Private Schools In Indianapolis - Job Placement
Topic 2945 | Page 1
Hey Nick. Well I see you're thorough in your research and you seem to have a solid understanding of how to compare schools. But for those who don't, we have a great series of articles on How To Choose A Truck Driving School so have a look at those. We also have an entire chapter in our Truck Driver's Career Guide which will teach you how to choose a school and you can find that here: Chapter 4: How To Choose CDL Training.
Ok Nick...here we go....
Sage offers a less glamours atmosphere but I suspect the 1-1 training and small class size might be a plus
The real numbers you have to look at are the number of students per truck and the number of instructors per student. It's fine to have 80 people in your class as long as there's about 20 instructors and 20 trucks. But the amount of time you'll spend sitting around waiting for a truck or an instructor to become available will depend on those two ratios I mentioned.
C-1's advantage is they train you until you pass the road test and the test site and C-1 have a very close relationship
How does Sage handle it if you fail the road test the first time? A small percentage of students always fail it the first time and most schools have a provision for that. Usually they'll let you continue with the schooling for a short time and test again for free or a very minimal fee. This is normally not a problem. I've had students come to me asking what to do because they failed the road test several times and ran out of money for continued training. But that is awfully rare. Probably happens to fewer than 1% of the students. Almost everyone passes the road test the second time so check to see what additional costs there may be for a second test if necessary. Beyond that will rarely be necessary.
It seems as though C-1 sends everybody into three companies hands when they graduate.
There's a good chance the school is getting kickbacks from certain companies so they really push you to apply to those companies. It's a pretty common practice. What you should do is:
1) Ask for an actual list of major companies that hire from the school 2) Go home and call a few companies to verify this yourself
If C-1 has an extra short training period - like under 160 hours - then the choices may be limited on who will hire their students.
Now C-1 is used for Company-Sponsored Training in partnership with Driver Solutions which functions as the recruiter for PAM Trucking and USA Truck. That's almost certainly why so many students from there are going to PAM or USA Truck. But I'm sure many other major companies will hire from C-1 also.
How concerned should I be about the type of truck I'm trained in?
Not too worried. Most schools have good enough equipment. Just make sure they have standard transmissions that are either 8, 9, 10, 13, 15, or 18 speeds. Most are 8, 9, or 10 speeds. You don't want to train on an automatic transmission because you may have a restriction on your license for driving automatics only. Just makes sure that the equipment you're trained on will not put any restrictions on you whatsoever.
Are you going to be applying for pre-hires before you commit to a school? You really should. If you're not familiar with the pre-hire process we have an article that will help you - Understanding The Pre-Hire Process.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Pre-hire:
What Exactly Is A Pre-Hire Letter?
Pre-hire letters are acceptance letters from trucking companies to students, or even potential students, to verify placement. The trucking companies are saying in writing that the student, or potential student, appears to meet the company's minimum hiring requirements and is welcome to attend their orientation at the company’s expense once he or she graduates from truck driving school and has their CDL in hand.
We have an excellent article that will help you Understand The Pre-Hire Process.
A Pre-Hire Letter Is Not A Guarantee Of Employment
The people that receive a pre-hire letter are people who meet the company's minimum hiring requirements, but it is not an employment contract. It is an invitation to orientation, and the orientation itself is a prerequisite to employment.
During the orientation you will get a physical, drug screen, and background check done. These and other qualifications must be met before someone in orientation is officially hired.
Pre-hires:
What Exactly Is A Pre-Hire Letter?
Pre-hire letters are acceptance letters from trucking companies to students, or even potential students, to verify placement. The trucking companies are saying in writing that the student, or potential student, appears to meet the company's minimum hiring requirements and is welcome to attend their orientation at the company’s expense once he or she graduates from truck driving school and has their CDL in hand.
We have an excellent article that will help you Understand The Pre-Hire Process.
A Pre-Hire Letter Is Not A Guarantee Of Employment
The people that receive a pre-hire letter are people who meet the company's minimum hiring requirements, but it is not an employment contract. It is an invitation to orientation, and the orientation itself is a prerequisite to employment.
During the orientation you will get a physical, drug screen, and background check done. These and other qualifications must be met before someone in orientation is officially hired.
Company-sponsored Training:
A Company-Sponsored Training Program is a school that is owned and operated by a trucking company.
The schooling often requires little or no money up front. Instead of paying up-front tuition you will sign an agreement to work for the company for a specified amount of time after graduation, usually around a year, at a slightly lower rate of pay in order to pay for the training.
If you choose to quit working for the company before your year is up, they will normally require you to pay back a prorated amount of money for the schooling. The amount you pay back will be comparable to what you would have paid if you went to an independently owned school.
Company-sponsored training can be an excellent way to get your career underway if you can't afford the tuition up front for private schooling.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.OOS:
When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.
While I can't comment on the schools your looking at, I would HIGHLY recommend you look at Truck Driver Institute in Indy. It's actually located just south of Indy in Whiteland. That is where I went and I was very happy with my choice. And as far as jobs you will see a lot of companies and get to ask the recruiters questions. They make sure you have several pre-hires before you graduate.
I am not on here often so feel free to PM me if you have any questions. I check my email almost daily and can respond quicker.
Woody
Pre-hire:
What Exactly Is A Pre-Hire Letter?
Pre-hire letters are acceptance letters from trucking companies to students, or even potential students, to verify placement. The trucking companies are saying in writing that the student, or potential student, appears to meet the company's minimum hiring requirements and is welcome to attend their orientation at the company’s expense once he or she graduates from truck driving school and has their CDL in hand.
We have an excellent article that will help you Understand The Pre-Hire Process.
A Pre-Hire Letter Is Not A Guarantee Of Employment
The people that receive a pre-hire letter are people who meet the company's minimum hiring requirements, but it is not an employment contract. It is an invitation to orientation, and the orientation itself is a prerequisite to employment.
During the orientation you will get a physical, drug screen, and background check done. These and other qualifications must be met before someone in orientation is officially hired.
Pre-hires:
What Exactly Is A Pre-Hire Letter?
Pre-hire letters are acceptance letters from trucking companies to students, or even potential students, to verify placement. The trucking companies are saying in writing that the student, or potential student, appears to meet the company's minimum hiring requirements and is welcome to attend their orientation at the company’s expense once he or she graduates from truck driving school and has their CDL in hand.
We have an excellent article that will help you Understand The Pre-Hire Process.
A Pre-Hire Letter Is Not A Guarantee Of Employment
The people that receive a pre-hire letter are people who meet the company's minimum hiring requirements, but it is not an employment contract. It is an invitation to orientation, and the orientation itself is a prerequisite to employment.
During the orientation you will get a physical, drug screen, and background check done. These and other qualifications must be met before someone in orientation is officially hired.
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I know I'm going to private CDL School for my A license. It will be in Indy. I'm having a tough time deciding between SAGE and C-1. Sage offers a less glamours atmosphere but I suspect the 1-1 training and small class size might be a plus. C-1's advantage is they train you until you pass the road test and the test site and C-1 have a very close relationship. C-1 drives Freightliners, SAGE has Internationals.
It seems as though C-1 sends everybody into three companies hands when they graduate. I do not have real knowledge of Sage pacements but they at least appear to offer more options/ offers after graduation.
How concerned should I be about the type of truck I'm trained in? Can any grads of either school relate experiences as to number of job offers on the table?
I'm 56, good health, all ready physical tested. Testing CDL all endorsements (except school bus) tomorrow. Start working toward HazMat as soon as I get my permit. Exceptionally clean work, drugs, driving records. Plan to put in a couple of years OTR in dry-van then try to look for more regional work
Thanks for the tips, AND your time. See ya out there in the Spring!
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
HAZMAT:
Hazardous Materials
Explosive, flammable, poisonous or otherwise potentially dangerous cargo. Large amounts of especially hazardous cargo are required to be placarded under HAZMAT regulations
Regional:
Regional Route
Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.