Sage ,Billings

Yup. I did. I graduated from there last November. What do you want to know? I can pretty much tell you everything about that place.

 

I took the TD-80 Advance course. I already have 8 years of tractor trailer driving experience with the military, i just lacked the CDL.

I found Sage the same way you probably did (online). I spent about a month prepping before I started class. Most of my time was spent reading a CDL book that I purchased at Barnes & Noble ($20). The rest was filling out forms and stuff that they sent me. Pretty much, they want to make sure you meet the DOT minimum requirements so they don't waste your/their time with enrolling you. I assume you do meet those requirements and aren't a felon or a recreational marijuana user.

Most of your correspondence will be accomplished by phone... some by mail or fax. Be sure that if you are serious that you get your DOT physical done.

Unless you have some relatives in the proximity of Billings, you will stay at the Billings Hotel & Convention Center. The hotel is located about 5 miles from the school. This will be the cheapest option for you since they got some kind of contract with Sage. NOTE: After getting your enrollment notice from Sage, you MUST have Lisa or the other chick that works there call up that Hotel for you to get the "Sage rate". It will be approximately $36 a night (this IS the cheapest rate in Billings by at least $14 a night).

The school admin staff works Monday thru Friday. So get your hotel situation worked out in advance. What I did was show up at 6 AM Monday morning, got situated at the school, then had the girl call up the hotel for me to let them know I was with Sage. Not gonna lie, the Hotel itself is a dump. However, it is the cheapest rate in town. They got a pool and waterslide... if you have time to use either, you are probably fall behind on your homework. Just sayin...


New classes start each or every other Monday. Your class size will be between 2 to 8 students. Some or most of those will have started at different dates, so you will see them graduate before or after you.

The instructors there are top notch. They have over 150 years of combined experience. ask alot of questions. Dont feel stupid about asking anything. chances are they will elaborate on what you ask and give out alot of valuable info.

The first week there you will focus on passing a CDL permit. You will study the CDL manual on your off time, and do practice tests while in class. It will be boring, but take it serious. I mentioned that $20 book earlier... I studied it for a month, and that made things easy. Focus on the small details like stopping distance and stuff like how soon you are supposed to dim your high beams. Another thing you can do is practice those CDL practice test that are on the top of this website.

Your day will usually start around 7 AM or so... about 90 minute lunch, followed by more instructional time or "study time" until 3 or 4 PM.

You will be given homework assignments that you must complete in order to graduate. Sure you can pass everything, and get your CDL... but you must pass the course in order to get the "passing an accredited CDL school" and get your foot in the door with a bit of better pay. Make sure you do those assignments when you are at the hotel.

More likely than not, you will not start touching the trucks until the end of the first week, or the beginning of the second week.

Here is a bit of personal advice: Sage in Billings has 4 trucks/trailers. Although they teach you coupling/uncoupling, each truck will always stay connected to the same trailer. There is a really old truck... I think it was a '85/'86 Freightliner that is connected to a 28 ft trailer. Do everything you can to test with that truck!!! It is the easiest truck to pretrip (cause it has only limited gauges and features), it is the easiest to drive since it has a 8 speed trans, and it has the shortest trailers out of all, which will give you a 20 ft advantage when it comes to your backing test. Because the old Freightliner is so old, people dont like her as much, and she is almost always available for testing.

Next... Pay close attention to your instructors. Your course will be broken down into two sections. 1. The stuff you need to know for being a succesfull operator... 2. Coaching you how to pass the state test.

I saw a lot of people fail because they didnt pay attention.

The guy that will test you is Mr. Mark Vinner. He is the official for testing all candidates in the Billings area. You will test for your backing/pretrip in the Sage compound. The driving test you will take will be along a 5 mile route that the instructors there will prep you on.

There is a bunch of other stuff i meant to tell ya, but Ice Road Truckers is on. Let me know if you have anymore questions in the meantime.

 

$3700 for the advance course... If you take the full course it will be around $5000.

 

I'll be taking the full course this next spring and I was quoted $4700. pricey but I think it will be worth it in the long run.

 

Check with the job corps. My buddy got his entire tuition paid through them