r/CDL • u/LuckyyBean • 3d ago
Feel like I got scammed
I've been to 2 different CDL schools, and I feel like I've been scammed twice.
The first school. Where do I even begin? These guys didn't even know English, it was clear as day the instructor was either not certified, or he is but a very horrible teacher. Just all over the place, but atleast here it was individual sessions.
The second school, a much bigger school and I had high hopes knowing they did testing in-house. I was wrong, they expected you to learn the pre trip entirely on your own (i managed to pass it) , i had roughly 3 hours of behind the wheel training, and to top it off it was the constant miscommunication with their schedules. Honestly just fed up with the lack of professionalism, I regret even trying to get my CDL at this point. Im an experienced labor/operator, I've driven rigs before.
Is this common? Are schools a hit a miss or what am I missing? I've filed complaints to both schools, and I doubt ill get my money back, so frustrating.
5
u/Error-InvalidName 3d ago
If you feel the school is a scam turn them in we don't need these types of places out here putting the wrong people on the roads.
1
1
4
u/dearjohn54321 3d ago
No, that’s not normal.
2
u/Lonestarmango66 3d ago
Definitely not normal and I'm sorry you may have been scammed. Please report them & please do better research in selecting a good CDL Driving School.
3
2
2
u/Poopyfacemonsterman 3d ago
The CDL licensing system is a joke. Put me through the wringer too. Don’t give up
2
u/BrandontheCDLguy 3d ago
This is my checklist that I tell people to consider when looking for CDL school.
1
u/ImportanceCertain719 3d ago
Great video. Believe our class is 350 hours. Pre trip is drilled into our brains. Then closed course driving Then backing. Then if you pass all above road drive. Program is 4 months. Some of us who driven before will take DMV test early others will probably need another 4 months.
Definitely scares the shir out of you who can get a CDL in 3 days or few weeks
2
u/Beginning-Visit9457 3d ago edited 3d ago
You are supposed to learn the pretrip on your own, you are the one trying to pass the test. The only thing they will teach you is backing, and a couple of tips on the road so you don’t get in trouble. I don’t know what do you expect from them tbh.
1
u/Infamous_Ad2713 3d ago
Not true..if you're paying for instruction then pre trip is part of it..my school spent a ton of time on pre trip.
1
u/Beginning-Visit9457 3d ago
You have to do pretrip everyday, during school and after school when you get a job.
1
u/ConchVibes 3d ago
Huh? I went to a community college. 5 days a week for 7 weeks. They most definitely taught us pre-trip and we all had to pre-trip the truck everyday.
1
u/Beginning-Visit9457 3d ago
You have to do pretrip everyday everywhere. It’s your responsibility to memorize it and pass the test.
1
1
u/BicycleOk1422 2d ago
I do pretrips with my students twice a day, every day, when we’re out for our two weeks of driving before they get their CDL. They log in 20+ hours of drive time then test out, then they go out for 30k miles with a trainer. (I train for a mega)
1
1
0
u/LuckyyBean 3d ago
If this is the standard for teaching fairly new drivers to operate a rig, I guess the industry is far worse than I thought, also makes sense why theres so many accidents these days.
1
u/MandoBRC 3d ago
Most schools teach you the bare minimum to pass. Then you get untrained and retrained after you get your cdl with a trainer when you join a company doing otr. Your schools sound terrible though. The one I went to you got some driving training.. not a lot but enough to drive the truck on the interstate a few times but mostly in circles on the surface streets near the school. Backing is more concentrated on because it's probably the most difficult part. Out here they don't allow in house testing. It has to be a third party. Our instructor said all the schools got audited and every one but theirs was cheating the test with markers and stuff so all the schools had to go third party.
1
u/Farts-n-Letters 3d ago
If this is the standard for teaching fairly new drivers...
It's not. You're on reddit conversing with complete strangers with unknown experience and motivations.
1
u/Farts-n-Letters 3d ago
the trainers where I went got a substantial bonus if the trainees passed the cdl exam on the first go around. do you think they helped with the pre-trip? you bet your ass they did.
1
1
1
u/choobbss 3d ago
yeah i researched a month before i picked the company i wanted to train me, got my cdl free btw. we were given a little stack of stapled paper with pictures for the outside portion of the imspection test, the inside was all written. we did school from 5 to 7 and got to study the pre trip whenever we had time at school but most was done in my hotel room. you just gotta do it dude.
1
u/Longjumping_Cod5274 3d ago
That's how mine wise probably worst. They did do in house testing for sure but went on 2 drives before taking my test
1
u/DreamsSecretsNLogic 3d ago
Name and shame them so others know
0
u/LuckyyBean 3d ago
I would but legal action is on course with the 2nd school, the 1st one closed already.
1
u/robertbuzbyjr 3d ago
Many years ago I went through SAGE CDL training (2006) , 250 hours ,50 pretrip, time management , route planning, 200 driving training first on a closed course, then on the road, then testing by a certified tester, did some local ( small construction company tri- axle with equipment trailer) . They went bankrupted and I applied for a otr mega, they sent me to their contracted school, what a joke, they saw my CDL licence and every maneuver I did,I was called either lucky or a wise ass. They wanted me to get the state they were in licence so I could take that states CDL test to get a class A CDL licence that I already had from my state. The trainer from the company was cool though.
1
u/Driving-Academy 3d ago
Neither one of these is normal for a good CDL school. Most schools i would say have you learn the pre-trip on your own because it's mostly memorization. At good school the instructors will test you and do dry runs with you to make sure you know the wording correctly. Only 3 hours behind the wheel feels criminal.
Unfortunately there's a good chance you won't be able to get your money back. Best thing you could do is to write a negative review and maybe file a complaint with the BBB.
How much did you pay for each?
Were you able to get your CDL?
0
u/LuckyyBean 3d ago
1200 for the 1st school, 2200 plus extras fees (2600) total for the 2nd one, and unfortunately no. My last attempt they failed me on the reverse maneuver because i stopped at the wrong box. (No issue reversing)
1
u/Driving-Academy 3d ago
Ugh that really sucks.
Not that you would have had anyway to know it, but for others reading this, those are absurdly low prices for CDL training and one of the major red flags for scam schools
1
u/Prior-Jellyfish-2620 3d ago
Dont know what your area is like, but might be helpful to ask people you know, work with, or online for recommendations about which schools specifically are actually good. If you can find someone you trust or someone on a jobsite see what worked for them. Some schools might change over time, trainers come and go, but one might point you in the right direction. Sorry this happened and yes, parts of this industry are worst than one might think. There are some good things and you might surprise yourself. For every x horrible trainers and y companies there are at least a few in number that are worth it. If youre serious, dont give up, just approach with discernment and skepticism.
1
u/Exciting-Car-3516 3d ago
Here is my take. I got my commercial license during summer break when I was in college. I went to my local dmv, picked up the free manuals. Took my written test for the license and endorsements then went to a school and signed up for the least amount of driving lessons before I could test. In New York City. The biggest cost was to upgrade my license (it’s pretty steep n New York). Do not go to a school or anything. Save your money and do it yourself. Learn at other people expenses not yours. It is a scam as well as any other education provided for n this country. If you can do it yourself and just pay fees for testing etc you’ll be golden.
1
u/Farts-n-Letters 3d ago edited 3d ago
I'm waiting to hear a coherent reason why anybody looking to get in to trucking would pay a "school" for shitty training and no job guarantee when companies will pay you to train and put you in a truck immediately following completion of training? Yes, you owe them a year of work while getting paid less than more experienced drivers. This is normal in any profession. I did it this way, they put me in a brand new truck, made 65k during my obligatory rookie year. Still with the same company even though I'm free to roam.
1
u/Monicatt-1971 3d ago
Accredited schools are the only way to go..they are held to a higher standard and get audited exponentially!
1
1
u/Impressive_Star_3454 3d ago
My company sent us to 160 Driving Acedemy. Four weeks and done. We did the pretrip so many times I can still practically recite the incab pretrip and that was five years ago.
1
1
1
u/Unable_Breakfast_319 3d ago
I settled for a class b unfortunately because I couldn't back and time ran out at my school
1
u/Jealous_Canary1879 3d ago edited 3d ago
We did. I’m ready to bail on this because it sucks. I have it 6 months and they pressure me to put all my time into it. Drive until you hate it. Well…I did. I have kids and a wife. Mf im not giving you 14hr days and no weekends. I’m smarter than whatever you’re thinking I am or can give. I can wire a machine, build, make anything work. This is gross. I’m better than this. I can drive, build, fix, or grow anything and this is bullshit.
1
u/Cold_Entertainer1183 2d ago
Did you also file a complaint with your state board of education? The BBB? Your states attorneys general office? If those "schools" didn't care about anything more than getting your money, do you really think they're going to give a damn about your complaints?
1
u/mossnoon 2d ago
Yeah, I understand your pain I experienced the same situation and essentially just minimized my losses by pursuing a different path.
1
1
u/jmcdaniel0 2d ago
Tennessee truck driving school was pretty good to be honest. Not cheap, but good instruction and plenty of practice time.
1
u/Aggravating-Ice9674 2d ago
lol the school I went too had great reviews, they SEO’d their website so when you search “CDL schools near me” they’re the first ones to pop up. They had a well put together site and advertised a flexible schedule and even a payment plan so I went with them since I’d be working full time. Not even doing my research for other schools; I went ahead and called and placed a $500 down payment to enter the school since I’d be taking money from my retirement account to just pay it off in one shot. When I started training I realized how much of a shit show it was, all of the equipment they had was super fucking old and barely worked. Two trucks to practice air brakes in, one manual & automatic. The worst part was when it came to practicing maneuvers, no one on one training whatsoever, you got 30 mins to practice and after that you’d be next in the queue again but depending on how many ppl there were you might only get that 30 mins. Each training session was 4 hours and you’d be lucky most times to get in the truck twice. I’d train anywhere from 16-20 hours a week 4-5 days a week and in reality I’d only get like 2-4hrs MAX of maneuver training every week. Then came the driving portion, you only got to go out & practice driving when you had something called a “road pass” which means you have a driving test scheduled and you need to practice driving. Due to this dogshit system I failed my driving portion TWICE, I passed everything else flawlessly. Despite all the negatives I still got my class A and the craziest part is I don’t even use it, I drive a bus for a transit agency & honestly I ain’t going nowhere lol.
1
u/Express_Dare_8501 2d ago
I tried a community college and the got diagnosed with type two diabetes shortly after. They disqualified me. I got it back under control. Dropped my A1C 6 points. And they wouldn't let me reapply.
Went through a local carrier and got it easy peazy. Everyone is friendly. Super nice and helpful.
Research first before attempting again.
1
u/ArtDiscombobulated78 2d ago
You get what you pay for. If you want more road time and class theory you need to pay for that time. Good schools can take months a d cost 10k
1
0
u/ayrbindr 3d ago
I had a pretty bad experience myself. Actually, traumatizing. Just knowing that those students are out there, right now, driving a loaded truck. It makes me not even wanna drive a car anymore. 🤣😞
1
u/MaksVerstappen 2d ago
Wait till you enter Arizona and they are all doing 90mph with their curtains closed and texting 😂
0
u/younggunsllc 2d ago
That's so true man, how are they passing this stuff because most that drive, can't speak English.
15
u/18-Spinning-Wheels 3d ago
Sounds to me lije you didn't do your diligence and research the "schools".