Training Information

DCS School of Driving

Our Classroom

The classroom portion of our program at DCS School of Driving is committed to teaching you the theory behind driving a truck. You will then use this theory when you begin working on yard skills and road skills.


In the classroom, you will cover the following:

  • Tractors
  • Dashboard and gauges
  • PA manual
  • General knowledge
  • Air brakes
  • Combination vehicles
  • Doubles/triples
  • Tankers
  • Hazardous materials
  • Putting the truck in motion
  • Steering
  • Backing
  • Coupling and uncoupling
  • Vehicle inspections
  • Tires and wheels
  • Driving techniques
  • Safe driving
  • Driving challenges
  • Preventative maintenance
  • Cargo documentation
  • Loading, securing, and unloading cargo
  • Types of trailers
  • Specialized rigs
  • Refrigerated trailers
  • Handling doubles and triples
  • Auxiliary brakes
  • Sliding tandems/5th wheel
  • Economy operating
  • Accidents and fires
  • The log book
  • Map reading
  • Getting a job as a driver
  • The driver's life

You will be tested and graded on general knowledge, air brakes, combination vehicles, doubles/triples, tankers, and hazardous materials before taking the tests at the Driver's Licensing Center.


Additionally, recruiters from major trucking companies are invited to share information on career opportunities during classroom time. For more information, call us at (717) 586-9648.

Yard Skills

The yard skills portion of this program is committed to teaching you to actually drive a truck. Taking the knowledge that you learned in the classroom, you are immediately able to put that information to use in the yard.


Usually, on your very first day, you will begin to learn about the trucks and begin backing.


Our yard trucks are Freightliner daycabs specially selected because they have automatic transmission.


You will learn to shift when driving our 13-speed Kenworths during road skills, but during the time in the yard, we want you to be able to concentrate on backing -- not worrying about using the clutch properly.


In yard skills, you will cover the following:

  • Vehicle orientation
  • Straight line backing
  • Offset straight-line backing
  • Coupling/uncoupling
  • Pre-trip inspection
  • In-cab/SLABB
  • Blindside parallel parking
  • Sightside parallel parking
  • Blindside jackknife parking
  • Sightside jackknife parking
  • Alley docking/backing to dock doors
  • Serpentine backing
  • Sliding tandems

There will be seven tests in yard skills. You will be tested twice on backing skills, twice on pre-trip inspection, twice on in-cab/SLABB, and once in coupling and uncoupling the trailer.

Road Skills

The road skills portion of this program combines everything you learn in the classroom and in yard skills.


You begin your road skills in the parking lot, learning how to properly double clutch shift our 13-speed Kenworth T-600. From there it is out onto the open road!


In road skills, you will cover the following:

  • Putting truck into gear
  • Double clutching
  • Using the tachometer
  • Upshifting
  • Downshifting
  • Using the range selector
  • Stopping and starting on a grade
  • Entry onto 4-lane highway
  • Exit from 4-lane highway
  • Keeping vehicle centered in lane
  • Speed control
  • Spacing control
  • Using mirrors
  • Left turns and right turns
  • Curves and hills
  • City driving
  • Night driving
  • Practice to take the state driving exam

At the conclusion of this course, licensed state testers come to our location to administer the State Commercial License test. There is no additional cost for up to three tries. Give us a call to sign up for classes at DCS School of Driving!

Apply Here
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