TDA Sacramento - Advisory, read if you're considering

This is not a good school. Don't get me wrong, three out of the four instructors are excellent, or should I say were. Why, because they let one go on Tuesday and two others quit on Wednesday. That leaves only the lead instructor, which is important to note.

So here's the bare bones I experienced while I was there.

First, you spend your first four days in the classroom preparing to get your permit. This wasn't too bad, although there was a tendency with younger 'teacher' to give out packs of information and just leave you to it. But overall pretty ok.

The big problem was when you finally go to the yard. There are, or were four instructors. One being the lead and a yard manager.

There are three road tractors and two yard tractors. There's also a tractor that is the managers personal truck and is only for use if one of the others goes down. One of the road tractors is reserved for testing at DMV only.

The yard itself is dirt, not paved or gravel and is pretty broken down. In the two weeks I was there, not once was it levelled off, despite heavy rain.

The two main road tractors have no splash guards fitted, which means that if you, the student, gets stopped by a DMV inspector, you could end up with a big problem. The reason for this, according to the yard manager, is that he doesn't want the expense of replacing them because students tear them off. But you get stopped, beware.

Now let's get to him. The yard managers name is Charlie and you're in for a big shock. He doesn't hold back. TDA have a big contract with Central Refrigerated and a lot of students have been failing tests down in Fontana. Remember, this isn't about Central, this is about TDA, Central themselves are very good and professional. In the time I was there a lot was going on and several times Charlie came in the yard and laid into the instructors in front of students and believe me it put all the students on edge every time he showed up.

He would also do really dangerous stuff like drive in the yard while students were maneuvering and park his truck on there blind side and then go crazy if they didn't see him.

When he wasn't there you were either out on the road or practicing skills in the yard.

The first week I went there there were 18 students. Yes, 18! And four instructors. Some students were TDA and some Central. And four instructors.

Now separate the road training from the yard. The three instructors, the three that are no longer there were good and knew there stuff. But, they were trying to train in trucks that were poorly maintained. When they tried to report faults to the lead instructor, he would tell them he wasn't going to report it to Charlie because he didn't want Charlie on his back.

First example, one freightliner had a faulty transmission and was bad to get in gear. Only when it failed while a student was driving was something done. This something was Charlie screaming at the instructor and sending her home. She got blamed, not the person who had refused to report it.

They also have an International that the clutch is slipping on, which is scary on the freeway when you loose drive and the trailer starts to push. Again this was reported to the lead instructor, but he refused to pass it on. There's more, lots more but you get the idea?

OK, so I've talked about the three guys that have now gone. Let's get to the lead instructo, his name is Lucky and he sure is because he's the only one left. Every student that went out in a truck with him experienced the same thing, he would yell at students. And I mean yell. Everyone hated going out with him.

Now let's get to the yard training and this is where it gets dangerous. Most of the time Lucky stayed in the yard but if you think he was instructing, ha! Students were left by him to try to train themselves. Students were not given any safety advice and you would often see half a dozen standing around a backing truck while Lucky would sit at the table and tell stories. Very rarely would he actually go and stand with students and instructions and then only for a couple if minutes. So imagine trying to teach yourself how to alley dock or parallel park when you've never driven truck before.

Everyone was so frustrated by this. Only when one of the others was there and not out would you get any direction.

At the end if the training you get to do a mock skills test in the yard to see if you were ready to go take your test in Fontana. This test was done by Lucky as the lead, but here's how he tested. Sat at the table with his feet up paying so much attention that he had to ask students how many pull ups or looks they'd taken.

At the end you go to the office to get your ticket to Fontana and fill out a review. Every student noted to some degree the issues I've mentioned. Because of thanksgiving this was two classes. And what happened was what I said at the start. One instructor got laid off and the other two quit. And the one who was the problem is still there.

So if you do go TDA in Sacramento it's up to you but be aware, although they're a cheaper option you get what you pay for.

Thanks for reading.