I've Been Looking Into Sage For Years And Finally Went In. A Few Questions To Who Might Know About Sage.

See Also From Trucking Truth: Sage Truck Driving School Review

Hello, I've have viewed this website many many times, I finally joined and I think it's great what you all have been doing to help people like me. I've also been looking into Sage truck driving school for about 10 years now. The trouble was I lived many hours from the nearest school. Now I've moved to Idaho and have one just 30 minutes from me. I checked it out yesterday to find out about classes and price. It's not an accredited school so my only way for funding is cash or credit union. Although my credit is good I have no employment right now due to just moving here so the bank is out. So cash is the way I'd go. As a matter of fact I could pay for it right now. The trouble I'm having is I asked the cost. And here was the break down here in Idaho. He pulled out a piece of paper and wrote under the 84 hour classroom instruction, 20 hours lab instruction and 14 hours trucking workbook along with 30 hours of one on one behind the wheel training and 2 hours of CDL driving exam which comes to 118 total classroom hours and 32 total hours behind the wheel for $3711. The next offer of class is 5-6 weeks which is everything except the 14 hours of trucking workbook and this one offers 14 more hours behind the wheel at $4497 which both classes are a combined 150 hours of training. Ok fine and dandy. I asked if this was his lowest cash price. He pondered and said yes because we don't have to wait the 45 days for funding if I was coming in on a vocational rehab program or something. So he showed me around and we talked for about an hour. After I left I was looking in the pamphlet and in the middle was printed under the "How much does it cost" section as being the first course class at $3709.50 and the longer course for more driving at $4494.50. So the numbers he wrote down as a "cash" price were actually higher than the book for their normal cost. So now I feel he lied stating he was giving me a discount for paying outright cash/check. What are you thoughts? And do I need to pay about $800 more for 14 hours of more drivers trainging? I look forward to your comments and thanks in advance.

Not sure what Sage does, but my school offered $1000 off total tuition if you paid in cash up front. But I think courses need to be at least 160 hours total in order for many carriers to consider you for employment, maybe an experienced driver can correct me. Also, make sure you get that 1:1 behind the wheel ratio in writing. My school promised a 4:1 ratio in the yard and 1:1 behind the wheel and right now, we are at 8:1 in the yard. Hopefully the behind the wheel ratio is better, but not much I can do about it because I don't have it in writing.

Hey Allen, Welcome to Trucking Truth!

First off, remember to break your post up into paragraphs as those with iPhones are going to have a tough time reading this one huge one.

The numbers you've posted on Sage appear to be accurate. Sage does not give a discount for cash payments and it doesn't sound like that's what he was offering you. It sounded more like he was saying it would be worth it to you to just go for it and do it now, rather than go through the hassle and wait time of getting state funding. The numbers he gave you were very close to what you found in the pamphlet and pretty standard company-wide for Sage. You would have to opt for the longer, TT 150 hours because most companies won't even hire someone with fewer hours of training and some require as much as 160 hours of training. For most companies though, you should be fine with 150.

Also, some trucking companies offer tuition reimbursement once you sign up for them and that would be something you could look in to. May Trucking Company offers tuition reimbursement and so does Schneider. Their reimbursement might not cover the entire cost but any amount would help. Of course, you could expect them to also require you to sign a 1-year or longer contract with them for that reimbursement and if you left their company before that contract was up, then you'd have to re-pay them.

Expect to have 1 instructor for 2-4 students in the yard but 1-on-1 instructor to student, on the road. You won't need an instructor with you every moment you're in the yard anyway, as a lot of that type of practice, you'll be happy to just focus and do on your own.

Again, to answer your question: the numbers he gave you for Sage are accurate and there's no discount for cash payment.

-mountain girl