Driver-training school buys 22 Freightliners, Great Dane trailers

Driver-training school Smith & Solomon Commercial Driver Training has purchased 22 Freightliner Columbia tractors and Great Dane dry freight trailers for its training programs in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

The new fleet will replace vehicles currently used for driver training. The tractors feature Detroit Diesel engines with 10-sp. Eaton manual transmissions. The engines are equipped with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and are programmed to shut down after two minutes of idling.

“Top trucking companies update their fleets often in order to cycle out the old and stay current with technology,” said John Diab Jr., at Smith & Solomon in Linden, NJ. “So likewise, we need to do the same in order for our graduates to be more job-ready and to uphold our philosophy of putting the safest drivers on the road.

“Essentially, the new equipment is more representative of steering systems and shifting patterns found on equipment used in company fleets and logistics companies throughout the country,”he added. “When our students start driving for a company and go through its orientation, they’ll be right at home with the vehicles.”