Question:
I am considering enrollment in a CDL training program. I need info on the good or bad schools in the NW Illinois area. Any opinions, good or bad about this field would be greatly appreciated.
REDERNEST, Woodstock, IL

Answer:
Any opinions, good or bad about this field would be greatly appreciated.
Don't waste the time or money on a thankless low paying job unless you're truely desperate.
Pick a "Field" that has a future that rises
instead of the downhill slide"Driving"has to offer.
I'm sure other OPINIONS will follow.
Mike
Answer:
Its all about what you put into it. If you really want to do it jump in with both feet and keep a POSITIVE ATTITUDE. With a positive attitude and a little perseverance you can make a decent living. One source for you could be Roehl. They are pretty decent as far as most go. They have a terminal in Gary In, their CDL School takes place in Marshfield Wi. Which isn't too far from Il.
Good luck whith whatever you decide.
As the past becomes the future unfolds
Answer:
Gee Rabelam sounds like you need a Nap!!
Nope,I'm well rested,I sleep in a bed at home.
Maybe it's you that needs to wake up to reality.
He asked for opinions good or bad didn't he?
Yours differs from mine but just to make you
and the it's what you make it"Good Time Boys"
happy I'll say this....If you enjoy endentured
servitude while training and a Gypsy Lifestyle
OTR trucking may be what you're looking for.
Yes Sir,go for it.You may even be the one out a hundred that makes it. Give Roehl a call,they pay 1980 wage rates,they throw in ten bucks for tarping the load too. Sadly they happen to be one of the better carriers.
The most important factor in being a Driver today is the Chant muttered night and day....
"Trucking's a Lifestyle and is what you make it."
Mike
Answer:
I would highly recommend Roehl to anyone getting into trucking. Go to ROEHLand look at what they have to offer. I am going to a trucking school now and have talked to several recruiters and I would not go to anyone else but Roehl. Look at pay and safety. And I am willing to bet that no one else in the industry would be able to touch them as far as newbies go.
Tim
WWJBD - What Would Jimmy Buffett Do??? This is USAF 2T2 and I approve this message.

Answer:
Trucking is relatively easy to get into if you have some learning ability, clean background, good driving record and a good attitude (ie: willingness to learn and soak it up like a sponge).
By this time in your research you may have heard about the so called driver shortage and may have also seen all the advertisements by carriers looking for drivers. You may have even visited a couple of schools and been given the sales pitch... on the surface it all look pretty good.
Until you ask the question about why exactly is is there is a driver shortage and get the honest answer to that. The only driver shortage that exists is of those drivers willing to stick with trucking over the long haul... no pun intended. About 1 out of every 4 newbies who starts with trucking may still be with it a year later.
Why do so many leave? There are so many reasons, only some of which are below:
-Inability of some to earn enough of a living to pay the rent back home while doing the job legally.
-Emotional attachments back home. Either you or those you love can no longer stand the long separations.
-The realization that trucking is a dangerous job... heavy equipment and many more miles on the road that the average motorist. Sooner or later something will happen... it isn't a matter of if... it is more like when.
-Inability to cope with the imposed lifestyle and conditions. While you are out on the road for your 2 - 3 weeks or whatever, a lifestyle will be imposed upon you while you try to deliver your loads on time and live inside the cab of a truck running all over the country.
-Most folks go into trucking without a clue of what it is really all about. When that glamorous image of a shiny rig rolling off into the sunset is finally gone and they settle into the job... they realize it isn't what they thought it would be like.
-In trucking certain things can end your career very quickly. Accident, inability to pass DOT medical, etc.
Don't go into it thinking you will be different than anyone else... know yourself and do your research about trucking BEFORE you start.
Now, having said all that... this may just be the career for you... but only you will know that after you have done it for a while or have a really good handle on it before starting. The best way to get that "handle" is to go out with an experienced driver for one of his long haul sessions and see for yourself. You won't be doing the driving, but you'll be keeping the same hours and going through the same events.

Answer:
Bottom line is there is good and bad in every profession. You can flip burgers at Mc D's or BK and be home every night for $6.00 an hour. You can spend $20-30k for 4years of college and end up making $25,000 a year working 60-70 hours a week, and making student loan payments for the next 15 years. Or you could go into a sales profession where you could be one of the 80% selling 20% of the product making $35,000 a year and working 60hrs a week, and end up in deep in debt because you have to appear successful to be successfull.
There is a million different things a person can do for a living. The point I'm trying to make is that there are good and bad things that come with every profession. All of them have a lifestyle attached. It doesn't matter if its hourly shift work or white collar management or driving a truck. It truly is about ATTITUDE and COMMITMENT. If you have a positive attitude and make the commitment your outcome will be much better.
It is true that not all personality types will do well in all fields. Not all folks enjoy the same things. Thats a good thing since all of us can't have the same profession.
It is true that tarping in the snow, rain and wind sucks. Its true that waiting at shippers or recievers sucks when its longer than it needs to be. It is also true that sucks when you are a store manager and the toilet is plugged, the sidewalk needs shoveling, and there are 12 angry customers, and 2 disgruntled employees demanding your attention.
It all comes with the territory.
As the past becomes the future unfolds
Answer:
Wiz...
Unfortunately longhaul trucking imposes quite a bit more "lifestyle" upon the driver than many other careers.


Answer:
A good place to start looking for schools are the one that are certified based on what the trucking companies want. You can find this at http://www.ptdi.org While not all good trucking schools are certified, those that are certified are good.

Answer:
Originally posted by Wiz:
Bottom line is there is good and bad in every profession. You can flip burgers at Mc D's or BK and be home every night for $6.00 an hour.
Dominoes Pizza in the next town over fromme is offering $12/hr for delivery drivers...
You can spend $20-30k for 4years of college and end up making $25,000 a year working 60-70 hours a week,
If after 4 years of college you only end up making $25K a year working 80 hrs a week, you are a moron. Probably majored in Liberal Arts. If you are wise in choosing your course of study, you will come out with a valuable degree, and be making well into 6 figures within 10 years. Trucking will never get you that.
Or you could go into a sales profession where you could be one of the 80% selling 20% of the product making $35,000 a year and working 60hrs a week, and end up in deep in debt because you have to appear successful to be successfull.
Sounds like many truck drivers.
It is true that tarping in the snow, rain and wind sucks. Its true that waiting at shippers or recievers sucks when its longer than it needs to be.
And you are not getting paid to do so.
It is also true that sucks when you are a store manager and the toilet is plugged, the sidewalk needs shoveling, and there are 12 angry customers, and 2 disgruntled employees demanding your attention.
Yeah but at least you still get to go home after your shift is done-and you make about the same money as a truck driver on average.
@#*!%$^@!
Answer:
Originally posted by redernest:
I am considering enrollment in a CDL training program. I need info on the good or bad schools in the NW Illinois area. Any opinions, good or bad about this field would be greatly appreciated.
REDERNEST, Woodstock, IL
I'd advise you to take that time and money of your that you are planning on sinking into CDL training and apply it to real schooling, preferable a degree program.
Trucking has been going downhill for years, and it will only get worse. Furthermore, many people get so wrapped up in trucking that they eventually find that they cannot get out, even though it would be fiscally smart to do so.
@#*!%$^@!