Driving Academy — Local services in Linden

Important!!! Read below! Stay away at all costs!!!

Several weeks ago between 8/23/23 - 9/11/23 while I was attending in-class video training at this school I noticed that they had photos of all their students Driver’s License identification cards available in the photos of all the iPads located in the classroom area for general student use (literally hundreds of students personal license photos with full information dating as far back as 2019). All of the iPads were linked to the company’s iCloud account & information was being shared on all the iPads. At first I didn’t really think anything of it. A few weeks later I alerted Driving Academy staff (Billy, Rose & Ian) of the huge personal information security breach and they seemed alarmed. Any student who used these iPads would have had access to these photos as they were not password protected. They have not notified their students that our personal information has been compromised.

Also, I have been attending Yard Training classes as of 10/16/23… Driving Academy is operating several Class A/B Trucks without working/ deleted SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) Systems. This is the system designed to reduce harmful diesel emissions produced by the exhaust & engine. This is illegal. I was a certified New Jersey State Diesel Emissions Inspector at Inter City Tire- Truck Center in Elizabeth, Maintenance & Repair Department Manager at Ironbound Intermodal Industries, Inc. in Newark & am currently a Service Advisor/ Inspector at Newark Truck Center & Voyager Trucking Corp. in Newark.

Furthermore, they have students practicing driving maneuvers in the yard with Trailers that are not coupled to the Tractors Air Brake or Electrical Systems. This renders the Trailer inoperable, the Emergency Brakes on the Trailers have also been disabled because without being coupled the Trailer Brakes should automatically apply due to the Emergency Brake Spring Mechanism. Thus the Trailers move freely and are only stopped by the Tractor brakes, if the Tractor Brake System fails during training the Trailer Emergency Brakes will not apply and stop the vehicle. Which can result in damage, injuries or even death. This is extremely unsafe, especially in an environment with new inexperienced drivers. Instructors/ students are often standing directly in front of the moving vehicles and not keeping safe distances. The Trucks also have serious brake lag time due to improperly adjusted/ maintained Brake Systems & the Trailer Brakes being inoperable. This is dangerous because the vehicle will take longer to come to a full stop due to this brake lag. Many instructors also lack basic knowledge that you would expect from a professional cdl driving school. I asked an instructor to demonstrate an in-cab inspection for me. He would have failed. He forgot to disengage the Parking Brakes while testing the Service Brake System (he didn’t do this as a test, he admitted he messed up after I called him out on his error).

I am weary to continue attending this CDL school. This is very unprofessional and unsafe behavior/ equipment, I believe this school needs to be investigated by the proper authorities immediately.

The guy in all the training videos (I was told by staff he is the owner) actually has a lot of valuable knowledge to offer his students. The videos contain a lot of accurate well thought out information and procedures. But I don’t understand why they don’t practice what they preach… Whoever is in charge of the daily operations of the company is severely lacking and needs to be terminated effective...

I got my CDL license through Driving Academy in Linden, NJ, yesterday!!!

Honestly, I only picked Driving Academy because my father is buried in the cemetery right next to the school, along the same side as the school...and I don't regret doing so. I came from talking to my father's grave one day and saw the school, maybe 200 feet from my father's grave. My grandfather and all seven of his sons were truck drivers. I been riding on trucks since I was six years old. I am 44 now. As the men in my family drove trucks, my goal is to own trucks. After working for years in the private sanitation industry in NY as a operations manager of a garbage dump, (transfer station), and overseeing 15-20 trailers transporting hundreds of tons of garbage to Bordentown, PA landfill daily, I got a close up view of the money to be made from driving trucks and decided truck ownership is the route I want to take. Was getting my CDL challenging, of course. As someone who doesn't respect anything that comes easy, the challenge to me wasn't about what any particular instructor was or wasn't doing. Further, as someone who did 18 consecutive years straight incarcerated in the NYS prison system, challenges to me carry a different meaning than most. Were there miscommunications that frustrated me, of course...but only because I lost my way at some times by letting frustration think for me. Yet, like with any mis-communication, it's going to go only as far you let it. Through respectful communication, Driving Academy addressed and rectified any and all issues I had. I am not trained to fantasize about what can be better. I am trained to take whatever in front of me and make the best of it. I mentioned the fact of my incarceration because I am an advocate of re-entry work for the formally incarcerated...and for some formally incarcerated, a CDL license is the closest thing to a legit career without college. Under my born name, Craig Coston, through John Jay college I am in a few documentaries surrounding re-enty, literally world-wide. For formally incarcerated individuals seeking a CDL, or anyone for that matter, it's not about the tools you got to work with, but about what you do with said tools. We have a tendency of seeing something we don't like and instead of addressing it, we talk about it and fall into stagnation. I passed my test on my fourth attempt. I can really list legitimate issues in my personal life that set me back, but any excuse is unacceptable to me. For me, it was never about what an instructor did or didn't do, rather what I did or didn't do, learning from it and going harder. One thing I can say about the examiners, they never did anything wrong. They graded me based on how I presented myself. If I slipped, they sent me back to the school. When it comes to integrity, you can't ask for anything better. Does instructors have different teaching styles, of course. As a leader I always had to engage multiple sources in order to get a clearer understanding of a matter, so you have to do your own research from multiple sources, inside and outside the school to get a better understanding. Lets keep it real, upfront, how many people can afford their CDL? The fact that they'll work with you with payments, is a very big plus, especially for someone like me who had an 18 month old child and a pregnant wife when I started the school. Driving Academy open their door and present opportunity, the rest is up to what you do on that road, literally. Thank you Driving Academy for the...

My personal experience with Driving Academy is quite simply that the experience is not what you see in the videos, or what you might expect to experience from watching them. I'll explain, from watching the advertisements you might expect a typical training program that is structured from start to finish to produce a specific result with guided instruction from an instructor and a personalized learning experience. Let me stress this is not the case! You are responsible from start to finish for learning and understanding the study material (Pre-Trip), Learning and mastering movements of the Truck ( Maneuvers), and competent safe operation of a Commercial Motor Vehicle in most driving situations (Road Pass). Nobody will hold your hand through the process, and in many ways this is not a completely bad thing as each individual should be responsible for his/her own experience as an adult student in the program. Put simply if you need help ask! Many students seemed to slip through the cracks in the program due largely in part to a huge lack of engagement from many of the instructors. Do not expect to spend extended time in the Trucks, contrary to what the videos seem to suggest. Often times the training yard is over crowded with far more students then can be functionally or efficiently trained or taught within a scheduled time period. If you are an 8hr student don't expect to get in the Truck more than twice for the day to practice maneuvers for a total of about 1hr behind the wheel within that training day. There is a simulator to train on when you are not in the truck which is great to practice learning shift patterns for Manual transmission students, however there is only one machine and access can be difficult if not impossible depending on the number of students training in the yard. Due diligence is key! learn all you can and stay self motivated while you are training in the yard, this will make your life much easier come time for your road test, otherwise it will become a nightmare. Honorable mentions for staff that went above and beyond to help train motivated students:

LIZ: simply put this little lady is the Pre-Trip Queen, without her support and guidance mastering the Pre-Trip would have been much harder. Hats off to you for going the extra mile.

AHKIL: funny but serious when needed, great guidance and explanations on mastering maneuvers in the yard. Also a great instructor for teaching competent and safe on road skills during Road Passes.

MAZ: Great guidance for maneuvers in the yard, and good motivator leading up to the road test.

MIKE: Good guidance in the yard for maneuvers, and a sharp eye to help remedy short comings in parking techniques.

FLAVIO: Good motivator

TONY: Taught many techniques to help make memorizing the Pre-Trip less painful. Also taught proper drop and hook procedures as well.

SEAN: Very professional

Final thoughts, I truly believe that this school has the potential to be something great. However at this time there are many large flaws in the program. Overcrowded training yard, Not enough Trucks for students, Dysfunctional equipment, Disorganized training program, Instructors that do not communicate with students, Office staff that don't seem to care about anything that happens in the training yard, and not enough time physically learning in the trucks. It is for these reasons that I rate DRIVING ACADEMY 3 stars, and I do not reccomend the school for those travelling from far outside the local area...