To answer your question, I have been a commercial class A driver in the state of California for 11 yrs. I am more or less self taught with the help and advice of a couple of veteren drivers. I had been a class B (any single vehicle) prior to that so I new gears and air brakes. When I went to the DMV and applied for class A, the subject of "education" never came up. They just wanted to see that I knew what I was doing. Truck driving school might have benifited me,but at $3K to $5K I think I did alright. As in any profession, experience is the best teacher. That and good judgment. As far as insurance, all I can tell you is what I was told, that to insure a driver under the age of 25 is about $15k a year and 25 and up is $5k. Complacency was probably the root cause of this accident, as is the cause of most industial accidents.