RDTC starting school January 28th

I brought two things of clothes duffle, sleeping bag, pillow, personal papers, electronic gadgets, couple books, atlas, flashlight, hygiene products. Oh, I was hired experienced, got my own truck and was gone in 4 days. Yeah, stay light with a trainer, gets cramped quick.

 

That's what I like to hear! Glad to hear that Day 1 was successful! In the truck on the first day, Sweet.
Take care bro,
Northtown

 

Did you have Dale or Kevin as your trainers? I just left there friday and they were our trainers.

 

Yep -- Dale in one truck, Kevin in the other. We were in the trucks just after 1PM the first day, can't beat that. Pic below includes my two colleague students from our truck.

View attachment 42186 View attachment 42187

 

I had Dale as a trainer. He doesnt say much. He likes to go on rides out of town.

 

Quick question. How do you get to the training facility from the hotel? Is there a shuttle bus that takes students to the class room from the hotel? And then back to the hotel at the end of the day?

Also, i read that new classes start every week. How many students do you guys see around the building, total? I would imagine they would have more classes starting every week since they can only fit 6 students in one classroom.

When do they collect the $400 for the hotel? The $400 is for 3 weeks, correct?

How many roommates do you have? Do you sleep with another person in a room? (Same room but different beds?)

Lastly, what is the average age or the age range of your classmates and other students you see around?

Thank you.

 

You can stay in whatever hotel you like; the one that Roehl gets the special "three weeks for $400" rate on is several miles from the terminal (where the training center is also) and requires a car. To my knowledge there's not a shuttle from the hotel (cab perhaps? though that would get pretty spendy...) -- people either drive their own vehicles here or I heard some people get a rental car. At the hotel you have your own room -- mine has two queen beds and that seems to be standard. It seems to be a very good deal for the $400 -- of course, the hotel is saving on some expenses because they change the linen just once a week, you need to bring your own bath towels, etc. but that just makes it seem more like home. You can either pay the $400 when you send in your registration fee and other fees, or pay it on the first day of class which is what I did.

The class goes for 3 weeks and there are six (yes, just six) students in each week's grouping for a total of 18 students in the RDTC program at a time. One group of six is in their first week, another in their second week, and so on. Each group has their own set of two instructors and meets in a separate classroom (though you're in a classroom for only part of the time of course). The RDTC building itself isn't that large -- a few classrooms and some offices where some of the regular Roehl employees work from. And actually most of the time the classrooms have appeared empty because you're out in a truck either on the range or on the road.

In our Jan 28th class I'd guess the age range is about 40-60, though one of the instructors mentioned yesterday that they get all age ranges.

One other point -- the class runs Monday through Saturday the first two weeks. (The current agenda has both Saturdays as classroom days.) At the end of the second week is when they have you take your CDL written and skills tests. The third week is then largely the same training regimen that they have new drivers who already have a CDL go through (aka Orientation). The instructors mentioned yesterday that this change is only a few months old and was done to give you even more "fine tuning" practice after you've mastered the basic skills needed for the CDL itself. So the days and evenings the first two weeks as you practice for your CDL tests are pretty jam-packed. But hey, you're paying for the school so why not make the most of the time here, right?

Other questions? Ask away....

 

Roel supplied a shuttle van when I was there.. They actually had two. One for the guys in the school, and a car that we used, the hired experienced, there was only 3 of us, and orientation is only 4 days.