Working with truck driving schools can mean a career path for some people, and it can mean an educated fleet force for others. Whether you are on the driving or the owner end of the rig, making sure that your drivers have had the proper truck driving education because truck driver training programs are essential.

Commercial Driver's License (CDL) training was put in place to enforce the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986, and having proper trucker education keeps our roads safe. Finding the right truck driver training also keeps your vehicle investment safe by making sure that your drivers properly handle your truck.

To find out more about working with truck driving schools:

1. Use a search engine or directory for trucking schools.

2. Begin working with truck driving schools by enrolling your drivers.

3. Budget accordingly if you have to send your staffers away for distant training at trucking schools farther away.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Use CDL training search engines to find commercial driving schools

Take advantage of trucker education search engines to locate available truck driving schools in your area to send your inexperienced drivers to for commercial driver training. Make sure that their trucking program comes complete with certified training, and that you do not reimburse your employee's training expenses until he or she passes the class.

I recommend: Find a list of CDL Class A Truck Driving Schools by state from New Directions. USTruckingSchools.com also has listing of CDL schools by state.

Locate privately owned commercial truck driving schools

Obtain your staffers' CDL training from one of the many privately owned teaching schools across the country.

I recommend: Find out where you can find your closest Coastal Truck Driving School. Roadmaster is another nationwide chain that offers CDL training for your drivers. The International Institute of Transportation Resource is another option if you are Oregon fleet training provider. The United States Truck Driving School has locations in California and Colorado.

Find additional trucking schools in your area

Use one of the many more truck driving schools available across the US.

I recommend: Consider sending your staff to Daly's Truck Driving School who offers your drivers a 17-Day course for Class A Commercial Driver's License, and a 7-day course for a Class B CDL Driver's License. Find out locations of Western Pacific Truck School. MTC Truck Driving School is another option for trucking schools.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  When enlisting your staffers in truck driving schools, one train of thought is to make them pay for their classes and you reimburse them in the end. That way they are invested in the time that it takes to study and finish the class, and you aren't stuck with the bill if they decide to quit midway through!
• •  Try and choose a good school close to home for your employee so that they can spend the evenings at home and with their families. Offer to pay for their travel, lodging and food expenses if you have to send them away for training.

A severe shortage of OTR ('over the road') truck drivers, also known as 'long haul' drivers, has made truck driver training virtually free (to the student, anyway) and guarantees a job waiting after truck driver school — if not sooner.
 
The goal of truck driving schools is not only to get you your Commercial Driver’s License (CDL), but also to make you competent to handle a tractor trailer (CDL Class A) or small rigs like dump trucks (CDL Class B). Obviously, that’s a hands-on experience — you can’t get complete CDL training online.

When checking out a CDL school, always consider the following:

1. How old is the equipment at the trucking school? (You want to learn how to use the most modern rigs.) 

2.  What is the ratio of students to instructor in the truck? (4:1 is typical in most truck driving schools; some go as low as 1:1.)

3. Is there a limit to the number of students in each class at the truck driver school?

Here are the most effective solutions for starting your truck driver training:

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find a trucking school in your area

There are large truck driving schools with locations in many cities and towns, and many more local truck driver training programs that are easy to find through online directories.

I recommend: Infoporium has a directory of trucking schools by state, as does Truck Schools USA. SAGE Technical Services has training locations nationwide.

Find a trucking company willing to cover your CDL training

Given the shortage, many of the larger trucking companies have taken to training their own drivers, or sending drivers to a nearby CDL school and covering the tuition. In such arrangements, the driver is actually a paid employee of the trucking company while going to school. After CDL training, the driver owes the trucking company a year or so of employment in return for the training.

I recommend: Con-way offers free truck driver training to its new drivers and pays them a salary during training; they have locations in most states. Contract Freighters, Inc. offers a tuition reimbursement program for its new hires (no matter where they trained), as does USA Truck. Driver Solutions is a CDL school that contracts with trucking companies to provide free training to their new drivers.

Look for truck driving school certification

The Professional Truck Driver Institute (PTDI) has developed uniform skill performance, curriculum, and certification standards for the trucking industry, and certifies entry-level truck driver training courses. Always look for PTDI certification to ensure that the courses you take meet these standards.

I recommend: The PTDI has an online directory of certified truck driving schools. If a school claims certification but is not listed in the directory, email PTDI, using the link on the website; the directory may be out of date.

Check out the local job market and it may help you find truck driver training

Reviewing job listings in your area not only helps you assess your opportunities and pay potential, but may help you find a local company willing to pay for your CDL training.

I recommend: TruckerTrucker.com has an online national directory of trucking jobs, as does EveryTruckJob.com. Find more resources for truck driving jobs at Business.com.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Besides the big rigs, truck driving schools can teach you to drive CDL Class-B trucks, like delivery trucks and dump trucks. The pay is lower, but the hours are better and there is less travel involved.
• •  CDL school (Class-A) typically takes three to four weeks. Be suspicious of a trucking school offering your CDL in two weeks; they may get you your CDL, but may not really teach you what you need to know to do the job.
• •  In lieu of full tuition reimbursement, some trucking companies pay part of the truck driver school tuition up front and then pay off the remainder slowly over your first year of employment.

A severe shortage of OTR ('over the road') truck drivers, also known as 'long haul' drivers, has made truck driver training virtually free (to the student, anyway) and guarantees a job waiting after truck driver school — if not sooner.
 
The goal of truck driving schools is not only to get you your Commercial Driver’s License (CDL), but also to make you competent to handle a tractor trailer (CDL Class A) or small rigs like dump trucks (CDL Class B). Obviously, that’s a hands-on experience — you can’t get complete CDL training online.

When checking out a CDL school, always consider the following:

1. How old is the equipment at the trucking school? (You want to learn how to use the most modern rigs.) 

2.  What is the ratio of students to instructor in the truck? (4:1 is typical in most truck driving schools; some go as low as 1:1.)

3. Is there a limit to the number of students in each class at the truck driver school?

Here are the most effective solutions for starting your truck driver training:

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find a trucking school in your area

There are large truck driving schools with locations in many cities and towns, and many more local truck driver training programs that are easy to find through online directories.

I recommend: Infoporium has a directory of trucking schools by state, as does Truck Schools USA. SAGE Technical Services has training locations nationwide.

Find a trucking company willing to cover your CDL training

Given the shortage, many of the larger trucking companies have taken to training their own drivers, or sending drivers to a nearby CDL school and covering the tuition. In such arrangements, the driver is actually a paid employee of the trucking company while going to school. After CDL training, the driver owes the trucking company a year or so of employment in return for the training.

I recommend: Con-way offers free truck driver training to its new drivers and pays them a salary during training; they have locations in most states. Contract Freighters, Inc. offers a tuition reimbursement program for its new hires (no matter where they trained), as does USA Truck. Driver Solutions is a CDL school that contracts with trucking companies to provide free training to their new drivers.

Look for truck driving school certification

The Professional Truck Driver Institute (PTDI) has developed uniform skill performance, curriculum, and certification standards for the trucking industry, and certifies entry-level truck driver training courses. Always look for PTDI certification to ensure that the courses you take meet these standards.

I recommend: The PTDI has an online directory of certified truck driving schools. If a school claims certification but is not listed in the directory, email PTDI, using the link on the website; the directory may be out of date.

Check out the local job market and it may help you find truck driver training

Reviewing job listings in your area not only helps you assess your opportunities and pay potential, but may help you find a local company willing to pay for your CDL training.

I recommend: TruckerTrucker.com has an online national directory of trucking jobs, as does EveryTruckJob.com. Find more resources for truck driving jobs at Business.com.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Besides the big rigs, truck driving schools can teach you to drive CDL Class-B trucks, like delivery trucks and dump trucks. The pay is lower, but the hours are better and there is less travel involved.
• •  CDL school (Class-A) typically takes three to four weeks. Be suspicious of a trucking school offering your CDL in two weeks; they may get you your CDL, but may not really teach you what you need to know to do the job.
• •  In lieu of full tuition reimbursement, some trucking companies pay part of the truck driver school tuition up front and then pay off the remainder slowly over your first year of employment.

Talk like a professional by learning and understanding truck driving schools key terms. Plus, knowing the lingo of the business helps you determine which driving school is best for you.

If you already attend a truck driving school, knowledge of truck driving schools key terms helps you understand concepts and situations pertinent to the industry. Your knowledge shows others that you know what you are talking about and indicates you are ready to learn other facets of the driving industry.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Commercial drivers license

In the United States, a driver must have a commercial drivers license, also called a CDL, before operating vehicles weighing over 26,001 pounds. This includes tow trucks, buses and tractor trailers. Drivers obtain this license from the state.

I recommend: National Training offers schooling for truck drivers interested in obtaining a commercial drivers license. It addresses topics such as accreditation and coursework in addition to providing stories from graduates.

Long haul

Driving schools prepare drivers for a long haul, or over-the-road driving experiences. This means that drivers take the trucks on a trip covering a great distance.

I recommend: Net Industries addresses and defines long-haul driving while offering information on education, training and schooling.

Heavy-weight

This type of truck, also called a heavy-duty truck, has a weight over 19,500 pounds in most cases. Different laws and governmental agencies might also define heavy-weight standards on minimum weights.

I recommend: YouTube offers videos for students interested in learning about the heavy-weight trucks they learn to drive in school while getting their commercial drivers license.

Company-sponsored training

When there is a shortage of truck drivers, companies sometimes offer to cover training costs and criteria for truck drivers they wish to employ.

I recommend: MTC Driver Training offers information on company-sponsored training. It explains why it supports company-sponsored training and what drivers might expect from the deal.

Professional Truck Driver Institute

The Professional Truck Driver Institute (PTDI) is a not-for-profit organization that offers courses for drivers interested in getting a CDL. Many employers look for this type of training on a trucker's resume.

I recommend: The Truckers Report offers a forum for truckers to discuss topics of interest in the industry. It covers areas such as the pros and cons of attending a school certified by the Professional Truck Driver Institute.

Department of Transportation

In the United States, the Department of Transportation (DOT) is a federal department that governs, coordinates and institutes transportation programs on a national level.

I recommend: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration offers information from the United States Department of Transportation on obtaining a commercial drivers license. Schools use these requirements to ensure complete and accurate legal education for truck driving students.