Moved this to newbie land, per OP request.

 

Hey Colts Fan,

I just came across your thread and wanted to say good luck. I too attended Sage but in San Antonio, Texas and although I can not compare it to any other school, I can say that I was EXTREMELY pleased with them. If you are familar with my thread (Highseas to Highways in the "what about this company" section), you can read/compare my time at Sage to yours if you want. Anyways, again I wish you the best of luck and look forward to reading how things go for you.

 

Hey DD,

I have read your entire thread and always read it as you add posts. Thanks for sharing your experience and keep em coming. Your posts are truly inspirational for newbies entering the industry.

 

9/10/07

Got to school a little late today due to a vehicle fire that clogged up !-70W heading into town. When I got there we started the first of multiple videos on backing.

This video had to be taken in the early 80's. The cars were old and the tractor doing all of the backing was an old Peterbilt cab-over. I think we watched 2 hours of video on backing which is good. It drove home the point that although backing is 1% of our total driving time, it is the most diffucult thing we will do.

After that we went over a couple chapters in our text book and left for lunch.

After lunch the class met at the range. When we arrived there was a guy from another class getting ready to take a drive. His driving instructor invited us to partake in the wonder that is the pre-trip inspection. This guy was a machine! How are we supposed to remember all that stuff! I guess practice makes perfect.

Our classroom instructor summoned us over to the other tractor/trailer. Ours is a white International with 350K miles. We were taught how to slide the trailer tandems and the fifth wheel. I got behind the wheel for the first time today! All I did was stay on the clutch and move back and forth to get the pin to pop in the tandems. It was still cool though. The fifth wheel was a pain to slide because it was dry as a bone. It was difficult to get the pins to pop back out.

After that she showed us how to uncouple and couple. At the end she loaded us all end and drove us around the range for a bit. Can't wait to get back in there and drive that thing for real!

 

:lol: :lol:

Glad you are having fun!! I remember the first time I let 80,000 lbs run up to 85 mph going down a hill in montana, I never new my butt cheeks could actually grab a seat like that!!! One other time that happened was a big gust of wind on the high plains of wyoming which I swear put that rig on 9 wheels instead of 18.

Anyway,, was just wondering why some one would pay $4200 for a driving
school.. you going to be driving a nuclear powered truck or something??
I paid $ 1500 @ Dootson truck school here in the L.A.

Best of luck anyway, hope you have a good experiance!!

ALSO-- something to watch for in training-- hopefully they will take several
people along in the sleeper on training runs-- watch the guys lean way over in the drivers seat when making a right 90 degree turn. Funny sh*T--
i THOUGHT THIS ONE GUY WAS GOING TO IMPALE HIMSELF ON THE GEAR SHIFT NOB!!!!

 

You answered your own question about the pricing difference Fuelman. Sage training is one on one. No one else in the truck during training but one student and the instructor. When they say that you will get 40 hours of "behind the wheel" they don't mean 10 hours driving and 30 hours falling asleep in the rear of the cab. A much better way to learn IMO.

 

And in my case that 40hrs behind the wheel turned out to be more because our class was so small......in fact towards the end, there was just me, a "one-man" class and I got a ton of personalized training.

 

oops, sorry, i didn't clarify.
my training was one on one but for only 10 hours, you could pay more for extra hours if needed by the driver. i had been driving for 27 years before getting into trucking so it only took 10 to pass the driving test.

I could see that it might take some people 40 hours to get to that comfort level,, anyhow,, must be a great school seens how my last name is sage.

the driver leaning thing was on the road test with CRST who i was with for 3 months. (whole nother story there)

was just rambling on at 2 in the mourning after work.
like i said i'm a little dumb not stupid ,, there is a difference you know.

 

Appreciate the posts. So far, SAGE has been worth its weight in gold. I can't wait until I actually start DRIVING!!!

 

9/11/07

"Let us never forget this day."

Again more and more and more videos. We watched a bunch of videos on shifting and pre-trip inspections. All of these videos were made by the different engine manufacturers, (CAT, Cummins, Volvo?) Does Volvo make their own engines?

Yeah, the recruiter for CR England came in today. The first thing he told us was, "Don't even think about getting a local job, because there aren't any." And, "Average length of haul in 1600 to 1800 miles." And you will get 3200-3700 miles per week as a company driver." Oh yeah, and they are "revamping" their lease program to "make it better" and "make sure drivers make money with it". I had to bite my tongue the whole time.

In the afternoon the terminal manager for Boyd Bros. came by. I was impressed by him. He seemed pretty honest. Unfortunately, it won't be a good fit for me.

A pretty good day, can't wait for tomorrow!