Needing to get my Air Brake "Q" endorsement, anyone been to a school?

[CanmoreOrLess]

I bought an RV, now I need to get my "Q" endorsement for the air brakes. Has anyone been through a one day course in Calgary? Here are a couple off hand:

Alberta Professional Driving School

CCA Truck Driver Training

And at least another 100 driving schools that MIGHT offer the course (calling all will get old quick):

http://find-a-driving-school.ca/alberta/calgary/


Thanks!

[theken]

I went to cca about 12 years ago....it is boring as hell (the class in general, not the instructors) and I personally believe is a waste of time money grab. You could in theory learn all you need to know online, instead you are shown a compressor a valve and a spring, then your told how to check the slack adjusters, which you are not allowed to adjust anyways. thats about it, 8 hours. But i would say cca would be fine.

curious, do you actually need air brake endorsement for your RV? it is non commercial

[300zxfairlday]

I went to cca as well. Boring is an understatement ! They did have us all out within 6 hours tho

[n1zm0]

CCA as well here, also very boring and more or less common sense. Good number of breaks though in that 6 hours.

[CanmoreOrLess]

Originally posted by theken
I went to cca about 12 years ago....it is boring as hell (the class in general, not the instructors) and I personally believe is a waste of time money grab. You could in theory learn all you need to know online, instead you are shown a compressor a valve and a spring, then your told how to check the slack adjusters, which you are not allowed to adjust anyways. thats about it, 8 hours. But i would say cca would be fine.

curious, do you actually need air brake endorsement for your RV? it is non commercial

The RV is non commercial, my understanding is anyone driving it needs a Q licence.

I'll look at the online options as well. Thanks.

[Sophal]

Must be a big unit to need airbrakes. I took the "Q" endorsement 6 years ago in high river. It was a one day course aswell with a written exam. I doubt there are online options to do it because you have to demonstrate that you can adjust the brakes.

[ddduke]

+1 to High River, good bunch there. It was cheaper then cca and the class sizes are smaller so you get out quicker.

[schurchill39]

If you drive any vehicle with air brakes or air over hydraulic brakes you need to have the Q endorsement regardless of if its commercial or private in Alberta.

It doesn't really matter where you go, from all the stories I have heard its the same thing: 1 day course, same booklet, same primary and secondary set up on a big board for you to follow through as he points out the different components. Its ~$100 for the course so if I were you I'd just pick one close to home so you don't need to piss around in traffic for ever getting there.

I took mine 7 years ago and sent my dad to it last year. From what he told me it doesn't sound like its changed at all. You'll listen to a former industry guy tell stories about his trucker days and read you pages from the manual.

[vengie]

Also went to CCA, as mentioned it's extremely boring. But the instructors are good

[CanmoreOrLess]

Originally posted by Sophal
Must be a big unit to need airbrakes. I took the "Q" endorsement 6 years ago in high river. It was a one day course aswell with a written exam. I doubt there are online options to do it because you have to demonstrate that you can adjust the brakes.

39 feet of RV... much longer with the added trailer vehicle on back. Looks like I'll endure a day in class, the online stuff was pretty dry.

[Black Gts]

Lol. So is the class. I was young when I took it and stayed out late the night before, my advice is to be well rested because it's tough to stay awake. I actually got a marker thrown at me by the instructor because I was sleeping :zzz: oh and I didn't really learn anything that I've applied in the last ten years working.

[ddduke]

Originally posted by Black Gts
Lol. So is the class. I was young when I took it and stayed out late the night before, my advice is to be well rested because it's tough to stay awake. I actually got a marker thrown at me by the instructor because I was sleeping :zzz: oh and I didn't really learn anything that I've applied in the last ten years working.

It's probably nice to know what happens in case of a failure so you can at lease prepare yourself for when they lock up, or that air brakes stop differently then hydraulic brake, things like brake fade going down a hill.

While I completely agree that the class sucks, I do really think it's important.

I took my boat license online and I don't remember a single thing from it, I do however remember a fair bit from my air brake course.

[Black Gts]

Lol. If you're loosing air, use just one application to stop. If you ride your brakes down a big Hill you'll have no brakes at the bottom. I understand why the course is there but it doesn't take 8 hrs to explain that.

[ddduke]

Originally posted by Black Gts
Lol. If you're loosing air, use just one application to stop. If you ride your brakes down a big Hill you'll have no brakes at the bottom. I understand why the course is there but it doesn't take 8 hrs to explain that.

With the amount of senile old farts driving down the highways in massive motorhomes I think the course is there for a good reason.

[Rat Fink]

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[Sophal]

Originally posted by Rat Fink
I found the airbrake course to be beneficial. Get stopped by CVE officers or DOTs in the states at the big inspection facilities and they will make you run through the entire airbrake check while explaining the purpose of every step of it.

RVs are exempt from being required to entering the scales. They normally get pulled in when DOT sees something obvious like being very over weight.