9/4/07

Wow, what a hectic day. I arrived at SAGE early this morning to get my paperwork for the DOT physical and drug screen.

I get to the occupational health place at 7:45am and am the first one there. No wait, which is nice. The physical is pretty standard. First thing you do is pee in a cup. They just asked my height and weight, no measurements. Then to a vision test which I pass. After that I am told to strip down to my underwear and put on a gown. The nurse pokes around my belly, check my hearing, etc. Then she checks my blood pressure. It was 130/98! Another nurse comes in to check and it is 132/100! She told me I passed everything else but I can't get my card. They need evidence from my doctor that the condition has resolved or I have done something to correct the problem (medication). They give me a referral to the family doc and send me out.

Needless to say I am steamed!! :twisted:

I go back to SAGE and talk to Diana and told her that I didn't pass my physical b/c of HBP but I will get it worked out.

I zoom home and schedule an appointment with the family doc at 11:15am. I get there and get my blood pressure checked. It miraculously reduced to 124/78!! Whoo hoo!!

The doc printed a letter to the occupational health place that all is well. I take the letter to them and I am approved for 2 years.

By the time I get back to SAGE I have missed most of the first day. They gladly accept me (and my $4200 check) into the program. I walk into the class and am introduced to my 3 classmates and the instructor. The instructor is a retired lady with 25 yrs experience. Her husband sat in on the class as well. They ran as a team. For the next hour we go through the CDL testing booklet and she is basically telling us what will be on the test. After that we watched a video. While we watched the video, the instructor went through by CDL booklet and marked the things thatI missed. We will have a quiz tomorrow.

Anyway, off I go to study. I will periodically update this thread as I go. I hope you enjoy or at least get something out of it!

 

Keep em coming and good luck :lol:


I start Sage Missoula Mt next Monday. Interesting to see how similar our experiences are


Rick

 

Thanks rj. Good luck at SAGE. If it is anything like it is here in Indy you will like it.

 

9/5/07

Testing testing testing... seems to be the theme here in the first few days.

First thing we did this morning was a test on general knowlege. Thes test was fifty questions. I got 47 out of 50 right. Most answers are pretty obvious, just gotta use some common sense.

After the test we stated slamming our way through the CDL manual and watched videos after every section. Today we took tests on airbrakes, combination vehicles, and doubles/triples. Glad to say that I aced every one.

Our instructor said that we will be getting our permits on Friday (2 people in the class already have theirs). On Monday the 10th we will go to the range to check out a tractor and practice coupling to the trailer! I am pumped!

 

Wife and I have done the DOT and Pee in the cup thing. Paid a deposit to Sage to ensure our place in class on the 10th.

Had to call them today as we never rec'd an admission acceptance letter. Got one by email- their organization skills could be better. We live about 130 miles from school and will have to find a place to stay in a college town full of fall semester students. Working on renting a 26 ft. travel trailer. Guess we will get some early practice towing :lol: :lol:

Because we have a home, my one problem with Sage so far is I am unable to get a schedule except for the first 5 days or so. I "think" we might go seven or more days in a row. It would be nice if we knew so we could make accommodation arrangements. ops:

Want to get this thing going.

 

I don't think that there is really a set schedule. Since my class is small and everyone is catching on pretty quickly we are ahead of schedule. You will learn more when you start.

Good luck!!

 

9/6/07

More of the same today. We finished up tankers and hazmat in the CDL manual and watched the corresponding videos. Lew Grills is the guy in the videos. The video had to me made in the 80's. Pretty funny.

Tomorrow we are filling out 'pre-hire' applications in the morning (wast of time) and then at 9:30 we will be released to get our CDL learning permits. We will take general knowlege, airbrakes, doubles/triples, tankers, and hazmat exams. After that all that is needed to obtain the CDL is the skills test.

Anyway, off to study before the Colts game! GO COLTS!!!

 

9/7/07

Today we filled out pre-hire applications which took quite a while to do. Of all of the apps I filled out (6 total) I am only really interested in one of them.

I was done by 9:10am and was released to take my CDL permit test. I ran over to the Social Security office to apply for a card since I can't find the one I got 2 years ago. :evil:

I was in and out of there in 5 minutes. The piece of paper they give you verifies your number and is as good as the card itself. So off I went to take my tests.

I told the ladies at the license branch that I was going to take the tests for all of the endorsements. They looked at me like I was crazy and told me good luck.

Well, I took general knowlege, combinations, air brakes, doubles/triples, tanker, and hazmat tests. I passed them all on the first try!

After they gave me the permit I had to go to another branch to do finger prints and background check for the hazmat endorsement. Got that done rather quickly so now all I have to do is learn how to drive a rather large vehicle!

I am happy that SAGE prepared me so well for the testing. Monday we go to the range to do brake test, slide trailer tandems and couple/uncouple.

 

Congrats :lol: !!!!

Seems like not all Sage Schools stick to the same schedule. We start Monday and take the test Wednesday!

Your lucky....In Montana, there are only two places in the entire state that will process your fingerprints for Hazmat.

Colts Fan, would you PM. I don't have enough posts.

Rick

 

PM'd you.