This video was produced to give you an overview of Roadmaster Drivers School.

A study by the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics, utilizing data from Staples, found that the use of electric delivery trucks can cost between 9 to 12% less to operate than diesel-powered trucks.

However, the study noted, the cost of an electric truck can be triple that of a truck with a standard internal-combustion engine. An electric truck can cost nearly $150,000 compared to about $50,000 for the same type of truck with a standard internal-combustion engine.

A V2G system is about 68 cents per mile, compared to 75 cents for internal-combustion trucks.

“There has to be a good business case if there is going to be more adoption of electric vehicles,” said Jarrod Goentzel, director of the Renewable Energy Delivery Project at CTL and one of the co-authors of the new study. “We think it’s already a viable economic model, and as battery costs continue to drop, the case will only get better.” 

A recent study found that the operational cost of an electric truck enabled to use a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) system is about 68 cents per mile, compared to 75 cents for internal-combustion trucks. Researchers added that most of the savings scale down to the individual vehicle, so companies don’t need big fleets to save money.

The study found that internal combustion engines averaged 10.14 mpg., compared to 11.56 mpg. for hybrids, and the electric-only trucks averaged 0.8 kilowatt-hours per mile.

The researchers also modeled a V2G system in which the truck batteries were plugged into the electric grid for 12 hours a night. They found that businesses could earn about $900 to $1,400 per truck per year in V2G revenues in current energy markets, equal to a 7 to 11% reduction in vehicle operating costs. Firms would also save on brake maintenance because electric trucks cause less wear and tear, they said.

In a V2G system, vehicle batteries are plugged into the electric grid overnight to enhance the electric system’s reliability, and the truck owners are paid by utility firms for their power services. The trucks help improve reliability because utilities can depend on them to plug in at certain hours – as opposed to electric passenger vehicles, which consumers plug in at more random times.

MIT says several utility companies are testing V2G systems.

Ohio has the nation’s seventh-largest road system with more than 123,000 miles of roads. ”We’re blessed, especially in this part of the state, to have a good highway system and access to rivers and rails,” said Charlotte Keim, president of the Marietta Area Chamber of Commerce. “And we’re also located within 500 miles of half of the U.S. population…You can get products to half the country within a day’s drive in most cases.”

According to the Ohio Department of Development, trucking accounts for 78 percent of all shipping in Ohio.

“Everything has to go by truck at some point,” R. Gessel,  manager of Iddings Trucking in Marietta, said. Everything from food to clothing to fuel and building supplies were on a truck at some point before a consumer purchased the items.

“A lot of local trucking is dedicated to supporting the local industry,” he said. “We move a lot of coal for the power plants and a lot of raw materials for the metal and chemical companies…Then we take their finished products to wherever they need to go.”

According to the census report, aggregates, like sand and gravel account for almost 20 percent of the total weight of all goods moved around Ohio in 2007. Food accounted for about 8 percent of the total value of all items shipped in 2007. Just less than $1 billion of coal was moved across the state in 2007, along with $800,000 million in metals.

J. Starner, president of Merchants Five Star Inc. said he anticipates growth in the trucking industry as oil and gas exploration in the region has increased in recent months.

“There is a lot more demand for hauling sand, water, oil and byproducts,” he said. “It’s going to create a lot of jobs for the trucking industry, which is pretty large already. If you added up all the truck driving jobs in Washington County and treated it as one job segment, I would bet it would be near the top in terms of employment.” Article Source

KC,

Everything is going great! Since graduating from Roadmaster, we have moved to Oklahoma City and Jason has become a CDL Manager, managing 40 Drivers and also the Safety Manager for our company, Brown Brothers Driver Outsource Services. We helped to start this company with only 8 drivers and it has continued to flourish since. We are the Managers for the whole state for our contract. We have since grown to 3 offices and over 100 employees. We are in the process of opening 3 additional offices at this time.

I deeply appreciate everything you have done for myself and my family.

Thank you!

L. Trammell

12-31-11

Dear Kelly,

I attended school at Roadmaster from December 05 through December 22 and wanted to express my thanks for the experience I had. It all started when I googled truck driving school on the internet.Roadmaster was at the top of the list so I filled out an information request screen. I did the same with a couple of other truck driving schools. Within 24 hours I received a phone call from Dan Tabish. He gave me all of the information I asked for over the phone and invited me to sign up for the class. I decided to go with your company because of his quick response to my request for information.

When I arrived at school the first day I was nervous and apprehensive. It took about an hour for me to shed myself of the discomfort and began to feel better about my decision to attend school. Lisa Greene was a joy to talk to and work with. Her knowledge of the trucking industry and career placement was above and beyond what I expected. Her pleasant attitude to me made the three-week class that much more enjoyable.

Everyone out in the yard was great. Jay made me feel that I had a friend out there. He was always willing to talk about what I was doing and helped me every day to become better at backing up. Mike was the first instructor to take his life into his hands by allowing me to drive out there on shift road. What a good instructor. He was always very professional. I felt he truly took pride in helping others do something that he could do with his eyes closed. Then there is Jeff. That big fellow was patient and understanding the entire time and made me and the others in the truck feel we were doing better each day. The encouragement was much needed. I took my road test with George. He had a way with me that made me feel I could do anything. I was nervous before the test began but he talked to me and made me feel relaxed and focused. I’ll never forget him for his kindness.

Long story short I passed the school without too much problem and I feel it is because of your great staff that I did. I thank you once again for your help and those that were “hands on” with me.

Sincerely,

R. Johnson

Roadmaster is hiring CDL Instructors in the following locations:

• San Antonio, TX
• Tampa, FL
• Columbus, OH
• Dunn, NC

Roadmaster Drivers School, a national private training school, currently operates multiple locations nationwide, offering certificate programs in the field of commercial truck driver education and related services such as computer-based training for truck driver trainees and continuing education for existing drivers, commercial drivers license (“CDL”) testing, and driver placement services.

We are currently seeking experienced Class A Driver/Instructor(s) with ability & desire to teach others.

Our ideal candidate will have proven longevity with previous employers, excellent communication skills, both oral and written, posses demonstrated physical, intellectual and leadership ability to perform duties of over the road, basic skills and classroom instruction.

EOE.

Job Requirements

• Job Requirements
• Must have 3 years verifiable tractor trailer experience
• Must have 3 years, OTR, verifiable experience
• Valid CDL-A
• Clean MVR and Background
• H.S. Diploma or GED

View Career Page

Kevin Crothers is an Indianapolis school graduate that recently changed companies. He is now driving for the Indianapolis Fruit Company and stopped by the Indy school to show us his truck. With the lifetime placement assistance that Roadmaster offers and the various national and regional companies that we work with, it is easy for a graduate to make a move in the industry to enhance his income potential and home time needs.

What kind of health conditions could potentially keep you from getting a CDL license?

The federal regulations mandate the health regulations for drivers. You must have what they call a DOT physical exam every 2 years. In order to pass that exam you would have to meet the federal requirements for doing so.

What conditions might prevent you from passing the physical exam?

Some things that would keep you from passing that exam might be bad eyesight, I think 20/40 vision in both eyes is the requirement and in each eye, so if you’re blind in one eye and 20/20 in the other, you would still would not meet the federal regulation to pass the physical. Other things such as diabetes and so on would preclude you from passing the DOT physical.

For more information please visit www.roadmaster.com or call toll free 1-800-831-1300

View the Video

There is a national database called CDLIS that records all of the CDL driver licenses in the country and all of the information around that CDL license is documented in that database. So as far as background checks, most prospective students would go from a regular drivers license to a CDL license and do it through a CDL permit and they would normally check that drivers license record, not necessarily move that data in to the commercial driver license database but at least see whether there were a lot of moving violations or whether there were DUIs.

Video