I was transferred to the active reserve for the next six years. I lived in Rockaway Beach, NY and I was assigned to Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn. When I reported to Fort Hamilton I explained that I lived in Rockaway and Fort Tilden in Rockaway was just minutes from my home. Could I be transferred there which would save a lot of driving time. Within a week I was assigned to an JD Truck Training Centre anti-aircraft battery at Tilden. I would be trained as a lineman stringing communication wire. I could hardly wait.
Well after 5 or 6 more hours you finally get your load unloaded. This is probably 12:00 midnight by now and going on 3 days with no sleep,no eat,no shower, and guess what you still have a half hour of driving left to hopefully get into a truck stop and parked.
Truck driving school was a challenge but I did it. I have to tell you that when I got out there in the real world to start making money there was a lot of stuff that they didn't Truck driving school teach me. I went right through the school of hard knocks.
These bonuses are common at the larger trucking companies. Sure they HOPE you're gonna be an outstanding truck driver, but more than anything they just desperately need your butt in one of their trucks. Period.
If you don't like your experience and the students coming out of the school aren't satisfactory to the companies they go to work for then the school is going to die a long, slow death. Nobody will HR Truck Licence want to attend. So they will get straight to work filling you with information.... and tons of it.
The parallel parks and alley dock are not easy things to do, especially with an 18-wheeler, when you have no experience. So if you're attending trucking school in a state that has maneuver requirements, expect to spend a lot of time in the yard practicing.
Today truck driver training is more affordable than ever. Most training schools can point you in the right direction to apply for grants and some trucking companies will pick up the cost of your training for free in exchange for an employment contract. Good luck.