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RV Education 101 Focuses on Education and Safety in $12 Billion RV Industry

  • Thursday, June 30 2005 @ 05:22 am UTC
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RV News and Stories Fayetteville, NC --RV Education 101, celebrating five years in business, produces professional Recreation Vehicle (RV) training videos and DVD's on how to use and maintain the systems of an RV. The owner's Mark and Dawn Polk stated there is not enough emphasis placed on properly educating the consumer on the complexities of operating an RV. Mark Polk said, "RV's are a 12 billion dollar industry and with the baby boomers and post 9/11 travel concerns it continues to grow in popularity. If you want to retain people in the RV lifestyle, education is a must. There are currently seven titles in the video library encompassing pop-ups, travel trailers, Class A motor homes, Class C motor homes, Winterizing and Storing an RV, Trailer Towing and more.”..... Polk states the problem is RV dealers can't typically allocate enough time to properly educate every one of their customers about the basic operations and safety aspects of an RV. He said, “Even when they do make a sincere effort to do so, consumers often find themselves with their head in a whirl trying to take in the vast amount of information involving everything from appliances, campground set-up, holding tanks, slide-outs and the general maintenance and safe operation of the RV itself. Think of how many times it took you to memorize the words of your favorite song before you could sing along. Sixteen or more times maybe? Learning how to operate an RV works the same way.”

"You can give somebody the best walk-thru possible but it’s a matter of retention," Polk says. “With a typical walk-thru the consumer retains about 25% of what they think they heard. Even if they go out and use the information within a week of purchasing, it is very hard to remember the details. With the instructional videos they can go back and review them again and again, whenever a refresher course is needed.”

He went on to say, “There are other safety aspects the RV consumer needs to be educated on. One big problem is overloading the RV. This can easily lead to tire blowouts and other safety issues.” Polk explains the reason for overloading an RV is because of the ample storage space in many of today's RVs. He said “This gives people the false illusion that they can carry more than they really can. People don't know how much weight their RV is designed to carry and they don’t understand weight terms in general. One of the most popular titles in our video library is the Travel Trailer Towing, Weights, Hitch Work and Backing video which has a section explaining the importance of understanding specific weight terminology.”

Besides selling the videos and DVD's on their RV Education 101 website, there are currently over 400 RV dealers using the training videos. In addition to the orientation the dealer gives with the purchase of an RV, most dealers give the video to the consumer as part of the RV starter kit. Other RV dealers sell them in their parts store and use them with their rental fleet.

In addition to the RV training video & DVD library, RV Education 101 has expanded its services to provide RV E-books, RV publications, RV travel videos, products, services and other RV information. There are plans for future titles. "We don't want RVers to be overwhelmed with their new RV lifestyle. Our goal is to teach them all that we can to make all of their RV experiences everything they should be, SAFE, FUN and STRESS FREE," said Dawn Polk. "With the RV training videos you can review them as many times as needed. We feel education is the single most important thing you can do for yourself. RV'ing is truly a magical way to get the most out of life!"

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Contact:
Mark J. Polk
RV Education 101
3969 Stedman Cedar Creek Road
Fayetteville, NC 28312
Phone: 910-484-7615
Fax: 910-484-8276
http://www.rveducation101.com
info@rveducation101.com


RV University, a site providing Recreation Vehicle safety, RV maintenance information, RV tips, RV advice and RV instruction for using and maintaining an RV by Mark Polk.
Our best selling "how to" RV walk through orientation videos and e-book titles.
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