First let me say be prepared to spend a lot of time sitting around once you finish the 1st week. Be prepared to be out in the weather for 1/2 of each day for the remaining 3 weeks. Be prepared for VERY long days. School is from 7a-6p Mon-Thurs. There isn't much in the way of break areas for students that are climate controlled. I can't speak for everyone but by the time I got home at the end of the day I was exhausted!
Week 1: Classroom - The classroom instructor was named Russ. He's funny, intense and does a great job of getting you prepared to take your permit test the morning of Day 2 and to pass your skills tests. Yes, 1st thing Tuesday morning you head to DPS to take your permit test. Don't worry. So long as you've been paying attention and participate in class you should be good to go. Basically the classroom time goes through the Driver's Handbook and prepares you to take your skills tests. You will spend some time in the computer training room doing "eTreads" which is online computer learning. There are 35 of them and they have to be completed by Tuesday of week 4. Do yourself a favor and do some over the weekends as some are very long and you may only have 4 left when Week 2 starts but they could be 1 hour long!
Week 2 & 3: Yard & On the Road - The remainder of your days at school (with the exception of graduation day) will be split between the Yard and the Road. You'll spend 1/2 day practicing straight line backing, parallel parking and alley docking at an angle. The 1st day is spent on Pre-Trip and eventually you will get to get in the truck but you'll just be bobtailing (no trailer) around the yard idle shifting. This is shifting through the 1st 4 gears but not giving it any gas. Day 2 you finally get on the road. Essentially you'll get 45 mins to an hour actually driving and the rest of the road time will be spent watching your co-drivers (2-3 other students) driving. During yard time you might get 2 times around the yard, possibly 3. There was one day where 1 student only got to go once.
Week 4: The 1st 3 days will still be split between the yard and the road. They will test you on Pre-Trip Inspection, coupling & un-coupling backing, parallel parking and alley backing. These are loose affairs. Especially the Pre-Trip since Texas does not test on the Pre-Trip. Nor does it test on alley backing/docking. They'll also take you on one of the 3 DPS routes so you can get a feel for what to expect, Day 4 you report to the school then they take you over to DPS in the trucks. Be prepared for a VERY long day. I was fortunate (on the one hand) to go 1st. I got to get the test out of the way but there was still sitting around waiting for everyone else. Finally, at the end of the day they hold graduation. It's a small simple affair where you get your certificate and GPA.
I have mixed feelings about the school due to my experience with my driving and yard instructors, the facilities and the equipment. But, to be fair, I have nothing to compare it to. Ultimately, I passed my drivers test and I passed the Road test here at US Xpress so it would seem they prepared me for the next step in my training. Yes, keep this in mind. The purpose of the CDL school is NOT to get you ready to driver an 18-wheeler. It's to provide you with sufficient knowledge and training to get your commercial driver's license. If you feel ill prepared to get into a truck by yourself fear not. It seems the companies that accept recent graduates have a reasonable expectation of what your skills are. Be prepared to spend up to 2 months of on the job training by hitting the road with a driver trainer and quite possibly up to a week before that in orientation and additional classroom training.
I'm glad I went the CDL school route rather than company sponsored training. Now that I've spent time researching companies I have a better perspective on the school. It got the job done and I have no regrets.
Next Up: Selecting a company to work for - Yes! You have choices!
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