My son registered for classes, it was not fully explained to my husband and son that you really needed your cdl permit before signing up. He attended 3 days of classroom and was told Nothing else we can do for you here until you get your permit. My son decided not to pursue this anymore and left the school, they reimbursed less than half of what he paid for the school. Total rip off. And I called and there was no answering where did all the money go. They totally ripped him off, would not recommend this campus, heard other campuses are better. Read Less

After researching several schools I decided to go with Smith and Solomon Philadelphia campus. The facilities and staff made It a pleasure to attend and the ability to get my commercial license very attainable. The staff is knowledgeable and willing to help if you have questions. You are provided to opportunity to learn at your own pace so if your hungry you can get the hours knocked out. I’d like to thank The instructors Karen, Donte, Mark, Bill, Ben, Suel, Dan, Mike as well as the office staff. It was a pleasure attending the school and I’m off to my new career driving. Advice to anyone looking to attend driving school. Check out several schools and visit them If possible. S&S had the best facilities in my opinion both inside and driving courses. Read Less

I graduated Smith and Solomon early February. Their evening classes fit my schedule perfectly. And they were accommodating when I want to put extra time in. Never complaining to me about taking some extra time. In my experiences there I have no complaints at all. the instructors were very understanding and helpful and acomadating with my needs. The office staff always handeled themselves professionally and courteously. You put into it what you get out of it. I would recommend the school to anybody looking to get CDL training. My thanks and appreciation to the staff, instructors and the management all of which communicated perfectly when I needed them too. Read Less

This is the best school, and campus for that matter, that you could invest in to start your new career. Tim, Sul, Dante, Karen, Mike and Mark couldn’t have been more helpful and patient during my time there. None of them ever made me feel anything less than comfortable coming to them with any questions no matter how small or big of a matter it seemed. Just some advice to incoming students, show up, do the work and dive right in. Don’t be afraid to work with the other students and learn from them as well as the instructors. Paying attention to what your being taught, SHOWING UP and doing the work will get you through. Test day came and I was confident but whatever nerves I did have quickly subsided after talking to my tester Ben and how calm he kept me throughout the testing process. Thanks to all the staff at Smith and Solomon, you guys are great! Read Less

Just Graduated From S&S Trucking School and It was an overall pretty good experience. I had 1 week of class training with an instructor who was very thorough followed by 6 weeks in the Yard with a great yard instructor and two really patient road instructor. Its pretty much up to you to pass your test they give you what you need to do it but you have to take it seriously and study the packets they give you and ask questions on the thing you don't know or not 100% sure on.I have to said it went well for me from day 1 to my last day passing and getting my CDL. I wanted to thank Ken & Ben your help was greatly appreciated Read Less

Karen is the best driving instructor any CDL student will ever need. She was my instructor and taught me how to be a safe driver. Since graduating from Smith and Solomon at the end of February 2017, I've been working at Werner and I will say she taught me the right stuff. Werner safety department gave me three different road test from three different locations throughout my tenure here, and all three different road test is exactly what Karen teaches at Smith and Solomon, no more, no less. Werner gave me a road test when they qualified me as a solo driver, before they sent me out on my own, and three weeks into my job, they gave me an on the job road test, and the third one after 6 weeks into my job. You pay attention to what Karen teaches you, you will have no issues with your road test at least at Werner.... Karen teaches you all you need to know to pass your company road test. I got my job at Werner through the recruiter that came to visit Smith and Solomon Philadelphia branch. I didn't have to look for a driving job, my job came and looked for me. Read Less

Smith & Solomon is a great school. I enrolled my husband and it has been a blessing. After taking his classes he has been employed and making nice money so we don't have to worry about daily struggles that concerned us before. We are very pleased with the services and would recommend this school for a quick and courteous services. Read Less

I never went to the PA location. I originally trained in North Brunswick NJ in March of 1986. 31 Years later I'm still a driver and I'm slated to make close to a 100.000 this year for a company I just started with. Back in the day it was a 2 week class for I think $600.00. They taught you the basics and the rest was up to you.More than anything truck driving revolves around COMMON SENSE! If you lack common sense and above average work ethics you are doomed to failure!I'm not a over the road driver, I'm a hostler for a company here in Colorado. I do my 60 hours never leaving the yard and couldn't be happier.I never in my wildest dreams could have imagined where my CDL would take me. I've driven every type of truck and delivered every type of freight. I've done over the road work for a VERY short time and like being home every night more. Im 55 now and expect to retire at around 65 with a FULL UNION Pension and Social Security.Not going to be rich by any means.... but at least I had a great career and have security.ANY truck driving school is ONLY what YOU make of it. I've seen countless people fail and rightfully so..... I'm so glad the ones that did aren't on the road today (at least I hope not).Smith And Solomon gave me the tools to have a very decent life. THE REST WAS UP TO ME! Read Less

I'll warn you now that this is a long review. I honestly cannot believe this place is a viable business. I visited just a few days ago to see what constitutes job placement, which they guarantee you have access to for life. I asked for help and was directed to the bulletin board that anyone can walk in and look at. On that board were a bunch of months old listings, and the vast majority was nothing you couldn't find online for yourself. When I went through the school there were occasionally two guys in the yard watching over 10-20 guys. The yard trucks were in appalling condition and were not, by any stretch, remotely road legal. You can spend a week or two driving up in a straight line and then reversing back down the same line. Make enough of a fuss and you can start practicing what they call offset backing and parallel parking. What you do pick up here is that they've painted helper marks on the landing gear crossmember so you know where to stop turning. It's just enough to get you through the test. You will never backup the way you learned here. Never. You must be fluid in motion in the real world, and you'll have legitimate obstacles, not cones. Cones are a terrible reference for backing. Furthermore, you'll only learn blindside offset and blindside parallel. You will very rarely, if ever, need to blindside back in the real world. There are truck stops that make it necessary, but it's rare, and you'll want to get out and look frequently when you do it. The most common type of docking scenario I ever encountered in reality is what they called 90 degree alley docking. This is the scenario you'll encounter virtually every time you bump a dock or park in a truck stop, unless you're in a rest area with pull through parking. Moving on, there was no schedule in place for achieving the milestones necessary to get your CDL. There was no order, no instruction, and very little actual driving time. I might have spent three hours behind the wheel on the road. There was no education on paper logging, which the DOT still requires you know how to do in the event your e-log goes down, if you're on e-logs. I am self driven, so I lucked out and finished in a decent time. Many people spend well over the 4-6 weeks it should take to get out of here. If you aren't paid up, you aren't testing. It didn't matter how ready you were once you were paid up though. You could test as soon as a slot opened up. I got a job with no help from them. I learned all I needed from my on the job trainer, and I was lucky to get an old school trucker for my trainer. Otherwise I would be screwed. This place needs a lot of work to be considered a legitimate school. Even my little rinky dink company out in the middle of the country heard bad things about them, and they said had I gone to any of the NJ schools I would not have received an offer. That's a real bad sign. All you have to do is pay the money and not be a complete imbecile behind the wheel. You can fail the road test, for sure, but those that do shouldn't be driving a car let alone a big truck. Very few would pass an actual DOT road test coming out of this school. There's a third party tester operating in the school. Do yourself a favor and skip this place in your considerations. Try AAA or Allstate maybe. It might a thousand bucks more, but if you actually learn something it'll be worth the money. Read Less

Besides the broken done trucks/equipment, the garbage littered yard, the disorganization,  the instructors and office staff are pretty cool.  This school doesn't prepare you for life on the road.  No training on docking , 45° or 90° parking, driving with a load, coupling/uncoupling, moving rear tandem or keeping a proper log book/computer.  It's a free for all in the lot, if you're not aggressive, you will not get time to practice behind the wheel.  At times, a couple of instructors spent more time on their phones than helping/teaching the students.  The elder students teach the new students, while the instructors stand around.  I've seen instructors checking out facebook rather than watch the novice drivers while they're driving.   Plain scary! Beware of the Amazon employees who also share the building.   They are like cockroachs, all over.  Driving & parking  where ever they want.  Cutting in front of trucks constantly.  For the amount of money charged for tuition, the school needs to do a better job preparing their students for a driving career.  Major changes are needed.  As much as I liked some of the staff, I would not recommend this "school!" Read Less

I'm currently attending and so far not at all impressed. The facilities are a **** hole. They have electric heaters in the bathroom and classroom that don't work very well and  students are wearing winter coats in doors. In class the instructor just had us read and watch videos and laughs At people for asking stupid questions or gets defensive if you express your opinion. The one classroom doubles as a lunch room for all the students ( even the ones from yard) and so far training has started on average 20min late in class after lunch.  I will change my review as I go. First day in the yard. One instructor gave us a booklet about the trucks and pre driving walk arounds and a second instructor says that one is out of date but both have different opinions on what book to use. They have students teaching which is fine but not first day stuff I feel like.In the yard for 2nd week and the only time I talked with an instructor was to yell at me for going past the cones or driving to fast. This "school" is a joke so far. But they have my $1000.down payment so .... Expensive truck rental. Not one instructor has been in the truck with us. The instructors get off on making fun/ yelling at the students . Two guys there were in the yard on their first day and they berated them for no reason. They are so unorganized, they don't have steps or schedules to help people move on. Read Less

Totally disorganized and absent minded to their student, in regards to procedures between student and dot. They never filled my paperwork to dot, which resulted in my permit expiring and ultimately me losing my job. After repeated attempts to redeem their mistake, which included lying about procedures, faxing and emailing my results to a person whom no longer worked for dot, and generally dismissing my problem, I've come to the ultimate conclusion that they are a terrible organization! Incompetent at every angle. Go anywhere else and you're sure to be in better hands. Read Less