New Driver

The schools I was mentioning are only for RVs and travel trailers. Most states don't require driving tests for even the largest RVs. I just wanted to learn to back up and drive safely before I left on a trip. Since they charge $700 and up to $1200 for classes, buying a few junk trailers and RVs would be well worth it to them. Most of these driving courses have booths at the RV shows. They seem to get a lot of customers but I was not willing to drive my travel trailer all that way in heavy traffic. Solo, your class sounded fantastic and is something most people really need lessons in.

Executive wrote:
Swing wide at intersections, watch for idiots trying to squeeze between you and the curb at intersections when turning right, be aware of your tail swing, that area behind the back wheels will bang into stuff if you're not careful etc. Enjoy the trip and enjoy the new coach. By the time you get home, you'll have plenty of left seat time to really be able to control the beast.....Dennis

I'll add, adjust all of your mirrors so you can just see the side of your motorhome in the mirror.
This should eliminate any blind spots on the driver side. Hopefully, eliminate any blind spots on the passenger side.
Just check it out so you know what is going on around your vehicle.
Also, as you complete the right turn look back in the passenger mirror to see how close you came to the curb.
This will help you a lot to get the "feel" for making a turn.
Hope this is helpful!!
Pat

SusanDallas wrote:


A question: Why don't some of these driving schools provide junk trailers so people could learn to back up, hitch & un hitch, etc. I would have gladly paid for these lessons. I believe these companies would get a lot more customers if they didn't make their customers bring their own trailers. It makes no sense to me to have their customers risk their lives and the safety of other drivers by having your schools off major interstate highways.

Susan, I suspect this may have been more of a rhetorical question but, I'll add my 2 cents here. I happen to teach CDL training courses for a local school district so I can speak for our situation which would be similar I suspect with many others. We do keep a "junk" trailer that is not for a semi that I have students connect to while they practice on our driving range. After going through the range successfully with our trailer, the student has a much easier time transferring to a semi 5th wheel. My students leave with all types of trailer experiences. I am not familiar with how stringent Texas examination is but, our state certainly puts an emphasis on the candidate being able to safely operate the vehicle they intend to be licensed for. Most schools probably do not see a large enough market for what you are wanting otherwise they would provide the equipment. Most schools produce Class A commercial drivers-that's where the money is. They don't care to mess with us RVers.

With that said, there are some RV specific schools but they are few and far between. Many states have not stepped-up their requirements for licensing their drivers of the larger RVs that are going up and down our roads. That very likely puts a number of very inexperienced drivers on the roads with RVs. Just a few months ago, I was working with a RV owner as he was learning about his new DP with air brakes. He had been driving RVs like this for years but simply had never bothered to learn much about them as his state did not require special licensing. I happened to be driving the rig at the time and the air brake primary and secondary air tank pressures fell suddenly, sending the warning system into operation. He responded rather excidelty, "what is that horrible buzzer for?" Pretty scary to have RVers out there like that but it happens.

You are right Susan, I believe there is a need for more RV specific schools.

I know how he feels. I had never towed anything besides a tiny u-haul when I purchased my travel trailer. I wanted to take lessons for towing. The only driving schools in the Dallas area were off major interstate highways. One was in Denton which meant taking I-35 and the other was off I-20. All of them want you to bring your own travel trailer. I decided that if I could drive in that traffic, I didn't need lessons.

A question: Why don't some of these driving schools provide junk trailers so people could learn to back up, hitch & un hitch, etc. I would have gladly paid for these lessons. I believe these companies would get a lot more customers if they didn't make their customers bring their own trailers. It makes no sense to me to have their customers risk their lives and the safety of other drivers by having your schools off major interstate highways.

wolfe10 wrote:
And, make sure you have the proper MI license for your size/weight vehicle.

Your home state determines what license you need. All other states honor your home state's drivers license.

Jim:

You didn't mention what state you plan to have your DL from but assuming Michigan, worlfe10 is exactly correct. It does not appear that Michigan will require anything special Michigan DL but, find out for sure. The state that I am licensed in does require at least a Class B non-commercial for our rig and I would expect a 40' as you are considering would too. I asked one of our State DL Examiners if they had ever heard of an RVer being ticketed for not having the correct endorsements. Their comment, "No, but if they were ever involved in a fatality incident, the resultant legal issues would be very unpleasant."

You are receiving great advice from others so far. One more item, if your new Class A has air brakes and you are not familiar with their operation, don't forget to educate yourself there. You apparently have successfully driven a good sized RV in the past so the additional size should be relatively easy for you to acclimate yourself to.

You are doing the responsible thing in giving this ample consideration now. THANK YOU!

wolfe10 wrote:
And, make sure you have the proper MI license for your size/weight vehicle.

Your home state determines what license you need. All other states honor your home state's drivers license.

Michigan does not require a special drivers license or endorsement for a MH.

I went from a 27' class A to a 40' diesel. Big difference in size. What I did was take my 'lesson', self taught, at 2AM driving around the Houston area. Not much traffic and I learned a lot. My lesson was a little over 2 hrs long. Swing wide at intersections, watch for idiots trying to squeeze between you and the curb at intersections when turning right, be aware of your tail swing, that area behind the back wheels will bang into stuff if you're not careful etc. Find a big lighted parking lot such as a closed Home Depot and practice backing and maneuvering where you won't hit anything if you make a mistake, and you will make a mistake. :) Enjoy the trip and enjoy the new coach. By the time you get home, you'll have plenty of left seat time to really be able to control the beast.....Dennis

You've gotten plenty of good advice here already. I don't think you'll have any problems if you approach things with due caution and care, which seems to be what you're doing.

Besides the other things mentioned, do keep in mind the tail swing as you'll (probably) have a lot of vehicle behind the back axle. On a sharp turn, the back of the motorhome will swing out a good bit to the other side--possibly a few feet beyond its starting point. This can be problematic in parking lots, gas stations, etc. if you don't pay attention to your mirrors. (Pay attention to both mirrors, of course; paying attention only to the tail swing is a recipe for driving into something on the other side in close quarters.)

You will be fine. I just came from a 29' TT and bought a 37' motor home. I find the motor home easier to maneuver than the TT.

First 1,000 miles I had yellow vinyl tape on the windshield in front of me so I knew when I was in the middle of the lane. Had driven to a large parking lot to practice backing up and aligning myself using the painted parking slots. Prior to that, I followed Class A's, buses, and semis in towns and watched how they turned corners. Just so I'd know how they took sharp turns to make it around a corner. Learned to go way out into the oncoming lane sometimes on old streets, to take my time, to not worry about the traffic I'm blocking (because think about it, we all wait patiently for large vehicles on the road making turns).

And finally, I learned to stop at a corner, watch and wait if the road seemed a bit tight for my rig. If I didn't see any buses or trucks (or RVs) take that road, I'd take a different route. Sometimes I had minutes to make that eval parked on the roadside, other times right at the turn, I'd have to make it quick. But I'd never blindly turn onto a narrow street without spending some time observing other traffic.

With your 5th wheel experience though, you should be fine.