Tri Area Trucking School

Fantastic experience: Tri Area Trucking School is awesome. The office staff if friendly and inviting. They all seem like they like coming to work which is hard to find these days. The instructors are knowledgeable and professional. My instructor was Rick. I can’t speak highly enough of him. Rick is highly knowledgeable and gave me all of the tools needed to succeed. He actually cares about his students success and is not there just to get a paycheck. He even offered to come in on his day off to help review if needed. Good luck finding that anywhere else. If you are needing a cdl look no farther than Tri Area Trucking School.

Negative experience: I was able to secure a grant through Michigan Works for the course completely paid for.The instructor at Kirkland College campus in Grayling was great. Fast forward to the testing with an independent state tester. You WILL TEST with whatever truck the school has available at that time. My first safety test was an older truck that when doing the brake air pressure loss test did not completely disengage the emergency valve all the way out. Emergency valve did release but the actual button did not COMPLETELY engage. The state tester knew this was a problem with this particular truck as it had happened with other students in the same truck. I was failed and scheduled a retest. I retested and had a hard time with the alley dock as most people do. My bad. Third time got through yard test and driving test pass. I'm a truck driver. A YEAR later I start getting billing statements for a $900.00 bill from ROSS BUSINESS SCHOOL that I did not know was associated with tri-area. Apparently this is a "retest fee" although my instructor had said there is no fee to retest. I had just started driving and $900 was not a possibility in my budget at the time. My hard earned credit was damaged as they reported it to a credit company (Jefferson Financial). I called Ross, Tri Area, and Michigan Works right away and really just got snubbed by everybody. I have retained a lawyer and took the hit on my credit for now. This feels like a cdl mill. I definitely feel like the school tries to bilk you for every dollar even though they are well aware you are taking the course with a grant due to unemployment. Also this whole process with yard time at the school and scheduling drive tests that have lengthy wait times this whole process took about 3 agonizing months not 1. I had to drive ALOT from my home town regularly to Grayling over an hour as well as Midland to state test and Freeland for road and yard time. Remember YOU WILL COMMONLY HAVE DIFFERENT TRACTOR/TRAILER COMBINATIONS as well. Good luck with this school. You may want to consider research on other schools.

Fantastic experience: Such an amazing experience. Had a blast from the first day in the class up till the day of my graduation. Huge shout out to STAN the man he is a great instructor and the rest of the staff making me feel welcomed to the school and making trucking seem not as nerve racking as it is . 11/10 recommend going to this school.

Fantastic experience: I highly recommend this school. When i started a month ago I had no clue on how to start a semi and a month later im graduated and passed the state test. The instructors go above and beyond to make sure their students get the help they need. Everyone there has been friendly and made great friends along the way. Thanks again TRI AREA TRUCKING SCHOOL.

Fantastic experience: The Best trucking school. The most fun and informative school I’ve ever been too. Every single instructor is amazing and will make sure you are learning and having fun. Eric Zolinski was hands down the best. Very informative and will help you no matter what. At times I had problems focusing and Eric made sure that I understood the topic that was being discussed. Rick, Jason, Stan and Cowboy are all incredible instructors, they will always make sure you have a better understanding of everything being taught. I will recommend Tri Area Trucking school to anyone who is looking to better their career. They will not leave you behind and will make sure that you pass! Love yall forever and thanks for making it fun. -Big Boy