The CDL School

Great school, lead instructor Ed is great can teach anyone to drive, trucks are nice except one of the really old ones. But you can’t expect to teach people on brand new trucks. When you take the course, show up on time be prepared to learn, if you listen they can teach you everything quickly and you will be driving in no time!

I called a month in advance of my road test to schedule a lesson and was waiting to hear back from them on the day to schedule. I did not hear back for 2 weeks so I called and was once again told it wouldn’t be a problem but they would call back and get my CC. Called the morning of the day before my road test and they told me they couldn’t accommodate me and that I should have called sooner. I was going to pay them $ 250 for a 2 hour lesson in my Truck.
Road tests take over a month to schedule, and I need my CDL for my Job. Extremely unprofessional.

XXX First of all please do your research. Many trucking companies will pay for your CDL or bring you out to their school so don’t commit until you talk to them. There are two programs in Albany that offer grant money. Go to Career Central 175 Central ave, Albany and ask them. Do not use the CDL school financing unless you have exhausted every other option! That is where they make their money and why they ask for references so they can track you down if you owe them money.
The program costs about $ 6,500 for the 160hr Class A CDL. That equates to about $ 40 an hour you are paying for the program. What you are actually paying for and what you actually get is to rent and practice on their vehicles in their 75yd by 75yd practice yard. Most people can pass the DMV computer test after studying for it but if you choose to skip this instruction you only save $ 90. The $ 90 is worth taking their practice tests and the instruction you get in the classroom. I had Mike and he was informative and knew the course material.
They have 9 vehicles on the lot. Four of them are actually inspected and registered for the students to use on the road. Two of the nine are junkers and don’t work. The others are in poor condition but run and do the job for instruction purposes. One is missing a shock absorber, one has frayed air lines, one has multiple hood damage and some don’t have operationally treaded or matching tires. They all leak and the mechanic was there 5 or 6 times during my 4 weeks. At least they called the mechanic I thought!
The office staff is good except for the one who hates her job and the students who pay her salary. They are never seen in the yard and work only from 8 – 4. I never once saw the director out in the yard, watching the students or supervising her staff. She was only there part time and seemed totally disconnected from the operations.
There are only three instructors on site and like today there was just one instructor for four moving vehicles in the yard. Although this is great for the students to get hands on practice with the vehicles I don’t think it is smart or safe. The head instructor does not do any instruction. He takes people on road tests and to the DMV test but mostly sits in the bus staying warm or smoking. On three occasions I asked him directly to teach me or show me something and he said no and would not come out of the bus. Either another student is assisting you or helping or you are figuring it out on your own. Most of the time in the yard you are doing straight backing, parallel parking and offset parking.
They had a very hard time with the scheduling. They had a hard time tracking which student had done what training, what time should we come in and they could never tell you what you were doing the next day. On two occasions the head instructor was over an half hour late causing everyone to stand around waiting on him to get the keys to start the vehicles. The office staff would print the schedule but the instructor would change the times on the fly and not tell all the students or the other staff.
They do not adhere to the crawl, walk and then run training method. They threw me into a 10 speed manual tractor trailer for my first time on the road. They should let you and ensure that all students drive the automatic for their first time on the road to ensure they get comfortable. Learning the upshifting and downshifting is the hardest part of the program. They don’t use any simulators or other simpler training aids to teach the movements. There are many places in Albany with large lots where they could take you to practice just the upshifting and downshifting first prior to adding all the other distractions into it. I recommended that they let us get comfortable with double clutching in one of the junkers while they are not running (which works well) but they did not agree. You tube has many good videos on all aspects of trucking and training.
Most of your time will be spend waiting, doing pre trip inspections and watching other people do parking maneuvers since they are multiple students assigned to each vehicle. Be prepared to hear your instructor yell at you, grab your hand and leg while shifting and to be condescending and critical. They do not use much positive feedback. I can totally understand this job must be tedious, boring and then stressful at times but not everyone is built to train students. They lack the empathy to appreciate not everyone has 20 years of trucking experience or even driving time.
Overall I would recommend the program and course but only if you can get tuition reimbursement or grant money. You have to ask yourself is it worth it?