Sage Technical Services (Student)

I just finished with sage in Henderson, CO. 2 weeks of in-class/labs and 44 hours of drive time. I have a link to my blog a few posts up, in general, the instructors were good, but the equipment could have been better (this is in Henderson, CO so I dont know about the one in Indy). Did better on the test than I thought I was going to, its amazing what you remember lol, during the pre trip info just started pouring out of my mouth that I forgot I knew. They pretty much just let you drive, they ask questions while you're driving and helped me out if I was doing something wrong (like when shifting lol)

 

Crete Carrier has something against Sage as they will not hire recent grads but that is something I knew before starting school. Even though I really wanted to work out of the Eddystone OC the thought of going to All State career school to get that job was not worth that.

i went to Sage Phoenixville and highly reccomend (sp?) the program because the instructors really put me through the ringer.

I was allowed to fuel the truck on 4 different occassions, clean the winshield, eat a blimpy sub outside the cab off the running board, check the air preasure, and drive down the tightest country roads that Chester and lehigh Counties had to offer.

I did run over the last one of the instructors cones doing the 6 cone reverse serpintine and it cost me a gift card for a sicilian pizza at Via Veneto's in Norristown.

 

I checked out Sage in Caldwell, Idaho last spring. I have to say at the time I really wasn't all that impressed with what I saw. The office/classroom was an old (seen better days) double wide mobile home & the trucks/trailers were nothing to write home about. The driving range looked like it would be nothing but a big mud puddle with any rain. After reading about Big Macc's experiance with Sage I'm now thinking I made a bad decision in going with another school. Like they say "Never judge a book by it's cover". I did get my CDL but it was a wham bammer for sure with very limited time in the truck & always with 1 other student. Oh well, hind sight is always 20/20. I just need to get with an outfit now that will take an entry level driver. My goal is to go to work in the oil patch hauling water then get into hauling crude. The 2 week on /2 weeks off schedule of the oil patch is very appealing to me plus I can keep my place in Idaho. I have all my endorsements including Hazmat jut no experiance, kind of scarey, LOL!!

 

yeah, the same for the trucks in henderson, CO. They are quite old, and they all have something thats wrong with them, the range is just a mud puddle after it snows and its starting to melt but all my 44 hrs behind the wheel were solo, had 3 - 8 hour days that it was just me and the intructor and they asked me what type of driving I wanted to do. My last day I was on the range by myself (sage has 2 programs, the difference is price and driving time, its something like 32hrs or 44hrs driving time) I was the only one in my class that did the 44hr class so 6am-2pm I had the range for whatever I wanted and watched as the other guys took their range portions of their test, then I had my test at 2:30.

As for why crete is kinda iffy about hiring sage grads... well, yeah, i kind of heard why at our school but I'd rather not just post it up on the forums. One of the students in the class before mine was speaking with the director and told him why he might run into that problem. but she said they do sometimes hire sage students.

 

If I would have gotten 32 hrs in the truck one on one instruction I would have been feeling like a real Pro. As it was I'm lucky if I got 12 hrs behind the wheel. Enough to get me to pass my skills test but no where near enough seat time for the $3K I paid. When I checked out Sage it was more money ($4K+) then what I paid but from the sounds of it you get your moneies worth with Sage.

 

hope you find something best bet is to get on as a worker bee for a drilling co and let them know you have your cdl. have a friend doing the same thing. but when you r there you will have a better chance of getting a just driving job. and by the way you r just up the hill from me. i went to ND with no exp there r some people that will hire. And pay well just have to find them.

 

Crete could have it's reasons though.

 

Sage school has been wonderful so far... in my first week of driving having completed classroom. Instructors are knowledgeable and always willing to answer questions, let you argue with them and then show you they are right... Dan and Luis are amazing instructors and you will learn tons from them.

 

Do they let you pick what truck you want to drive ????

 

I'm highly considering attending the SAGE school in Endicott, NY. My cousin went there, too, and had good things to say about them. All I can say is that SAGE schools are widely known, and accepted by many (or so recruiters say). I don't mean to solicit but when I start, I will be starting my own thread. Therein, I will be going into great detail about the program, and will try to do it each day, but we'll see how that goes. If anyone's interested that's reading, be on the look out for my thread!