Home Run Program Question

I'm actually in Stanleyville just north of Winston-Salem. Are you doing OTR?

 

Glad to hear that you enjoyed my posts and found them helpful. As for the blog on my experience with Schneider, I pulled it down after the experience was over and the responses dwindled. Besides, it would be a year old now and may not correctly reflect Schneider's current procedures.

As for Sage, I liked the fact that I was a free agent when I completed their training and had my CDL in hand. However, since I had no prior experience driving a tractor-trailer I was far from being ready to drive my own rig after leaving Sage. Sage, and other schools like them, only prepare you to pass your State's CDL road test. In North Carolina, that consists of going through the Pre-Trip Inspection, straight and 45-degree back, and taking the rig out on the road to see how you do on the city and highway. They don't care how well you shift, but you must double clutch. Other skills like sliding tandems and coupling/uncoupling are briefly covered at Sage, but since it's not on the DOT test you won't get much exposure to them.

One thing I really liked about Sage over the community college courses is that road training is one-on-one. I was nervous enough the first time I pulled out onto the road and having a spectator behind me would not have helped matters. Make sure you ask your Sage school if other students will be in the tractor with you during road trips.

FYI, if you can get your CDL permit before your first day of class you'll be ahead of the pack and may even get an early start on road training. At least that's how it worked for a couple of us.

Good luck at Sage and feel free to post again if you have any questions. Consider starting a new thread here on YOUR experience at Sage.