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The ad in the newspaper or recruiter magazine always starts with " up to 40,000 a year", we will do the math later on. Lets start at the beginning, where there is you, a ton of bills and your at the end of your rope. So, what the hell, you decide to try a truck school. If you are the average person, you might have bad credit, so getting a loan to go to a Community College school or a private school is out. You can't afford it. But your eye spies a small banner at the bottom of the ad that reads, " NO CDL, No Problem", not only that, but read on , it also states" No credit check." Are you kidding me?, this sounds too good to be true. Unfortunately, it is.

The bigger trucking companies in the US have a neat little scam going on, and its making them very wealthy. Not the drivers, but the owners of the companies. Its very simple, really. Basically, heres how it goes. The trucking company gets a new recruit, and sends them off to their own CDL school, it costs them very little to maintain, and charge you 3000 bucks. You have to sign a note stipulating that you will stay on with said company for one year, so that you can pay them back, at a cost to you of 75 dollars a week.You are not fed for the time you are at the school, but are giving housing, which is usually a run down motel. Be prepared to save what little money you have to take with you, its all you have to live on.If you have a wife and children at home, this can be difficult.After the school graduates you, and now you have your CDL, you are assigned a trainer or mentor. This too, is a long process. Some students may have to wait up to 3 weeks for a trainer or mentor. When you trainer shows up, you are officially a driver student, making 350 dollars a week, some companies might raise the pay every 2 weeks, so at the end of training, you could be making 500 dollars a week. Not all companies though, so be careful, there a re a few truck companies that pay you 350 a week for the duration of your Over The Road(OTR) training period. Again, if you have a spouse at home with children, think to yourself, you have to send money home to the family, and yet try to feed and take care of yourself. But wait, it gets worse! Thats right, now that your an employee of this company, you now have to start paying back your student loan, deduct 75 from 350 dollars and you can see how ruff its getting. The trainer is under no obligation to feed you nor is he looking out for whatever needs you may have. This goes on for anywhere

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