Alabama Benz Driving Academy I agree with Diane. They are joke operation Headland, Alabama

I'm the 'smart a*s know it all' with the ponytail. I remember this student. His problem with me were my religious views. He had them, I didn't. I'm college educated with a world of experience, to include a career in the USMC, in which I held several MOS's to include Defense Information Specialist, Journalist, Broadcast Journalist, Combat Photographer and Historian; he wasn't/isn't any of those.

Our students were those who had been rejected by mainstream employers (JB HUNT, Schneider, etc) because of 'sketchy' backgrounds/employment history/law enforcement run-ins; whose applications our company recruiter (turned out to be the daughter of the owner) purchased for $10 apiece then foisted upon the school, which was a driver mill for CRST (I did not know this upon hire).

The instructors for this school were 'over the hill' drivers who could not perform the required skill maneuvers themselves, let alone teach them to students. They were your typical "good old boys," complete with the prejudices that go along with the moniker, which explains why Greg got along so well with Hal, one of the worst racial offenders at the school and one of the least competent so far as ability was concerned. 

I tried to convey real-world experience in the industry to the students as well as giving them the skills they would need to be successful in the industry, however the school restricted my teaching to basic skill sets required to pass the AL, GA or FL (preferred state for testing) CDL driving exams.

I had to fight tooth and nail to gain permission to include a 'shift track' at the school so as to be able to teach students how to double-clutch and progressively shift the vehicles BEFORE they went out on the road for the first time. Until then, the school just threw them in the truck and they would sink or swim on actual roadways.

I also attempted to teach 'idle shifting,' which is a little-known technique for starting a semi-tractor from a stopped position that increases fuel mileage, expedites right and left-hand turns at intersections and enables enhanced operation at railroad tracks. The other instructors had no concept of the technique and as they looked inept for not knowing it, rallied against the teaching of the practice as well as the shift track as it was not how they had learned.

I attempted to have comprehensive class room instruction implemented but was rebuffed, being told that all that was required was that they be able to pass the CDL exam, period. CRST would teach them what they needed to know past the basic vehicle handling skills.

The school closed without notifying its employees/students. It later attempted to reopen at a different location, but due to inept management, closed again almost immediately.