Smith & Solomon?

I don't know the actually miles but he gets $500 to $600 a week which is good enough for us!
They only thing we don't like about werner is the 6 weeks on 1 week off job that he's stuck in. So after 6 mos to 1 yr of experience he will be looking for something more local. He'd prefer any type of delivery truck or service where he's home everynight.

 

I went through them a few years ago, great intructors. Only problem is that they use 40 ft trailers and a lot of companies will not count that as a reputable school. thats how I ended up at Swift. I went to the school in Doswell VA at the all american truckstop (I-95 exit 98 next to kings dominion) it was shut down, But I see their schools up north are still open

 

I don't know for sure what size trucks S&S uses but they were looked upon as a reputable school.
The only reason the bf went with Werner is because he couldn't find anyone else to take employ someone with no experience.
Also the bf knows at least 2 students who also went with Werner for the same reason. BUT the other 2, like him, had horrible trainers from Werner. Not knowledge-wise but personality wise. The trainers were experienced drivers but horrible to spend time with. At least one of the students both left the truck of their trainers because they couldn't stand it and my bf was thisclose. BUT if you make it through the training months it gets easier.
Although my bf got to team with a friend (and the close quarters is testing their friendship). If you get a lousy trainer and then move on to a lousy teammate then you're just ____ out of luck.

 

People have to understand that to get far you have to roll with the punches, to which your boyfriend did. I too am looking at schools and live in NJ. Today I passed the CDL with all endorsements written exam. Now I need to find a school. The big schools, like S&S are usually overpriced. But so are a lot of things out there that are over priced. I found a school here in NJ that is cheap. Its called EZ Wheels that has several locations. They will train me in a truck with a trainer with no riding of other students 10 hours for $1050. Im not sure that 10 hours is enough, so maybe it will cost more I dont know. But I am a fast learner. But before I sign up with them, Im going to some local yards and see what I can get. Maybe I can trade some free labor for some truck time. There are lots of trucking places by me. I have worked in truck yards before doing administration.

 

Went to Smith and Solomon's school in Dupont, Pa. Graduated with my CDL in the middle of October and have nothing but good to say about the school. The two instructors at that location are great, both very knowledgeable and willing to work with students. They also offer placement assistance and the person in charge of that does a good job as well, she has a good working relationship wit recruiters at several "starter" type companies. Since graduation, I've been driving transit busses in Illinois(no $$$ at all in it, but got to spend some quality time with family members before hitting the road), but am going to be starting with Swift in December. Two froends form school went to Swift and landed on good dedicated accounts as soon as they finished training, I'm hoping for the same good fortune.

The only negative I saw was a large number of students coming through the employment office who had to attend the school to keep their unemployment benefits. Some didn't take the training too seriously and would only show up a few days per week, so we never knew if there was going to be 5 or 15 students on a given day. If too many showed up, it could make for some waiting, but I was able to get enough road time to test and successfully obtain my CDL on the day I completed my minimum hours.

 

Im glad that it was a good experience for you. Your right about a lot of people going through just to keep the unemployment going. ONe shouldnt go into trucking if they are not in to doing it.

 

David, I think one on one time when training is great.
My bf ran into the same prob as most that the school was crowded some days but other days only a few would show up and on those days that he got more one on one time is when he learned the most.
For the NJ location it seemed that early morning rainy weekends and weekdays were DEAD and therefore were the best times to get the most practice wit hthe fewest interuptions.
When he first got to the class part of S&S it was a full group that dwindled down every day BUT when he got to the 'yard' it was crowded with many people who just wanted to stay in rotation to collect benefits and did not take training seriously and failed the CDL multiple times.
My bf was in and out in a few months (during the spring and summer of '09) but it only took him so long because he had to share his lessons with some many other people.
When he started at S&S and I posted it on here, other people suggested other schools in NJ with less people. You might want to look through the earlier posts here and check them out.

 

I went s&s in the feb of '08 and passed my first time in april of '08. I went to the doswell va school when it was there, luckily we only had 6 students in the class so we had plenty of wheel time. I would have to say that the training was very good, it is there job to get you to pass the test. after I graduated I got a pre hire from Maverick Trans in little rock ar I worked for them for a few weeks i did like working there but mu wife got sick and nearly died in the hosp. so I had to leave that job to stay home and take care of her.two years later, I am looking to get back into driving otr I called a couple of companies that hire students and they told me that I needed 40 hours of refresher training which i had to go to s&s's place in new castle de. they were more than happy to accommodate me and even helped me get a pre hire from prime inc out of missouri( I live in the midwest now) i will start orientation on the 12th.for those looking for a company so far they seem to be a good company with high training pay but long training(gotta start somewhere). I will keep posting on the thread about my experience there for others,if you have any questions please post here.

 

bdmose when did you attend training at doswell?

 

I attened this school in Dupont Pa in 2009.I dont recomend this school to anybody.Students failing the Cdl road test one after the other.When they fail they get more road time at the school.Thus limiting everyone elses drive time.I met other students there for months (remind you its a 6 week course).If you dont mind the instructors making fun of you ,yelling by all means go there.To me its nothing but a cash cow from state grants.They offer lifetime placement.Yea good luck with that.There idea of placement is going to werner or swift.I could have went to werner and swift without even attending there school.Sorry i didnt attend Luzerne Co College.First day there.Watch vids take computer test the 2nd day.I was told i should have been reading my Cdl book bofore i got there.5 students out of 6 failed the computer test the 2nd day.WHAT A PLACE.

Its all about getting as many students in as possible and collecting 4850.00 for each student.Every monday more students starting and the problems and issues just grow and grow.I talked to many students that went to Luzerne co school and there exp was nothing like mine at Smith and Solomon.They take 8 per 8 weeks and no more.Smith And Solomon your a joke.