I was ripped off for $4417.00 by SAGE TRUCKIJNG SCHOOLS so at the very least I feel obligated to warn potential students of the great danger of losing thousands of dollars to an extremely greedy, corrupt, and deceitful corporation.
Here is my story. I had been driving a small bus for a living, picking up and dropping off disabled people. The job paid very little and I was struggling to make ends meet. I decided to leave my job and pursue a commercial drivers license in order to make more money. I googled cdl truck driving schools in my area and discovered about 4 of them. After talking and personally visiting all 4 of them I was quite skillfully lured into matriculating to the local SAGE TRUCKING SCHOOL.
The first tell tale sign/red flag should have been that the range was made of dirt and not paved. Not only a dirt range but full of pot holes. Rain and melting snow create massive mud. Ridiculous conditions to teach someone how to back a truck and trailer. If I had not been so naive and gullible that would have sent red flags flying. Unfortunately for me I was the prime sucker for this predatory corporation. I allowed the very skillful recruiter to lure me in with the promise of "one on one" training and a 99.99 percent graduation statistic. Boy, do I feel stupid now!
I went ahead and paid the entire $4417.00 up front. This money was my entire savings plus money borrowed from family members. Monday morning arrived and I was entusiastically in class to begin my 4 - 5 week training program. The next red flag which should have caught my eye was the school did not offer any cdl permit study sessions. I had naively assumed that the first two weeks of class room time were dedicated to the cdl permit test. NOT. I spent the first two weeks of this scamming school for suckers watching ridiculously outdated trucking videos from the 1970's and reading some book having little to nothing to do with the cdl permit test.
Very well. I studied for the cdl permit test on my own time and passed the 3 primary sections of the test one week into the school. The two weeks of pointless and meaningless classroom time passed and I was then scheduled for actual truck driving training time.
The straight backing training went well. SAGE put me in a Peterbuilt tractor with a 53 foot trailer (same as the state test) and I practiced straight backing for a good 3 1/2 hours. I was happy. I felt I was finally getting some real training.
So, for $4417.00 you are promised 11 sessions at 4 hours each of one on one training time with an experienced instructor. Out of these 11 sessions 6 of them are range time which are exclusively backing training time. Straight backing, parrallel backing, and alley docking training. I quickly discovered that there is no such thing as one on one range time. Two to four students on the range with one instructor overseeing the training is the rule. Fine. No problem. I did not care. I just wanted to receive proper instruction in backing in order to pass the state cdl test. I ignored the lie.
Well, starting on my second range training session and continuing on through to my fith, I was placed in an automatic transmission day cab tractor with a 40 foot trailer to practice my alley docking and parallel backing exercises. Little did I know, being the complete trucking neophyte, that I would be tested in the standard transmission Peterbuilt tractor with a huge sleeper and a 53 foot trailer. In retrospect, after failing the backing sedtion of the state cdl test, I was to discover that SAGE had given it to me with a 12 inch p***s without vaseline. I was furious.
I went to Knight Transportation who was interested in hiring me after I had graduated about the differences in backing automatic day cab trucks with shorter trailers and the state mandated test trucks and I was told that the difference is humongous and gigantic, ESPECIALLY for a brand new student/driver who has ZERO experience.
So, to make a longer story short, SAGE tested me twice in the Peterbuilt tractor with a sleeper and a 53 foot trailer and I failed both tests in the backing portion of the test. I passed the pre-inspedtion portion of the test easily both times. Furthermore, I must mention that in the 5 weeks I was at the school I witnessed every single solitary student who was before me FAIL the same cdl test. Approximately 15 students. Seeing every single student in the classes prior to mine FAIL the cdl test did worry me and make me wonder WHY.
After a bit of investigation and research I discovered how SAGE is getting away with this scam. The majority of the students are matriculating with a government grant, so when they fail the cdl test they don't raise much of a fuss as the school was "free" for them. It was paid for with tax dollars. They just walk away and SAGE laughs as they pocket our tax dollars.
I happened to be one of the few students who actually paid with personal money out of my savings. I don't appreciate being RIPPED OFF. SAGE is a CORRUPT corporation and needs to be closed down forever. If you happen to read this report be sure to tell anyone and everyone that SAGE trucking schools is a SCAM and they will RIP YOU OFF!!!