Question:
I've considering applying, but first I would like to know how is the training program after CDL School? How long is training ?

Answer:
After you hire with any carrier, you're probably looking at 4-8 weeks with a trainer, during which it is arguable if any training will actually be going on.
To be brutally honest, it is a stressful path, even more so for a female (since trucking is one of the last bastions of male chauvinism). I'd guess that at least 50% fail to survive the first year (male or female).

Answer:

According to an ATA study, 85% of new drivers leave the business by the end of the first year.

Answer:
According to an ATA study, 85% of new drivers leave the business by the end of the first year.
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That, I believe.
Just because some CDL wonder school stuffs a CDL in your hand like it was a candy bar, does not mean your going to make it in trucking like the 3am TV trucking ad tells you.
It's long hours, tough driving conditions, discipline, patience, and stay focused for hours on end.
60% of the OTR drivers we have out here on the road today, do not belong behind the wheel of a 80,000lb truck.
They severely lack many skills, patience, intellect, ability to focus and pay attention, maneuvering skills, bad weather driving skills, mountain driving skills, speed management skills, following distance skills, space management skills, defensive driving skills, this is just to name a few of the skills lacking in todays drivers out here on the road.
AND NO, these drivers are not necessarily newbies. They are drivers that have been out here for 5 or more years OTR.
They do not possess the intellect to safely drive a rig.

Answer:
I'll second that Dak!!!!
Answer:
Well, I'll third it, but it has little to do with the thread.
The unfortunate bottom line, at least in my experience (for convoluted reasons I went out with three different 'trainers' at three different carriers) there is little training involved in what is called the training process... it is mostly hands on experience in handling the truck and little more.
What is woefully missing is trip planning, route planning, when to stand your ground (just say no), and when to not get frantic (lost, bad weather, etc).
Someone should write a book.
___________________________________________________
Mark; thinks it would probably have to be a vanity press label
EDIT: Let me add for all new drivers going out on training... keep a notebook. There will be simply so much observable information that you're likely to forget it. Your trainer may be suspicious, so make it generic and offer to let them read it and ask for suggestions. In fact, even if your trainer is a 6 month wonder, they know more than you do -- pick their brain if they will tolerate it. If nothing else you'll be ahead of the game if you, as a solo driver, have to return to the same customer or use the same non-truckstop scale. Silly-azzed things like Qualcomm directions may be wrong (about 5% of the time)... an out-of-the way no-name truckstop that has a large parking lot, or a non-truckstop place to park... a picky customer (will not let you on their property more than 15 minutes before appointment time)... a customer that will let you park overnite if you arrive early... and so on.

Answer:
Great advise Mark that means a lot when it comes to learning the ropes! I alwasy ask to ton of questions, at least until I get told to shut up.
They way I look at it is the more I get out of someone the better off I'll be. Which in return will make me an more efficent hauler!!
Answer:
dak, you are so right.
I know for a fact I am not the only one that didn't like the "pro"s I was working with OTR.
I met folks with 1 month experiance that drove better, earned a decent wage and studied weather and road types.
I also met folks with 20 years experiance that could care less about watching the weather nation wide, earned less then a new driver with a brand new CDL had no idea on road types and thought constrution just happened.
Most all states have hot lines or web sites to help you plan.202 N Main Street
Summerfield Il 62289
TRUCK PARKING AVAILABLE!

Answer:
I'm glad I learned to drive a truck on my own.
I didn't go to truck driving school, I'm glad I didn't.
Now, I did have advice, good verbal advice from drivers I personally knew and trusted with many years of driving experience under their belt. . Advice I still rely on to this day.
There is today with these so called "Training Companies"..the "Contamination Factor"
What is the "Contamination Factor"???
It's a trainer who never learned how to drive a semi the correct way, then teaches new drivers "HIS" way. He tells new drivers, this is the way "ALL" truck drivers do it...
I have a big problem with that.
The New drivers just don't know, their new!!!! So they figure, if that's the way it's done, so be it.
Trainer horror stories....lots of them. Are they lies. I do not think so. When I hear these horror stories from new driver trainees, I have every reason to believe their telling the truth.
So this is the "Contamination Factor" that is handed down from trainer to trainee time and time again. It amounts to tens of thousands of drivers over the years.
There are more times than not, a new driver has to re-train him/herself after being with a trainer.....The dam trainer may have 1 year or less truck driving experience and HIS trainer from the past was no better...ETC ETC ETC..and on and on it goes.
There are too many trucking Company trainer out there that are just doing it for the extra money. Christ, it's like a dam production line..
If you do get a good trainer, thank your likely stars. It like the flip of a coin, it's just dam sh$T luck....
Do you realize how many drivers just out of trucking school that were bumped out of trucking altogether by trucking companies because of p$ss poor trainers. Trainers that are in it for the money are playing the numbers games just like the recruiters and trucking companies are playing the numbers game.
Now these newbies are out thousands of dollars in school cost, they quit their prior job. so now they have no job and are in debt. All because a friggin scumball training company and their "F" ed up trainers do not take the time needed to train new drivers properly.
Not all new drivers are going to "catch" on as fast. That by no means they're a poor driver. They just need more time and understanding.
Companies are in it for the profit margins they reap from hiring newbies. This is were the numbers game comes into play. Move on to the next one, fast!!!
DUMP THE SLOW LEARNERS!!!!
But, what if the so called "Slow Learner" is a result of a poor trainer to begin with.!!!! Do you see what I mean?
Most of the trainers out here today do not have the type of skills needed to train people. The "F" ed up Training Companies do not care about trainer "Skills".. just reap that extra profit margin.
A few of the Training Companies to stay the hell away from: Covenant, C.R England, Prime, Werner, Swift...your odds are not on your side...with these companies. With these companies, the only way a driver can make money is to train and these Companies push the issue on being a trainer """if you what to make money with this company""".. So the cycle continues, train for profit...$$$
Most of the trainers today out here on the road do not possess basic social skills or hygiene skills for that matter, much less training "Skills"
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Answer:
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