tipex

hi all, i have a hgv 1 licence in the uk, do i have to do all the cdl schooling in the us or is it a swap over licence plus maybe a few hours of schooling.
I have a green card and am moving to Florida in august but dont want to spend thousands on retraining, be gratefull for any advice

Scouse Express

You will have to re-sit all of the Tests, once you have a US Social Security Number and Permission to work.

It will be a cake-walk. If you want to drive for one of the Big Companies, like Schneider for example, they will train you......but, you will have to commit to work for them for a certain period of time.


Jim (Coach Driver).

Bob

It's pretty expensive other wise isn't it?

Also regular tests and blood tests, but maybe that's a Maine thing, it's supposed to be random every few years, but FIL has had to do one every year for the last 3 years to keep his license current apparently and he doesn't even drive trucks any more, but handy if he does need to move a log truck out of the way.

paulpur

yeah it is quite expensive , in central FL ,where i live, there are a few courses that are about $6K or $7K , and thats not including the DOT medical or anything like that, some of them even want you to have done the written part of the test at the DMV to get your CDL learners permit before you start the course.
and to confirm as Scouse stated, you need to redo all tests, the only thing your UK licence will get you is that you wont need to do the drink and drug awareness course before you can do the tests , i did my car licence but havent gotten round to doing my CDL and wish it would have transferred over as well lol

Scouse Express

A DOT Physical is good for 2 years. You have to take it every year, if there is an issue with Borderline Blood Pressure. The levels here are 140/90......as opposed to 160/100 in the UK.

Jim.

tipex

Wow thats some serious money. so about 8k all in and then you need to find a decent paying job.
is there other companies apart from schnieders that would train you up?

paulpur

quite a few of the big companies offer training , theres also the likes of C.R.England and Werners etc

tipex

do they advertise as train you up? wages & hours must be crap thou?

paulpur

i dont think they advertise as such, but their trucks do have advertisements on them , you can probably look at their websites and see if you can apply through there....no idea about the wages and how they compare to already trained drivers but reckon that they will be pretty comparable, however you will most likely need to sign on with them for a set amount of time or else face having to pay training costs

tipex

thanks bud