Guide to Finding the Best Trucking School

In order to help you succeed before you even apply to a trucking school, we suggest you read the guideline below to help you determine the most important factors in your decision-making.

When considering a trucking school always remember to ask the following questions:

  1. What is the ratio of students to instructors in the truck? (4:1 is typical in most truck driving schoools; some go as low as 1:1)
  2. How new or old is the equipment at the trucking school? (You obviously want to use modern tractor trailers).
  3. Does the truck driving school offer job placement? And if the first trucking company does not work out for you, does the school offer job placement again?

Steps to Finding the Best Trucking School

  1. Find a trucking school in your area
  2. There are large truck driving schools with locations in many cities and towns, and many more local truck driver programs that are easy to find through online directories
  3. We recommend finding a trucking school that is a member of the Commercial Vehicle Training Association (CVTA). Schools that are members of CVTA have passed a higher set of criteria than many other trucking schools. Trucking companies know this, and could be more likely to higher students from a school with the highest standards.
    Our research and relationships with nationally recognized educational instutions is an invaluable part of our loan decision. When we approve a loan, we know that you will be going to a school that has a high level of graduates who have been successful for many years after graduation.

Check Out the Local Job Market.

Reviewing job listing in your area not only helps you asses your opportunities and pay potential, but also give you an idea of what kind of truck driver you really want to be. Would you like to see the entire country in your first year of driving? Would you prefer to stay closer to home? If you want to travel across America, then see how many entry level truck driving jobs are available for OTR (over the road or "long haul"). If you prefer to stay closer to home, then Regional trucking jobs is what you would be looking at. More than likely, there will be more OTR positions, so researching what is available in your area, and deciding what kind of truck driver you want to be will also help you in your trucking school decision.