Complaint Review: MTC Truck Driving School

Ten months ago I found MTC online, and called. I had called other trucking companies for CDL school but what roped me into MTC was them promising that no matter what, I would have a CDL no matter how long it took. Because I was very new to the trucking industry, this roped me in. After riding greyhound all night long, we were picked up and taken to the building where they train. Lack of sleep, nerves, and pretty much being exhausted, Phil handed out papers to sign, and we were rushed into signatures. That was my first mistake. Then after being up all night on greyhound, then all day signing papers, we finally were taken to a motel that had mold growing on the walls, broken furniture, elevator that stunk or was broken down, and trash in alot of places. The next morning we were taken back to MTC to start "training". We studied for our CDL's then Phil asked who had cars there. About 8 did and thats when he informed the class that there wasn't transportation to go get our permits, & that the car owners would have to get as many people in them as possible.

Anyways, after a week of staying in the hotel, we would get moved to the "dorms". It is a small 10x10 room (maybe a couple feet larger) but they had no windows, the beds were plywood and pvc pipping. The mattresses were moldy, ripped, stained, and smelled. The ac didn't work half the time there which made it beyond unbearable when it was hot. The bathrooms were disgusting, and food was twice a day which was totally unhealthy to eat on a regular basis. The trucks were old, always breaking down, and not enough instructors for everyone. When out on the yard, you walked close to 10 hours waiting for a 15 minute to drive maneuvers once the whole night. You also watched the pretrip tape close to 2 hours at the beginning of each day. The truck they use for the pretrip test has missing parts, doesn't run, and you have to pretend parts are there. The brake test on the pretrip is said out loud as the truck not only has missing parts--it obviously doesn't run so you don't do the real thing. If you fail the pretrip test, you are made to write it a minimum of 7 times before you can move ahead. Failing it twice doubles that amount of writing. Some nights there was only one truck for over 30 people there. At the time I went, some of the students had been there almost 2 months as it was a roof over their heads.

Upon taking your CDL test, you only pray you pass to get out of there because by now you owe $8000 or more. They drag out the 1st 3 days of physicals, tests, and other stuff so that you end up owing them forever.

Three days before my CDL test, I became extremely sick. Alot of people in there had eithor sinus infections, flu or one thing or another and we called it the "kennel cough" and anyone moving into the "dorm" was guaranteed to get sick. There was also black mold growing on the ceilings in some rooms. I have photos of the rooms, the hotel, and the trucks we drove in. Anyways, I could barely stand up, threw up out on the yard, and had been sick for a few days but it hit me hard the 3 days before I went to take my CDL. Joan--who works in the office and is a manager of some sort, told me that if I went to bed she would remove me off the CDL list. I was horrified as I wanted out of there. After she went home for the day, (I was on nights by this point so that I could try to have more chances of learning how to do anything), the instructor told me to go to bed. The instructors were decent and knows the place is horrible, but they need the job. Three of them tended to keep a blank look while knowing the conditions are beyond intolerable.

The food is cheap fast food ((McD's big n tasty) and a wilted salad, arbies roast beef that has that runny cheese, with a bag of chips, rice stir fry, pizza, or a sub with 2 meats one cheese, and once a week fried chicken. No drinks are provided at any time, and all meals come with a bag of chips. These are the main foods over and over day after day. It's always one of these and they are rotated day to day.

I did pass my CDL but learned a valuable lesson. No reputable trucking company wants to touch you if you have gone there. Ask any trucking company to back up what I just wrote. It's not accredited, and they hound you daily for money. I paid for a while but can't afford it as it never goes down, and the payments are outrageous. I quit where they "contracted" me as it was Swift, and driving "team" when you don't even know how to shift isn't exactly safe. I realized that along with probs that Swift has just for being there (that's a whole new story!), but now 10 months later, I still owe ALOT, wish I had never gone there, but have managed to learn to drive safely, and regret ever making that phone call to them.

One week after leaving MTC I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. The doctor told me that it was severe and borderline to becoming type 1 at the time I walked in. I'm furious that MTC totally disregards anyone's health too. My diabetes is very under control since then or I wouldn't be driving now. But MTC has ruined my life and others in the class that went with me. They have the same problems with MTC hounding for money. They finance you through a company that is connected with them.

Another thing is that they will not provide any type of transportation if you need medical, or need personal supplies at a store. There is nothing around there at all walking distance other than the convenient store next door.

DO NOT GO THERE!!! THEY ARE NOT EVEN ACCREDITED!! ITS NOT WORTH MESSING UP YOUR LIFE OVER!!!!

Hindsight2020
Germantown, Wisconsin
U.S.A.