RV owners offered safety classes

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This article was published 24/03/2006 (7164 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

RECREATIONAL vehicle owners in Manitoba will now have a chance to learn how to drive their RVs properly, thanks to Red River College.

“To drive anything over 10,000 pounds — like some RV products — you need a Class 3 licence,” said Jim Gorry, who is president of the Recreational Vehicle Dealers Association and president of GNR Camping World.

“Red River has all the simulation equipment needed for training in its truck training area. Even if RV owners have lighter RVs and don’t need a Class 3 licence, it’s still useful learning how to drive in mountain roads, for example, or on ice.”

Red River is adding a component to its driving school specifically for RV drivers.

Another initiative RV dealers are involved in is developing safety certification standards for used models. “This is something we have been working on for a number of years,” says Gorry. “We are following the lead of the auto industry in putting used RVs through thorough safety checks for the benefit of the consumer.”

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In auto industry news, Winnipeg Honda and Lone Star Motors have new young new car sales managers. Alex Dixon assumed his new role at Lone Star — Manitoba’s Mercedes-Benz dealer — at the beginning of March. Dixon has been in the industry for three years. Originally from the computer field, he says that he has always been a car enthusiast.

He started his career in auto sales with an Eastern import dealer and was finance manager when he left.

“I heard that Lone Star was looking for a sales manager,” he says. “I decided to look into the opportunity. I had an interview with (general manager) Sandy Danylchuk and here I am selling the car that is at the pinnacle of the auto world.”

John Klassen is the relatively new, new car sales manager at Winnipeg Honda. Klassen has been in the auto business since 1992 and was a sales manager for the last four years at his previous place of employment. He says he came to Winnipeg Honda for the opportunity to work for the Dilawri Automotive Group.

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Waverley Chrysler is one of the sponsors of the Winnipeg Police Service half-marathon run for cancer research. The run, which is a joint effort of the Canadian Cancer Society and Cops for Cancer, is scheduled for Sunday, April 30. The organizers’ goal this year is $60,000, says Steve Dennis, Waverley Chrysler’s general manager. Last year, he says, the run brought in a record $30,000.

Waverley Chrysler is loaning the organizing committee five vehicles for its needs. The dealership at the Manitoba Auto Mall at Bishop Grandin and Waverley has also painted a Dodge Charger RT with a Hemi engine in Winnipeg Police Service colours and equipped the model with a light bar and other standard law inforcement vehicle accessories.

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