CDL Training

Dominic

Well-Known Member
Location
Salt Lake City
This will sound dumb to most, however It's something I have always been interested in doing. Does any one know about the diffrent programs out there? There are a bunch of "at home study" programs out there. Are those any good? I get the sense that attending a program would look better if I ever needed to use it.
 

muleskinner

Well-Known Member
Location
Enoch, UT
I have been wondering the same thing. I need to get one this year for my job.

When you test, do you provide your own truck?

Paging Hickey..
 

Jesser04

Well-Known Member
Location
Kaysville Utah
Go to the DMV on redwood rd and aprox. North temple and get a hand book and go home and study it. Go back take the test and you will get your permit. The hard part is find a truck to get some seat time and road test in. That's how I got mine it was pretty easy to get if your getting one get a class A.
 

stimmie

Registered User
Location
Roosevelt
I studied the manual and went to a DMV to take the written test and got my learners. Then it was lots of seat time with my boss driving a water truck in the oil field. Once I wasn't busy enough I went to the UBATC here in Roosevelt and did the road test. At the ATC here they have trucks since they have a program. After passing the road test I headed to the DMV and got my license. I have a Class A with a Tank endorsement. Oh, make sure you have your medical card too.
 

Hickey

Burn-barrel enthusiast
Supporting Member
The first thing to do is get the study manual from the DMV. I have heard there was legislation coming that would require attending a school, don't know if that went through yet, but the manual will say if it is required. The problem with some schools is, they want to process as many bodies as they can as quickly as possible. This results of these types of schools are a lot of common sense challenged people driving very large trucks.

I have heard Salt Lake Community College is inexpensive and they have a very good rep for not graduating dumbasses.

UTA used to be a quick easy way to get your CDL. They would help you get it in turn for a 6 month work contract. Don't know if that is true or not still.

I prefer guys who find a small company that is willing to train them and pay for their CDL. I think starting with a good, worthwhile employee and training them for CDL results in a far better driver.

You need to take the driving test in a vehicle that is classed in the same type of license you want to get. I.E. you can't drive your motorhome or 5th wheel.

Lastly, the legal climate in trucking is so rough right now, that if you intend to get a CDL you better be the most patient, understanding, law-abiding driver there ever was. Tons of drivers get sued and do jail time for accidents where another party was the cause. You are watched and recorded in everything you do. This is the reason I will not exceed the speed limit ever. It's about litigation. Not safety. Utah county I-15... 54 miles per hour all the way through the construction zone. Everytime, cuz I like my truck and my house.
 

Robert T

Skull Designs Euros
Location
Salem, Ut
Also, the pay isn't the greatest at the moment for just starting out, and trucking jobs for smaller companies are great but employees are a dime a dozen right know, so you need to be super careful, get as many endorsments as you can also.
 
2

2INSANE

Guest
This will sound dumb to most, however It's something I have always been interested in doing. Does any one know about the diffrent programs out there? There are a bunch of "at home study" programs out there. Are those any good? I get the sense that attending a program would look better if I ever needed to use it.

Hickey sumed it up good. If you want to keep your costs cheap, it's best to go to the DMV and grab you a book. If you study the book hard for 3 days and take the written test and pass, you will get a temp CDL which will allow you to practice driving with a friend or threw someone you can hire. When you are confident enough, then take the driving/backing/pretrip test. If you would rather go threw a company school program. All you have to do is call the number on the back of almost any semi trailer and see what they have to offer. Hope this helps.
 
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lewis

Fight Till You Die
Location
Hairyman
I took the test, failed, grabbed the book sat and read it, retook it 30 minutes later and passed. Then went to a cdl driving school out in Magna area, paid them $200 to rent their truck and took the driving test and passed. If you haven't ever driven though, a school or some sort of training is a must since they make you parallel park a big rig with trailer as part of the test.
 
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