Class A CDL Training at Southwest Truck Driver Training

Southwest Truck Driver Training offers several driving programs, but our most popular is our CDL A (commercial driver's license class A) program. A CDL A lets you drive almost any type of commercial vehicle, so the trucking career field may be wide open for you with this type of license.

With our small classes, personalized training, and lifelong job placement assistance, we strive to make sure our graduates succeed both now and down the road.

If you need it for your CDL A exam, Southwest Truck Driver Training teaches it. We meet all federal Entry-Level Driver Training (ELDT) provider requirements.

OUR CDL A PROGRAM CURRICULUM

The CDL A curriculum at Southwest Truck Driver Training focuses on helping you:

• Understand the basic operating characteristics of a commercial motor vehicle (CMV)
• Learn to maneuver a CMV under various road, weather, and traffic conditions
• Complete behind-the-wheel training on basic vehicle control
• Handle roadside inspection procedures, vehicle systems, and how to identify vehicle malfunctions
• Drive a CMV safely, navigating potential hazards
• Know state and federal laws about over-the-road (OTR) hauling
• Perform non-driving activities related to CMVs, like cargo loading and unloading
• Create trip planning strategies to make sure you're ready for anything while on the road

The driving portion of the program covers what to do from the moment you arrive at your vehicle to the moment you head home. This includes pre-trip inspections, backing up, city driving, vehicle control, visual searching, speed and space management, progressive shifting, and dealing with driving conditions.

WHY CHOOSE SOUTHWEST TRUCK DRIVER TRAINING FOR YOUR CDL A

Our family-owned CDL school has been a regional leader in training students for their new driving careers for decades. Here are just a few of the reasons to choose us for your CDL A training:

Train in small groups: We teach our students in small group settings, whether you're learning in a classroom and behind the wheel.

Drive new-model trucks: The school acquires new vehicles every year, a significant investment we believe in because our students have the chance to learn on the latest equipment. In addition, we customize our training vehicles so that a few students can observe comfortably from the back area of the cab, belted in with a table for notetaking, while the student driver and instructor focus on the road ahead.

Smooth path to CDL testing: Our locations are third-party state-certified examination sites for Arizona and Nevada. We get our students registered in the U.S. Department of Transportation's commercial driver clearinghouse, making the transition from student to employed driver seamless.

Jump-start your new career: Our strong relationships with local, regional, and national employers allows us to connect students with hiring recruiters. In addition, all Southwest Truck Driver Training graduates can take advantage of our lifetime job placement assistance program, whether you're a new grad or coming back for help with a job transition.

In addition, Southwest Truck Driver Training students leave with a prepaid one-year membership to a C/TPA, a group that can help grads manage compliance and being an owner-operator, for those who choose to become one.

Choose automatic or manual transmission training: Unlike many schools, we offer the option to our students to operate automatic or manual transmission CMVs, which may increase our students' understanding and potentially even some job opportunities.

HOW LONG IS CLASS A CDL TRAINING AT SOUTHWEST?

Southwest Truck Driver Training's Class A CDL program lasts 4 to 8 weeks, covering 160 training hours—80 hours of knowledge and theory and 80 hours on basic control skills.

The length of your program depends on the schedule you choose:

• Day classes: 4 weeks (Monday – Thursday, 6:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.)
• Night classes (Phoenix only): 4 weeks (Monday – Friday, 5:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.)
• Night classes (Tucson and North Las Vegas): 5 weeks (Monday – Friday, 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.)
• Weekend classes: 8 weeks (Saturday and Sunday, 6:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.)

If you have questions about our schedules or are concerned your life can't work with this, get in touch anyway to see if we can make any option work for you.

SOUTHWEST TRUCK DRIVER TRAINING TEST PREP

We know a thing or two about CDL A exams, as all our locations are state-certified CDL skills exam providers.

To earn your CDL A, you'll need to pass knowledge and skills tests, and we ensure that the information you need for those tests is included in your studies. Below are just a few tested topics we teach.

Knowledge Exam:

• Basic and advanced vehicle operation
• Driving theory
• Driving-related laws
• Insurance issues
• Non-driving activities, like handling cargo and logbook management
• Road signals
• Rules of the road
• Safe operating procedures
• Vehicle maintenance and inspection

Our instructors are always up for helping you prepare for the CDL exam, and we offer our students unlimited online CDL practice tests specific to Arizona or Nevada's knowledge tests.

Skills Exam:

• Handling large loads
• Performing pre- and post-trip inspections
• Parking
• Starting and stopping
• Steering
• Turning, including three-point turns

CDL A JOBS AND OUTLOOK

The CDL A is the broadest type of commercial license, qualifying drivers for almost any entry-level driving job in the industry (barring those requiring endorsements). Driving jobs can be divided into four categories: OTR, regional, dedicated, and local.

• Over-the-road (OTR): Driving in the continental United States and possibly Canada; home about every three to four weeks
• Regional: Driving in a particular part of the country; home every two to three weeks or so
• Dedicated: Driving the same OTR route repeatedly; typically home every week or so
• Local: Driving locally and helping to load and unload items; usually home every night

Learn what Southwest Truck Driver Training grads earn

Adding endorsements can improve your pay and career potential—and Southwest Truck Driver Training offers endorsement training that can pair with the CDL A.

The states where Southwest Truck Driver Training operates anticipate higher-than-average trucking job growth. For example, Arizona trucking jobs are expected to grow an incredible 32% from 2020 to 2030. Nevada also expects a faster-than-average growth rate of 18% from 2020 to 2030.