CRST Truth Please
Topic 15568 | Page 2
I went to crst company sponsored training everything was what they said it was to be. Now by no means am I bad mouthing the company my lead driver was a 60+ year old lady and phenomenal driver but new O/O. I got lots of great advice and plenty of backing practice while sitting. The truck would not move except for the right load monetary reasons so I understood only thing I can recommend get with a company driver lead or established O/O that the fleet manner actually gives freight to the lead. We were both new to the FM we were assigned and trying to give us 700-1300 mile run on teams that run good that's a cake walk I was in training. Pushing 600 miles a day myself.
Fm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.Company Sponsored Training:
A Company-Sponsored Training Program is a school that is owned and operated by a trucking company.
The schooling often requires little or no money up front. Instead of paying up-front tuition you will sign an agreement to work for the company for a specified amount of time after graduation, usually around a year, at a slightly lower rate of pay in order to pay for the training.
If you choose to quit working for the company before your year is up, they will normally require you to pay back a prorated amount of money for the schooling. The amount you pay back will be comparable to what you would have paid if you went to an independently owned school.
Company-sponsored training can be an excellent way to get your career underway if you can't afford the tuition up front for private schooling.
Thank you all so much for the info! This is exactly what im looking for. Personal experiences with companies that pay to train.
During the class time and School time they didn't pay I'd have to look this back in 2013 when I went but once hired they advancede 150 to get things needed.
Thank you all so much for the info! This is exactly what im looking for. Personal experiences with companies that pay to train.
Jim, if you haven't already, go check out the school diary forums on here. Lots of good info there. It really helped me when I was deciding on a company to go with.
Also once i started driving they docked 50 dollars a week to payback the stay at casa de crst in Cedar rapids.
I drive for CRST... I was even waved down by a guy not to long ago in TX wanting to know about them... This doesn't sound familiar does it?
I certainly will thank you!
Thank you all so much for the info! This is exactly what im looking for. Personal experiences with companies that pay to train.
Jim, if you haven't already, go check out the school diary forums on here. Lots of good info there. It really helped me when I was deciding on a company to go with.
lol no, wasnt me, but id really like to hear what you have to say about CRST since youve been driving with them a year. Mainly about the team driving experience, hours you drive/sleep, and any pay problems you may have had so far. Also avg monthly pay after taxes would be good too :P
I drive for CRST... I was even waved down by a guy not to long ago in TX wanting to know about them... This doesn't sound familiar does it?
I drive for CRST... I was even waved down by a guy not to long ago in TX wanting to know about them... This doesn't sound familiar does it?
Jim, one of the most common misnomers that new drivers have is that the experiences of others is an important factor in deciding which company to go with. It's understandable, everyone does it. But we've always told people that the experiences of others will have nothing whatsoever to do with your happiness or success in this industry.
Swift is the largest truckload carrier in North America and they have a long list of disgruntled former drivers. Once you get out on the road you'll see they also get mocked and ridiculed ten times more than any other company out there by drivers from other companies. And yet we have quite a few drivers here in the forum running for Swift, some of which have been there for years, and they're all making great money and are extremely happy with the company.
Now if you were to ask the disgruntled drivers about their experiences they would say things like Swift has a terrible training program and they don't care about their drivers and they're just out to take advantage of you and they don't have any miles available. On and on they'd go with horror stories and criticisms for an hour.
If you ask the drivers here who are true professionals running for Swift they'll say the opposite - they liked the training program and Swift does care about their drivers and they don't take advantage of you and there are a ton of miles available.
Every major company out there is the same way.
Old School, one of our moderators, started with Western Express. Look them up anywhere on the web outside of this website and you won't find the first good word about them anywhere. And yet Old School did fantastically well with the company. He learned his trade hauling flatbed with them, made really good money, got all the miles he could ever hope for, and got home when he was supposed to. He had a great experience overall.
The large carriers have to bring in a lot more drivers than smaller carriers, meaning they simply have to take more chances on people and quite a large number of those people don't work out. Some don't belong in trucking in the first place, some go in with the wrong attitude and expectations, while others chose the wrong company based upon the wrong criteria so they're not going to be happy or stick around long either.
Trust me, if you walked into the main terminal at any of the major carriers and looked around at the drivers there you would realize instantly that quite a number of those people are not the ones you want to get career advice from. Now you're fortunate that you're here at TruckingTruth because we filter out the bad apples and cut through the baloney here pretty quickly to bring you honest, helpful opinions and experiences. But in the end none of it will apply much to you at all.
You see, every major carrier has really nice equipment, tons of freight available, and a long list of opportunities available in various divisions. You can do well at any of them. And yet none of them is without a long list of drivers that swear the company is run by the devil.
I worked at US Xpress for six years. I can't tell you how many times I would come across drivers from my company that were absolutely miserable. They hated the company and everything about it. They couldn't get the miles they wanted, they didn't get home when they expected to, they didn't get along with anyone - the list goes on and on. What really used to crack me up is that some of those drivers even had the same dispatcher I had. "I hate that ******!!! they'd say. He's horrible at his job. He doesn't know what he's doing. On and on and on. And here I am hoping they'll shut up pretty soon because I'm so busy all the time running my brains out I almost never had a moment to spare. And I got along famously with the guy. He was absolutely spectacular. I don't know how he could have done his job any better.
When you want to choose a company, choose one based on the type of freight you want to haul, the amount of home time you'd like to have, the areas of the country you'd like to run, and other opportunities the company may have available that sound interesting to you. Don't worry about what anyone else thinks. If you're a great driver you're going to be happy anywhere you end up. If you're not, you're going to be miserable anywhere you end up.
Here is a ton of information to help you choose the right company:
- Trucker's Career Guide: Choosing Your First Truck Driving Job
- Article Category: Finding The Right Truck Driving Job
- Forum Topics Tagged "Choosing A Trucking Company"
Also, I'm not seeing any scores showing up on our High Road Training Program. Do you by chance already have your permit? Have you already learned the logbook rules? Do you already know how to load cargo, calculate fuel mileage, and transfer weight between the various axles to get your truck legal? If not then I would get started immediately with your studies.
...continued
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Logbook:
A written or electronic record of a driver's duty status which must be maintained at all times. The driver records the amount of time spent driving, on-duty not driving, in the sleeper berth, or off duty. The enforcement of the Hours Of Service Rules (HOS) are based upon the entries put in a driver's logbook.
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
Dispatcher:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
OOS:
When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.
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CRST Van Expedited Advice For New Truck Drivers Becoming A Truck Driver Truck Driver Salary Truck Driving Lifestyle
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Jim, you might notice there's someone from nearly every company on here. There might be some BS, but it ain't like in the other sites you've been looking at.
DJ check on those Trucking Company Reviews, and maybe read about Paid CDL Training Programs.
Here's more:
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.OOS:
When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.