Passed My Permit Test, And Questions!

Hey guys!

Well, I past two of three tests for my permit. I failed combination and I was suppose to leave today. I'll be leaving next Saturday or Sunday, and I think class starts Monday. I'm drilling this weekend really hard to pass it, and I'm going to keep studying as much as I can. I don't think I'll have any problems with retaking the test come Monday. Now I have a few questions for you guys about training.

So, I'll be going to CR Englands program. Now, I've heard that a lot of these schools, not only CRE, that accelerated schools in general have a really low graduation rate. I heard that they have a 70% to 80% failure rate. Now, I don't doubt that some people when they go there don't bring all the paperwork they need, some probably wont pass the drug screen. Some might try to do drugs there, and I heard it's close to a strip club. That a lot of people go to the strip club and stay up, they don't study. So I know that a lot of the reason people fail is because it's there own fault y qestion is, how hard is the program? If you go into the school with your paperwork in order, with the items they say to bring, a good attitude, having studied the CDL manual a ton, willing to study, how difficult is it?

I've read that you get one day to learn to how to back the truck up, that not much time is really spent on anything. I've had zero experience with a stick shift, never having driven one before. I understand the concept behind it, though last time I attempted it the concept didn't matter. I didn't spend much time on it, I was goofing around with it. What do you guys think? I'm going to give it my best ether way. I just want to know what my shot is and what I'm up against.

Thanks!

You really need someone from CRE on here to answer those questions or maybe search the forum for CRE's training. I would imagine they give you more than 1 day to learn backing as it takes time for even the best drivers to become proficient at it

You say you've "heard" some stuff. How much did you hear from a CRE recruiter? You mention "accelerated" schools. What do you know about them? The standard school time includes at least 160 hours of classroom and practice.

Your "accelerated" programs may be a refresher course for people who are experienced but aren't up to date in practice or driving rules/laws.

At Trucking Truth we don't put much stock in hearsay.

If you go into the school with your paperwork in order, with the items they say to bring, a good attitude, having studied the CDL manual a ton, willing to study, how difficult is it?

Jered, getting started in trucking is incredibly challenging no matter who you are or what type of schooling you choose. That first year is a roller coaster ride. In fact, most new drivers don't make it to the one year mark for a variety of reasons. Many find out they're just not cut out for trucking. Many others underestimate how challenging it's going to be.

CR England's training program is a good program to get started with. Their pay scale is a little low compared with some companies but there are plenty of miles available and they have fantastic equipment.

I highly recommend you focus hard on our High Road Training Program. Don't stop after completing the sections for your permit. Keep on going. Make sure you do the Logbook Rules and Truck Weight And Balance sections. You're going to need every last bit of that information to do your job out there and the sooner you can learn that stuff the sooner you can focus your time and energy on other things.

Completely forget about anything that anyone has to say about CR England as a company. We've had tons of members go through their program and they report back to us all the time that they're happy with the training and the way they're treated. Also, keep in mind that CR England accepts drivers with backgrounds that are a little bit shaky so you're going to have a higher dropout rate and more complaints about the company because of that alone.

But trust me, you can get your career off to a great start there if you do exactly like you said above - go in with a great attitude, be well-prepared, work hard, get along with people, and learn all you can. Trucking is a performance-based industry. Think of this training as a chance to make the team, the same way you would in sports. They're going to bring in a ton of people knowing that most of them aren't going to make it through the program. They're hoping to find that 20% of the class that's serious about their career and have the potential to become safe, professional drivers.

Go in there and show them that you're one of the good ones they'll want to keep around and give it everything you've got. If you'll do that, you'll be coming back here with updates about how much you're enjoying the schooling even though it's really tough and you'll be happy with the way they treat you there.

Finally, avoid the students with a negative attitude and I promise you it won't take but a few minutes to figure out who they are. Don't worry though, they won't be around long. Find a few people in the class with great attitudes and a great work ethic. Help each other out, encourage each other, and believe me the instructors will be watching. They're not just looking for people who can steer and shift. They're looking for people who take the enormous responsibility seriously.

Don't worry about the shifting and all that. They're prepared to take you from straight off the street all the way to being a professional driver.

Make sure you check back and keep us updated. We'll certainly give you all the advice and encouragement we can and your updates will help future drivers prepare for the program.

Have a look at our forum topics tagged "CR England" if you'd like to read through past conversations we've had about the company.

Keep studying that High Road!

Jered, I'm in school and can tell you it isn't easy. I came to school with my permit. I spent several days studying the high road, reading, reviews on company's,, and schools. By using TT (Trucking truth) the class room is mostly review! My instructors tell me I'm doing fine, I forget to double clutch , turn the wheel from a drift while backing. So study, listen, and plan to work hard you will be fine.

Thanks for all the replies!

I actually did use this website for the test prep. I thought I would pass the combination section and was off by a few questions. I should have given it a bit more of study time. I finished it up yesterday and will go back through it once. I plan on going through all of the training possible through here to make class that much easier to understand. It really is a great program on here, a large portion of the questions I had on my tests were on here. I scored nearly a 100% on air breaks.

I'm going to be working towards that today and tomorrow and reviewing. Then watching some videos on youtube to get a more visual understanding of it all. I have a really strong memory, so when it comes to remembering how to do something I know I wont have a problem with that. What I meant as accelerated programs is the time until you go out with someone on the truth, just the general time yous pend in class. I called around to the schools local to me, one of the larger schools (owner owns three schools through out the city) has a month long training program, up to a month and a half though I think the additional time will probably cost you more.

I've read a ton about CRE, and I think a large portion of reason they get bad mouthed so much is because of how many people they have that don't make it through the school. That old saying in "One bad customer tells 10 people" kind of comes out like that. I've talked to my recruiter and from everything I've researched, she's been perfectly honest with me. I will keep you all posted. Thanks for all the replies, and I'm not going to hang out with the people that don't want to be there. I keep more to myself anyway.