The closest driving school for me is Roadmaster in Orlando. If I got into that training I could stay at home. Does anyone have any experience with Roadmaster in general or Roadmaster in Orlando in particular?

Dang it, I can't remember who I called but there is a place that you can call that will give you the 411 on the school. Very detailed info such as graduation percentage, number of students that had to retest for the CDL and so on.... If I remember right it was some government agency that deals with government loans or grants for training... Maybe somebody here will know what I am talking about... It is in your best interest to find that office because it was great information to have in order to make your selection

I checked into Roadmaster in Tampa, and actually visited the school in early Feb, 07.
Remember this is just my story and opinion. When I visited the school to ask questions I had to fill out an app. I told them I just wanted to tour the facility at THEIR INVITATION. Nope, you must fill out an app before touring the school, or talking to a recruiter.
Red flag 1. Don't send me an invitation to tour the school and hang an app over the invitation.

So, I filled out the app. When I talked to the recruiter, I told him my credit was not good at this time and I was worried about the financing.
"How much can you put down?"
"About $1000"Itold him.
"No problem, we should be able to make that work."
"Ok can I talk to the person who handles the financing?"
"Well we need to get you a school date set, and the first day you will fill out paperwork, and talk to the finance person. Don't worry the $1000 down should be fine".
Red Flag 2-Thanks to some savvy learned here I would not accept should, maybe and all the other variations from a recruiter.

So asked him about companies. Werner, Swift, FFE, and HOW all make recruiting pitches there. There was a Werner pitch happening shortly.
"Would you like to sit in on that?"
"Sure"
"Right across the hall in the classroom. Come back to my office afterwards."
The classroom doubled as the lunchroom, as there was no breakroom. The fridge and microwave were in a back hallway.
Any way the Werner presentation went on. Some people were eating, some were listening, and a few were clowning. One very large guy up front seemed to be the class clown and had something to say to anyone who made a comment or asked a question. I was thinking they really ought to have an employee in here to control this chaos. Anyway as the pitch finished and roll call was starting I realized the class clown was the Instructor!
Red Flag!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:smt013
Instead of going to the recruiter's office, I went straight to my office, started it up and drove off.
Anyway, that's what happened to me, I hope you have better luck.

__________________
Driving through life not sure of the speed limit

I kind of got the same impression with Orlando Roadmaster. I called just to get some info and the woman I talked to insisted that I come in that day and fill out an application. She really didn't listen to anything I had to say. It was just come in now and I can have you hired in a week. She kept going on and on about how she had been working there for 18 years. It seemed like a lot of pressure selling to me. I almost had to hang up on her just to get away from the pressure selling. I asked how much one on one training there was and she said there were 4 people per truck. I finally got her to tell me the cost was right at $5k. I think I'll pass on Roadmaster.

I have recently been contacted by Three different recruiters from Roadmaster.ALL three were very rude,disrespectful,& demeaning of ALL the other trucking schools AND companies!!!Their sale pitch was,frankly,quite disturbing,to say the least.This is just MY personal experience with them.But,surely enough to steer me in very opposite direction!!!

I'm currently enrolled at truckmaster in orlando. I put the credit card on my training, do NOT finance as it will be 18% interest. As for the school itself and its trainers, do NOT choose the 3 week program. It is 6 People to a truck and about 26 to a class, and you will barely get your yard skills done. Those guys come in every weekend trying to get up on their pre-trip. something that I found not that hard in the first place but i guess different strokes for different folks.

I have the 8 weekend program and I'm very happy. 6 to a class, 2 to a truck (3 trucks on the yard) and great instructors. Except for one guy but he was filling in for one of the instructors that called in sick. He's the night guy during the week and a total jerk but we havent seen him since we told the big boss about his attitude problem. Other than that, Im getting plenty of practice and hands on experience in the weekend program.

Right now I have 3 weekends left. Now I wont say that its all been peaches and creme, you have to show a willingness to learn or the instructors wont respect you. The weekend "boss", the guy in charge over all the instructors during the weekend is an awesome guy. His name is doug and he will make sure you are getting everything you need.

and keep in mind, this school is HEAVILY influenced by the big bad companies like werner, covenant, swift, england, stevens, etc. They make you fill out job apps while you're still in school which is cool so you can jump in to a job after school but they want you to see these companies all the time. I filled out some apps for transam and star, the rest were BS apps so the placement lady would quit hounding me. There is allot of propanganda for the companies posted but steer clear, there are companies out there that are decent and train.

good luck and ill try to answer any more questions you may have.

Pope
That's good information. Thanks for posting. Is the price for the weekend training any different than the weekday training? Let me know what company you go with.

I dont believe its any different because after the price was told I could choose If I wanted the 3 week course, the night course (I would HIGHLY advice you not to do that one) and the 8 weekend. As for companies right now, Im in line with roehl, cfi, star, and transam. Im hoping cfi or roehl as they have tuition re-imbursement. Really do your research before attending school, you'll be bombarded with the bad companies and advised against the good ones (the ones that dont sponsor them)

I went to Roadmaster in Salt Lake City, granted it is not Florida but I think they follow pretty much the same lesson plan. I went in knowing I was going to be attending so I had no problem filling out the app.
The recruiter was great and she answered all my questions and even though my credit was not the best I was still accepted. My instructors were very professional and not only did they teach me how to do maneuvers but also told me why particular maneuvers were done.
As for the apps for employment, the job placement person did not make me fill out any apps and towards the end of the course I got a call from her asking if I wanted to fill out any or what my plans were, I told her I already had a job with Crete and they would be in touch to talk about tuition re-imbersment. She said that is great and to let her know if in the future if I needed any more help....they provide job placement for life.
I had a great experience through roadmaster. My class was small and I had to share my truck with one other person on the road and in the yard we had our own truck.
Good luck to all and I hope you find what you are looking for no matter what it is.

hey I went to orlando for there desiel tech program and for a class b cdl i thought they were more personal than some of the other schools they really took there time with you if you were having any problems
not to brag but i out scored every guy in my class with a 99.9 gpa and it took me only about 30 min to learn and take my class b test.
Orlando is a lot better than tampa good luck