C1/Driver’s Solutions

I have had a fondness for big trucks for as long as I can remember. However, due to raising a family, I was never able to do more than admire the big rigs. Finally, just a few years ago, I took the first step. With my children grown, and nothing to tie me down, I enrolled in a local truck driving school. Even though I did not continue on with over the road training, I did get my class A license, which is required to drive eighteen wheels. Hopefully, my experience will help someone else know what to expect from a three-week cdl driving school.

I chose C1 because the school was ten minutes from where I lived and they advertised being on the road earning money in as little as three weeks. I had not done any previous research and had no idea what to expect when I gave them a call. When they referred me to Drivers Solutions, I assumed that was how all truck driving schools operated. Who is Drivers Solutions? Well, I eventually discovered they are a third party that gets a new driver a prehire (which simply means you meet requirements for being hired), through either USA Trucking or PAM Transport. The trucking company will then pay your tuition at C1 as long as you agree to drive for them one year. Looking back, I’m not sure what Driver’s Solutions actually did that I could not have done on my own, but at the time it sounded good, especially with the promise of lifetime job placement.

Once I submitted my application to Driver’s Solutions over the phone, they checked my driving record, got me a prehire, and set a date to begin school. Meanwhile, I got a copy of my state’s cdl manual from the Department of Motor Vehicles and began studying. I also read everything I could find on the company that had given me a prehire, and on trucking in general. The whole process happened fairly quickly, and before long I was starting my first day at C1 truck driving school.

The first few days of school were spent on paperwork, drug testing, getting a DOT physical, studying for (and taking) the cdl written test in order to get a learner’s permit, and learning about log books. There was even a very brief lesson on map reading. This was all a very fast paced process with lots of memorization and testing, but it was also a laid back environment. The classroom instructor apparently missed his calling as a comedian, because I don’t think I ever laughed as much as I did that first week of school. There was also a lot of stress involved as students were weeded out for one reason or another. While students were in the classroom, the office people were busy verifying information and communicating back and forth with Driver’s Solutions and the trucking companies. Occasionally, someone would be called to the office for questions, or to make phone calls, and sometimes he or she never came back to the classroom.

There was no obligation the first couple of days, and a student could walk away not owing anything. However, at one point, contracts were brought out and students signed away a year of their lives to the company they hoped to drive for. Unfortunately, it is only the student who has an obligation in this contract. The company can decide to not hire the student at any point during this process, leaving the student owing the full amount of tuition. Once all the paperwork was completed, physicals and permits obtained, and logbook class passed, classroom ended.

The next phase was spent in and out of the trucks, beginning with pretripping (learning the parts of the truck and making sure it’s road ready). During that time, students alternated between the different backing exercises. If you were not actually backing, you had to be spotting or studying for the pretrip test. C1 had a very rigid method of teaching backing skills. Students were taught exactly how many times to turn the steering wheel, and exactly how many feet to move the truck before turning, to jack the trailer in between the cones. Half the day was spent working on backing skills and the other half taking the truck out on the street with an instructor, rain or shine.

Finally, each student was required to pass C1’s backing skills, and road test, before being allowed to take the state’s driving test. Even then, some passed and some did not. Those who failed went back to the yard and practiced before being allowed to give it another try.

All in all, C1 was a positive experience for me. A lot of learning was crammed into a short period of time, but the school worked with each student as much as possible. One instructor even regularly volunteered to stay late at night, after being there all day, to help students who were having a difficult time with backing skills. While a three week route may not be the best way to go for some, this school helped me get my class A license in that length of time, as advertised.


People also view

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *