CR England Or PAM Transport?

Hello,

My wife and I have made up our minds (finally) to become team truck drivers. We've applied at CR England because that is the company my dad started out with and he seems to enjoy the job even though he moved on from that company in favor of the better paying Crete. We have both talked to a recruiter at CR but due to a scheduling we were unable to sign up for training this month. My dad found out what we were planning to do and called me suggesting we look into Pam Transport saying that he didn't think the CR training was really long enough and that even once he started driving on his own there was still a lot he knew he didn't know and had to learn from trial and error. Trial and error on a semi-truck doesn't sound like a good idea to me. I looked at the Pam web site but really didn't see any detailing on the kind of training they do. I also told my wife about the suggestion and she didn't seem too keen on starting completely over having already talked with CR. So I guess my question is which one is a better company to start with?

What I did was go here: Paid CDL Training Programs and look through every one there. The info is very detailed on each company. That way you can decide which ones best suit you.

Let your wife know that it would be good to talk to several companies to try to find the best fit for the 2 of you and feel confident you will be comfortable completing the contract requirements. Many companies have their own schools, including Averitt, Swift, Werner, Prime, CR England, PAM, CRST, etc. CRE and PAM may be on the lowest end of the pay scale, but I'm not sure as I didn't go through a company sponsored school.

If I had chosen to attend a company cdl school I would most likely have persued Averitt or Prime, but I know Errol went through Swift and speaks very highly about them also.

Pam team drivers earn a little extra I they have their hazmat. I think they both start at the lower end of the pay spectrum, too.

From what I see on the road, CRE has better equipment.

Personally, if I were given the choice between the two, I would choose CRE. PAM is a good company, but I think CRE would have more available miles, being a bigger company.

Of the two mentioned I would probably go with Pam becauwe they have a slightly better pay package. CRE from my research was at the bottom of the pay scale so I didn't look too heavily into them. I would advise you to look at most of the big companies because they all love team drivers. Schneider CRST and Swift are the first 3 I think about. But I'm sure prime and Werner and many others have team opportunities.

As far as teaming goes, refrigerated carriers are usually the best place to be. Refrigerated carriers have the largest amount of coast to coast freight and the longest average length of haul of any type of freight available, and that's exactly what you're looking for as a team. It's not that you can't do well with dry van , but refrigerated carriers are the best suited for teams.

Also, as others have mentioned, let your wife know it would be well worth the time to speak with a few different companies. It's easy to get comfortable with the first people you become familiar with but there are a lot of options out there and you certainly want to consider as many as possible.

I'm also a little surprised that your dad, who is an experienced driver now, would say that about the training because that's the case with training everywhere in this industry. The schooling will teach you what you need to get your CDL , the training with your mentor on the road will teach you the very basics of time management, paperwork, navigation, and communication with dispatch. That's it - the basics. 98% of everything a savvy veteran knows about trucking is learned from experience on the road. There's no such thing as a training program that truly prepares you for everything you're going to face out there because it takes several years before you'll really be able to say you know the job and lifestyle at the highest level.

Definitely take a look around at some of the other Paid CDL Training Programs. CR England is a good company but there are companies out there that pay a whole lot better.