Getting CDL

showcrop

Well-known Member
I got my CDL many years ago old school. I used to take employees to get theirs. I would train and coach them, then take them for their test. I have a young friend who is a very ambitious who wants to get his. HE DOES NOT NEED IT FOR WORK, NOR IS IT OFFERED WHERE HE WORKS, and he does not want to go to one of the rip-off schools for it. I suggested joining his local call fire dept. Anybody got any other ideas on how to get one outside of work?
 
I don't have an easy answer for you but in my state neither of your suggestions would work. Our fire departments are exempt from CDL's and so are the farmers. I do not know a single farmer in my area that has a truck that would pass a DOT inspection to get a CDL.
 
Lots of guys here in N.H.got their licenses through the fire departments.I do know that the fire and municipal workers are exempt from the medical card requirements.In my town the towns insurance company required commercial licensing for the fire truck drivers,so nobody ever paid much attention to what the law required.Unless you have a rabbi with a truck,who you can work with,I don't see many options other than the schools.You can count on two road trip tests,you always get to fail the first one.Most fail on their pre-trip inspection.After you fail you get to pay the fee to take the test again.There aren't too many guys that will let people take their truck for a test anymore.The truck gets a thorough DOT check at the time of the test.There is no way I would pass that test now,I got my TT license in 1976.Their attitude then was that you need road time,not class time to learn how to drive.
 
(quoted from post at 15:12:46 10/06/18) Lots of guys here in N.H.got their licenses through the fire departments.I do know that the fire and municipal workers are exempt from the medical card requirements.In my town the towns insurance company required commercial licensing for the fire truck drivers,so nobody ever paid much attention to what the law required.Unless you have a rabbi with a truck,who you can work with,I don't see many options other than the schools.You can count on two road trip tests,you always get to fail the first one.Most fail on their pre-trip inspection.After you fail you get to pay the fee to take the test again.There aren't too many guys that will let people take their truck for a test anymore.The truck gets a thorough DOT check at the time of the test.There is no way I would pass that test now,I got my TT license in 1976.Their attitude then was that you need road time,not class time to learn how to drive.

Hey Keith, you didn't by chance go to a woods fire in Raymond last spring did you?
 
No,I never joined a fire department.My brother in law was chief here in town for quite a while,He was with the fire department for around 40 years.(volunteer)He did quit a few years ago.He got his license through the fire department back in the mid-70's.Three town fire departments made arrangements for guys to take tests,and he asked the licensing officer at the time if he could bring a truck and trailer.The guy said sure,I can ride just as well in a TT as a fire truck.The problem back then with fire trucks was that they were all single axle trucks,so you could only get a light commercial license.Today you can get a class B,but that is limited to trucks only,no tagalong trailers.For a tag trailer,you can get a class A,combination,with an I restriction,pintle hook only.
 
A class B is truck up to 26,000# AND trailer up to 10,000#. That is what I had but I turned mine inseveral years ago when I went on SS and had to renew mine as with the tanker and hasmat I could not renew locally, would have had to go about a hundred mile from home to renew and I knew I was not going to need it. But that class B is what I had to have to pull fertilizer or spray trailers workinh for the fertilizer plant. And no I did not have the air brake, just tanker and hazmat. And the hitch was just a pin as the trailers I needed it for were just wagons with the fertilizer or spray beds.
 

Check out your local Community Colleges. We have one here in SW Missouri that offers CDL training, and another one not too far away in eastern Kansas that does the same. They even have inspectors who will do your testing once you finish the course.
 
(quoted from post at 07:52:31 10/08/18)
Check out your local Community Colleges. We have one here in SW Missouri that offers CDL training, and another one not too far away in eastern Kansas that does the same. They even have inspectors who will do your testing once you finish the course.

That is a good idea Ronnie. I will pass it on.
 
I quit taking my physical for my cdl. But
can still drive intrastate. If you want to
drive interstate just go take and pass
physical. If you really can't find a semi
and trailer to take test in go rent one.
Our Fertilizer chemical and seed companys
are desperate to find drivers. I'm sure if
you would just say you would help out in
emergencys they would help. They would have
to pay someone to go with you to get
license. You would need to reimburse for
truck and guy. I took a boy a while
back,figure it cost $500. 55 miles one way,
plus fuel and missed revenue. But its not
all about $.
 
In N.H.now you need to maintain the medical card to keep your driving privileges.The intrastate thing has been dropped here.Municipal and fire are exempt.It needs to be on file with the state.My card expires next month,I got the notice telling me to get my card or lose my CDL rights.I do have two years to renew it,but I just have no CDL privileges until I do.If I let the two years go by,then I have to go through the CDL licensing process from scratch.There are no rental places around here that will rent you a truck and trailer to get a license.They got wise to that a few years ago.My friend rented a truck because his tractor was down,he had to produce a license at the time of rental.We used mine because he had a speeding ticket on his,mine was clean.It cost $750.to rent the truck for the week,but that was the minimum they would rent it for.The contract specified I was to be the only driver,he had to show proof of insurance for his trailer,and was not to be used for educational purposes.The Ryder guy told us that they had taken a lot of hits from learners.
 
Didn't know Ryder had thought of learners. I was lucky my father in law had a little F600 and single axle moving van. It had air brakes. But here in the mid-west fertilizer co's are.desperate for part time tender drivers.
 
Funny thing is they had no problem renting a straight truck with not too many questions asked.It seems like just a few years ago you could walk into Ryder,say I need a tractor,light spec OK,hand them your license,proof of insurance for your trailer,hand over $600.and drive out.If you said anything but light spec you opened a can of worms though.
 
I got my CDL 2 years ago thru a 6 week training course at the community college. $3500 tuition. There are a couple 3 day courses in Northern Iowa that cost $600 or so at that time. There were restrictions. One was automatic transmission only. They were graduating students without knowing how to drive manual. Enough trucking companies complained that the state gave them restrictions.
 
Truck doesn?t need to pass inspection to do the cdl and drive test it has to be insured and licensed. The truck realy has no bearing whatsoever on getting a cdl . You have to know what to look for to do the pre trip inspection and that includes the air brake information which about all I can remember is air psi warning must come on at 60 and the compressor should kick out at about 125 psi .
 
It does in my state, if one single item on the pre trip inspection is found to be defective, such as an air leak, oil leak, a tire with a cut in a side wall, no fire extinguisher and the list goes and on. The person giving the test will stop it right there and refuse to continue until all issues are satisfied. That is why I said most farm trucks in my area cannot pass the test.
 
The truck condition matters here in N.H.too.When you do the pre-trip inspection and find things wrong,you are supposed to refuse to drive the truck until corrected.If anything is incorrect the licensing officer will refuse to give you your road test.I do know of a couple of guys that were sent home with,come back when the truck is fixed.One was me taking a guy for his license.We had my tractor,but we borrowed a flatbed with no headboard.It was normally pulled by a tractor with a headache rack on it.We just didn't think.I heard rumors,but no factual stories of anybody being put out of service for showing up with a truck that didn't pass muster.
 
(quoted from post at 06:10:30 10/31/18) The truck condition matters here in N.H.too.When you do the pre-trip inspection and find things wrong,you are supposed to refuse to drive the truck until corrected.If anything is incorrect the licensing officer will refuse to give you your road test.I do know of a couple of guys that were sent home with,come back when the truck is fixed.One was me taking a guy for his license.We had my tractor,but we borrowed a flatbed with no headboard.It was normally pulled by a tractor with a headache rack on it.We just didn't think.I heard rumors,but no factual stories of anybody being put out of service for showing up with a truck that didn't pass muster.

Keith, do you do any farming there in the center of the universe? I have been hauling material through there a day or two a week all summer.
 
No farming for me.Not much for anybody else either.One farm still milking,not sure if she is going to stick with it as her dad passed a short time ago.I worked for the John Deere dealer here in town in the late 70's,early 80's.I went off on my own fixing tractors,trucks,equipment,sandblasting,painting,even driving trucks.My dad was a home remodeler so I would do roofs with him quite a lot.I say I don't work on cars but I work on old cars quite a lot.I used to drive the lowbed for my ex-boss sometimes,but he died so that's over.I used to drive a dump truck for him sometimes too,but just for night paving.I like night work.I used to move a lot of tractors,skidders,etc with the tilt trailer we had a the JD dealership.I still have the trailer.It is 33 feet on the deck,and has a big hydraulic winch.We could haul three utility tractors out of Syracuse on it.I am going to get rid of it,I an not going to put another tractor on the road.
 

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