What You Can Expect from Truck Driving School

When you have decided to change your life for the better and earn your Commercial Driver’s License, or CDL, then you need to find the right truck driving school. There are many CDL training programs in Portland, but it is important to find the one that will offer you an extensive and comprehensive education on truck driving and the trucking industry. Learn more about what you can expect from truck driving school by reading below.

Four Weeks of Training

Earning your CDL requires time and dedicated training. However, truck driving programs have been created to fast-track drivers into trucking jobs as soon as possible. To achieve a comprehensive and quick education, though, you will need to dedicate about a month of your time to classes, tests, and equipment training. Truck driving programs include a total of 160 hours of training. This adds up to four weeks of full-time hours spent learning the rules of truck driving and gaining practical experience driving a real truck.

Various Practice Tests

After your CDL training program, you still need to pass the Department of Motor Vehicles’ test to officially obtain your CDL certification and any endorsements—such as hazardous materials, tank vehicles, and double or triple trailers—you choose to carry. Your truck driving school will offer several practice tests to help you prepare for and pass these important certification tests.

Hands-on Truck Driving

You can only learn so much from reading trucking manuals and taking practice tests. In the end, you need hands-on experience in the cab of a truck. You will learn how to drive, inspect, and maintain a tractor and trailer by driving a truck and watching your fellow classmates drive. Your truck driving school should utilize modern equipment that will be similar to other rigs you will drive. This experience is crucial to providing you with the right knowledge to earn your CDL and safely and effectively drive a truck for a future trucking job.