Posted: 7/11/2012 5:32:32 AM EDT
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Work has asked me to get my CDL to be a bit more of a help when it comes to moving materials from manufacturer to job site. Not a big truck like an 18-wheeler but a 1-ton pick up with goose neck carrying either supplies or excavation equipment. I'm not going to go to a driving school or anything of the such, I'm just gonna study the hand book and see what happens.
I'm sure someone here has been through the process recently, have any insight? |
| Read up on the materials. It is easily do able this way. You will be either a class C or B CDL depending on the weights your employer intends you to haul. Once you get a CDL you will have to get a DOT medical card and submit a CDL-7 form filled out and supply a copy of the medical report to Austin. There is time requirements to get this submitted. If you fail to do this part your license may be downgraded to a class C license non CDL. New law went into effect March of this year. They are building a medical card data base similar to the vehicle insurance data base. All CDL drivers have until January 2014 to submit this info unless your license renews prior to this time. This is supposed to aid in building a federal data base for medical cards after January 2014 you will need to keep up your medical card and submit updates to the State but are not supposed to have to carry said DOT medical card. Also once you get a CDL you can no longer take deferred adjudication on a moving violation or a drivers safety course to get a ticket dismissed. |
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Read up on the materials. It is easily do able this way. You will be either a class C or B CDL depending on the weights your employer intends you to haul. Once you get a CDL you will have to get a DOT medical card and submit a CDL-7 form filled out and supply a copy of the medical report to Austin. There is time requirements to get this submitted. If you fail to do this part your license may be downgraded to a class C license non CDL. New law went into effect March of this year. They are building a medical card data base similar to the vehicle insurance data base. All CDL drivers have until January 2014 to submit this info unless your license renews prior to this time. This is supposed to aid in building a federal data base for medical cards after January 2014 you will need to keep up your medical card and submit updates to the State but are not supposed to have to carry said DOT medical card. Also once you get a CDL you can no longer take deferred adjudication on a moving violation or a drivers safety course to get a ticket dismissed. What all is involved with the medical card? Some sort of physical or is it something more simple? I think the route they want me to take is to have as much of a CDL as possible due to the possibility of driving a bigger truck if the needed came up. |
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Read the state CDL handbook you can download online. Get the "Bumper to Bumper complete guide to tractor-trailer operations" book and read that. Go to DPS and do the written (computer) tests (do all of them, they're easy) and get your CDL "learner's permit". Rent a truck from one of the area places and schedule a data to go do the road test. The truck rental place will meet you early and you get to drive the truck around the test route with the truck rental places driver instructing you. Back to the DPS, wait in line, get an inspector and go drive the route again with the inspector. Back to DPS, the truck rental folks head off with their truck and you finish the paperwork at DPS. If you get hazmat you have to make an appointment with L1 to do fingerprints. You can do the medical various places, such as the CVS Minute Clinic which does them for like $75 or so. It's really not difficult at all, overall you'll probably spend $750 or so between books, DPS fees, truck rental, fingerprints, med exam, etc.
Key thing to remember as noted already is you can't get out of tickets with a CDL, even in your private vehicle, there are potential random drug tests, 0.00 alcohol limit for CDL vehicles, i.e. any detectable is out of service, etc. |
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Thanks for the info, I do believe I am just psyching myself out about the whole ordeal. I won't be starting the process for at least another month considering my work schedule.
I've been told by several people that I needed to use a rental/training program for the driving test so I am pretty set on that route. The cost isn't an issue considering work is footing the bill for whatever is needed but I couldn't imagine deciding to become a driver and trying to come up with that money, I can kind of see why tons of people are looking for CDL drivers. |
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Medical test checks your hearing, vision, and basic ability to move nothing serious. Depending on whether or not you have insurance the DOT physical is fairly inexpensive have your employer pay if they want you to get your CDL Personally I have had employees get their CDL for around $70 total out of pocket but I do have the trucks to supply them. Another side note no cellular usage in a commercial vehicle unless it is totally hands free or face fines and your employer has to have a policy in place about cellular usage or he can face fines also. Also there is exemptions to some of the requirements depending upon the line of business you are in. Look at 49CFR part 391it lists some of the medical exemptions and the Texas CDL handbook has some of the license exemptions also. I obtained my A CDL after reading the combination section in about 15 minutes ,took the test for a permit, drove the truck twice, and then finally taking the driving test. I did have my B CDL prior to this though.
I am currently working on getting 28 medical forms completed to send in for my staff. |
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Isn't it something that automatically expires when you don't renew? I was thinking if for some reason I didn't renew my CDL my license would just revert back to standard issue class C. If you don't renew as a CDL it does revert back to a Class C, if you don't renew at all you revert to no license. I also have not tested the waters yet but it is my understanding that if you pass the renewal date of your license you have to start over completely as if you never had a license NO GRACE PERIOD. |
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Thanks for the info, I do believe I am just psyching myself out about the whole ordeal. I won't be starting the process for at least another month considering my work schedule. I've been told by several people that I needed to use a rental/training program for the driving test so I am pretty set on that route. The cost isn't an issue considering work is footing the bill for whatever is needed but I couldn't imagine deciding to become a driver and trying to come up with that money, I can kind of see why tons of people are looking for CDL drivers. A lot of those companies looking for CDL drivers will train them as long as they sign up to drive for the company for at least two years. There are basically two routes to a CDL - an actual CDL driving school ($$$) or the DIY and rent a truck for the morning route ($). If you decide to become a driver and have no $ then the sign up with a big carrier and let them train you is you main option. If you have a bit of money and want to get a CDL to have it, for a backup job, etc. then the DIY route for $500-750 seems reasonable. I can't really see paying the $$$ for a full CDL school on your own when the DIY route is pretty easy and you end up with the same CDL either way. |
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I got a job in college refueling the campus buses. I had to get a class B CDL to drive the buses from the parking lot to the refueling station next door. I refueled 15 buses a day on average, but once I did 30. You get very good at parking and turning in tight areas.
But basically I studied the book, took like 200 questions worth of test. Then a student "instructor" took me out on three separate occasions to drive the bus a bit. Then I went and took the test. The DPS testers were very subjective. Some didn't want you turning a certain way on a certain road, other testers downgraded because you didn't turn that way down that road. But I passed on my first attempt. I refueled buses for one semester, turned out to have lots of bullshit attached to it and I quit. Kept my license all these years just in case I went completely busted, I could drive a bus for a living or something. Just not worth it anymore if I don't drive for a living. Biggest truck we use at work is the GMC 2500's with an 18ft cattle trailer or 18ft flatbed. |
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Quoted:The DPS testers were very subjective. Some didn't want you turning a certain way on a certain road, other testers downgraded because you didn't turn that way down that road. But I passed on my first attempt.
This. The CDL truck rental places will know which DPS offices have "sane" inspectors who realize the point of the test is to ensure you have control of the truck and aren't a hazard to other drivers, vs. the inspectors who think you need to be ready for the trucker's rodeo in order to get a basic license. |
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A great online test pool to study with.
http://www.cristcdl.com/otc/ The written test is pretty easy. The "schools" know the route on the driving test and that's what they'll teach you. You can usually rent the truck by the hour a few times and get it down pretty good. The physical is a joke at best. They just want your $100. Eye chart at 15' or whatever. You talking to them is the hearing test. Drop your pants and get felt up and out the door you go with your new card. It'll be good for 2 years if you have no health issues. Blood pressure, diabetes, sleep apnea, etc will cause you to only get a one year card. Also, if you're overweight by more than a few pounds the feds are pushing for mandatory sleep apnea testing. Without insurance that will run you $3-5,000. And they'll tell you that you have it, because everyone has it and the machine is another grand. You wonder why you see more and more kids driving trucks these days...it's because the b/s from DOT is barely worth it anymore! |
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I passed the cdl about a year ago and I know nothing about all this medical stuff.
Do all commercial vehicles have to be dot? We just drive ours no log books drug test or physicals not that we have any problems but................ We do not carry for hire .? Do not drive out of state. Two of us passed the test with no problem and the driving test was easy too. They tell you what to do and what not to do. I listened 
Driving test was easy considering that both of us had been driving for years with out the cdl. 
They got kiinda pissy when we said we wanted to take all the test at one time and that we were ready to drive without the learners permit. Told them that we had driven off road for years which was true. Trouble was we drove on road to get off road. Thought it was about time after hearing about 5k fine. |
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I passed the cdl about a year ago and I know nothing about all this medical stuff. Do all commercial vehicles have to be dot? We just drive ours no log books drug test or physicals not that we have any problems but................ We do not carry for hire .? Do not drive out of state. Two of us passed the test with no problem and the driving test was easy too. They tell you what to do and what not to do. I listened
Driving test was easy considering that both of us had been driving for years with out the cdl.
They got kiinda pissy when we said we wanted to take all the test at one time and that we were ready to drive without the learners permit. Told them that we had driven off road for years which was true. Trouble was we drove on road to get off road. Thought it was about time after hearing about 5k fine. You've just been lucky... Anything over 10,000 GVW alone or in combination (capacity) is consisdered a commercial vehicle if used in the course of business. A CDL is needed when you get to 26K GVW or a towed unit in excess of 10K (or more than 15 passengers) You can drive without log books within 100/150 air mile radius of home office if you start and end there each day but you must still follow hours of service rules A valid medical card is required to operate a commercial vehicle It's just a matter of time before you're cited, enforcement has been really stepped up in the last couple of years with CSA 2010 |
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Not entirely correct. Texas doesn't consider a vehicle or combo of vehicles, used solely intrastate, to be DOT till it has a gross vech weight over 26000. Any interstate over 10000 is considered DOT You're right but it gets a little murky in that as of 9/1/2009 TxDOT requires all intrastate carriers to get a USDOT number TxDOT . If you display a USDOT number on the vehicle then it's 10K GVW. |
| "All motor carriers that are required to have Texas motor carrier registration" below 26000 ( non hazmat) isnt required to have a number as Texas doesnt consider anything used in intrastate below that a commercial vehicle for purposes of the tx dot. was going to get the number for you but TxDot changed their website and the links broken. We run both DOT and non DOT trucks/trailers in a oilfield well service company and spend considerable time making sure we follow the rules to the letter. That way it doesn't cost us money. |
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What the heck does sleep apnea have to do with driving a truck? If you fall asleep while you're driving, you're fucked anyway. The theory is that it makes you more prone to falling asleep while driving, thus sending your 80,000# battering ram careening into the line of cars stopped at the toll booth... |
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Thanks for the info, I do believe I am just psyching myself out about the whole ordeal. I won't be starting the process for at least another month considering my work schedule. I've been told by several people that I needed to use a rental/training program for the driving test so I am pretty set on that route. The cost isn't an issue considering work is footing the bill for whatever is needed but I couldn't imagine deciding to become a driver and trying to come up with that money, I can kind of see why tons of people are looking for CDL drivers. Tons of people are looking for CDL drivers because insurance company's require most of them to hire only people with two years or more of recent experience. This means when truck drivers retire there's no one to replace them because no ones willing to train new people to replace the ones retiring (insurance company's won't let them). Same things going on with the airline industry (have to be at least 23 before they can hire you). But then why would you want to spend 200,000.00 on training for a 25,000.00 a year job? The insurance company's basically screw people out of being able to get a job and then the company's whine and cry because they can't find anyone to do the job. |
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You'll have to have a class a to drive a truck/trailer over 26000. the tests not hard just forget everything you know and study the book. right or wrong the book is the only answer that is RIGHT LOL bullshit you don't have to take a class to drive a truck over 26k. I have a Class A with with Air brake endorsement from reading that book and taking the driving portion with a Bucket truck with air brakes and a short (16') DOT registered trailer for said bucket truck. I am able (NOT Qualified though) to drive the big ass trucks. The largest the company has I am working for right now is a Sterling with a 45' equip trailer. Its a scary ride cause you can look down into the cabs of real 18 wheel rigs while driving it and I have issues with heights. I have had my CDL for 3 years now and only use it when working for the company I am currently doing work for waiting on my next overseas contract. Study the book, and while your at it go ahead and get the class A, The comment about the Ride alongs is correct though. I got mine out of the Cleburne office and the first shot was with some old lady who didn't even let me get the truck started before failing me. The next one was a young girl who was texting the whole time. I coulda ran down a herd of cattle and I don't think she would have noticed. |
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Thanks for the info, I do believe I am just psyching myself out about the whole ordeal. I won't be starting the process for at least another month considering my work schedule. I've been told by several people that I needed to use a rental/training program for the driving test so I am pretty set on that route. The cost isn't an issue considering work is footing the bill for whatever is needed but I couldn't imagine deciding to become a driver and trying to come up with that money, I can kind of see why tons of people are looking for CDL drivers. Tons of people are looking for CDL drivers because insurance company's require most of them to hire only people with two years or more of recent experience. This means when truck drivers retire there's no one to replace them because no ones willing to train new people to replace the ones retiring (insurance company's won't let them). Same things going on with the airline industry (have to be at least 23 before they can hire you). But then why would you want to spend 200,000.00 on training for a 25,000.00 a year job? The insurance company's basically screw people out of being able to get a job and then the company's whine and cry because they can't find anyone to do the job. $25000? I made more than that in 1984. We have about 10 CDL drivers here in south Texas. They make about $16 hr starting off and top out at $22. They get about 60 hours a week. Over time after fourty, paid insurance, 40 hr guaranteed every week. My last year driving before I made manager I grossed $80000 and slept in my own bed nearly every night. |