Which School Do I Go To? Harrisburg Area Community College Or Sage?? Cost To Pay For School Is No Problem.

Is there a list available indicating what approved schools are for what companies? For example, Crete and Shaffer approve Harrisburg Area Community College ("HACC") and not Sage. Quality Carriers approves Sage and not HACC. I would like to know whom Old Dominion approves, and whom New Penn approves, etc. I've been researching online for weeks in forums, job fairs, truckers; however, the websites don't list this info.

I was awarded a $1000 scholarship yesterday that typically isn't awarded until June; I applied within this past week and told them my story and how income from trucking will improve my family's and my quality of life. I qualify for a free food bank now (single mom with 3 kids of age I can go OTR), just to give you an idea of my current income level. At present I have a Class B CDL and have been transporting people for two years as a chauffeur/school bus driver. So with my dad's DD214 and the scholarship Sage is totally paid for. Also, I've obtained funding for HACC so HACC is totally paid for. This is a $5500 value for both schools! Thankfully I don't have to worry about how I'll pay for 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. Scenario 2 – 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 interviewed with a tanker carrier and can get a tanker job if I go to Sage, because they hire only from Sage or McCann.

HACC places students into Old Dominion, Pitt Ohio, New Penn, Crete, etc., which are all FANTASTIC carriers! These carriers knock on the doors of HACC to hire their students!

Herein lies my dilemma: 1. I can go into a tanker job right out of Sage school (this particular company is approved to hire from Sage or McCann only; cannot hire from HACC. The money is OK, the scheduling is flexible, the job is easy money according to what experienced truckers have told me; however, the lime can burn skin if not careful (dry bulk from quarries), and I don't mind the physical work associated with a tanker.

HACC opens doors right out of school to carriers such as Old Dominion, New Penn, Pitt Ohio, Crete, Shaffer, etc., which are all excellent carriers. The money is better. Line haul is preferable with these carriers. To be able to walk into carriers such as these right out of school is unheard of, basically, but with HACC it's happening. These carriers require six months, a year, two years of experience before they'll look at you.

(However, with the tanker job, if you don't come from Sage/McCann then you need 6 months experience to hire on there.)

I'm learning that it depends on the US DOT number with regard to what schools can be approved schools for hiring students right out of school. Is this correct?

Also, I'm starting to get the picture. It seems like there is the Sage-type camp of schools and carriers and editors choice awards, and then there is the HACC-type camp of schools and carriers and editors choice awards. I'd go so far as to say that the carriers own the "approved" schools on their lists such as Sage/McCann etc., which is why HACC wouldn't be on their lists because obviously they don't own a community college. When I asked the recruiter and the VP of the carrier why not HACC as an approved school from which to hire, because, in my opinion, HACC has a superlative program, the answer I was told in two separate meetings with each individual was, "Idk, it's a corporate thing." Speculation on my part, but reason I'm saying this is because during my interview with the tanker carrier, he mentioned that at one time corporate owned Sage, and thus has to hire from Sage. Therefore, IF they no longer own them, there could still remain noncompete agreements in force, thereby prohibiting the company to hire from anyone except Sage for who knows how long.

So I'll have to do some MORE research today and check what approved schools are with what carriers. I've been advised by experienced truckers to go with carriers like Old Dominion, New Penn, Pitt Ohio, Crete, so logically that would be HACC.

I want this as my career, my retirement. I can make a good income very quickly in this industry without: 1. Years of building up a book of clients in life insurance sales (I'm a licensed agent); 2. Having to beg for "the close" to get the sale; 3. Endless phone calls and endless nagging people; 4. Worry about will I be able to pay my bills this month because of a 100% commission job; 5. People always changing their mind and backing out of the deal; 6. Having to work one or two hourly jobs so I can have the PRIVILEGE of working a commission job (thus always working 2 and 3 jobs because I'm single and don't have a partner to contribute money to the household from THEIR hourly job).

The school you go to is an important decision, because it lays the foundation for your trucking career and will decide the "pool of" carriers from which you can choose to start your career right out of school. If I can go immediately into Old Dominion or New Penn or Pitt Ohio or Crete, etc., then that's the school for me.

What do you think?

Jennifer, I'm getting ready for work so I only glanced at the topic title and skimmed quickly through your post. I can't respond in detail - but I will! I'd love to chime in for you.

Quick note about me, I went to DCS School of Driving in York, PA; and then went to work for Old Dominion as a linehaul driver. I'll write more within the next day or so on my weekend off.

In the meantime, you can check out my LTL linehaul thread here:

LTL Trucking: My Linehaul Job

I also talk about local driving in general and LTL topics.

Hi 6 string rhythm. Thanks for your reply. I read your threads. Great info! I am in PA as well. I look forward to hearing more from you about my "dilemma." Thanks again!

OK. Here are some thoughts for you.

First, sometimes you can have a school contact a company and request on your behalf to be considered "accepted," even if said school is not on the company's "approved" list. And yes, sometimes this whole "approved" business is rather arbitrary. I like how you're trying to plan ahead with your thinking and preparation, and you'd definitely want to make sure a school is approved before applying to a company. I planned the same way when I was thinking about schools.

And here's a BIG second, if you're interested in Old Dominion, they have their own school / training program at their Carlisle terminal (considered their "Harrisburg" terminal), which means you would be paid to earn your CDL . That's quite an opportunity. This is the slow season, so I'm not sure if they're currently hiring, but if they aren't, they are sure to be hiring very soon. In my opinion, it would be worth the wait - which brings me to another point ...

Based on what you wrote, I believe you realize how fortunate you are to live in the greater Harrisburg area for trucking opportunities. Of course you have a lot of the national truckload carriers to choose from, and you really don't need to be near one of their terminals anyhow to get a job, you just need to be located near their major freight lanes, and the greater HBG area (particularly Carlisle) is huge transportation hub. They don't call PA the keystone state for nothing.

Based on what you wrote, I'm assuming you want to maximize your hometime and income, and it's really tough to beat a linehaul job for those criteria. You have plenty to choose from in our area. When comparing trucking jobs, comparing truckload to LTL is not really comparing apples to apples. You had some suggestions given to you in regard to Crete and then also some LTL carriers - there is really no comparison. Those LTL carriers will pay you more and get you home more frequently.

In regard to tanker gigs, you have opportunities as a rookie too. One that comes to mind is Shipley Energy. They hire directly from the school I attended, and will train a rookie driver. Pretty nice gig.

Personally, especially since you already mentioned it, I would strongly suggest linehaul. And of course I will suggest Old Dominion. You're welcome to private message me and I can give you some finer details. Suffice it to say that you can gain seniority rather quickly at the Old Dominion terminal in Carlisle - it's a great place to start a career as a linehaul driver for Old Dominion. You can see a daylight linehaul gig within 1-2 years of being at that particular terminal. They also hire combo drivers (you'll do P&D and linehaul), which will get you daylight and home daily from the start.

And so I don't come across too biased, UPSF (UPS Freight - not Parcel), has one of their biggest hubs in the country right in our area of the Carlisle Pike. Fed Ex Freight also has a big terminal with their own training program. ABF is currently advertising as hiring. You also have Ward Trucking in Camp Hill, as well as NEMF.

On a personal note, I wanted to spend the time to respond to you in detail because I myself have a young family and being close to home while earning the most I could was very important to me when I started researching trucking. I like to pay it forward. That's why I stick around this forum still, to try to give back. I briefly contemplated going with Crete and Prime - both truckload carriers that would've had me out longer without paying as well. I am so glad I went with an LTL carrier, and I love working for Old Dominion as a linehaul driver. You are fortunate to live in our area where you don't need to "pay your dues" OTR. You can step right into a job that a lot of drivers around the country would love to have.

I forgot to mention something last night. HACC does indeed send drivers to Old Dominion. I know a couple drivers that went to HACC. But let me say that you should give DCS School of Driving a look. They're in York, PA, but for me the commute was worth it. I commuted about 45 minutes round trip to go to their evening classes. They are on the "approved list" of most of the major truckload carriers, including Crete / Shaffer, plus they have a lot of local companies (LTL and tanker) that visit the school or hire from the school. I learned that LTL carriers like Old Dominion hired rookie drivers in our area because Old Dominion visited my school.

A few things I liked about DCS is that they force you to learn how to drive on back roads. A lot of trucking schools just keep you on the interstate for the majority of your driving, which I think is a huge disservice. Interstate driving is the easy part. DCS has you driving the majority of your time on state roads, through towns, and you'll be driving through some cities like Lancaster and York. They also have a mandatory night driving run to give you a taste of night driving. Most schools do just enough to get you past your CDL exam, DCS goes a step further. Also, they have an examiner come to their school for your road test, i.e. you can use the same trucks you learned to drive in when you take your test.

Between DCS and the High Road Training Program , I was about as prepared as I could be for my tests. I passed my driving test the first time, and rocked out the written test with all my endorsements in under 45 minutes at Penn Dot - that was mainly due to the High Road. I studied the pre-trip like DCS suggested by using their materials, making my own flash cards, but for the rest of the written tests I leaned heavily on the High Road.

I researched the AAA school, HACC, Sage, and DCS, and for me I thought DCS was the best value. When I went there, DCS was about 5k, which is average for a private school, and I know HACC is cheaper, but I liked DCS better.

But keep in mind that you can just go to OD's training program and get paid $20 something an hour while earning your CDL.