With reputable schools, you’ll be pre-hired with your education paid for after you complete your CDL training. This isn’t a problem for those who signed an employment contract, as they’re pre-qualified with a company before they pass their exam. Those that aren’t under an employment contract can often be pre-hired as well, depending on the nature of your school’s CDL program, and better schools will have a pre-hire program. If you’re not pre-hired, many schools have a career services program that can help you find a position that’s right for you, as there’s still a massive, nationwide driver shortage. Outside of your school, there are many resources such as blogs, job boards or websites like https://www.cdlboards.com that can help you find the position you want.
CDL Training after Graduation
After you either sign with a carrier or pass your CDL exam, you’ll typically move on to advanced training with your new employer. This is often paid training, and you will work directly with a company trainer to hone more advanced techniques. The time that this period of training lasts varies from carrier to carrier, sometimes simply boiling down to “When you’re ready”.
After the final stretch of training, it’s most common for carriers to start new drivers off with Over-The-Road (OTR) routes, which are long distance and frequently see drivers on the road for multiple days at a time. After six months of experience, you’ll usually be able to move around more and switch to other roles such as Local drivers, Dedicated, Dispatchers and driver Trainers, being able to make up to 93k per year or greater at some jobs.