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Your path to a Class A license

Fifth Wheel Commercial Driving School

kent , Washington

Registered with FMCSA as Fifth wheel commercial Driving School INC

  1. Check you can start

    • 18 to drive commercially inside Washington. 21 to cross state lines.
    • A DOT medical certificate from a certified examiner.
    • Proof of US citizenship or lawful permanent residency. Washington has suspended all non-domiciled CDL processing, so there is currently no path without one of those.

  2. Know what it costs — and who pays

    Tuition here is $4,000.

    You may not have to pay it yourself:

    • WIOA Title I Individual Training Account

    Start at a WorkSource center before you enroll — paying first can disqualify you from the largest source of help.

    What will not pay here, and why (4)

    • Washington College Grant

      Zero dollars from the Washington College Grant. A typical private WA CDL school is DOL-licensed and WTECB-licensed but NOT institutionally accredited, so its students get nothing from the state's most generous grant.

    • Opportunity Grant

      Does not meet an eligibility condition.

    • Workforce Pell Grant

      No program in Washington can be Governor-approved, so Workforce Pell is unavailable statewide regardless of a program's hours or weeks.

    • Federal Pell Grant (traditional)

      Traditional Pell, FSEOG, Work-Study and Direct Loans are unavailable at every Washington CDL school measured.

  3. Get your permit, then train

    A commercial learner permit costs $40 and lasts 180 days. You must hold it 14 days before taking the skills test.

    Washington requires 160 hours of Class A training — more than federal rules demand. The skills test is $175 and covers two attempts.

  4. See what happened to people who trained here

    Got hired
    38.7%
    within 6 months
    Finished
    97.4%
    the program
    Then earned
    $11,700
    per quarter
    Out of
    317
    students

    Computed by the WA State Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board (state UI wage records). Self-reported to the state, not independently audited.

  5. Know who is hiring

    Washington's largest commercial-driver employers. Sizes are from the federal carrier census.

    • PRIME

      Seattle · 42,486 drivers · 15,259 trucks

    • COSTCO WHOLESALE

      Issaquah · 2,612 drivers · 1,436 trucks

    • PENINSULA TRUCK LINES INC

      Federal Way · 325 drivers · 1,407 trucks

    • T-MOBILE USA INC

      Bellevue · 918 drivers · 1,336 trucks

    • FRANZ BAKERY

      Vancouver · 816 drivers · 1,105 trucks

    • KING COUNTY METRO TRANSIT

      Seattle · 3,000 drivers · 1,103 trucks

    • AECON UTILITIES INC

      Ephrata · 989 drivers · 1,092 trucks

    • SYSTEM TRANSPORT INC

      Cheney · 985 drivers · 966 trucks

    We have not yet confirmed which of these hire from this school. The federal census tells us a carrier exists and how large it is — not who it recruits from, or on what terms. Verifying those links, employer by employer, is the work we are doing next, and we would rather show you an honest gap than a guess. 12 verified relationships published so far.

  6. What to do this week

    1. Call a WorkSource center before you enroll or pay anything. Ask specifically: “Am I eligible for an Individual Training Account, and is this school on the ETPL?” Paying first can disqualify you from the largest source of help there is.
      Find your nearest WorkSource center →
    2. Book a DOT physical. You need the medical certificate before a commercial learner permit, and it is the step people most often leave too late.
    3. Call the school and ask three questions: what the total cost is including fees and testing, how many of last year's students they placed and where, and whether they will hold a seat while your funding is approved.

    Not sure this is the right school? Compare all 73 Washington programs — placement rates range from under a quarter of graduates to over nine in ten, and price does not predict which.

Where every number came from

  • cityFMCSA ELDT Training Provider Registryretrieved Jul 20, 2026
  • class_a_roadFMCSA ELDT Training Provider Registryretrieved Jul 20, 2026
  • latFMCSA ELDT Training Provider Registryretrieved Jul 20, 2026
  • lonFMCSA ELDT Training Provider Registryretrieved Jul 20, 2026
  • nameFMCSA ELDT Training Provider Registryretrieved Jul 20, 2026
  • private_onlyFMCSA ELDT Training Provider Registryretrieved Jul 20, 2026
  • zipFMCSA ELDT Training Provider Registryretrieved Jul 20, 2026

This is navigation, not a determination. Confirm every result with the administering agency before making a decision. Registry data last verified Jul 20, 2026. If something here is wrong, tell us and we will correct it and say that we did.