C.R. England CDL Training:
Premier Driving Academy

After speaking with a recruiter from C.R. England and reviewing their website, it seems C.R. England's Premier Driving Academy is definitely worthy of consideration. As I always say about the information we present, they are not the only one, so be sure to do your research! Here are some of the details.

I'll start by giving you some information straight from their website, then I'll follow that with some of my own notes.

Directly From The C.R. England Website:

"Through the fast-paced truck driver training program, you will accomplish great things by the end of the first week. Students of the training program will find that, although demanding, the course is also very rewarding. Of course, the real fun starts when you get in the trucks. After attending classroom instruction, your time spent in the trucks will teach you how to:

• Turn the tractor-trailer.
• Handle railroad crossings and intersections.
• Drive in city and highway traffic.
• Back up the tractor-trailer.
• Couple and uncouple the tractor to the trailer.
• Inspect your equipment, including the complete pre-trip inspection.
• Test your brakes.

After successful completion of the C.R. England truck driving training course, you will be hired, receive your CDL, and be assigned to a certified Over-the-Road Driver Trainer. With your trainer, you will be given opportunities to gain a personal understanding of your new career and have the valuable information you learned in class reinforced through first-hand driving experience..

TruckingTruth's Notes on CREngland's Truck Driver Training:

After speaking with one of C.R. England's recruiters for a while there are a few things I'd like to explain.

Overall Impression

First of all, my overall impression of the program is so-so. There are a few issues I have with their policies, but nothing that I thought would rule them out of consideration. I just think there are some advantages that other companies offer which might make it difficult for C.R. England to compete. Again, you must do your own research. I know a little bit about C.R. England's program, but I don't know anything about you. You have to find the program that's right for you. I'll explain in detail:

No Hire Zones

C.R. England does not hire people in the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Florida. Their freight lanes make it difficult to get people home to these regions.

Out Of Pocket Expenses and Up-Front Costs

The only basic up-front expenses are a $50 administration fee and a $50-$100 fee for getting your CDL permit - depending on which state you attend school in. C.R. England will pay for your bus transportation from your home to the terminal where the schooling is, and the room you'll be staying at while going to school. You will have to pay for your own meals.

Your Obligation After Completing the Schooling

You have a few choices when it comes to paying for your schooling. Basically, it boils down to this:

• Pay in Full: When you pay your tuition in full with cash, check or credit card at the beginning of the course, you will receive a $1,000 discount. That comes out to a full tuition of $1,995. A $1,000 reimbursement is given to company drivers who have completed three years of driving service.
  


• Financing: When you sign a note with Eagle Atlantic Financial Services, your $2,995 tuition will be paid at 18% interest. Through this option, $55 per week will be deducted from your paycheck, beginning four weeks from the loan date for a period of 18 weeks. At that point, a payment of $75 per week will be collected until the full note plus interest has been collected. I was told it takes about 14 months total to pay for the schooling, so with that time frame your total cost for the schooling would be about $4150. A $1,000 reimbursement is given to company drivers who have completed three years of driving service, which would bring your total cost for the schooling to $3150.
  


• Independent Contractor Program: C.R. England will pay the full program tuition of students who qualify for and enroll in the Independent Contractor Program. When you sign your truck lease contract, C.R. England will pay your $55 per week loan payment for as long as you remain in the Independent Contract Program or until the loan is paid off. For those who choose this option and have paid their tuition in full, C.R. England will reimburse your tuition at $55 per week until the full cost has been returned, providing that you remain in the Independent Contractor Program.
  

How The Schooling Is Structured

C.R. England Truck Driving Training: You will start off by spending about 2 1/2 weeks splitting time between the classroom, learning to back up a truck on the yard, and driving out on the road. At the end of this period you will take your CDL exam.

On-the-Job Training with a Certified Over-the-Road Driver Trainer: Once you have your CDL, you will head out on the road with a trainer for about four weeks or so. You will need to reach a minimum of 15,000 miles before going on to the next stage. The pay of $61.43 per day equates to $430 each week.

C.A.T. Program (Career Advancement Team): For the next three to four weeks, you will become a second-seat driver with a C.R. England owner-operator to gain your "company driver" status. During this time you will see how the C.R. England lease program works and will gain more valuable driving experience. At an average of $450 to $600 per week, you will earn 12 cents for every truck mile.

At this point, it's time for you to choose from several career paths available to you:

• Lease your own truck: Choose from a new, state-of-the-art Freightliner Century or Classic.
  


• Lease one of their trucks: This option provides a six-month demo lease so a driver can see what it's like to lease a truck.
  


• Remain as a second-seat driver: You will earn 13 cents a mile and continue to receive company benefits. You may be thinking, "Hey, why in the world would I want to do this?" Well, because there is so much to learn that many people feel much more comfortable remaining with an experienced driver for a while longer. Let me tell you something, this is not a bad idea at all! It's not about making money in your first year on the road - it's about survival. The more time you can get out there with an experienced driver, the fewer hard lessons you'll have to learn for yourself. I was also informed by the recruiter that if you would be more comfortable teaming with another driver, but don't want to remain with the owner-operator you are with, they will do their best to find you someone else to team with.
  


• Become a company driver: Get your own rig and head out on your own!

If you choose to become a company driver after your training is complete, your starting pay will be $.26 per mile. You will get a raise at 6 months to $.27, at one year to $.29, and then one penny per mile per year raise from then on.

In the opinion of TruckingTruth, remaining as a second-seat driver or becoming a company driver would be the best options.

Some Final Notes About CREngland's CDL Training Program

• The financing portion of the schooling puts C.R. England at a bit of a disadvantage to other companies. The schooling will cost more through this company, it takes you three consecutive years of employement to get $1000 of your schooling reimbursed, and there is no way to get it all reimbursed no matter how long you stay with the company. If you quit the company at any point before your three years are up, you will not get any money reimbursed for the schooling. If you quit the company before the 14 month period it takes to pay for the schooling, you will be obligated to pay the remainder of what you owe.
  


• Some companies prefer that you get your CDL permit before attending their school, C.R. England does not. They prefer you handle that after you arrive.
  


• There is no regional fleet within C.R. England. They do not have the option of staying within a certain area of the country and getting home on the weekends. All drivers are required to remain on the road for 3-4 weeks at a time, run anywhere within the 48 states and Canada, and be home for 3-4 days at a time. This is a refrigerated carrier and the freight lanes for this type of company are not conducive to regional runs. They run a lot more long distance freight than a dry-van company would.
  


• Very Important: If you are 23 years of age or less, you must have a perfectly clean license in order to qualify. You must not have any moving viotaions on your license. I was told by the recruiter that they are very strict about this. If you're not sure whether or not you qualify, call C.R. England and find out before you go any further.
  


• The C.A.T. portion of their training is very interesting. You will spend a few weeks with an owner-operator during this last phase of your training. This will give you a very different perspective on the industry than a company driver will give you. You will learn a lot more about the business-side of the industry this way and gain much deeper insights into how the industry functions on a core level than most company drivers understand. However, be aware of the fact that they are going to encourage you to become an owner-operator. I'm urging you strongly to wait at least one year before considering this option.

Conclusion

Overall I feel this would be a good program to consider, but I have a few very real concerns about it. First of all, their financing for the schooling is not competitive with other companies. An interest rate of 18% is as high as a credit card, compared with an interest rate of maybe 6%-8% for financial aid through the government. Also, unless you become an owner-operator, there is no way to completely work off the tuition so that the schooling is free. Even if you stay with the company for 3 years, you've already paid 18% interest on the loan and the reimbursement still leaves about $3150 total cost for the schooling.

Secondly, they are working very hard to encourage brand new drivers to buy their own truck through C.R. England, straight out of school. Now it is very rare for me to say anything negative about a particular company, but after 15 years in trucking, I find this practice to be very shady at best. There are 30-year veterans that have owned their own trucks for decades, and they often struggle to make it as owner-operators. A brand new driver is overwhelmed with information as it pertains to driving the truck and dealing with traffic, weather, mountains, night-driving, backing-up, DOT, shippers and receivers, being away from home and family, and everything else without having to learn how to run your own business as an owner-operator and deal with taxes, maintenance, fuel, permits, and everything else besides. I will put my name on the line here right now and tell you - if you buy your own truck straight out of truck driving school, there is a 99.99998% chance that you will regret it terribly. Please, please, please do not consider buying a truck your first year in the industry. There is a very good chance that you will have your a** handed to you. You'll remember hearing this advice and it will haunt you forever. Have I made myself clear? Consider yourself warned.

As always, please do your own research and come to your own conclusions about which trucking school you should attend. I've presented this information to you so that you may make an informed decision for yourself. Other than to say I feel this program qualifies as the type of program I would consider enrolling in, and that I'm not happy about them encouraging new drivers to lease a truck straight out of school, I am not giving any other opinions on the company itself.

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