Linda Weber has never driven a vehicle bigger than a Toyota Camry in her life. In the coming months, she and her husband, Russell, will travel across the United States in their brand-new 32-foot Fleetwood Terra motor home purchased from Lazydays. The journey promises to deliver all the thrills and memories many RVers crave and seek, yet Linda is apprehensive.

“I’ve only ever driven a car before,” confesses Linda, “to be honest, I’m not sure I can drive the motor home.” Linda is not the only first time RV driver to have these anxieties. On this particular Thursday morning, nearly 20 RVers, many of whom share Linda’s level of experience and fear, have gathered in a classroom in RallyPark to participate in the Lazydays Driver Confidence Course.

The classroom session begins with Senior Driving Instructor, Barney Alexander, warmly greeting his students. “Welcome to Lazydays,” he beams with a smile and an inviting tone that seemed to immediately lighten the room, “when you leave here today after completing this course, you will say to yourself… driving an RV isn’t as hard as I thought it was. I can do this.” Linda smiles for the first time all morning…

In the past seven years, more than 27,000 students have participated in the Driver Confidence Course at Lazydays. This one-of-a-kind course, which is free to both RallyPark and Lazydays customers, features both a classroom session and a driving session in which students navigate a Class A motor home on a closed course. For students who own a travel trailer or fifth wheel RV, there is a dedicated driving session utilizing these types of RVs.

During the classroom session, Barney shares a wealth of knowledge and information. He presents his expert systems and driving techniques, which he personally developed through tireless testing over many years. In the classroom, students are introduced to the fundamental basics of driving an RV and a host of insightful tips on how to best operate an RV. “We review making turns without hitting anything with the back tires,” explains Barney. “I show students how to establish a few reference points on the RV so they can better determine the path that it will travel, he continues. “By doing so there are no surprises on the road and no guessing on how to maneuver the RV.”

Barney’s relaxed teaching style facilitates the communication of his techniques while endearing him to his students. “Barney has such a wealth of knowledge, and he shares it with such clarity and style…and humor,” says Deanna Turnage, a student who, with her husband John, recently purchased their first ever RV from Lazydays.

The content of the Driver Confidence Course and the systems taught within are the brainchild of Barney. He began developing his large equipment driving skills as a teenager. “My father was the head of the 2nd Army motor pool,” says Barney. “I grew up on an Army base and drove everything the Army had back then. Then I joined the service and drove more of what the Army had,” he continues. Following his military tour, Barney spent several years as a truck driver and for more than 27 years he owned and operated several service stations complete with wrecker service. “I have been around and operated a number of large vehicles in my lifetime,” recalls Barney. “Much of what I have learned from this experience I share with my students.”

Barney also incorporates his students’ experiences and stories from the road into his classroom lecture. “I learn from my students all the time,” says Barney. “If someone asks me a question that I don’t know or tells me about something that happened to them on the road that I’ve never thought about, I will go get in an RV and try to figure it out. Once I figure it out, I then incorporate that situation into the course.”

While students are exposed to a host of useful information and insight in the classroom, it is during the driving session when students like Turnage make the transformation into being confident drivers. They become drivers who believe in their newfound abilities behind the wheel of an RV. “I was still a little nervous when I first sat down in the seat,” explains Turnage, ”but after driving with Barney I felt excited and exhilarated because I knew that I could do it. I really could do it!”

During the driving session, each student drives an RV provided by Lazydays through a one-mile closed course. With Barney at their side, they execute many of the techniques and systems they learned in the classroom. “Even though the course is only a mile long, students get to actually perform what I cover in the class,” states Barney. “They get to maneuver the RV through turns and around curves. They get to set and use their mirrors as well as use their reference points,” he continues. “Maneuvering the RV on the road course brings a lot of the classroom information together for them and gives them the confidence to drive their RV.”

Linda Robinson agrees. “All of Barney’s teachings and everything that you learn in the classroom comes together when you sit in the driver’s seat and actually perform it hands on,” she explains. While sitting in the cockpit of the RV, as each student performs the techniques that they learned in class, there is a release of tension and apprehension. An excitement emerges. Fear and stress transform into confidence and optimism with each successful turn.

For Linda Stacey, driving a mile in a motor home under Barney’s guidance gave her a lot more than just confidence. “When driving with Barney, my fears, doubts and worries diminished,” says Stacey. “He taught me that I can drive my dream and as a woman traveling alone, that’s very empowering.”

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First-time RVers and drivers with limited experience in an RV aren’t the only ones empowered by the Lazydays Driver Confidence Course. Drivers with years of experience often pick up useful tidbits of information from the class that make them even more capable behind the wheel of their RV. “We’ve had a motor home since 1974,” explains Leo DeBandi, “and some of the things we learned in this class really ensured our confidence as far as being able to handle the new, longer coaches.”

Barney’s contagious passion and unbridled enthusiasm has led to the increasing success of the course. With so many satisfied students spreading the word, it’s little wonder that both the course and its instructor have become quite an attraction. “I just try to help people,” says Barney, “I put everything I can into each class and I always do my best.”

Oftentimes, Barney persuades husbands who claim they know everything about driving their RV to attend the class with their wife so that they will be able to talk to her about what she learned. “More often than not, following class they come tell me that they learned something they didn’t know or that I reminded them of something they had forgotten about.”

Barney’s love for his craft extends beyond the classroom and the road course. “I’m here to help. Before, during and after class,” asserts Barney. At each class, he makes his business card available to his students and encourages them to call him any time they have a question or concern. “I get calls all the time,” states Barney with a smile, “on weekends, at nights.” He continues, “Sometimes I get calls to settle arguments between husbands and wives when the husband heard one thing and the wife heard another.”

Helping people overcome their fears and gain self-assurance behind the wheel of their RV is a motivating factor for Barney and a major reason why he deeply enjoys teaching the Driver Confidence Course at Lazydays. “The biggest satisfaction for me,” says Barney, “is I get to see people smile everyday because they overcome their fears. I feel so fortunate that I am able to help so many people from around the country and around the world live their dream.”