Truck Driver Training

A lot of people are under the misconception that anybody can jump in a truck and do the job. This is not farther from the truth. The trucking industry is one of the most heavily regulated industries, in spite of the so called deregulation in 1980. It takes a keen knowledge of all the laws and regulations to be able to do the job safely and legally. While attending a truck driving school is not mandatory, most companies wont look at you for employment without it.

There are a couple different wasy to go about getting this schooling. You could go to a public truck driving school, but if you do make sure it is approved by the Professional Truck Driving Institute (PTDI). If not, it may still be a good school, but most companies will prefer to see the seal of approval from the PTDI. You can find a list of PTDI approved schools in the links at the bottom of this post. However, going to a public school can be very expensive. If you choose to attend a public school, I would look for one that offers job placement assistance. Even though you have completed a school, you may still find it hard to find a job, because many companies require you to already have some experience.

You need to watch out for schools though. Try to find out their reputation and talk to some graduates if you can. You have to remember that they are in business for one reason, to make money. There have been scams at some places where they would fail students the first time around so they would have to pay again, not because they didn't meet the requirements.

There is hope though. You have the option to go to a company for training. Mostly only the large companies will offer training, because they are the only ones rich enough to be self insured so they dont have to answer to the insurance company, and usually it is paid training. This is the way that I got my training and would recommend to anyone who wants to work as a truck driver. If you think about it why wouldnt you want to get paid to do something rather than pay someone else to do it. The only downfall to this method is that you usually have to sign a contract to work for the company for a certain amount of time, usually a year, or you will have to repay them for the training. I would recommend staying for the full time period agreed upon for two reasons. First, and most obvious, you wont have to pay for your training, and second you you can gain the required experience required by most companies which will make it easier to find another job. However, if you really dislike large companies, some companies will agree to pay for your training, where you will leave the large company after graduating there school and the company you chose to work for will pay for it. If you do it this way, make sure you get everything in writing from the company that has agreed to pay for the training. Another reason I recommend going to a company for training is that I believe the quality of training will be better due to the fact that they aren't making money on most people, unless u leave before the time period, and they are training you to drive their equipment so it only makes sense for them to train you right.

There are two basic parts to any truck driver training program. The first part will be the classroom training where you will learn all the laws and regulations and how to complete your log book, as well as some basic truck functions like shift patterns. The second part is the hands on or on the road portion where you will learn to drive the truck on the road, manuever in a parking lot, back up the truck, and pre trip inspections to name a few. Neither part is more important than the other because you need both to successfully become a truck driver. Make sure you pay close attention through all of your training. And, please, if you happen to get a trainer who is much younger than you, don't think he doesn't know anything. He probably knows a lot more than you ever will.

I hope you will find this information useful and take my advice to go through a company for your training, it only makes sense. And to any of you that do make the plunge into a driving career, I wish you only the best, and remember you can always find me here if you need any information or guidance.

Keep the shiny side up,

Young Trucker

Professional Truck Driver Institute