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Is A "CDL Mill" Always The Wrong Choice?
I wouldn't say that a CDL Mill is always the wrong choice, nor that attending a CDL Mill ensures failure. Many trainees will go on to a successful career but many will not make it through their first year over the road. Poor training is a strong contributor to this problem. There are, however, limited instances in which it might actually work, but these are unusual and there is usually a better option.
Drivers who have been out of the industry for a few years often return to find that their experience is, in the eyes of the carrier, "outdated". In the case of an "outdated" driver, a short program is likely the best option. Many reputable schools offer refresher courses for this reason. They would likely be a preferable alternative.
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John's "Prime" Time Training Course
I recently had the opportunity to speak at length with a driver who said he had attended a "CDL Mill". It was a very interesting conversation.
The driver I spoke with did not want his name revealed so I will call him only "John". John attended Prime's school in Springfield, MO. I surfed Prime's website for more information about their training programs but found little. More surfing revealed that they use MTC Truck Driver Training in Springfield, MO and St Louis, MO. I would provide a link to Prime's site, but on their site is a warning that says: "External Links directed to www.primeinc.com or any of its web pages, is forbidden without the express consent of Prime, Inc." All I can wonder is who would want to link to this company's page, anyway? So, I guess if you want to surf their site you will need to cut and paste the above web address 'cause Prime will get mad if I link to it.
In my opinion, after what I have been told, Prime has a lot more to worry about than external hyperlinks.
John's three week long class started with twenty seven people. Thirteen were left at graduation. The first week was spent, according to John, "being given the answers to all the CDL written tests." I asked John if they covered anything other than material that would be on CDL tests. He said they glossed over the logbook but that his trainer had to teach him how to do it because the school hardly covered it. "Nothing was even said about winter, mountain grades or snow and ice," John said. "The focus was getting the answers for the CDL tests only."
The second week was spent driving the highway or one of three pre-set routes and backing. Backing consisted of the 45 degree alley dock and straight line back over and over. They did not work on any other backing exercises. John said the instructor showed you how to do the 45 once or twice and then the student was left on his/her own to figure it out.
The third week they were CDL tested by a 3rd party tester who took students on one of the three routes that they had practiced in the second week.
John said the instructors were "impatient and discriminatory." I asked John how he had made it when many others had failed. He said, "I never did very well in high school when it came to classes like English and Math but I found that I was good at working with my hands. I could build things. I could take them apart and put them back together. Shifting and driving came pretty naturally to me." John credits his mechanical aptitude when it comes to passing the course.
The cost of the course was $4500.00. John said that by the time a student paid the interest, the price doubled to $9000.00. He said that a student had 72 hours from the start of the course to walk away free. If they left at a later point, they would be responsible for the entire debt. I am not able at this time to verify this. I can understand it if a student is held liable for the cost of a physical and drug screen, but for the entire fee? That's robbery.
I asked John if he had any advice for new drivers when it came to choosing a driving school. He went silent a moment and then said only, "Go to a community college program."
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In Closing
So, is MTC the only "bad" school out there? Of course not. There are many more where they came from and more go into business all the time. There is but one well known private group (Professional Truck Driver Institute) that has been basically "self-appointed" to set standards and guidelines in truck driver training. They encourage schools to certify their courses. This is supposed to help ensure the trainee that he/she will be taught according to PTDI guidelines.
While this is better than nothing, there are certainly holes in this system as well. Schools certify their courses, not the actual school. Therefore, a school may offer a certified course as well as one (or more) that are not certified. It is up to the trainee to "read the fine print" as to the course he/she will take.
Certification is fairly expensive. According the the PTDI website, an initial certification costs nearly $4000.00. Re-certifying their courses costs slightly less, $3465.00, and must be done three years after the initial certification. Some smaller and/or "mom and pop" schools who charge a reasonable fee for good instruction simply cannot afford this.
After the re-certification at the three year mark, the PTDI may then allow a school to go more years before recertifying a course. Many things can happen in 3, 4, 5, 6 years.
At the heart of it all, if you use PTDI certification as a measurement of a school's course, this must mean that you trust fully in what they have established as guidelines for instruction and curriculum. While these standards seem to be good, at times they do appear vague. Less reputable schools, then, can and do become certified.
It is evident that the trucking industry is not going to properly police itself when it comes to truck driver training. PTDI does nothing to prevent and/or shut down CDL Mills. You can't even call the PTDI impartial... contribute to their clubs and you can get your company listed on their job opportunities page and in their publications.
The only defense we truly have is educating prospective drivers and exposing the rip off artists. As time goes on, there will be more research and information available as to the correlation between those who succeed and those who fail and how it relates to how well they were trained. Someday we will likely hear of a trainee who crashes a truck and turns around and sues their driving school for not having properly prepared them.
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More Information & Reference
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A Quote By Jim Johnston, OOIDA President, from a keynote address to the International Truck and Bus Safety Symposium at the University of Tennessee.
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"Additionally, the lack of mandatory standardized training has left the door open for many abuses and a continuing influx of new and unprepared drivers. It is absolutely ludicrous that occupations such as barbers, hairdressers and insurance agents are required to go through mandatory training in order to be licensed, but that no training at all is required to obtain a license to operate an 80,000-pound truck over the highway."
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