>there's a school in grand rapids called west michigan cdl
>that has a class b program
hondaking38, I am following up a bit on the above quoted message from bluegoose.
The following story is factual, however, "the names have been changed to protect the innocent" (Dragnet, 1967).
I live 45 minutes away from "XYZ CDL Training School" (XYZ). A few months ago when I was actively pursuing a Class B CDL, I visited XYZ and two other schools and found them (XYZ) to be extremely helpful to me. The other two schools seemed to have a more lackadaisical attitude towards me. XYZ also has evenings/weekends training, (for an additional cost over their regular training rate), which was going to work out very well with my family's schedule. And now for the reason I am telling you this. Before arranging for the training, I called two OTR companies who I had researched and found them willing to take on new drivers directly out of training school. When I told them where I was going to get my training from, they inquired about the training regiment. I told them exactly what the regiment was, and they told me in no uncertain terms that the training I was going to receive there was insufficient according to their standards. They claimed they needed a more comprehensive training than what XYZ was providing. I informed them that the evenings/weekends was one-on-one with the instructor, and as so enabled me to have more actual driving time (quoting from XYZ's brochures) than the other schools I had visited. They were adamant and politely told me that they could not hire me on without (in their words) more comprehensive training. Now to confuse matters, there are several very well known and respected companies which sponsor get-togethers at XYZ to meet prospective drivers. I attended two separate get-togethers (I can't think of a better term right now) and was not surprised to learn that they hire drivers directly from school, with a one month "on job training" with one of their experienced drivers. Mind you, XYZ Training School is not some fly-by-night facility, they had a nice three-acre paved training ground and have graduated over 1200 drivers. I guess my whole point to this factual story is this; if you have a particular company you have your heart set on driving for, you may want to call them first and check to confirm that the CDL training school you may be about to enroll in is on their "approved" list, if they even have such a list. For some reason, and it is arguable that it may be due to ignorance on the recruiter's part for neither of them had personal knowledge of XYZ Training School, but a legal CDL from XYZ Training School may not be equal to a legal CDL from ABC Training School.
Larry Badger
DISCLAIMER: The names of any companies mentioned in the above message are fictional, and any connection to a legally valid company with the same name is strictly coincidental, and not meant to defame or libel.
The viewpoints/opinions expressed above by its author, Larry Badger, are the author's viewpoints/opinions alone.
