One of the important things prospective students need to understand is the difference between a vendor school intended to refresh experienced drivers and a college intended to train inexperienced drivers. Daly's fits in the former category. Most of their students already have some degree of driving experience with commercial trucks even if they have not yet been licensed. In many cases, a driver who has left his career but allows the time to expire on his CDL license but wishing to return to truck driving oftentimes has to go through a school like Daly's unless he has access to his own truck or chooses to rent from Penske. Of course, there are factors to consider in the state regulations regarding mandatory testing which a school like Daly's can provide. An experienced driver can also choose an eight hour refresher course with Daly's should he not need any extended training. For those students who are inexperienced should avoid Daly's! And here are the reasons why: Daly's is focused primarily to provide nothing more than the federal and state minimum requirements, one of such being five hours of drive time. They are not concerned as to whether the student can actually drive by the time they graduate. Their curriculum does not elaborate on the essential details that the local technical colleges offer. They go by stopping points as directives for backing maneuvers. Any decent company which trains their own will tell you that a driver cannot learn how to back solely on stopping points. Any Daly's instructor who has deviated from the method has been admonished for it by the head faculty. Students need to learn how the trailer maneuvers with the truck, how it drifts with each steer at different speeds. There is simply not enough training for inexperienced drivers, and many students find themselves frustrated in continual test retakes at DDS. Just short of 50% of each class passes DDS on the first attempt! Many students do not pass until the third retake, and some retake as much as ten times. Although, employers always provide a trainer during the probationary period (with some as much as six months), they are aware of the potential dangers of a student possessing nothing more than three weeks training! The best companies to work for will hardly consider someone with such minimal experience. Daly's will host company recruiters at lunch time who make grand promises, and sometimes there is the occasional visit by a so-called former student who is doing well in the industry (just ask them if they had prior experience before attending Daly's). The big companies train their own students but they cannot consider a student who is already enrolled in a different school (something students need to be aware of). Oftentimes these big companies give new drivers lousy routes in the first year or two. Inexperienced students in the end would be wise to consider the local technical colleges around Atlanta which offers eight solid weeks of training. Other than that, Daly's is a decent school for experienced drivers. The main instructor has quite the sense of humor and does well covering the entire CDL manual (note: for permit tests students should practice at www.driving-tests.org), however, having his strong military background he can seem intimidating and demanding or even disrespectful at times. The other instructors are overall pleasant, each having a unique personality to help complement different students with different learning styles. Because students are divided into small groups rotating between different instructors this allows every student to learn from each instructor, however, this can also be disadvantageous if a particular student performs better with a certain instructor or much poorly with another. Their office staff is usually friendly and patient, although, they are adamant about students not contacting the school while waiting for testing at DDS. They can speak very sternly and disrespectful over the phone. Be aware, students generally wait two weeks after finishing the school before they take their test at DDS. If they fail, they can wait up to another two to three weeks before retaking. Daly's does not allow for any practice during this waiting period unless the student has failed twice - and they can only practice on that specific problem area. Daly's could greatly improve by extending the training up to the point of testing, as well as customizing their curriculum to each student's needs. There should also be a greater level of honesty toward inexperienced students, though it is not required by law it is only ethical to do so. The quality of their facility is somewhat lacking. The seats are uncomfortable and the restrooms are hardly maintained. They do not employ janitors. The training course needs a much longer lane designed to teach students how to shift. All in all, it is somewhat shady money hungry company, prospective students need to carefully discern whether this is the right school for them. read more
