Good afternoon everyone.....

tired of the same BS from my company ( i know there's alot in trucking also) but i work for a family owned company and things arnt just peachy when you get so many members of the same family wanting all the same $$$$

so now its time for me to move on now after 10 years employed, Im going to be heading to Lebanon county career school, where Sage is located, ive heard many great things about Sage schools, but has anyone here attended the one in Leabanon, how are the instructors, how they run things, anything to watch for? anything that can be helpful is appreciated

thanks

I'm in the SAGE school in Denver, so I can't speak directly of your instructors. I know they rigorously adhere to the PTDI standards, though. Classroom was easy - though some of my classmates had issues in some areas (most of them had never used an atlas, for instance, which makes trip planning awkward at best)

I'm out of classroom, now, and have spent the past 3 days on the driving range. Learning to back, mostly... today was parallel parking. I think Torquemada invented this exercise...

I'll be on the road come Monday, so be very glad you aren't in Denver

Back to the instructors here - we have one student in this class who is ... English impared. He speaks and understands vocal English quite well, but the written word is difficult for him. Instructors worked with him over the weekend - twice, so he could get his permit and pass all the written tests. I'm impressed.

There are definitely worse schools you could attend

I cant wait to get to school -- and ive heard lots of praise and great comments about Sage, and my recruiter is pretty nice (even though all she wants is another person in "her" school) she takes the time to explain everything-planning on going to see the school sometime this summer to see everything-im getting so ready for this career change, Ive been in the landscape construction field for way too long and im way underpaid-so far pretty much of what everyone is saying I can do, i travel very frequently, i use maps/atlas's alot, at my current job, i drive a just under CDL weight limit truck and haul a 20' dovetail trailer behind, so im skilled at backing, turning, and so forth, now theres alot more to driving a truck than that but at least i got something under my belt already

I was telling my instructor today...I've never thought trucking was *easy*, but the past three weeks have shown me that it's a lot more complicated than I'd thought.

Getting through the paperwork, for me, is easy. It's in the book.

The *hard* part for me is physically driving. The double-clutch is driving me around the bend - particularly the down-shift.

The thing to remember - and what I keep forgetting behind the wheel - is take your time. *everything* in a semi is more slowly paced than in a car. I'm used to punchtheclutchshiftthegearandgo.. not the way to do things in a semi tractor.. whether shifting up or down.

I can't say for certain, but I learned to not make assumptions. I have past history that I thought would help.. it did not. If you can, go into school assuming you know nothing. *try* to start from scratch (can't be done, but do your best)

Pay attention to veteran truckers - especially tips and techniques. This, and other, boards are invaluable for that.