RV LIFE Podcast
The RV LIFE Podcast, created by one of the premier companies in the RV industry, is for the RV Community with a mission to Educate, Entertain and Explore the RV Lifestyle. The Podcast will explore all things RV Life: living, working, exploring, learning. With hosts Dan & Patti Hunt, full time RVers, content creators, educators and explorers.
RV LIFE Podcast
The Ultimate RV Resource Guide: Expert Insights Inspection and Maintenance
Today our experts help you find reliable RV Resources, discussing various essential services for RV owners, including inspections, repairs, training, and more. Expert guests Lisa and Jason Carletti, who are full-time RVers and master certified RV inspectors, share their expertise on the importance of thorough RV inspections, the need for reputable RV service providers, and the inception of their platform MyRVResource.com, designed to connect RV owners with quality service providers across the U.S. The Carletti’s bring attention to the nuances of RV inspections, encourage RV education, and introduce the concept of My RV Resource as a comprehensive directory for finding RV service providers and a space for RV-related businesses to connect, introducing My RV Resource's expanded offering to include business resources for RV entrepreneurs.
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How do you find a reputable RV service provider across the United States? I'm Tati Hunt with my incredible husband, dan Hunt, and you're listening to the RV Life Podcast. Rv Life Podcast. Today we will talk about how finding services such as reliable RV inspection, mobile home, rv repair shops, rv training, detailing, storage and holding tank cleaning will be what we cover today, because if you're an RVer, you need probably most of these services at some point. Today I want to talk about the fun fact, and that is brought to you by Open Road Resorts, and they have four amazing locations in Montana, utah and Texas.
Speaker 1:When you think about the spring, you think about going north. For most of our RV listeners, going north is great and over the next couple of months there's going to be a trend northward If you are heading toward Montana and Utah. Open Road Resorts has three great locations Red Rock RV Park, which is right outside Yellowstone, glacier you can visit Glacier National Park and Flathead Lake. You could go to Poulsen, flathead Lake, koa or Poulsen Motor Coach Resort, which is for Class A's only. They have been rated in the top 10 motor coach resort in the country. If you reach out to Open Roads Resort, mention the RV Life podcast and they will give you a discount. The fun fact today, according to RV Life Pro, rv inspections vary in price based on location, based on type of RV and how thorough the inspection needs to be. Now, if I'm looking for an inspection for my RV, that doesn't tell me a whole lot. But don't worry, today's guest is going to cover this for you, so you know exactly what to do when getting your RV inspected.
Speaker 1:I also want to talk about our friends at Clear 2.0. Keith and Barb Bernard are the owners of the company. Keith has invented all the products from Clear 2.0 and their three-stage water filter system has been a lifesaver for us. You hook it up to the campground water. Like I said, it's a three-stage filtration system. The water tastes good, it smells good, I can drink it and I feel confident putting that water in my cappuccino machine. There's nothing more important than the cappuccino machine, okay? So for those of you who don't know me, that is important. So I'm very cautious about the water I put in that machine and with Clear 2.0's three-stage filtration system, no problem at all.
Speaker 1:Now our guests today, lisa and her husband, jason Cartletti, are full-time RVers and master certified RV inspectors who saw a need for resources to help their RV inspection and repair customers find other reputable RV service providers across the United States. The Coletti's run a successful small business aptly named my RV Inspection and is located in Tampa, florida. They have performed over a thousand inspections as of December 2023, including hundreds of brand new RVs for FEMA disaster relief following hurricanes Irma and Florence. The Carletti started their journey into the RB lifestyle in 2016. And this show today is going to be fantastic because there are services here that our RB listeners need to know about, so there's a lot of great information coming. I know I'm also going to learn a lot from the Carletti's. Lisa and Jason Carletti welcome to the RV Life Podcast.
Speaker 2:Thank you, thanks, patty, thanks for having us. We appreciate it.
Speaker 1:You are welcome, and I know we've met at a couple events now and I could not wait to get the two of you on the RV Life podcast. Our goal is to educate, inform our listeners and this, I think, is a great topic. Now my RV journey. Dan and I jumped into the RV lifestyle very quickly. We decided we were going to go RVing and four months later we had the RV and we were hitting the road. I don't necessarily recommend that for everybody. We probably weren't well-prepared, but before we get started, let's have people hear about how your RV life started in 2016.
Speaker 2:So, first and foremost, I want to say you are not alone in that journey, because Jason and I did exactly the same thing. We bought ours and we were traveling full-time in it, probably two months later, so you're not alone.
Speaker 2:So basically we bought theB because I was working in healthcare as a certified surgical technologist, so I handed the doctor the instruments in surgery and I wanted to travel the country and I took travel contracts that allowed me to go to a hospital and stay in that location for three months at a time. And during those three-month contracts we needed to find something for Jason to do. And that's when we happened upon the NRVIA at the time and Jason took the training course.
Speaker 1:And Jason took the training course, and probably three months, four months after that, I was able to take the course as well and become certified RV inspectors. Okay, so explain before. Jason, I know you want to chime in here Tell our listeners that might not know what NRVIA, these acronyms just tell them what that is, what it stands for and what it is.
Speaker 3:So the NRVIA is the National RV Inspectors Association. When we went for the training, they didn't have the NRVTA yet it is now the big red schoolhouses and a lot of people know it the National RV Training Academy in Athens, texas. So that's where you go to get trained. Now the NRVIA is the association that we belong to. It holds us to a strict code of ethics, which means that if you get one of those certified inspectors, they're not making backdoor deals with dealerships and with sellers and things like that. You're going to get the truth from us.
Speaker 1:And you two are not just inspectors, but master certified inspectors. Tell our listeners, what's the difference there. What does that sound impressive? What does that mean there?
Speaker 3:What does that sound impressive? What does that mean? Master certification is a step you take after you've been an inspector for a few years, and it is very difficult because you send in 50 reports to the association. You're graded by your peers. You have to verify you've had insurance for a set amount of time. Your business is in good standing. You have at least I think it's a four and a half star rating on an external site. There's all kinds of good things that go to it. There are only four of us in the country. Lisa and I are two of the four.
Speaker 2:Wow Okay, very impressive we became the first inspector master certified inspector team and I was the first certified inspector to achieve master status as the first female, so we're pretty proud of that. You also have to be published on a major publication and provide some type of training or seminar in order to qualify for that certification, the master certification, as well.
Speaker 1:Wow, so really did a lot of education. That's incredibly impressive. Congratulations to both of you. Being two of the four is really impressive. Now let me ask you this In 2016, when you took two months and hit the road in an RV, did you know about inspections and do all of the stuff that you now tell people? Or was there mistakes that you said, oh, I should have done?
Speaker 2:We definitely did not know anything about inspections. We also weren't homeowners, had never been homeowners. Now, our famous words are it's like a home inspection, but for your RV. Now, we did get lucky in that we were able. We bought our Class A, the first one from learn a lot. When we got into the FEMA project after Hurricane Irma in the Florida Keys, that's really where we got our legs underneath us.
Speaker 1:Wow, a lot of good training there. I'm sure Now NRVTA National RV Training Academy that's Todd and Tony, the red roof schoolhouse type. We have had them on the show. They are amazing guys and the connection I think people are now making to them is the TV show RV Unplugged, which is just. I believe it's completed its second season, so we're very close to them and that is a great place to get training when people want training. So let's break it down. Let's jump in. A lot of our listeners are either looking to buy their first RV or looking for a newer RV, as Dan and I were looking for our next RV. Let's talk about inspection what should? So we talk about different types of inspectors. As I said in the fun fact, there are different types of inspectors. The prices Give us the basic. Let's break it down. Somebody's going to buy an RV. What should they look for in an RV inspector? How do they find one?
Speaker 3:So the big thing about RV inspections is to make sure you get an RVIA certified RV inspector. There is a lot of people out there that aren't trained doing RV inspections. There are a lot of companies out there hiring people that aren't trained to do RV inspections. What do they know about an RV? We are trained for three weeks to become an RV inspector and we're also held by the code of ethics that we had talked about. So when you get a certified inspector, you're going to get a very thorough inspection from top to bottom. Now, me and Lisa, we only perform one level of an inspection and that is a full inspection. We cannot go into an RV and see something that we're not supposed to be inspecting and not say something that's bad for business. So we only want to do the one level of inspection and we think it's important to get the whole thing done.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'll elaborate on that a little bit, because when people call us and they say I don't really need a full inspection, my very first question to them is what would you like me to not inspect? So, if you think about it, patty, even yourself would you want me to not inspect the roof, because there are companies out there that don't inspect the roof. That is the major source of possible water intrusion. Would you like me to not inspect the tires? Would you like me to not inspect the furniture and the drapes? I mean, that's why we do one level and we are big proponents of certified inspections with one level, and typically, if people are offering several levels of inspection, they're typically newer inspectors, and we're also trying to educate customers on how to hire somebody as well.
Speaker 1:Right. So again, let's talk about that, because I do want to. This is really important. It's your first step of getting that RV. So somebody says and I'm going to imagine that people are looking for that lesser inspection because they're trying to save money. Okay. So somebody let's talk about worst case scenarios Somebody gets their RV inspected but says don't worry about the roof, it's okay. They get into their RV and start, maybe not even noticing a water leak, but I would imagine, start melling mold. Now you've got a major problem because water leaks. Correct me if I'm wrong, please. Coming into the RV, you may not see the dripping water, you may not find the puddle, but they're coming in, like in the wall areas which you don't know about until it's a major problem, correct?
Speaker 3:Correct. A lot of people don't know what they don't know, and so when we go up there, we're looking for areas where water can get into the RV. We're going to give you recommendations on how to stop that from happening, but the problems once they happen, it's too late. Now you've got tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage, and it all could have been prevented if you had an inspection and you maintained your RV.
Speaker 1:And again I'm going to go back to show people want to save money and not and we're using the roof as an example, but it might be another area. They say don't worry about inspecting. And then what it's going to cost in the end far outweighs the inspection costs. Go ahead, lisa.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And so what you really need to think about is the cost. So inspections cost several hundred dollars. I'm good, full Absolutely. And so what you really need to think about is the cost. So inspections cost several hundred dollars? I'm good, full disclosure. They definitely cost several hundred dollars, but our clients tell us that they immediately save the cost of the inspection because they're able to either negotiate for repairs so if they're buying from a dealership they get lots and lots, sometimes all of the things that we find fixed before they drive off the lot or they're able to negotiate with a private seller. And then there's always another thing that I like to say when people say I'm trying to save money, you want to think about how much you're investing, right? So how much is your payment going to be, how much is the total cost of the RV? And when you think about how much that, what percentage an RV inspection is of that total cost, it's, without a doubt, well worth every penny.
Speaker 1:So you're saying several hundred dollars and again, correct me if I'm wrong in the fact that I found sometimes the facts aren't verified. It said it depends on the RV. Obviously, a small travel trailer or van is going to cost less than a 40 foot, 40 plus foot, class A like I'm looking at. So it's type of RV, it's the type of inspection and we're looking at hundreds of dollars up to the $1,000 range. Is that accurate?
Speaker 2:us. It's less about the type of inspection, because once again we only do a full inspection. But when we say several hundred dollars when we go to the RV shows or when people call us on the phone, we typically say that they start around the $500 range and they go on up to well beyond $1,200. And that depends If it's an older RV. We know we're going to find more things. There's more to report on. It's going to take us a lot longer while we're on site. But the thing that you have to remember whether it's a travel trailer or a big old class A like diesel pusher, like you're looking at, most of the components are in a travel trailer that are in a class A right. So maybe in a travel trailer you have one AC unit and in a diesel pusher you have two or three and sometimes four. So it does take a little bit longer. But there's still a water heater, there's still plumbing, there's still electronics and the electrical system and there's three electrical systems in every single RV and that's why we generally say that it takes anywhere from four to eight hours to do the inspection.
Speaker 2:We're not like a home inspection. That's the difference between it. I know I mentioned it's like a home inspection, but home inspectors can go out and do multiple home inspections a day. We're typically doing Jason and I only ever do one inspection a day. There are some companies out there who can do two, and you have to have the perfect storm of situation in order for that to happen. But we're hard pressed to leave a site in less than five hours. And then you have to add in the travel time plus the time it costs or the time it takes to put the report together, plus have communication with the customer afterwards. So it's a good 12, 16, 18 hour day, sometimes Right.
Speaker 1:Well, that's a lot and I didn't even think about that. And this is why I love having experts on the podcast to give our listeners this information, because when somebody hears, oh, it's going to cost $500 to $1,200 to do an inspection, I don't think most people know all of what goes into it. Now, in a Class A again, maybe I should know this. When we had we have a 2002 Monaco Diplomat 40-foot diesel pusher and when we had it inspected I wasn't in on that, dan handled that whole thing In a Class A?
Speaker 3:are you also inspecting the engine and the chassis? So we do a visual inspection. We start the engine up. We're looking for issues that we can find. We also offer fluid analysis where we pull samples of the fluids. We send them off to a lab. Now a lot of people use one company. It takes them quite a few days to get it back. We have a local company that we use. We get them usually two to three business days and that report's going to tell you about wear metals inside the engine and things like that could be showing signs of damage inside and gives you a better idea of what's going on.
Speaker 1:Okay and I know we've spent a lot of time on talking inspections because I think this is the first, most important thing that you do when purchasing an RV. There may be other reasons. I'm thinking if you're going to get some kind of warranty or something like that. We're not going to dive down into that, but I really did want to spend the time on RV inspections. Now, RV inspections are only one part of what my RV resource covers. Let's talk about. You saw a need in the industry and created this website. Talk to our listeners about overall what that covers.
Speaker 2:So a perfect segue to introduce myrvresourcecom is the fact that, to go back to what you were saying, we're not mechanics, but we have a great article on our website that says an RV mechanic versus an RV tech. And so the reason that we created MyRVResourcecom was because our customers would call us and say where can we find towing and transport and what if I need a mobile technician to fix these things? As inspectors, because of the code of ethics, we're not allowed to repair those units for a year after we inspect them. So whether the people are staying here, local to Tampa, where we're based, or if they're out traveling across the United States or Canada or and even into Alaska, we said there really should be a directory where you can just go and search for detailers and holding tank cleaners and people who can provide some RV consultations so people know how to use their rig. And there wasn't one out there, and that's why we created MyRVResourcecom and this MyRVResourcecom covers the country the whole country correct the united states and canada and alaska not hawaii?
Speaker 1:okay, I'll go to hawaii and get it set up for you. I've always wanted to go there. Okay, so it even covers canada. So let's talk about some other important resources that you have on myrvresourcecom For our listeners. We will put the website in the show notes. A lot of people are listening while driving, so I want to make sure they have that information. Great name for the company. It really says it all. So when I go to this website and I have, there's so much there. So let's talk about some of the other services that are offered and then we'll cover more of what's on that website.
Speaker 2:As I mentioned, a little known fact is that people there are inspectors and other companies out there who can offer consultations. They come to your rig, it's personalized to your rig and they'll show you how to set up your sewer system and how to set up camp and break down camp. Most inspectors have the heart of a teacher, just like you were a teacher in your past life, and so we all love helping each other. So consultations is one that not a lot of people know about, and holding tank cleaners you should definitely be doing that at least once a year, if not more often, and so we have people who specialize in black tank cleaning, gray tank cleaning and even water heater cleanings. That they do as well.
Speaker 2:But our new baby of the group is a category called business resources, and so what we're expanding upon right now is we're like MyRB Resource helps connect our beers and service providers. We're like a matchmaker. We really want to hook our service providers and our product suppliers up with each other and so that they can maybe find somebody to help them with their social media or help them with different types of services like bookkeeping and tax prep. Maybe they need a scheduler or something for inventory control or just general marketing information. So if there's anybody out there in RV Life podcast land that provides those services, we would love to connect with you as well and get you listed on our site.
Speaker 1:Okay. So lots of information here, and I know that was something new. Let me jump back and then jump into that, because that's an incredible service. Just to be clear and again, the teacher in me wants to make sure everybody's with us. Anybody anywhere in the US, canada, can go to your website, find services such as inspectors and these different services we've talked about. There are thousands and thousands of businesses on the website, tons of different types. We talked about training.
Speaker 1:I can't tell you how many times we've been in a campground and somebody doesn't know how to turn the hot water on or the water heater. Those services are so valuable because some of the things that people are doing are damaging the RV. They're creating more problems. So you go on to social media is fantastic, youtube is fantastic, but you have to take it with a little bit of a grain of salt. If I get on and say I have a class A and this is what I need to do, somebody's in a trouble trailer or a fifth wheel, it may not apply, so I can be doing that same thing and causing damage. You also get on and say what's the best cleaning? What's the best cleaning? And people have everything from putting this and mixing these formulas together that they put in the tank to getting a professional. So just as a caution to people the training is fantastic being anywhere on the country in Canada and being able to go to the website and find reliable people that service providers that can help.
Speaker 1:Training is important. We just did a podcast a couple of weeks ago on how much training I know. For Dan and I, our training consisted of some YouTube videos. Not a good idea, not the best way. We took double the time to get into the RV that you guys did. But four months certainly isn't enough time. The mistakes you make. So if you don't want to pay for training or you don't want to hire somebody, you don't want to put money out for that the mistakes you make can be very costly. Just before we move on, I just want to talk about how highly I recommend you know like everybody listening should go to my RV resource, check out what they offer. Everybody listening should go to MyRVResource Check out what they offer.
Speaker 2:You know if you already have the RV, where?
Speaker 1:do you need to start having those things in your backpack Order, knowing how to get to a reputable mechanic, whether it's mobile or a shop? I want to talk about that a little bit because Dan and I were traveling from Pennsylvania Hershey, pa down to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. We were in Tennessee and there was a major problem with the RV. Now I'm on trying to find somebody who could handle a diesel pusher. I'm going crazy. It turns out the fuel pump was done. Anybody knows a fuel pump. It's a four plus thousand dollar part and cost over $4,000 to have it fixed. Now that shop that I drove into. I'm looking at some reviews, but I'm in the middle of basically nowhere with not a lot of choices. If I went to your website, I could have found in one place a mechanic that could have handled our situation correct.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I just want to be perfectly clear For enthusiasts who are searching our website it is free. You don't need to log in. All of the listings are public. We have a membership model and so our service providers are paying to have their listings on the website. And so a lot of people think that they can run to Google and just type in RV mechanic near me and what you have to understand is everybody's busy. That small business owner is very busy and he may not he or she may not have their Google business profile very updated and so, yes, you can definitely find there are.
Speaker 2:Ok, there are 11000 listings across 16 different categories, but we cannot even begin to scratch the surface. There are definitely pockets of the country and Canada that don't have reputable services, but because we consider myRBresourcecom a community, we're always looking for help from the Orbi enthusiasts. We have places where you can suggest a company. We have places on the website where you can suggest an edit to that company. Maybe the company moved, maybe it's no longer in business, but, most importantly, we're really trying to manage our review online to help our viewers to find reviews, and if people are willing to post the reviews, it's going to help everyone else thereafter.
Speaker 1:I love that and that's great. So a couple things there. It's about community and let's chip in, let's help, let's do that review Good, bad or whatever. Let's get that out there so the next person knows what to expect. For Dan and I we got really lucky. The people who replaced the fuel filter did a fantastic job. They were great. They tried to get us out as fast as they could. They were able to find the part when we were told these parts were scarce within the whole country, so we just got lucky.
Speaker 1:So, instead of trying to get lucky, going to myrbresourcecom would be a great way to do that. I love that you're including community in that to get the feedback. That's all very important. And I'm going to say to our RV podcast listeners if you have a service, they definitely want to reach out to you and get their service, see if it's a good fit for them to have their service put on MyRVResourcecom. So a win-win. We have a lot of listeners that I'm sure have services, that they provide 16 categories of services and I'm sure there are people out there.
Speaker 2:And I'll just expand upon that. On most of our pages in the footer, there is a contact form where you can get a hold of us, and you can also follow us on social media through those links in our footers as well, so that's the best place to get to us. You can also join our newsletters there as well.
Speaker 1:Okay, great, and I'll put all of that. I'll put your website in the show notes, and I love sending people to one place that has it all. Right now I am going to take a minute and talk about OpenRoads Fuel Card, because part of RVing is also. As a diesel fuel user, I'd like to share things that save people money. Openroads Fuel Card, formerly known as TSD, is a card that you could apply for. It is free for the card. You then get an app. So I sit there on the app and I say, okay, here are the gas stations in the area and what they cost. A lot of times we have where we could go 50, 60, maybe a hundred miles, so I'll see if getting to the next state will save us even more money. When you have a 100-gallon fuel tank, you want to save as much money as possible. We've saved anywhere from five cents a gallon on up to near a dollar a gallon in fuel, sometimes just by going to the next state over. So OpenRoads fuel card is a fantastic card to have if you have diesel fuel.
Speaker 1:Now the other thing that OpenRoads just came out with just a few months ago. They've been in business forever, but they've just now connected with OpenRoads, and that is innovative tolling solution. This is a toll pass that covers all 48 states. It's only $24 a year. The best part of this toll pass, I think, not only that it covers all 48 states, but the fact that if you should get a violation and I've gotten $250 worth of violations just this past year, you should get a violation they have a concierge service that will help you work through that, so you'll pay whatever the toll is and not pay all those fines and fees and all of that stuff that they add on, and literally it would have saved me that $250 in fines that I paid in the past year. So they are a fantastic business, fantastic service and I highly recommend that.
Speaker 1:Again, the information will be in the show notes and this is where I want to come back, lisa, and talk about these business resources. We and I want you to really explain this. I know you touched on it In the RV life community we meet those people that are out. They're just enjoying life and doing their thing and retired and living off of savings. But most of the people I'm going to say most of the people I know and I connect with have some type of business. So now explain this service that MyRVResourcecom is now adding on.
Speaker 2:Okay, so we really want to connect people. We're all about connections, right, and so at one point this year we had done some collaborations with some YouTubers and we really want to make sure that everybody understands and is working together to see each other as peers instead of competition. And the RV industry is so vast that there is plenty of work for everybody. But because there is so much work out there, so many business owners just don't have good time management skills. Because I do it myself. I was getting ready to prepare for this and there wasn't times. We really want to start connecting, especially bookkeepers, tax prep, insurance providers Insurance is a big one.
Speaker 2:It's vital. I started down the influencer path, but it's vital to have that social media presence so that you can be found, because one of my favorite phrases is it doesn't really matter where you're found, it just matters that you're found. So if you're affiliated with other directories or other locators, you should be utilizing them. You should be utilizing us, and it's tips like this that we're providing to our members via a private Facebook group that we have. It's literally called my RV Resource, and we are starting to focus more on putting tips in that group for our members to help them with all of these different services.
Speaker 1:Yeah, this is so valuable and Dan and I, being in the RV Life podcast and working with RV Life, we get so many people that are brought to us that we talk to, so on the podcast we've had you mentioned insurance we've had RV insurance on. We've had RV insurance on and they are a broker that goes out and helps the RV or find the right insurance policy for them. We were going crazy trying to navigate that ourselves, but if we weren't connected to RV Life or for people who didn't hear that episode on the podcast, they're probably scrambling. So I like that you have this in one central location.
Speaker 2:And so it's not just about health insurance or medical insurance for the RV enthusiast, because we all need that Absolutely, but I'm talking about business solutions, liability insurance, errors and omissions policies. We're always looking to for providers to help us with that.
Speaker 1:Right. So it's not, and again I'd like that you added that it's not just what we think of typically. I need anybody who needs an accountant You've missed the date deadline but for people who need an accountant but again it's for me to help me with my business and all those facets of it I do want to introduce you. Our podcast partner is the RV Entrepreneur and I want to make the connection. So anybody listening, check out the RV Entrepreneur. My friends over there, jim and Rose and Kimberly, are the hosts of it and their focus is for entrepreneurs. So I think there's a great collaboration here. I'm always looking to connect people. Sounds like you'd be a great guest for them and they are, so for me. I'd love to bring people together. You said it, it's not competition. Let's see how we can work together.
Speaker 1:I find the RV community is the best group of people that I've ever been part of, seen, witnessed whether it's the community itself or the RV industry, people within the industry I have to give a shout out to. We were looking at an RV and we had met Jeff Sather, who is the president of Freightliner. He has since announced that he is retiring. That announcement is out there. I'm very sad to see that he's not going to be there anymore. We are connected with Brett Davis from National Indoor RV Centers they're a dealership that we absolutely love as well as Casey Tubman, who's from Newmar, and the reason I'm talking about all these people is because we came together at a dinner and the president of Integra was there and people from all different manufacturers and companies were there together. I've been in a lot of different industries. The RV industry is an industry where people come together. They support each other like I have never seen before and I know I'm going on a little tantrum here, but a little off topic maybe, but I just see it that way.
Speaker 2:I can vouch for that and add to that because Jason and I have also been members of the Florida RV Trade Association since early in 2018. I held the office of secretary for Region 3 for a couple of years and I was brought in to fill a director position for Region 3 of the Florida RV Trade Association and now I am having those conversations, I'm sitting on the executive board and we meet quarterly and we're getting to know each other and find out about LP gas licensure in the state of Florida. There are certain rules and regulations that when service providers, technicians or anybody comes into the state of Florida, they need to have these master qualifier and qualifiers, and so we really want to bring those services together as well. There are lots of people who come to Snowbird in Florida and think they're just going to come and set up shop and be able to do that and they have to have these additional certifications, which means they have to have a different type of insurance. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention also services that we are looking for immensely is somebody who can do virtual assistant type of things.
Speaker 2:If you're an RBR and you can research parts or you can answer phones and get people get people, at least that first point of contact for all of these business owners who are small business owners and are answering their own phone. And then you have to. The small business owner has to justify the costs right, and so I have lots of anecdotal things that go through my mind. If you utilize the software, that costs you $50 a month but it cut four hours of parts research off of your time. These guys are charging over $100 an hour. Like four hours is a lot of money. If you could utilize a software and or have somebody specifically do that for you, oh, I agree.
Speaker 1:The services that's what you were talking about is exactly. Dan and I are so busy. We have so many different things. Plus there's the travel and the upkeep of the RV and all of these parts. It was several months ago.
Speaker 1:I finally said I need somebody to handle my social media, things like that, and I got to give a shout out to my social media Melody Clayton and her channel is RV Plus 3. She has been the biggest support. I can't even say enough. So I hope she's listening to this, because the money I am paying her, the time that it has saved me, is invaluable. As business owners we think about. I don't want to spend that money because I'm not making enough to spend that money. It's this teeter-totter of where I start spending money on other people's help and support. But what I had realized many years ago and I'm using a business strategist right now, I hired a business strategist for that purpose as well when I can get four hours a week off of my plate for a certain cost, my ability to make more money is certainly there, and not to mention the fact that I mentioned that I was in health care.
Speaker 2:I'm not going to go watch a YouTube video and perform surgery on myself. You've got to let people who know what they're doing do the thing. I outsourced my social media as well, and I've employed people to help us with our SEO, our search engine optimization strategy. So those will be some of the tips that are coming out across my RV resource, because I'm paying the expert to do the thing, I'm learning from the expert and I want to pass that along to the other experts in other fields. And, yeah, you have to balance that. It's not all about those dimes. Sometimes it's about the dollars and sometimes it's about the hours. Like, I don't want same thing with just buying our new house. I don't want to do landscaping. Jason is too busy to do landscaping. We will be hiring somebody to do our lawn. That's how it is.
Speaker 1:So anybody out there in the Tampa area that landscaper shout out here's an opportunity and I think it's great because I think there are so much need in the RV community people now transitioning into homes, whatever that looks like there's so much of a need connecting them with the people who can do it and a lot of times in our world it is virtual. So that's a great add-on that you now have to MyRV resource. You have all of these. You have thousands and thousands of service providers over 16 different industries. That is fantastic. Right now I want to talk again about NIRBC, which is National Enduro RV Centers. They have six locations. They are a dealership and when you talk about collaboration and coming together, I see and have been seeing the collaboration.
Speaker 1:Brett Davis is the owner and I know you guys have some experience with them. Brett Davis is the owner and he decided over a year ago that bringing Class A, b and C manufacturers together in one location so people could come in and check out all of the major brands. So he has a lot of the major brands but being in one location and people being able to see those RVs. So he is doing that by bringing them together at the Music City Expo. I'm so excited about this event.
Speaker 1:All of these manufacturers that'll be there will bring their 2025 RVs. Nobody has seen them before, nobody has driven in them before, and Brett said let's bring them all together in one place, have people be able to hang out, eat, enjoy three different country music bands and get in these new RVs, drive them, check them out, take time, talk to the presidents of these companies, talk to the people involved, like Freightliner and just an amazing idea. I'm so grateful to be able to be part of this. And that is June 4th and I will put that in the show notes. And that is June 4th and I will put that in the show notes.
Speaker 2:I have to mention as well.
Speaker 2:We talk about all this collaboration and the community aspect, and a lot of people think that dealerships really don't like inspectors and they hate us. And so we're also here to reach out to the dealers, because the reality of it is what do we all want in the end? The reality of it is what do we all want in the end? We all want to generate revenue, make sales, but we always want happy customers. And if you have happy customers in the end, by allowing RB inspections to happen at dealerships and, in fact, recommend that people get an independent, recommend that people get an independent, unbiased or be inspected by a certified inspector, everybody is going to win in that situation. It shocks me sometimes, but I'm never amazed by the fact that there's always inspectors in our circle who says this dealership won't let us in, that dealership won't let us in, and the reality of it is let's all just do what we were made to do so that the happy customer goes and sings all of our praises, because that's what we all want, absolutely, and I love that.
Speaker 1:And again, you're saying the same thing. Brett Davis, at the end of the day, want to make sure he's putting a quality product out there with a happy customer. That is always his goal, as is yours. And again, people want to shout, and it's probably a rabbit hole I'm going down right now. People want to shout about the not good services or people. There are good people, there are good services. You guys are doing this for all the right reasons. The end of the day, let's help the RVer. Let's help the RVer that's doing business, as well as a lot of people in companies that have that same goal.
Speaker 1:Now, right now, we have talked about so much. We are not done yet, but it is time for today's question of the week and that is brought to you by Open Road Innovative Tolling, that toll pass that have saved me so much time, headache, money. And again it'll be in the show notes. And the question comes from our listeners. I pull just so our new listeners know I pull questions of the week from what I see in social media. I talk to a lot of people. What are the questions and concerns that are being asked, and so I pull questions that our experts can help us answer. This question's probably been answered what should an RV inspector include and what should I look for when hiring an inspector? Now, I know you covered that, but I think there's probably a little more you could add on to. What should the RV inspection include and what should I look for when hiring an inspector?
Speaker 3:So, first and foremost, when looking for an inspector, you need to look for that NRVIA certification. That is going to be your biggest thing to look for. Look at reviews. Make sure they're doing a good job as far as what is inspected, when you get a certified RV inspector, we are going to inspect just about everything, from the roof to the ground, inside, outside. It's all three electrical systems, it's the propane system, it's the plumbing systems, it's all the appliances, the sidewalls, the cargo base, the tires, the chassis, the roof.
Speaker 3:We're not only looking at them for problems. A lot of these things we are testing for problems, looking at them for problems. A lot of these things we are testing for problems. Just because it feels like the AC is working inside an RV doesn't mean that all of the ACs inside the RV are working efficiently and the way they're supposed to. You might have one that's bad. And if you come down here in Florida in the summertime and you need both of those air conditioners working efficiently to survive August down here is hot, and if one of those air conditioners working efficiently to survive August down here is hot, and if one of those air conditioners aren't working right, you're going to find out when you get here to Florida Right.
Speaker 1:And that is a great point to bring out. We had our RV in Las Vegas in the summer and we found out again. I can't tell you what the inspection included that was done, but thankfully both air conditioners worked most days. But go ahead, lisa, you have something to add.
Speaker 2:I just wanted to mention that Jason does a video series to help people so that they can find out what to look for prior to hiring an inspector. We said that we like to help people. We definitely. When you're walking up to a rig, you want to know what delamination is. You want to be able to look at the tires and find the date code and be able to know when those tires were manufactured. He points out some things in those videos and he does it in such a way that he may say that, okay, we're at a dealership and this is what we're finding, but it's for customer education and so that you can understand before you hire somebody. Because you have to remember okay, hiring an independent and an unbiased inspector, we don't have any skin in the game. We are there to present the facts so that you can make an informed decision and really that's what it's all about Right.
Speaker 1:And since you talked about tires, I do want to talk about motorhome tires. We had them on the show a number of weeks ago and they have been fantastic. We did not, dan and I had put tires on before we met them. Our executive producer, who also works with RV Life, patrick Buchanan, used the service and recommended them. So they came id recommended. They will come out to you to put their tires on. The owner of the company, jeff Bound. And again, I look at the people in the company. Do they have integrity? What do they care about? What's their bottom line? Yes, we all want to make money, but our bottom line is like for you guys, helping the RV consumer, helping the person. That's what it's all about. And Motorhome Tires they are offering $50 off their website price. The information's in the show notes. Definitely, if, when I need tires, they will be the company I will contact.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we met Jeff at one of the Florida RV super shows and we worked with Jeff for quite some time. He still has some ads on our website as well, so you can check him out on myrvresourcecom and and see that there too, he is a great guy.
Speaker 1:He is. And it's always cool when you talk about Lisa. You and I talked for a while and several times we met at two events and we spoke on the phone and it's always cool when you mention a company and then somebody says, oh, I know about that, I know that company, I know that person. It is that close an industry. But now I'm going to put you on the spot as Dan and I look for a Class A motor home and I am putting you guys on the spot, so enter however you want.
Speaker 1:We decided on a Class A. We had three companies we were looking at and I'm going to mention them. That was Integra, tiffin and Newmar. For us, the overall they're all good companies. I want to be clear with people. Overall they're all good companies. I want to be clear with people. They are all good companies. They are all good manufacturers. They have different things. They do different floor plans, different colors on the side of the RV they're very different For Dan and I. The overall for us was a Newmar, and I'm going to put you on the spot, jason, and what's your overall thoughts on Newmar? And I'm going to put you on the spot, jason, and what's your overall thoughts on Newmar and again, I know you work on all different RVs and you like all different ones, but can you give us your thoughts on the Newmar?
Speaker 3:When you're talking about an RV, there's a lot of different components to go into those RVs the appliances, the water heaters, the air conditioners. They're all putting the same manufacturers on their RVs, so for that, every RV is pretty much the same. Newmar, we went and did a factory tour a few years ago. What I like about them is that they build every RV side by side, so you may have a Baystar going right next to a Superstar, going right next to a King Air, and they pretty much build their RVs identical Quality work. They hang their walls instead of using laminated walls, which, if you have water damage in a laminated wall, that wall is done and you don't know if you have mold back there With a hung wall.
Speaker 2:You can fix those areas if something like that were to happen, and I'll just elaborate on that and say you're right, patty, the choice has to be made based on how the RV is going to work for your family.
Speaker 2:If you're a weekend warrior, you're going to have different requirements than you have for somebody who is going away for three months at a time but then they're going to come home, and that's going to be a different story for somebody who's full-time living. For example, when we were traveling, we had our Class A to Tampa a lot more, because we really wanted to take advantage of that living space. We had the biggest opposable slide, so we had 16 feet across our living space and our bathroom and bedroom area was smaller, because that's what we chose to do. But the most important thing is how the unit has been built or how the unit has been maintained. So if you're looking at anything that is not brand new, off the line, not custom ordered, you're going to want to have that inspection, because RV owners can say I can give you the oil change records and I can give you all of the maintenance records and all of that. But if they haven't kept up with it, if it wasn't installed properly, then that's where we're going to find those issues.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. And again to your point people ask me all the time, dan, and I do a lot of seminars and people say what's the best RV for me and the best type? And I say what's the best home for you, dan, and I don't have kids, so all I could say is what works for me and the best type? And I say what's the best home for you, dan, and I don't have kids, so all I could say is what works for me? The Newmar definitely works for us. We'd love the class A With Newmar. We'd love the floor plan, we'd love the quality of the build. Again, we love the company and what they stand for. Not that the other companies don't have that same integrity. We just fell in love with Newmar. We love the fact that it does. We are partial to the Freight Liner chassis. So again to your point. There are different things for different people and it's research and there are masterclasses out there. We just did a podcast with Morton's on the move, tom and Kate, and they have a masterclass out there how to decide on the best RV for me and my family, and I think that's a great start. So much here.
Speaker 1:I do want to now segue into our feature campground of the week and we are going to feature Wild Frontier RV Resource. I can't talk at this point. We're done RV Resort and I picked it because it's located in Ocala, florida, so not far from where you're located. I have not had the opportunity to visit this particular campground, but it does have 240 sites, a quiet wooded setting and they call it a hidden gem in the woods. It's got full hookups, pull-through site. It's got a brand new clubhouse, remodeled bathhouse and a heated pool, which is fantastic in those winter months.
Speaker 1:The campground has an 8.8 rating with 71 reviews. Now you can find all of these campground reviews on campgroundsrvlifecom. Again, what I love about these and it's similar to what you guys are doing it is the community that gives the reviews, so it's for RVers, by RVers. None of the reviews can be bought, so a campground cannot pay to have a review. It is honest. I have done a lot of reviews. Whenever we stay at a campground, I do the reviews, I do what my self-service has, and it is a great way to get the campground set fit what you are looking for. There is a wealth of information on campgroundsrvlifecom. If you're not an RV Life Pro member, you can check the link below. There is a 25% discount using RV Life Podcast. So I want to thank you guys so much. We are going to put your website myrvresourcecom, which will lead people to your newsletter and your social media. We greatly appreciate the information that you've provided today.
Speaker 3:Thank you for having us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we really appreciate it with you as well, so looking forward to making more connections as we continue our journeys together.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. There will be lots of connections here, for sure. So I'm going to say I'm Patty Hunt and you're listening to the RV Life Podcast and I want to remind you to have a great rest of today and an even better day tomorrow.