Smith & Solomon Commercial Driver Training

"I graduated from Smith and Solomons in Delaware in Aug 2022. I was there for more than five weeks as they told me when I was applying. It was such hostile learning environment I hated it and so were other students. Instructors would physically fight with students, some of them were so rude and unprofessional in the yard. they had no good communication with each other and very poor teaching structure. Every single instructor would teach based on their trucking experience. going on the road with an instructor was very stressful and mentally draining because some were very impatient and belittling students There was constant argument between students and instructors both in the yard and on the road. Some students including me used to avoid going in the truck with some instructors because they would belittle and curse at you when you make a mistake. Instructor would then go back to school and talk bad about you with other students. When I first started, the school had very old trucks we couldn’t even close their doors while doing maneuvers in the yard. Sometimes trucks would break down and stays in the yard for days. All 24 students would get stuck doing one maneuver. that means for 8 hours you’re there, you would do one maneuver. I felt bad for those who used to drive for 2 hours to this school. Sometimes trucks would break down during the test date the examiner would fail the truck for something instructors should have looked at before the test date. That would put a student behind one week or two in school while waiting for new test date. It happened to me twice and other students and instructor would count that against you as a fail. Students used to fight for a spot here you would find 14 people on parallel maneuver or offset. The only way to get a spot is if you toughen up. a lot of times there was no road time. We complained a lot why it takes two weeks to go on the road. I found some students who were there for 7 months. mine took nearly 4 months because of so many issues with trucks that would come up every single day which other students also faced. Instructors would show you something and then expect you to know everything all at once and if you ask some something you forgot, the response you will get will make you regret why you asked the question. When I was a student there, I learned from other students we helped each other because some instructors would completely ignore struggling student in the yard. I had good attendance but I struggled with some maneuvers and down shift I felt like quitting some days because Instead of getting help, I was being cursed at and belittled. I regretted why I chose the school because it was mentally and emotionally exhausting every single day I woke up to go there. Reggie was just soo clueless about everything in this school. He needs some leadership training because a lot of times he would send students to get a test date from his junior Trent and Trent would do the same send people to Reggie. I didn’t know who was making the decisions here. Lunch used to end at 1230 and instructors would come at the yard 1250pm include Reggie. Sometimes we would go in his office to come take us on the road.. Instructors didn’t respect students time at all. after coming late to the yard after lunch, they would say that we are driving just around the school because of time and that was 15 minutes driving per student. 15 minutes driving isn’t enough time for manual students. Automatic students used to train with manual and same with manual student. !Improvement needed! > Enough benches to sit on at the yard. > A place where students can practice gear > shifting not on the busy highway punctual and consistency with training students. > respect students despite their background I saw some students being mistreated by an instructor because they weren’t speaking good English or because they were struggling in a particular area. > good preparation for the test day. sometimes 4 people would fail their test both in DE & PA"

"Great school with knowledgeable instructors. Thank you REGGIE, TRENTON, ANTWON, DON & BRIAN for getting me prepared for my career in trucking. Also, big thank you to CC for being very helpful when I needed it. She is the person to go to with any issues. THANK YOU GUYS!!!"

"Graduated from the smith and Solomon 2 weeks ago, there was a point I wanted to quick and CC pushed me not to give up. Thanks to her words I didn’t stop and the instructions held it down and kept us on our feet. Trent Don Brian Antwan and Reggie are the men in charge and really are the best instructors I’m glad I chose smith and Solomon."

"I started taking classes here since January for the weekends. The instructors are great and the coordinator Ms. Constant helped me through my registration process. Overall, I love the school and will be graduating pretty soon."