HARD @ WORK

A day in the classroom for RHOR students

Building Bridges

At Red Hook on the Road our doors are always open to past graduates, looking for either job placement assistance or just to stop by and update us on their careers, etc. Red Hook on the Road believes in building bridges that result in positive relationships and engagement. To promote that, RHOR often sponsors outings for selected program participants. Check out some highlights from past events such as our Bowling trip.

SAFETY FIRST

Recent changes to the Compliance Safety Objective has called for a stricter vigilance by the patrol in regards to the performance of CDL Drivers, and especially to their health. Greater emphasis on driver fatigue, fitness and alcohol abuse. This comes in the wake of a decrease in trailer accidents nationally, which the Highway Patrol wants to encourage a continuation of. Some other elements that they are cracking down on are: Load safety (tying down merchandise/cargo), operational hazards (i.e. balding tires, bad brakes, etc.): For more information on new standards:



http://journalstar.com/news/local/article_1d56f499-450a-5565-86d1-e727e8738e45.html

Planning and strategy are essential components of a plan.

Growth and Change

Are not easy, but very possible- it takes initiative and great assistance; rather training, as we provide. Red Hook on the Road provides FREE 4 week CDL training.
Located at 151 Fifth Ave, we train for many different elements of Commercial Driving including paratransit, coach, and school buses.

We are open for business MON-FRI 8-4:30pm with orientations taking place every Wednesday 12:30-3:30

Did you know?

"Rich is knowing you have enough"

If you satisfy this criteria:

Red Hook on the Road accepts new students year round.

•Red Hook on the Road is a free 4 week intensive hands-on training program that will help you earn the NYS CDL and find work as a commercial driver.
•We provide behind-the-wheel training to drive Class B/BP/BPS commercial vehicles.
•Job placement assistance is available for 2+ years after graduation so you can advance into better positions with higher pay.
To be eligible you must meet all of the following criteria:

•Live in New York City & be legally eligible to work in the U.S.
•21 years or older
•Have a clean, valid NY State Driver’s License for at least 2 years with no more than 2 points or one suspension or one conviction showing on the driver record. No combination of the above is allowed. Also, no speeding tickets or D.U.I.s
•Obtain and submit a driver record from the DMV that must be less than 30 days old
•Able to attend training Monday - Friday 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM
•Be unemployed and have a low income or receive public assistance
BWI welcomes individuals with past criminal convictions to apply.


Then you have enough- come to Red Hook on the Road

151 5th Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11217
MON- FRI 8-4:30 PM

What does Success Mean to you?

The meaning of Success comes in many forms, and many definitions. It depends on what you are searching for in life, and searching for in business. Athletes may have one definition of Success, and a stay at home mom may have another. A musician may see Success as a number one hit, and a Doctor may see Success as a surgery that went well. It really depends on the perspective of life you have. Perspectives on Success are as numerous as the stars.

courtesy of: http://www.squidoo.com/personal_success



Success in Commercial Driving can be achieved with diligence and initiative. Take the initiative to come and be a apart of the FREE 4 week CDL training @ RED HOOK ON THE ROAD.

To Apply: http://www.bwiny.org/pages/programs/rhotra.html

Stop in anytime: MON-FRI 8-4:30 pm

Location: 151 5th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11217

Another week = More possibilities

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend; the work week is upon us and Red Hook on the Road is ready to grab the bull by the horns! Each new day and week brings an opportunity to serve our community, to serve YOU better. With the hope perpetuated by the success of some of our past graduates, we feel as though we are on the right path to providing the ideal non-profit organization. Never claiming to be perfect we are always open to suggestions, as we are here for YOU clients, past and present alike. Feel free to email any questions or comments that you have to redhookontheroad@gmail.com

Dont forget to friend us on FACEBOOK: Red Hook on the Road

and follow us on twitter: @_RHOR

Training for the Twists of Driving a School Bus

UNTIL recently, Sandra Castillo, 37, a laid-off factory worker, had never driven anything larger than a car. But now she was at the wheel of a 30-foot-long school bus. She made a tight right turn from a wide avenue into a narrow side street in Brooklyn as smoothly as a veteran bus driver.

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This Week’s Podcast (mp3)At her side, with a dual brake if needed, sat Christopher Kaminski, an instructor in a program that was training her to seek a new vocation as a bus driver. Three other trainees riding in passenger seats on this early June morning would later have their turns at the wheel.

Once she is qualified, Ms. Castillo said, she will seek a job with a school bus company, and later with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the public buses in New York City. “The M.T.A. pays more,” said Ms. Castillo, a Queens resident who is divorced and has an 11-year-old son.

She and the other trainees were enrolled in Red Hook on the Road, a program that helps low-income or unemployed New York City residents become bus or truck drivers. The program began in 1995 to train residents of the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, and was later expanded to residents of the entire city, said Tracy Anderson, director of program development at Brooklyn Workforce Innovations.

The group, a nonprofit based in Park Slope, operates the program and other job training efforts at no cost to the trainees. The other programs involve woodworking, installation of telecommunications cables and production assistant work for film and television crews.

The four-week, full-time driving program includes two weeks in the classroom learning about subjects ranging from map reading and commercial driving regulations to job interview skills and working with supervisors.

The other two weeks are on the road, and students are divided into groups of four. Each group has its own instructor and school bus or truck, with the trainees taking turns driving the vehicle throughout Brooklyn and parts of Queens. By the end of the two weeks, each trainee has had 20 hours of driving — not to mention many more of observing their fellow trainees.

The day after road practice ends, the students take the state test for a category of commercial driver’s license that permits driving buses and all sizes of trucks except tractor-trailers. The program aims to place graduates who pass the test with companies that operate trucks, school buses, private coaches, charter buses, airport shuttle buses and transit vans for the disabled.

The companies may provide additional testing and training, said Julio Perez, the driving program’s director. Graduates who later seek to move to the M.T.A. are subject to its training and civil-service hiring procedures, he noted.

Over the program’s 12 years, about 1,200 people have graduated, Ms. Anderson said. Last year, she said, 232 enrolled, 220 graduated, 207 passed the licensing test — sometimes after two or more tries — and 195 were placed in jobs with an average initial salary of $13.62 an hour, or nearly $550 for a 40-hour week.

More than 90 percent of the graduates who were placed in driving jobs in 2005 are still in such jobs, she said.

About half the applicants interviewed for the program are accepted for the 20 or so spots in each of the dozen training cycles offered each year, Mr. Perez said, and over a given year men outnumber women by two to one.

After Ms. Castillo finished her turn at the wheel, Romualdo Martinez, 54, of Queens, took over. He said he had lost his job when the alarm company where he worked for 29 years closed a manufacturing plant and warehouse on Long Island.

Mr. Martinez, who is married and has a young son, said he was nervous only on his first day behind the wheel. “After that I was very comfortable,” he said. Now, after some training, he slowed and glided the bus smoothly between concrete barriers close to both sides of the vehicle where construction work had turned a stretch of street into a narrow single lane.

A third trainee, Marialyn Martinez, 33, of the Bronx (who is not related to Mr. Martinez), said that poor pay was among the reasons she had left her job as an emergency medical technician working for a private ambulance company. The fourth in the group, Luzdary Tintinagoz, 45, of Brooklyn, had given up driving for a car service because of the long hours.

Both women have young children, and mentioned this as one reason for wanting to become school bus drivers. As Ms. Martinez said: “The hours will be like my kids’ hours at school, so we’ll be able to spend more time together.”

Eligibility requirements for the driving program are available at www.rhor.org and (718) 237-4846.



*******WRITTEN BY: Joseph P Fried for NY TIMES*******

Success Stories

R.H.O.R. Graduate Juan Coello obtained his CDL in April, 2008. Here's Juan with our Director Julio Perez, standing in front of his Consolidated bus.

HERE FOR A REASON

Red Hook on the Road prides itself on the services provided and performance- that being the assistance of our graduates career enhancement through Commercial Driving. Positive feedback serves as reassurance that we are living up to our mission statement. Examples like this is what motivates us:

"My Husband, Julio C.Rodriguez Jr. just got his CDL License through this wonderful, and amazing program. The staff, along with the Program Director Julio, work with you to obtaining your career goals...Thank You Red Hook On The Road, for opening the path of opportunites for my husband Julio."

-Marilyn-Mendoza Rodriguez

Ready for a new career as a commercial driver?

Red Hook on the Road accepts new students year round.

•Red Hook on the Road is a free 4 week intensive hands-on training program that will help you earn the NYS CDL and find work as a commercial driver.
•We provide behind-the-wheel training to drive Class B/BP/BPS commercial vehicles.
•Job placement assistance is available for 2+ years after graduation so you can advance into better positions with higher pay.
To be eligible you must meet all of the following criteria:

•Live in New York City & be legally eligible to work in the U.S.
•21 years or older
•Have a clean, valid NY State Driver’s License for at least 2 years with no more than 2 points or one suspension or one conviction showing on the driver record. No combination of the above is allowed. Also, no speeding tickets or D.U.I.s
•Obtain and submit a driver record from the DMV that must be less than 30 days old
•Able to attend training Monday - Friday 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM
•Be unemployed and have a low income or receive public assistance
BWI welcomes individuals with past criminal convictions to apply.

How to Apply

New Red Hook on the Road classes start every month. To learn more call 718-237-4846.

Success @ Red Hook on the Road

Akeno Bogle came to Red Hook on the Road during the summer of 2007. Three years later he is still working as a commercial driver, now helping transport people with Cerebral Palsy in New York City.

A Life Long Skill

Commercial Drivers are always in high demand, and a License is a transferrable certification, meaning you can take it with you from state to state, provided you apply with the other stats's Department of Motor Vehicles.

In terms of a life-long skill, with the up and downs of the job market, being a licensed commercial driver is always an option that you can revisit, similar to the case of Mr Otis williams whom graduated from red Hook on the Road almost four years ago, and has chosen to put that skill to use recently.

How do you Measure Success

We measure it on the basis of performance here @ Red Hook on the Road. As our participants grow, so do we as a company. We are here to serve the community and assist the progression of our graduates. As stated earlier, RHOR has a higher than 90% success rate.

Change does not occur overnight, BUT it is possible. Actions speak louder than words, and performance speaks for itself. This is a picture of one of our graduates, who is not living in Atlanta and working as a freight train driver, which Commercially Licensed individuals can do as well.

Please do not let another day go by why you dream of change- Let Red Hook on the Road assist you in making it happen.

Soldiers for change

There is no more satisfying feeling than helping the people within your community. At Red Hook on the Road that is our primary objective. By being soldiers for change, and assistance to those who have the courage to take a step forward in a productive direction. Our 4 week CDL training program has a reputation for being a conduit to the enhancement of citizen's skill setting as well as marketability.

Each Wednesday @ 12:30 pm we provide the orientation to a new beginning. Come one come all join us, be enlightened, assisted, and motivated.

Atop you can see:
Pictures of satisfied attendees, and their current modes of employment

WELCOME TO RED HOOK ON THE ROAD

Red Hook on the Road (RHOR) helps unemployed and low-income New Yorkers start good careers in commercial driving. After four weeks of classroom and behind-the-wheel training, RHOR students are prepared to take the NYS CDL road test. Once licensed, RHOR places graduates in jobs driving a variety of commercial vehicles including buses, paratransit coaches, ambulettes, and trucks.

Since the program’s launch in 1995, RHOR has trained more than 2000 graduates and placed drivers with hundreds of companies. RHOR maintains a consistently high pass rate (90% or higher) on the NYS commercial driver’s license road test. Virtually every graduate who passes the road test finds employment as a commercial driver.