I read the rebuttal that Daly's wrote regarding the complaint on here.
I attended Daly's November 10 - Let me explain to you how things worked from what I seen so should you choose to go you will at least know what to expect.
In fairness - Daly's is certainly not a school to learn about trucking. It is to teach you how to pass the DDS test in 17 days. Do not think you will learn anything about the trucking industry you will not.
Also, in personal opinion, 17 days is too short for the average person who has never been around trucking. It can be done and it is done. Most often, the younger guys are the ones who catch on the best. So, if you are like me and older - it does seem to take more time. There are a lot of people who pass who have just let there license lapse and they need the school for the use of the truck and trailer so be aware that those people are in his pass ratio - and of course they do get it.
On a personal note about me - I knew that it would take me longer than the 17 days, I have panic issues when testing. My husband is a driver and I have access to a truck and a trailer and I had my learners permit but we thought that it would be easier to learn from someone who knows how to teach it - who knows the pre-trip inspections line for line, etc.in retrospect, we were wrong and here is why.
* The first week is learning to get your permit - what this amounts to is having someone stand in front of class and read to you the DDS CDL Manual and you highlight every word with the exception of a few words here and there. You watch outdated films from the early 80's at best and a film on how to pre-trip a dump truck. You learn how to do a log book — by the way, this is the wrong way since the hours of service change. Then you take a test on the FMCSA handbook, which is also not a mandate any longer and most companies don't even give the test any longer. Point is that this part is easily done on your own, if you chose to not go to a truck driving school then you can get this on your own.
* The second week is backing maneuvers and then you go on to learning to drive. I will detail to you why this doesn't work and why some of us just don't get it.
While I was there of the 8 people that started in my class 5 failed - 1 quit - 2 passed. Now, I met a lot of good, good people while I was there, but I met very few people who passed such as, Raymone, Matt, Danny, Phillip, Clarice, Felix, Silvia, Becky, Lisa, Grace, Rhemer, Gustav, and these are the names I can just remember - and every time I go to the DDS, there are people there who have failed 6,7 and even 8 times. That is a whole lot of horses.
* I passed the pre-trip but I know many who failed it - the reason - pre-triping Freightliners at the school, then going to the DDS and pre-triping a Mack - for those who don't know - the parts are not in the same place but you should still be able to do it - that shouldn't make it harder.
* You practice maneuvers and backing in Freightliners with sleepers but take the test in the Macks but you should know how to do it even though you are inexperienced. My opinion on this is you must first learn how to drive 1 truck before you can drive 2 trucks. Experienced drivers may can do this but inexperience puts you at a great disadvantage and this just adds to the frustration and confusion.
* Instructors and Instruction given.
You may have anywhere from 2 to 3 different instructors a day and they each teach a different way and of course, there own personal way is the best.By the end of the day you won't even know your name.
They need a standard of instruction that each of them go by. Mr. Daly should oversee this and make sure it is adhered to.
* Instructors.
On the positve side... Vladamier, Cindy, and Hosea and Sherry are all very good instructors. They are calm, they do not get impatient and they treat you with respect and not like you are stupid.
On the negative... Dee... And that is a very big negative. She yells, she is sarcastic, she rolls her eyes, slings her hands, whispers to the other instructors, calls you honey and baby like that takes away from the way she is saying something... Its not what you say a lot of times it is how you say it. She just frustrates you. I had grown men tell me that she made them feel like crying - I don't see why he puts up with that - I know he has had multiple complaints. She doesn't think she is teaching inexperienced drivers she thinks she is teaching drivers. One day I way riding with her and she slammed her palm up against the passenger side window three times and said loudly "I don't know why you keep riding this white line, this is my side, let me worry about it." ok... First off, I am driving - all sides are mine - second - anyone else would have probally just said "hey, move off this white line a little" and that would have been sufficent... The result was that it just made me more nervous and unconfident. The day before I went to take the test she looks at me and says "well you should pass as much as we have invested in you" uh - excuse me but I invested $3500. Oo and you invested what? Time that you were paid for.
Another is Ann... Once I was riding with her and she hangs half her body out the window to yell and scream at a car that cut me off... Had me so rattled I stalled the truck out. I am just not a person who can learn like that. We also stopped to ask how the DDS viewed crossing the white line if it was a automatic failure or if it was just points... It was my idea to stop because I thought she could answer the question and then we would know but wow... She just got defensive and went off...
That is the proplem there they are defensive, you can't go to Mr. Daly, my friend, Raymone said he screamed and yelled at him because he had called an attorney.
See I have options, I have access to a truck and a trailer, I know many company owners of trucking companies, owner operators and company drivers. I am a little aggrivated that my money was just a waste as well as the time but I am much more worried about the men and women I met at the school. These are some very troubling, hard economic times for us all.
When you fail at Daly's... He will let you come back but it could be a month later, now what are you going to remember then? These skills are skills that need to be done everyday or you are going to lose them. I worry that they have no options. Most of them the WIA, which is administered by the Department of Labor, pay the tuition. Mr. Daly might be surprised that they may start catching on to how very few of them pass and start expecting some accountability.
Mr. Daly doesn't like to be told how to run "his" business but if I were him at the very least I would go out and get me a few students and run them through like a mystery shopper type of thing, and have them report back to me exactly...
Just go into it with you eyes wide open and knowing what to expect. Unfortunately he has no competition in the area.
BUT if you have access to a truck and you just need to know what to do to pass the test - e-mail me - especially if you are a woman and your husband is a driver... They do not do well with that... I irritated them because I said "my husband "- a lot - - they do not do well with women at all in my opinion.
We thought that we would have metallic signs to put on our truck that say "before you waste your time at Daly's - ask my opinion." But I am not real sure that I want to keep beating a dead horse.
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