I'm Curious, Why Would a Recruiter PUSH Sage School??

Scenario 1 – Sage School, 150 hours, one type of equipment for training, 1:1 in truck, 2:1 on range, 44 hours behind the wheel:

1. I’ve met and interviewed with a tanker company who will hire me once I complete Sage;

2. Monday - Friday home every day, work two Saturdays a month;

3. Assigned a truck that’s 8 years old at the most, no more slipseating;

4. Choose what start time works best for me, for example anywhere in the 2-hour window of 0100 - 0300, 0200 - 0400, 0300 - 0500, 0400 - 0600, 0500 - 0700, 0600 - 0800, 0700 - 0900 (you get the idea);

5. Company tries to the best of their ability to keep my start time consistent within the 2-hour window I choose (the VP of Ops showed me his scheduling on his computer screen, so this is legit);

6. If I need to take a day off during the week for something, I can do so and just make up my time on the weekend;

7. Will hire me directly out of Sage school or McCann only, so I would have to go to Sage or McCann (only schools like Sage and McCann are approved schools from which they hire new graduates – it’s a corporate thing);

8. Training pay is $150 per day for approximately four weeks of training;

9. Gross pay is a range of $900 to $1100 a week, paid on percentage of load, not miles;

10. Delivery to customers is not extremely time-sensitive like most other trucking companies, have 5-hour, 8-hour, 24-hour windows for delivery;

11. Sage is paid for in full with my father’s DD214 and a scholarship I’ll be awarded for $1000 if I choose to go to Sage and start March 7th or April 18th.

Scenario 2 – Harrisburg Area Community College (“HACC”), 240 hours, equipment like sleepers, day cabs, 6-speed, 10-speed, tanker, doubles, skid pad, hazardous driving practice, night driving practice, 200 hours hands on for preinspection, behind the wheel, after I get my license I can go back for finishing school if I choose, 2-4 students in truck with rotation driving for approximately 50 hours per student behind the wheel.

I’ve applied for WIA funding and have been approved as eligible; however, the paperwork needs to be processed to be absolutely sure I’ll get the funding. So, to me, this is not a done deal until it is DONE and fully approved and the $5300 is coming to me. Because I’ve applied for WIA, once approved HACC is totally paid for.

Carriers such as Old Dominion, New Penn, Pitt Ohio, etc., hire graduates directly out of HACC. One woman went into a job making $70,000 a year right out of school (this is legit).

I haven’t had the opportunity to meet with any companies for interviews yet, since I only met with HACC yesterday. I’ve gotten contact for Pitt Ohio.

I honestly don’t know what to do. If I start March 7th, I can be done April 11th and go to work for the tanker job with the pay as listed above. If I start April 4th with HACC, I’ll get on the road in May, but could be in a job at $70,000, out two nights a week, drop and hook.

 

Are you eligible for career link? Do you have a GI bill? Hacc does have a payment plan option, but it's still a hefty amount of money upfront.

 

Hi Wilderness,
I have decided to go to HACC. Based on recommendations by Chinatown and other drivers, my goal is to graduate from a school from which carriers like Old Dominion, ABF, Crete, Pitt Ohio, New Penn hire drivers right out of school. Thanks to a driver who gave me a referral to a hiring manager at Old Dominion, I gave him a call and I hope to go speak with him in a face-to-face meeting very soon. I also got a referral to a hiring manager at ABF whom I'll be calling as well. I also got a referral to the Pitt Ohio hiring manager, so I CANNOT WAIT to get started at HACC and hit the High Road!!! Many people have been so helpful in this forum, and I'm grateful for that! It was a daunting decision that drove me crazy with relentlessness to research and select the best option for me, and I'm happy with the results so far!