Company Sponsored CDL Training
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Trucking companies will sponsor you by paying for your CDL schooling and on-the-road training with them. In return you agree to drive for them for a specific amount of time or miles. This agreement will be spelled out in a legally-binding contract. Most companies will require about a one year commitment to them.
As a general rule, new drivers will want to keep their first job for a year, anyhow, as many companies will require at least that much experience should you want to move on.
Leaving the company before your commitment has been satisfied may require you to pay back some, or even all, of the training costs to the company. It may also prevent you from driving for another company until that debt has been paid in full.
What Is Sponsored CDL Training?
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These programs are quite popular in the U.S.
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If you don’t have the cash to pay to attend a private truck driver training school, these programs are the next best solution for you.
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No cash (or very little cash) is required for entrance or throughout the course.
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These programs train you to get your CDL and then offer you a truck driving job at the end of the training. This is a big plus as professional driving jobs can difficult to secure without former driving experience, as can be the case if you get your license on your own, at a private CDL school or a community college program.
What Are The Requirements
Each program is different, but these are common standards:
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21 years of age
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U.S. Resident or Green Card
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Able to provide work history indicating stability
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No at-fault accidents in past 36 months
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2 or fewer moving violations in past 12 months
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Under 5 moving violations in past 36 months
Which Companies Have The Best Program?
There’s no way anyone could give you straight up recommendations for the best free CDL training + a job programs, unless they attended a number of the programs and were able to compare them. If you read that some program is great, check out the source. Who SAYS it’s great?
Is it the trucking company who owns the school? Is it a third party who is making money to say how great the training is? Be careful what you believe. All of the training programs are long hard training and learning days for weeks on end. Some are better than others.
ARE THERE ANY COSTS FOR THESE PROGRAMS?
Yes, there will be some costs involved along the way, but very minimal. Each program has different items students are expected to pay for, for example meals, accommodations, learner’s permit etc. Count on an extra few hundred dollars to pay for miscellaneous fees. (This is not including food + accommodation)
MOST programs include a form of accommodation Although I understand that some companies advance students meal money and then deduct it back in small amounts, once they are getting pay checks when they start their actual driving job. There are even reports of a few companies paying for plane tickets for drivers to travel to training. Drivers are usually free to provide their own transportation to training, but it's not necessary.
What are My Obligations to
The Company after I get my CDL?
If you successfully complete the course and get your license, the trucking company will offer you a driving job.
In exchange for the training the company has provided for you, they’ll hire you, but you must stay with them for a set period of time. The time period is usually about 12 months, sometimes longer, depending on the company.
Some will consider your obligation fulfilled after a certain number of miles. Some will deduct a certain amount of the cost of tuition and training for every month driven. It just depends on the company.
BUT, HERE’S THE KICKER.
Should you decide to bail and say ‘To HECK with it, I’m not staying with this company!”, you will find yourself in a legal bind. The trucking company will ask you to repay them for the training they gave you. If you don’t pay up, they will pursue you legally.
So my advice to you is this. If you enter one of these company sponsored training schools, take the time to do your research first, in order that you train with a decent company, which will treat you well and give you a decent pay after training.
What happens after I get my CDL?
In most cases, once you get your CDL, the company will match you up with a driver-trainer. The trainer will either team-drive with you (one sleeps, one drives), or train you from the front seat, with both of you keeping the same sleep schedules. Most training will be over-the-road, so most students will need to go to training prepared to leave immediately after testing. In some cases, drivers may have to wait a week or more at the facility, or even from home occasionally, until a trainer becomes available.
JOB PLACEMENT
The whole focus of these programs are to add drivers to the training company’s fleet. Upon completing the training, the companies are anxious to get their graduates behind the wheel, on the road, and making the company money (and hopefully you too!)
Is Paid Cdl Training Worth It?
It depends on your situation.
It provides for almost no money required, CDL training + a job. That’s what you’re after right? The company provides a job, upon successful completion of training. That’s another thing you want right? You "DO NOT" want to be without a driving job after ANY TRAINING. I guarantee you that every trucking company you apply to, if you have no practical driving experience, will not be interested in hiring you.
Remember, though that in exchange for training you own them a piece of you for about a year’s time. Can you do that? Consider This Carefully!!!