Dan Rather and Truck Driving Schools
Posted on Jan 13, 2010 - 12:09am by Wayne Weisser in Trucking
Dan Rather on HDNet has done a few reports on trucking. Mostly about training, trainees and company training programs. This episode, Dan goes straight to a trucking school in Detroit, MI. A place where the economy has hit the hardest and people are desperate for work, any kind of work. This is about a private trucking school that promised students jobs and promised they would be making a lot of money in a recession proof industry.
For most of us, this is nothing new and we’ve heard the horror stories of trucking schools and a rookie’s first year of trucking. This puts it out there for the rest of the public.
More crooks in the trucking industry stealing money from people that just want to work.
THIS IS REQUIRED VIEWING FOR ANYONE THINKING OF GOING TO TRUCKING SCHOOL. For the rest of us it sounds all too familiar and will make most of us sick, again.
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There are trucking schools all over here in Michigan-and it’s one of the places ‘Michigan Works’ likes to send the unemployed to be retrained (anyone on unemployment has to deal with ‘Michigan Works’-a contracted corporation that supposedly helps people get jobs and training). In some ways, you cant blame the State, as there are NO OTHER JOBS available. The state and intermediaries dont have the foggiest idea what the job even entails and try to send desperate people totally unsuited into the field as they see it a ‘just another 9-5 job’. The state DOL lists truck driving as one of the ‘expected growth industries’ for the state. A lot of it is because of the constant spiel of the ‘truck driver shortage’ they hear from the ‘industry’. But, Michigan is a dead-end state for trucking . . .carriers dont like to hire from Michigan as they dont have enough freight to get people home and they increase out-of-route and deadhead miles when they hire a Michigan trucker. It isnt ‘on the way’ to anywhere! When automotive went bust, most of the trucking in the state went with it. What is left is mostly the lowest-paid, fly-by-night companies that just chew drivers up and spit them out. The guy that owns the Ambassador Bridge, several auto parts distribution warehouses, Central Transport and several other trucking companies has automotive locked up pretty tight. Anybody whose ever dealt with that bunch wouldnt call trucking a good job! The lies from the trucking schools are the same ones you’ve always heard from them . . .$60-70,000 your first year? That’s a sad, sad joke. These displaced auto workers (and construction, as many of the trades around Detroit worked almost exclusively within the auto plants, handling line changes) are being told they can learn to haul products that are no longer being made here! Nobody with a record of any kind will get a job here as he wont be able to cross into Canada-a requirement. Existing auto loads consist mostly of to and from the Mexican border and you’re not gonna take that guy’s job away from him. He most likely doesnt live in Michigan, either – he’s from Texas – the other end of the line, with a lower cost of living and lower wage expectations.
All this is now is a scam to take either taxpayer $$ thru grants or loan people money they most likely cant pay back. Once again, its one more crooked system going on in an industry that has always thrived on crooked systems and driver abuse. Trucking is recession-proof? Hell, we probably see the recession coming before the Wall Street pundits do! And the pond scum-sucking truck driver training outfits in the Detroit area are probably the worst in the country. After 9-11, we found out one of them in Dearborn had actually trained 28 drivers, all named Mohammad, to haul hazmat! Many were operating on the same CDL! Some had school bus CDLs with a hazmat endorsement! That should have been enough to have the entire truck driver training industry seriously investigated, at least by the State of Michigan. Didnt happen. Instead, the scam continues, destroying peoples lives.
what bull i heard in this video.i went to a trucking school 8 mo ago,and i was told i wold make 32,000 to 40,000 my first year..well i am on my way to making 35,000 ( never turn down loads and stay on the road ) its how u make it in the trucking ind. dont cry cause u cant make it…i with a vary good co. look at those that were in the video do u think they were cut out to drive..i mean 30 years and cant retire..come on stop living the rich life i dont drive a sport car dont have a big house..but my car is paid for and i rent an apt..and still have plenty of money in the bank…sooooo dont knook all schools and dont knook on the trucking ind..if u never done it for the long haul stay away..
So you can tell if someone can make it as a driver just by looking at them? Good for you. Be grateful you found a good company from the start.
Just because someone has 30 years and can’t retire doesn’t mean anything. People had their savings, investments and retirement plans wiped out for a number of reasons.
You’ll see drivers out there 60 and 70 yrs old still driving after 30+ years with nothing in the bank, what does that make them? Sounds like you don’t have a family to support so you’ll probably do okay at trucking until you get a family a couple of ex’s and child support payments or buy a truck that breaks down more than it runs or have your “good” company go out of business or a thousand other things that can happen to drivers.
Most schools are happy to take the grants for their fees, but the school that was spotlighted was particularly crooked convincing people to take a loan from their loan company instead of waiting for a free grant. That should be criminal. 32k to 40k is a big difference from 50k+ those people were told.
Glad trucking is working out for you, but you shouldn’t be so assuming of other people’s situations, that just makes you sound like an arrogant ass.
If its all about safety AND background how come I hold hazmat in one name and Id in another…hehehe…..
I believe its good to test trucking and the government rules in place….so today I spin my head and wonder who I am? LOL
Maybe I should ask the government…….hehehe
TRUCKING IS PERHAPS THE MOST CORRUPTION WE WILL EVER SEE IN OUR LIFE…..MADOFF DOESN’T HAVE ANYTHING ON THIS GIG….FROM THE BANKERS….BUT WE SEE WHERE WE ARE AS A NATION..BROKE!! All things come to light….
Keep us alive truckers, you’re appreciated….and much respect!!