, he just said he paid a lot of money for his and or it cost. He didn't pay. The company carrier that he went to work for paid it, but he was paying it back weekly out of his paychecks. And as long as he stayed with the company a year they had some kind of agreement where he didn't have to pay full price. But if he left them then within that year, then he had to pay the full financial burden of that.
Speaker 1:So what are our options for paying these overly inflated tuition One cash, I mean hard earned money. I mean I don't know a lot of people that are looking for a career change that has that much money laying around. To be honest, you know, I guess income tax time is coming if you're looking to spend some money, but most of the people it's either tuition-based programs, so you can get grants, scholarships. There was some work-related grants through the states that you could get if you were displaced. A displaced workers grant an employer tuition reimbursement, which I just said. If you're going to work for some companies, they offer that they will pay for you and then you either reimburse them or you work it off with a contract, or you work it off with a contract. Um, and that that's the majority of it. I mean that's a high price that you're going to be responsible for. So, um, yeah, the amount of money that you're spending, though, you want to make sure that it's worth it.
Speaker 1:So you're a potential truck driver, right, and you are thinking about getting your CDL, and the first step that you're going to do is look for a training school, which you have to take, by the way. So a couple of years ago, they passed a ruling that you can no longer just borrow a truck or get in a farm truck and go take the test on your own. You don't have the option anymore. You have to go through a training program. You have to pay a driving school for your training. So how do you make an informed decision. Oh, social media is a wonderful thing.
Speaker 1:The first thing you're going to want to do is a lot of research, right? So you're going to want to look for the school accreditation. You're going to want to look for reviews, and there are so many resources out. There's groups on Facebook. Everybody wants to put their experience somewhere right. Facebook Everybody wants to put their experience somewhere right. Look, search, pay attention, read. You want to know what their pass rate is. Nobody wants to pay that much money for a training program that they're not going to pass and, trust me, it happens a lot.
Speaker 1:I have a very good friend of mine who struggled in the beginning getting her CDL and and she went to not one, not two, but three different programs before she finally got enough training behind the wheel that she was able to pass, and she's a great driver now. She is an amazing driver, but she needed more than three hours behind the wheel to do her job right. Also, some schools go check them out. Drive over, see if they'll let you hang out in the classroom, see if they'll let you go out on the lot and see how the instructors are teaching. You want to know how many hours you're going to get you. You want to know how long the program's going to take. You want to know how much of that's going to be focused on you. Um, especially the behind the wheel stuff. Do Do you how many people are in the truck with you? So when you go out, generally you have you, you have the instructor and there's going to be a couple other students right and you all have to divide that time up between you. So you want to know, with all the behind the wheel, how many people that has to be divided up between.
Speaker 1:Okay, you're also going to want to look at financial aid and what your particular situation is and how you are going to pay for your schooling. Are you going with someone who's going to pay for it and you're going to dedicate a year and reimburse it? Is there a program in your area that's going to pay for it? Is there a program in your area that's going to pay for it? Do you have a community college program that you're going to look at? Right, future employment Future employment's a big deal.
Speaker 1:There are only certain companies that will take a new driver with zero experience. Know that. Know what you have to do. Dreams of local jobs right out the gate aren't always feasible, not in every area. A lot of areas you have to go out and do three months, six months, nine months or a year over the road to get your experience before you can move on to the next step.
Speaker 1:Okay, so experience is really important out here. Step Okay, so experience is really important out here. So after all my rambling and talking about these CDL schools and what you can expect if you're considering CDL school, again, I cannot emphasize how important research is. Look beyond the price tag. It's not all schools are the same Success rate, other driver experiences, job placement, scholarships anything that's available that'll keep the financial burden important. If a school is charging a premium rate, are they providing competent practical training? Are they going to prepare you for all road conditions or are they just driver milling you? Are they just pushing you through the system and they don't care if you're going to make it or not, as long as you pay the money right? Remember, your journey in trucking is going to be a long one and in the beginning it's an expensive one. It's really important that you choose wisely where you're going to start.
Speaker 1:Okay, any questions you can reach out If you have insights, if you have an experience that you want to share. We all know how much I love experiences. You can reach out to me. I'm on Tik TOK, I'm on Facebook, I'm on LinkedIn, I'm on Twitter, I'm on all the socials trucking with Tammy. Tammy, you can find me. Uh, stay tuned for more episodes where we'll continue to explore the ins and outs of the trucking world. Thanks for listening to this extended discussion and I'll see you next week on trucking with Tammy.
