Best state to acquire your CDL

Hello all, I am planning on acquiring a CDL to see what kind of decent paying jobs that are out there and was wondering which school and which state would provide the best education and the most opportunity for job acquisition afterwards? (I am willing to relocate to any state)

I am currently living in southern california but I hate this state for every reason except the weather. Also, I found out that there are no PTDI certified schools here and was wondering if that was bad as well. I wrote some emails to SAGE in Idaho since they are PTDI certified but they haven't gotten back to me yet regarding the price of tuition. If any experienced/veteran truckers out there that can point me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again!

 

Yes, I heard Sage was good from these forums which are extremely helpful. It seems that every school has its problems but Sage seems to have the least unless someone can provide an alternative school that can train better I think I will go with them. I have heard a lot of good things about Texas and it may be the best state for truckers. No state income tax must be really nice. Sales tax I don't really care about, between food, medicine and internet sales you can pretty much avoid most of it. Property taxes seem a little on the high side but if you live in your truck you can scoop up a lot of profit if you are willing to sacrifice for a few years which I am prepared to do. I will be writing to Sage in Texas today and see how it goes and what kind of response they will give me.

 

I just noticed that Sage does offer a location at St. Philip's College, China Grove, TX... is that the one you went to? I find it wierd that on the PTDI website they don't list a certified location in TX but there is a location in TX according to the Sage website. Are only some of the schools certified?

The only certified PTDI schools I see in TX are ATDS, Houston Community College, Schneider Training Acadamy, and Swift Driving Acadamy. Are any of these good? I hear nightmare stories about Schneider but do not know if they are true. Can anybody provide any input on this?

 

After you acquired your CDL, what companies did Sage offer you to join afterwards? Did you get a lot of job opportunities to choose from? Also, when did you get your CDL because in this economic climate I would expect there to be a lot less choices. Thanks again for all your help, if it weren't for these forums and truckers donating their time to help the trucking industry as a whole I don't know how we would be seeing anything on any shelf in any store in the US.

 

I also forgot to ask that if you go to Sage in Idaho and then acquire a CDL license for the state of Idaho, can you get a job opportunity for a company driving in Texas? Kinda of confused with all this jurisdiction BS.