I recently had the opportunity to speak at length with a driver who said he had attended a "CDL Mill".  It was a very interesting conversation.

The driver I spoke with did not want his name revealed so I will call him only "John".  John attended Prime's school in Springfield, MO.  I surfed Prime's website for more information about their training programs but found little.  More surfing revealed that they use MTC Truck Driver Training in Springfield, MO and St Louis, MO.  I would provide a link to Prime's site, but on their site is a warning that says:  "External Links directed to www.primeinc.com or any of its web pages, is forbidden without the express consent of Prime, Inc."  All I can wonder is who would want to link to this company's page, anyway?  So, I guess if you want to surf their site you will need to cut and paste the above web address 'cause Prime will get mad if I link to it. 

In my opinion, after what I have been told, Prime has a lot more to worry about than external hyperlinks. 

John's three week long class started with twenty seven people.  Thirteen were left at graduation. The first week was spent, according to John, "being given the answers to all the CDL written tests."  I asked John if they covered anything other than material that would be on CDL tests.  He said they glossed over the logbook but that his trainer had to teach him how to do it because the school hardly covered it.  "Nothing was even said about winter, mountain grades or snow and ice," John said.  "The focus was getting the answers for the CDL tests only.

The second week was spent driving the highway or one of three pre-set routes and backing.  Backing consisted of the 45 degree alley dock and straight line back over and over.  They did not work on any other backing exercises.  John said the instructor showed you how to do the 45 once or twice and then the student was left on his/her own to figure it out.

The third week they were CDL tested by a 3rd party tester who took students on one of the three routes that they had practiced in the second week.

John said the instructors were "impatient and discriminatory."  I asked John how he had made it when many others had failed.  He said, "I never did very well in high school when it came to classes like English and Math but I found that I was good at working with my hands.  I could build things.  I could take them apart and put them back together.  Shifting and driving came pretty naturally to me."  John credits his mechanical aptitude when it comes to passing the course.

The cost of the course was $4500.00.  John said that by the time a student paid the interest, the price doubled to $9000.00.  He said that a student had 72 hours from the start of the course to walk away free.  If they left at a later point, they would be responsible for the entire debt.  I am not able at this time to verify this.  I can understand it if a student is held liable for the cost of a physical and drug screen, but for the entire fee?  That's robbery.

I asked John if he had any advice for new drivers when it came to choosing a driving school.  He went silent a moment and then said only, "Go to a community college program."