Colorado Trucking Schools

There's CDL College in Commerce City, Sage in Henderson... USTDS has locations in Wheat Ridge and Fountain.... there's another one I seem to recall seeing in Henderson.. don't remember the name... it's the one that has that FLD tractor with a dump body slapped on it (but still has a sleeper) which they were trying to sell.

 

My personal recommendation is Sage in Henderson. They qualify for WIA, so I'm pretty sure you can use your GI funding there. They will help you file for it. Your driving instruction is one-on-one with an instructor. When you go out for 4 hour sessions, you are driving the whole 4 hours. When you're backing in the yard, you're also working one-on-one instead of sharing a truck. Some other places (like CDL College) have students ride in the sleeper and drivers trade off every 20 mins. Their campus used to belong to Colorado Transportation School, but I think they got into trouble and shut down, so CDL College took it over. Also, CDL College offers NO mountain drive training. I promise... you're going to want that. The other school in Henderson is AIT, which is married to Werner. I'd be wary of them for that reason. I spoke with someone at May Trucking about USTDS and she said she was happy with her training there.

 

I went to Sage in Montana. Used my GI Bill, and had 12 pre hire offers. No regrets.

 

That's the impression I got about USTDS... I noticed a few of their trucks at the Fountain facility which had Werner logos on the cab fairings of the trucks.. any idea what's up with that?
I had my CDL well before I moved to Colorado, so I can't offer much perspective on the schools here. I went to USTDS three times... all three times at the Fountain campus.. never at Wheat Ridge. Once was after I'd just come off the road to go back to school, and they were hosting a job fair... mostly OTR companies, and a road striping company which offered #### for pay and took on remote jobs, which wasn't going to work for me. They referred me to a sod farm in Pueblo, which I took on, and which turned out to be a bit... disastrous. Should've know just by the fact that the guy was trying to recruit from a truck driving school, but I've worked in the sod industry before, so I figured it couldn't be that bad. Yeah.. I was wrong about that. Look for a thread about Southwest Farms if you care to read about it. Second time, I was considering taking on a job with Ramblin Express, so I was inquiring about getting a passenger (P2) endorsement... found out I'd have to go to the Wheat Ridge campus for that.. dropped the notion after I got hired on as a driver with Pioneer Sand. Third time, friend of mine... he'd gotten his CDL-A permit, got hired on with a horse hauling outfit out of Fountain, they paid for him to do his skills and road test there. All I can tell you about USTDS.
CDL College.. I'm there on a regular basis. Due to the language of the nondisclosure agreement I signed with my current employer, I'm not going to talk about any opinions I formed about that place or what I was doing there. Actually, I work for two employers who have dealings with them, and both have me working under a nondisclosure clause. Go and see for yourself, form your own opinions.. they're right off of Dahlia and 72nd in Commerce City.
No dealings with Sage or AIT.

 

There is AIT in Henderson, they share the upper floor of the Werner terminal off I-76. It is a but pricey but they will help you get federal student loans if needed.

 

Peak Technical Institute in Loveland CO.

I personally know the Director of Education, Greg Dotson. He is one of the most well known and respected trainers you can find in the industry. He runs a top notch program.

http://godriveatruck.com/

 

I was told, again, at a sage campus in Montana, that all Sage schools have a mountain day. Also they give lifetime job assistance. I would at least give them a call, they can answer all your questions. Also they will tell you how to start that 9-11 GI process as it takes weeks for your funding to come through.

 

I had two sessions on I-70 in the mountains; both climbing and then coming back down. First session was with a light trailer, second session was the heavier one. That's your mountain training range. They'll also take you down all the way down Colfax and into Windsor to work on shifting, highway and city driving. The yard is for backing and obstacle training.