Roadmaster driving school question

I went to Roadmaster in KC. I got my CDL sure enough, fairly quick. The best thing about it was this bit breasted gal that worked there. I mean big. Every time she walked into the room, jaws dropped and everyones eyes were wide open. It was funny as hell because even the instructor that got to see her every day would blush beet red everytime.

 

My husband went to Roadmaster in 2006, was told that he would have 6 months before any payments would start but that any company he got hired by would pay for it if it was a company that he got hired by had sent a prehire letter to him through Roadmaster. WRONG! Within a day of his graduating, they sent a letter stating that the first payment was due before we even got the letter. He did get hired by a company that sent a prehire letter through Roadmaster but Roadmaster put on our credit reports that we were not paying as agreed to even though that company did pay it off. It took a year of back and forth letters to Roadmaster and the collection companies that they hired before they finally figured out that they had been paid by that company but it took another 2-3 years of talking to the credit bureaus before the black marks that Roadmaster mistakenly put on our credit reports finally got removed.

 

I had visited Roadmaster in Indianapolis, they did not pressure real hard. Had a friend who had completed and passed his CDL through their school. They had several students per truck as part of your drive time.(yuk) I checked with Sage at IVY Tech in Indy. No pressure, presented facts, and very professional. They have one student and one instructor for your drive time. Class is slow but as I'm talking and watching the drive instructors and the school manager interact with students in their driving part of school and doing testing, you can tell they really want to ensure that you get your CDL and get a job. I believe their are several schools in Florida? Hope this helps!

 

I am currently still in class with Roadmaster and getting one student per instructor during drive time? Not where I am..... we sit in the back of the truck for three hours on a sleeper while another student drives. Then I get my one hour drive. Then in the afternoon it is a repeat..... so I spend the day driving for two hours and riding in the truck for 6 hours. For the other two hours of our 10 hour day is sitting at the truck stop between student drives for a break every hour.

And the "best" thing..... none of the instructors agree on what we are supposed to know. They all seem to hate each other and cannot agree on the material. And to think I paid $6495 for this.

 

Just a coment on Roadmaster in W Memphis: avoid it. My current student went there. They didn't teach her anything. You can find much cheaper schools that don't teach you anything.

 

I went to Roadmaster in Orlando it was a epic fail. I drove from Ft Myers there stayed 1 night in the hotel roommate was a total slob. Day 1 filled out all paperwork paid my 120 for DOT Physical and Drug test before I got there was told I had to pay upfront it is part of the application process. Anyway they asked me before I got there what meds I was on told them tramadol and flexeril was told I was fine got there was told by the doc is I was on tramadol I will get disqualified so they sent me home keeping my 120 from the dot physical and drug test I never do and they charged the VA on my Post 9/11 benefits $1500 for 1 week of school that I never attended. And now I am fighting with VA to get my post 9/11 education benefits that roadmaster stole from me

 

I went to roadmaster in indianapolis they were really good with me and I would recommend them in a heart beat but that was over 3 years ago

 

My husband and I went to Roadmaster in '08 in Dunn, NC. It was paid for through WIA and we didn't have any issues with that. Most of the trucks were beat and some of the instructors even more so. Luckily, we lived nearby and didn't have to be put up in a motel. I suppose what counts is that we both passed our test and received our CDL's. We were hired by Watkins Shepard and went through their advanced 2-week training together and left in a truck together to team drive. There wasn't any time needed with a trainer (stranger) on the road for 4-weeks--one of my concerns. I will say the 2-weeks training I had at Watkins was awesome and I felt very comfortable leaving there on our first trip. Watkins has a school as well in Missoula, MT.

 

I went to roadmasters in indianapolis,IN and for the most part I enjoyed the training there
they were able to help me make the right decisions on my first company and I have had a successfull career so far

 

Hmmm, where do i start.
Was searching for a trucking school and i couldnt seem to find any facility near-by. Closest one was in orlando about an hr away. So i accidently drove by MFT trucking school and wrote down the number posted on their training trucks. I tried calling but no one ever answered because i think it was a friday. At that time i wasnt aware it was a community college that closes on fridays and takes long week offs during holidays. So i search again online and came accross roadmaster in orlando. I was interested and gave their 1800# a call but no one ever returned my call. Finally i got a hold of someone at their local 407. The lady was nice and very helpful told me what stuff she needed before i drove up to orlando and pre-register. So i finally got all the pprworks and drove up to their facility. It took me 2 hrs to get to their place which shoudve only took 1 hr. Turned out they were located at the nothern most tip of orlando. First thing i noticed when i finally arrived at their facility was a tiny driving range, bunch of students standing outside and only two trucks were in use. So i already had a question mark in my head but i didnt know any better. So i finally sat down with the rep and she copied all my ppwrk and went over the fees and tuition. The dot, permit and endorsement fees didnt bother me until she told me the full cost of tuition which was $6047. I thought she said $60.47 as a pre-enrollment fee. I never expected a tuition to be that high. At the most i would expect around $3k-$4k. Anyways i didnt show up after that. Also they offered a discounted rate hotel. Only catch was you had a roommate. I could get a room less than their rate with free bf at a classy hotel.

So i gave MFT in orlando a 2nd shot and finally got a hold of someone and attended the pre-registration orientation. You must have patience going back and forth from one place to another during the enrollment process because its a pain in the ##### but its all worth it. Im so glad i considered MFT because im a mil vet using the chapter 33 gi-bill, this works out for me because i get 2 full mos of allowance. Their training is 320hrs which is 2 months of hands-on/drive-time plus road-time. They have several intructors, a dozen trucks with trailers and an enormous driving range. On top of that, they only charge 1/3 tuition costs compared to the other schools. One of the guys at the orientation was actually a former trainee at roadmaster who dropped-out halfway thru class. He said he hated the school mainly because their first wk was only in the classroom. during the next two weeks, they reserve thurs and fri for testing which means mon tues wed are the only days for driving. 6 days??? He also said that the students dont take turns driving, the instructors just allow them to beat anyone to the truck, also four to a truck and most of the time dont get a chance behind the wheel.

so here is my summary of cdl schools in orlando:
MFT-va approved, 8wk program, 2:5instructor to student ratio, least expensive tuition
USA CDL-not va approved, not too expensive, 3wk program
ROADMASTER-va approved, less driving time, very expensive, 3wk program(6dys driving time)