About Trussell Driving School

Trussell Driving School (The Drive Coach) was established in 2011 by John Trussell, former public school educator and coach with 30+ years experience, to provide quality instruction in both driver education and behind-the-wheel training. The staff of experienced professionals at Trussell Driving School has a combined 65+ years of experience.  This experienced staff has designed a program that utilizes traffic safety education to create an effective and powerful learning experience.

Our professional instructors have a wealth of experience in the traffic education field, including classroom driver education, behind-the-wheel training, and formal in-school education. For this reason, Trussell Driving School has been developed to ensure both quality and effective training through the best mediums available today. We serve students primarily in Horry, Florence, & Marion county as well as Summerville but all SC students accepted.

Trussell Driving School Staff

Instructors are state certified and fully insured. They have all passed a SLED background check.

	John and Cindy Trussell John & Cindy are the owners of Trussell Driving School. John is a former public school teacher/coach with 33+ years experience teaching driver training. He has worked with teenagers all his adult life and has trained students in safe driving practices for over 32 years. Cindy is the administrative assistant for all locations.
	James Trussell James is a former long distance truck driver with five million safe driving miles over a 40 year career. He is an outstanding instructor and a third party tester for the Florence office. James's student's are well prepared for the challenges of today's driving.
	Bobby Jones Bobby has been the lead driver education instructor for the past decade at South Florence High School. He is currently still teaching and coaching with nearly 30 years experience in education.
	Heather Gaston Heather is an educator at South Florence High School. She loves working with young people and not only serves as a behind the wheel instructor but also completes much of the office duties in our Florence office.
	Harris Trussell Harris is the operations manager for Trussell Driving School.  Harris is a former driver for a national waste management company. Harris has driven in 42 states and has a wealth of miles behind him and experience. Harris is extremely patient and relates well to new drivers during this very important time in their lives.
	Kristina Tonkinson Prior to training students for Trussell Driving School Kristina trained new drivers for a medical transport company in Ohio.  She was the local coordinator responsible for teaching safe driving practices.  After relocaging to Little River she is now a behind the wheel instructor and third party tester for TDS.
	Jeremy Trussell Jeremy has 24 years in the educational field with 21 years working in Florence One Schools. His goal is to prepare young people for the daily challenges of driving to be collision-free for life.
	Kristen Henley After having her two of her children come through TDS Kristen became trained to teach behind the wheel instructing to students.  Having been an experienced educator for Horry County Schools her expertise in teaching was a welcomed addition to our team.
	Greg Elliott Currently a teacher/former basketball coach at Summerville High School, Greg has been teaching social studies and driver education for 25+ years. He now brings that expertise to the private sector of drivers education.
	Ross Isom Ross is a third party tester and administrative assistant in both Florence and Horry County. He formerly worked at the SCDMV for 12 years.
	Jon Gaston Jon has been a teacher at South Florence High School for the past 13 years. He really enjoys working with teenagers and serving as an instructor for the behind the wheel training thus providing him with another opportunity to do what he loves. He also has a CDL and transports the South Florence athletic teams to sporting events during the school year. It is Jon’s mission to help his students develop the skills necessary to become confident drivers and give them the knowledge to be safe on the road.
	Chris Vassey Chris has taught drivers education for 19 years of his 33 year teaching/coaching career. He has recently retired from NMB high school where he coached football. He enjoys teaching drivers education and takes pride in seeing his students become accomplished drivers.
	Stephanie Webb Stephanie strives to provide a positive, relaxed environment for her driving students. After homeschooling her 3 children for several years and then working as an educational therapist in a local school, she enjoys teaching in all aspects. Learning should be fun!
	William Richburg William managed multiple industrial sales companies across SC, NC,and GA for 30 years with 60+ employees. Driving 40k+ miles per year, he also coached baseball at South Florence High School for eight years. He is very patient with teaching teenagers how to safely operate a vehicle.
	Lynn Leviner-Kelley Lynn's goal is to equip new drivers with the skills and confidence for safe driving. She spent many years in healthcare where she supervised, trained, and motivated employees. She uses that experience along with a calm demeanor to instruct students of all ages.