US Truck Driving School | Blog

Fall Career Fair

2011-09-26T18:14:30+00:00

Join us for the US Truck Driving School Fall Career Fair

United States Truck Driving School, Inc. is planning its Fall Career Fair at our Colorado Springs/Pueblo campus located at 19825 Wigwam Rd, exit 119 on I25. The Career Fair will take place October 5, 2011 at 10am to 2pm. Several recruiters from various trucking companies will be on hand. Whether you have your CDL and are looking for a job change, or are thinking about a career in the trucking industry, stop by and talk to a recruiter and see what the industry has to offer. For more information, call our Colorado Springs campus at 1-800-905-4185.

Call our Wheat Ridge, Colorado campus at 1-866-618-1428 for information about their Career Fair scheduled for October 19, 2011 at 10am to 2pm. There will also be recruiters from several trucking companies available here for you to talk to.

High Demand for Commercial Drivers

2010-11-15T18:04:42+00:00

For the past five years, there has been a shortage of truck drivers in the United States. Changes in the Federal Regulations regarding truck driving training are contributors to this shortage. Truck driving is also a non-traditional occupation and those that choose this specific career path are typically over the age of 50.

It is believed that between now and the end of 2011 that there will be a need of approximately 400,000 additional truck drivers. Now is the perfect time for the start of a promising career or a career change. Many truck driving training schools will arrange a pre-hire letter for attendants that guarantees a job upon completion of training.

View Commercial Vehicle Training Association Executive Director Mike O'Connell’s interview on Fox Business News: http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/4411327/truckers-wanted.

Now Offering Online Truck Driver Training

2010-11-10T22:32:10+00:00

United States Truck Driving School now offers online classroom training. We understand that you're busy, so you can complete your first week of truck driver training from the comfort of your own home! Once these first 50 hours are complete, you will then need to complete the other 110 hours that entail hands-on training behind the wheel. US Truck will prepare you for your driving tests to obtain your Commercial Drivers License, Class A. Get started on the path to your new career today!

Learn more about our web based truck driver training.

Trucking Appeals to Many Transitioning Workers

2010-07-08T19:58:49+00:00

Porfirio Colindres has worked in construction and cleaning jobs long enough to weather several economic downturns, starting with 1989 when he moved to the United States from El Salvador . But the prolonged one where he now lives, near Boise, Idaho, has made steady work hard to find since 2007.

This month, after a 150-hour course, Colindres earned his commercial driver's license, or CDL, and started looking for a truck-driving job.

The hiring outlook is improving for trucking, experts say, and it is attracting many people from fields where jobs have dried up. As many professions become more specialized, truck driving continues to require few classroom-based skills.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, median hourly wages for heavy truck drivers were $17.92 in May… Continue Reading

Fleets Pursue Qualified Drivers as Freight Grows

2010-07-08T19:15:23+00:00

Fleets Pursue Qualified Drivers as Freight Grows, Rules Tighten

Seeking to capitalize on an ever-tighter market, many fleets are racing to sign up qualified drivers as freight demand rises and stiffer federal driver standards loom, experts said. “We can still find drivers, but we have to search harder,” Steve Brantley, manager of driver resources for USA Truck, Van Buren, Ark., told Transport Topics. “There are more loads to be moved.” “The market has become more competitive for both owner-operators and experienced drivers,” said Brooke Willey, vice president for human resources at CRST International. The company seeks drivers for 700 new trucks it will add by the end of 2011. “The ability to expand our driver recruiting efforts and identify ways to attract drivers will be the key to that ultimate growth,” Willey said. Bert Johnson, human resources director at Con-way Truckload, Joplin, Mo., agreed that it’s more difficult… Continue Reading

Wanted: 400,000 Truck Drivers

2010-06-09T16:57:06+00:00

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Can't find a job? Maybe it's time to take your search on the road.

The U.S. trucking industry will need to hire about 200,000 drivers by the end of this year, and will need to add another 200,000 by the end of 2011, according to the state of logistics report from the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals.

A number of factors will feed into this need for drivers, including retirements, tougher safety regulations designed to get drivers with bad records off the road and the need to replace drivers who were laid-off during the recession, according to the report. Overall the industry lost almost 150,000 driving jobs since the start of 2008.

Rosalyn Wilson, the author of the report that was sponsored by Penske Logistics, said that even with continued high unemployment, motor carriers are going to… Continue Reading

National Guard training solders to become future truck drivers

2010-04-26T19:30:55+00:00

National Guard Training Soldiers to Become Future Truck Drivers

By Michele Fuetsch, Staff Reporter

This story appears in the April 12 print edition of Transport Topics.

The U.S. National Guard is ramping up its truck driver training program, which could help ease long-term driver shortages.

Under the “Drive the Guard” program, current Guard members or new recruits can receive tuition money or GI Bill benefits to enroll in driving schools for training that earns them commercial driver licenses and jobs in the private sector.

“It is going to become a huge source of new drivers at a time when demand is picking up,” said K. Michael O’Connell, executive director of the Commercial Vehicle Training Association, which is a group of 180 driver schools.

The CVTA’s nonprofit foundation is the National Guard’s partner in the program, which began last year… Continue Reading

We Offer Lifetime Job Placement to all our Gradutates!

2010-04-26T19:25:35+00:00

Graduates may contact our schools at any time after graduation to make an appointment to meet with our Placement Director, for help with finding a new job in the trucking industry. We are not only here for our students while they are in school, but also years later when they have the need to change jobs, or perhaps find a better paying job.

Truck, Driver Shortages Seen as Transport Demand Rises

2010-04-26T19:22:17+00:00

TUCSON, Ariz. — Executives with two of the nation’s largest motor carriers said freight demand has jumped so fast in recent months that some sectors are having difficulty finding trucks to transport their goods.

“About mid-February it was almost like someone flipped a switch and things started popping, capacity was getting tighter,” Steve Elliott, vice president of brokerage operations for Schneider Transportation Management, said here April 8 during the Transportation Intermediaries Association’s annual conference.

Elliott, whose company is a division of truckload carrier Schneider National Inc., said that following a solid March, demand in April has remained “pretty strong as well.”

“I’ve told shippers, ‘Rates are going up, guys, and they’re going up quickly,’ ” Elliott said.

Craig Littzen, vice president of solutions and intermodal network at Swift Transportation, Phoenix, Ariz., shared Elliott’s feelings.

“We’ve seen a significant recovery in the short… Continue Reading

Commercial Truck Orders Rise 28%

2010-04-26T19:16:45+00:00

Truck Orders Rise 28%

March Total of 11,285 Is Strongest This Year

By Dan Leone, Staff Reporter

This story appears in the April 26 print edition of Transport Topics.

New orders for Class 8 trucks in March rose 28% from a year earlier, the second month in a row they have climbed, as buyers put requests for 11,285 new vehicles on the books, according to ACT Research Co.

Orders last month reached the highest level since December, and the March total was the third-highest in the past 12 months, according to ACT. The Columbus, Ind., company said in its April 19 report that Class 8 orders jumped 3,384 units, or 42.8%, from February’s level.

“This is the time of the year, traditionally, when we start seeing some of the big fleets come into the marketplace… Continue Reading

A Severe Shortage of Drivers Could Hurt the U.S. Economy

2010-03-09T17:23:13+00:00

A severe shortage of drivers could hurt the U.S. economy, which relies heavily on trucking. Those in the industry say openings number in the thousands, if not tens of thousands. The shortage is unlikely to end soon. The government estimates the number of truck drivers will rise 19% from 2002 to 2012, making driving one of the fastest-growing occupations during those 10 years. High demand for drivers. All this means that truck drivers have become hot commodities.

Truckers Needed to Keep Economy Rolling

2010-02-24T19:15:08+00:00

Trucking companies are trying to fill jobs by offering drivers cash bonuses and prizes such as boats and vacations to refer fellow drivers who switch to their firms. Base pay is rising, and trucking companies are guaranteeing drivers more time at home. Firms are offering generous 401(k), stock option and health care packages and other perks. Truck stops now have massage therapists and Wi-Fi computer technology.

* Age. Mirroring the U.S. population, the average age of truck drivers is rising, meaning more are retiring or nearing retirement. Plus, the government bans truck drivers from crossing state lines until they are 21, creating an impediment to recruiting drivers as they graduate high school. By the time they are 21, many workers have been trained in other occupations.

Some carriers are offering tuition reimbursement programs and are giving their drivers newer, plusher truck… Continue Reading

Swift Transportation Inc.

2009-12-01T20:30:08+00:00

Swift Transportation in Denver, is hiring 50+ drivers in March 2010 and is forecasting the same needs for April 2010. Kevin Parks, Regional Recruiter for Swift will be at our Wheat Ridge campus every Monday afternoon to interview prospective students for a job with Swift.

Students can be job ready in just 3 weeks and ready to begin their 6-8 weeks of on the job training with Swift, earning $2,900 for those 42 dispatched days of training.

Werner Enterprises Inc

2009-11-01T21:50:44+00:00