SDIA, Indianapolis, IN?

Hello,

I'm wondering if anyone has ever heard of the Safe Driving Institute of America school in Indy. I know it is affiliated with Sodrel Truck Lines. I attended one of their information sessions last Thursday and was fairly impressed! I'm just curious what, if any, is the word on the street about this place?

Thanks!

 

I'd like to hear about them as well, as I saw them the last time I was in Indianapolis. Sodrel is real big down where my wife's family lives, and I think she knows the owner...

 

Well, I've signed on the dotted line with them, and will be attending their July 1st session! Really excited about this new chapter in my life!

 

I almost went with SDIA, but with my wife staying at home with our son, we couldn't afford 5-6 weeks before I got a pay check. Honestly, though, I thought their program sounded better and more thorough. Plus, I think they also keep class size down to like 10 or so. Best of luck!

On another note, do you have an idea of who you want to work for once you're done with school?

 

Thanks! Yeah, the school is a little long, but I'm not particularly worried about that. The thoroughness and the small class size (they have a maximum of six, and at the last check there were only 4, including me, signed up for this session) was what appealed to me. I see you're from Ft. Wayne, would you have stayed in Indy for the week then gone home on the weekend?

As for employers, I'm going around and checking in the Indy area at different companies. So far, I've talked to OD, Sodrel, Central Transport, Schneider, Dohrn, Saia, Werner, Conway, Fedex, Monarch Beverage, Zink Distributing, US Foods, Sysco, and Bowman. Of that list, I'm really hoping that Sodrel, OD, Monarch, or Zink works out because they're local companies that would get me home daily/nightly. Best of luck to you!

 

Yeah I'll be staying with my parents during the week. They live about half an hour from Indianapolis - much closer than Fort Wayne! You've definitely talked to a lot of companies! I've talked to Schneider, Maverick, and Werner so far, and they all 3 said that I just needed to tell them when I started school and then we could go from there. I'm really hoping to go with a company that does tuition reimbursement. Also, I want to end up with a local job that would get me home every day, but we're planning to move to southern Indiana later this year so that might make it a bit difficult. I did find a great regional opening with Schneider that would let me get home weekly, so I'm hoping to get that. I'm holding off on a final decision, though, until I get into school and get to hear from several different companies. I just wanna make sure I make the right decision. Best of luck to you as well! Are you gonna keep us updated on here?

 

I looked at Schneider too! The regional positions look like they might be a good fit for those of us with families. I sure will be posting updates here! You do the same with your TDI thread!

 

I'll definitely do that!

 

Well got my tuition paid on Tuesday, so I'll be starting school on the 1st! Can't wait for this to begin! More updates to come as a I go through school.

 

While you're going through your training start looking at the Indy Star classifieds , careerbuilder.com
and Indianacareerconnect.com , craigslist (Indy transport section ) and the little Jobs weekly paper you find at gas stations .

Take notice of how many companies are constantly hiring , there's a reason for that , high turn over .

I worked at Zink for a few months , pass them up . You might like con-way . I didn't , search my posts to find out why .

I've heard nothing but bad things about soderal , don't know anything for a fact but looking at their equipment I'd say the rumors are true .

CTI , Saia , Werner , Schneider , Vitran are crap companies pass them up also .

That leaves OD , Sysco , Monarch , Dohrn and (Bowman , don't know anything about them) but I've heard good things about the rest .

The trick is getting your foot in the door without one years experience .

Check out the companies around Harding and 465 on the south side like AAA Cooper , I know they take new folks also .

Good luck .