Daly's Truck Driving School, SOME GOOD COMMON HORSE SENSE IS WHAT IS NEEDED - If you have access to a truck and trailer please e-mail me and do not waste your time or money Buford Georgia

 I would like to comment on the former student who was speaking in reference to refresher courses.  Jerry Daly doesn't handle refresher courses he is either instructing a class or at the DDS when we go there to test.  You would speak to someone in the office to schedule a refresher course, I just did one about a month ago and it was $1000.  I called, spoke to Kathy and she sent me to Stephanie who scheduled me.

I had the unfortunate experience of being in class with Lori.  Scary Lori is what we all called her.  I came home on several occasions and talked about her with my wife.  I am thankful everyday that she is not out there driving and working.  I hope it never happens.  Some people have no business driving for a living.  The school had to do the right thing eventhough they knew this type of internet sniping would be the outcome.  She was posting negitive stuff prior to being expelled from school.  Mr. Daly still trained her anyway knowing what was going on. 

Hug your children tonight and thank god that this woman in only in a car on the road somewhere in NE Georgia not in a Big Truck.

Sammy

Having graduated this program late winter I have a pretty good inside prospective of their training process. The program, while short, was a very good "introductory" course, designed primarily to "get" your CDL. I don't think any of the owners, instructors, or employees will ever lie to your face and try to sell the program as an all inclusive professional driving course. I found the material sparce but sufficent. We were only given 10 minutes of "logbook" training and even less reality situation training such as scales, dot inspections and roadside emergency or "life in the truck" information. The class week was very simple and were on to the driving quickly. In a week we learned all we really needed to pass the DOT exam, myself and one other student passed all three exams (Class A) on the first attempt. I felt well equiped to obtain my license when all was said and done, although not comprehensively trained or confident.

After nearly three months of searching for jobs in the transportation industry I am still searching for someone who will accept my now "old" graduation from Daly's. I've attempted to contact Jerry to inquire if there is a "refresher" course offered on an as needed basis, and am willing to pay a fair amount for the required (by most OTR companies) 40 hours of range and road instruction. ($1500-$2000) Every time I have spoken with Cathy or one of the recruiters they have advised that I just missed jerry, or that I could leave a message on his voicemail, which I have done numerous times. A serious problem occured to me. I'm certain that Mr. Daly is still accepting many new students at full program retail, and many (over 80%) will not have a chance of securing employment in this economy. This disturbed me, espically since I am compeating with this growing herd of basicly licenced CDL holders who are just as hungry and frusterated as I am, and this leaves a bitter taste in our mouths. Beware of accepting any form of training at this point in time, your chances of job oppertunity are almost non-existant. I spoke with a truck job consultant who wished me "best of luck my friend, I had oppenings in 48 companys this time two years ago, now I have only 3 companies who will talk to me, and they require a year OTR experience." If Daly's would offer true job placement assistance it would be greatly helpful to those students who have graduated and leave a much better source of recomendation by word of mouth to those whom they speak with. I hope this situation improves. (Both the school, and the economy) Thank you.

It is the school's responsibility to train a student no matter what their age is. Unfortunately, many schools teach a crash course on how to pass the CDL A State Examination, not how to operate a truck in an employment situation. This means a school has a cached program where the students are made to follow a check list such as pre-trip, then skills, then road instruction at the school's pace, not the individual student's pace. There is little room for interpolation, i.e., where the student feels confident they could pre-trip any truck, not just the truck they test out on. It is not uncommon for a student to get used to pre-tripping a given truck only to find out they have to test out in another model (for whatever reason).

Much of the behavior described here is unprofessional to say the least and some of it illegal as well.

The individual states have standards for driver's training which includes truck driver training, and so does the FMCSA.

I would like to address a couple of things.

First, Lori, if you feel you can help people and you tell them to email you, them WHY do you not put your email address out there. Second, if you think you can do better then why don't you start teaching someone how to do this. I have read your articles twice and both times was going to email you but could not find your email address or a way to email you directly.

I am interesting in talking to you off-line but can't seem to find how to get in touch with you.

Never in my complaint do I state that I have my license - that I can find anyway - I make the point that I do have other options than other students. My license are now my business anyway, I also find this statement quite funny


The reality of her situation is that she does not possess the skills required to pass the CDL test with the state of Georgia.



Wasn't that what I paid your company to teach me? the skills necessary to pass the CDL test. Of course, we could throw stones all day long and the end result would remain the same and until you are willing to accept your share of the reality then it will remain the same with more students than just myself.

Just contact the WIA program that is administered through the Department of Labor - ask for their numbers on the pass/fail ratio.

I know my part in this - I know my failures and I fully accept my responsibility and the things that I personally need to do in order to correct them accordingly.

Before you spend your money - just dig further into than I did. As I said, contact the WIA, contact the DDS in Conyers, contact those who will give you a unbiased opinion.

I am the owner of Daly's Truck Driving School in Buford, Ga. We have been training drivers since 1992 in the Atlanta area. Over 8000 people have graduated from Daly's since that time.

In the course of a year at Daly's we will train around 600 to 700 people from all diffrent walks of life. In a typical class of 12 people 9 or 10 people will pass the CDL exam and graduate on time from training. We state this as 80% pass 20% need more help. These #'s are used in Orientation by me when I address every new class. Of the people who don't have immediate success we will restart you in class and give you an additional 12 days of training to get you up to speed at no additional charge. Once you pass our tests and show ability to pass the state exam we will send you to the test site.

If you as a student are giving it your best effort, working with your instructors, and have some hope of being successful we will try everything we can to make you a successful outcome. If you are successful you will leave our training and go on to drive in this industry and reflect well on our school. This is our #1 goal and we achieve this goal more often then not. Unfortunatley, it is an impossibility to have everyone accomplish this goal because some people will never be able to demonstrate these skills under a testing situation.

Lori Williams is a student attempted to train in 2008. Mrs. Williams was unfortunatley someone who immediatley fell into the 20% rule. The reality of her situation is that she does not possess the skills required to pass the CDL test with the state of Georgia.

Mrs. William is a great example of this. Mrs. Williams struggled thru training with Daly's. She restarted 2 times and received a total of 37 full days of training. Eventually she passed our yard, and road tests and we allowed her to test with the State. We knew it was a long shot because she completley froze up almost everytime she knew she was being tested with our instructors and even did worse under the pressure of a state examiner. Again and Again she got to the test site and panic set in.

While it is common for anyone to get a little nervous under pressure this went well beyond nervousness and quickly approched and surpassed out right panic. Her first test was Dec 17th she passed pretrip and failed yard in a panic. On Dec 18th she failed yard again in a panic. She is then put on a 7 day wait with the state. We trained her more and she again failed yard and had a complete meltdown at the test site on January 7th. She was eligible to retest with the state on Feb 7th.

Now she is put on a 30 day wait with the state. We did not reschedule her and the testing availability is about 30 days out with the state. You can't even schedule until the 30 days is up so unless she went to another state she still is not licensed and probably never will be.

She is not likley in possession of her CDL and is saying she is for effect. Honestly this is an example of the state being right in not granting a license to this individual because she is dangerous. If you as a driver respond to pressure like she does you have no business sharing the roads with your family and mine. You are unsafe and unworthy of this proffessional license.

Mrs. Williams will never accept that she doesn't possess the necessary skills because it is much easier to blame others for this then look within yourself and assign the blame to the person who is at fault.

I hope that you will take all of this into consideration when you are evaluating not only our school but this industry in general. We hope that you will give us an opportunity to help you get into this industry if you are considering this proffession.

In the age of the internet unfortunatley you often hear from the few unsatisfied customers and not the satisfied customers. The satisfied custojmers go on to work and have no time to complain. There are far more success stories at Daly's then there are unsuccessful outcomes. The fact that we have been around as long as we have I hope speaks to our successes rather than our shortcomings.

I am hopefull that you find this rebuttal helpful and you will continue to support our program thru your patronage. We are and will continue to be the best option for your CDL in Georgia.

Sincerley,

Jerry Daly
President
Daly's Truck Driving School inc.