Non Compete Contracts.

Well finally got crst to send me a copy of the contract. The way it is worded they try to make it seem like you are stuck until you drive for them or reimburse. Well the problem with that is there has to be a time frame where it's the non compete is up I think 3 years is sufficient time. Don't construe that as an intent to get out of it I have every intention of paying them but they are hindering my ability to make a living a present. Unless I go back through the whole ordeal again sign another contact be in more debt because they would be "sponsering" my training again.

I hate to say it Steven, but CRST's contract you signed is airtight and legal. Considering my company's terminal is located directly besides CRSTs school in Cedar Rapids, we hear things about this contract constantly. The owner of our company will consider a buy out of a crst contract IF you have less than 3 months owing on it.

Basically, NO company can touch you until you fulfil your contract, or pay your debt off.

My suggestion is to go back to crst OR somehow secure a loan to pay them off, thereby allowing you to obtain your 160 hour training certificate.

I wish you luck, but there is no such thing as a 3 year contract expiration. Furthermore, most companies that hire inexperienced drivers, want them less than 90 days after obtaing their cdl , and a snall few will hire within 6 months or a year after obtainh your cdl-a.

Best of luck to you.

[CRST is] hindering my ability to make a living a present. Unless I go back through the whole ordeal again sign another contact be in more debt because they would be "sponsering" my training again

How do you know they will charge you twice? Often you can "test out" in a few days then get on the road.

How is CRST "hindering my ability to make a living a present"? You and CRST have a contract. From their point of view, you aren't doing what you agreed to do. Like Brett said, you'll only be able to work for companies who really don't care for their equipment or the people who work for them.

Have you spoken with anyone at CRST about what it takes to get your upgrade to OTR?

Yes after hours of call hopping I would have to go through the entire 3 week cource again which constitutes for another debt to them. For them "retraining" me

[CRST is] hindering my ability to make a living a present. Unless I go back through the whole ordeal again sign another contact be in more debt because they would be "sponsering" my training again

How do you know they will charge you twice? Often you can "test out" in a few days then get on the road.

How is CRST "hindering my ability to make a living a present"? You and CRST have a contract. From their point of view, you aren't doing what you agreed to do. Like Brett said, you'll only be able to work for companies who really don't care for their equipment or the people who work for them.

Have you spoken with anyone at CRST about what it takes to get your upgrade to OTR?

I really think you should consult with an attorney. I do not know how the trucking industry handles it, or what companies will and will not hire someone who is locked in a contract with someone else, but I do know that non-compete contracts are hard (and expensive) for companies to enforce.

If you can get hired by someone else, CRST would need to sue you. If you are paying them back from your paychecks from the new job at a reasonable rate, I don't see why they would bring you to court. They might go through some basic legal motions that lead up to the courtroom, so that they can maintain a precedent of taking action for any future legal actions they need to take with others, but I don't see where they would go after you if you are paying them back monthly and continue until they are fully paid.

It isn't financially viable for them to sue someone who is paying them back at a reasonable rate. They cannot keep you from taking another job, even with their non-compete, until they take you to court and get a judge to rule. Your ability to be hired at another company just depends on whether that company will take you if you disclose to them that you are still under a non-compete contract with another company.

If you were sued, it would likely be for damages and not affect your new job status given the nature of the contract (educated guess without seeing the contract). The process of them suing you would likely take months and months, and you paying them back during that time would not only encourage them to drop the suit before it starts costing them too much but also look good for a judge who may end up ruling that you just need to keep up your payments until you have fully paid them.

Pay CRST a reasonable amount every month and my best guess is that they would be that they leave you alone. You won't be able to get them to agree to it, because their legal won't let them over the issue of setting a precedent that weakens their position in future contract enforcement, but I think you will find that CRST is a company and the money is what they are looking for.

I am not an attorney and I think you need to talk to one about this. I may be correct in all I said above. I may be incorrect. Talk to an attorney.

Matt, with all due respect I could not disagree more. Remember, we're talking an eight month contract. All you have to do is work for them for eight months. You would rather see him get an attorney and spend months, if not years, and God knows how much money fighting a losing battle instead of simply fulfilling the contract after he was the one that broke it in the first place? That makes no sense to me at all. And you're also predicating this on CRST coming after him. They won't just go after him, they may also go after the company that hires him when he's under contract which is why no one else will hire him.

I would have to go through the entire 3 week course again which constitutes for another debt to them

Well, I hate to sound like an annoying parent but that's what you get, right? I mean, if you would have just done what you agreed to do in the first place the way CRST did what they agreed to do then everyone would be happy as can be, would they not? You're learning a lesson the long, hard way is all. When you sign on the dotted line to do something, then handle it like a man and do it. They ponied up the money, the trainers, the hotel room, the equipment, and quite a bit of cash to give you a new career, did they not? Now man up and pay them back the way you agreed to in the first place. That's life. You live and you learn. Don't run out on your commitments. Simple as that.

People seem to love beating their head against the wall for months or years and making a big stink over things that would have been so easily taken care of properly in the first place. Seriously, they'll give you every last thing you need to be trained for a whole new career and they'll give you a job on top of that and all you guys can come up with is to run out on your obligations and then sue them as if they're the ones who did you wrong?

Come on, man. Ya gotta do better than that.

Brett I have no intentions of suing and what little face it may save me I didn't run out on the contract from the last topic if you read it. I went home to transfer my license over had lost my birth certificate couldn't transfer I know my fault no one else's I was calling my fleet manager every other day keeping him informed. Almost 2 months elapse waiting for it to come in through mail from GA by this time fleetanger has dropped contact I assumed terminated. I would have no problem going back continuing the original contract but telling me I must go back through the three weeks at cedar rapids sign another contract. Be in more debt etc that's crazy I don't run from responsibility I did 6 years in the army until I was medically discharged. I have a 4 kids and wife I can't afford to miss 3 weeks worth of work with no pay.

I really think you should consult with an attorney. I do not know how the trucking industry handles it, or what companies will and will not hire someone who is locked in a contract with someone else, but I do know that non-compete contracts are hard (and expensive) for companies to enforce.

If you can get hired by someone else, CRST would need to sue you. If you are paying them back from your paychecks from the new job at a reasonable rate, I don't see why they would bring you to court. They might go through some basic legal motions that lead up to the courtroom, so that they can maintain a precedent of taking action for any future legal actions they need to take with others, but I don't see where they would go after you if you are paying them back monthly and continue until they are fully paid.

It isn't financially viable for them to sue someone who is paying them back at a reasonable rate. They cannot keep you from taking another job, even with their non-compete, until they take you to court and get a judge to rule. Your ability to be hired at another company just depends on whether that company will take you if you disclose to them that you are still under a non-compete contract with another company.

If you were sued, it would likely be for damages and not affect your new job status given the nature of the contract (educated guess without seeing the contract). The process of them suing you would likely take months and months, and you paying them back during that time would not only encourage them to drop the suit before it starts costing them too much but also look good for a judge who may end up ruling that you just need to keep up your payments until you have fully paid them.

Pay CRST a reasonable amount every month and my best guess is that they would be that they leave you alone. You won't be able to get them to agree to it, because their legal won't let them over the issue of setting a precedent that weakens their position in future contract enforcement, but I think you will find that CRST is a company and the money is what they are looking for.

I am not an attorney and I think you need to talk to one about this. I may be correct in all I said above. I may be incorrect. Talk to an attorney.

You are incorrect.

CRST has done this before, and is not afraid to do it again.

They will block you from working for another company until the contract is fulfilled, or they are paid in full.

I pretended to be a CRST dropout once, and talked to Knight Transportation. Short answer: "pay up or go back to CRST, because NO ONE will touch you until you do."

Why did I do this? Curiosity.

What debt are you talking about? You go to school there and in return you work for them for like 8 months. If they take tuition payments out during that time, so be it. But it's not like you're accruing some sort of debt like at a University. You pay any tuition you may owe by working for the company at a lesser rate for a short time.

by this time fleet manager has dropped contact I assumed terminated

You assume terminated? That sounds pretty sketchy. You don't know the outcome of all of this exactly? Well if they had fired you then you would no longer be under contract. So that's not it. If you would have gone right back there as soon as you had your birth certificate they would have taken you back immediately. They don't require you to sign a contract so that they can turn around and say they don't want you to work there, and then try to prevent you from working elsewhere on top of that. None of that makes sense. So my guess would be you went to work somewhere else instead of going back there, maybe even outside of trucking. I don't know. But there's a lot of little details here that aren't adding up.

My opinion is to march back in there and get to work. Make it happen however you have to manage it. That's the obvious way forward from here. Any further attempts at getting around it is just wasting time and money because this obviously isn't going away. They already dished out the resources it took to train you and you gladly accepted them at the time. Now they expect you to fulfill your end of it. It's pretty straight forward.

I stated I have no problem doing that if they would let me road test and send me out with a trainer fine. But why must I sign another contact that's the part I'm hung up on if I'm already under contract why is there a need for a second one. I'm skeptical by nature that's why being an MP was an easy and fun job. Yes I did find employment outside of trucking. As far as details being left out the only part that I did leave out as after I got my cdl back still couldn't get a hold of FM the only thing I did get was un eligible for rehire and under contract till Oct 14. Hence why I'm confused with the still under contract part.