Just Got Hired By Cr England

hi: I will appreciate any info good and bad. about cr England in regards to solo pay (no lease) how do they treat you, what happens while in training. have read lots of negative things but mostly from 2012 and before thank you very much.

regards mike!

They are just like any other "starter" company. They are there to get drivers on the road and get a career started. They are the largest reefer company in the US.

Now they do try and talk you into the lease program,which I had not problem with due to many years of experience driving before hand, and was in fact what I wanted to do but don't let that scare you. You do not have to lease and I would very strongly recommend that you do not lease at all. They have plenty of company trucks and many company drivers.

They mainly run across the northern part of the US on 70,80 and 90. Though they do go south sometimes but mainly stay in the north.

The freight they haul is mixed though a big portion is reefer freight.

Overall they're a viable option to get started with but their pay is really low compared with a lot of other refrigerated companies out there and they really push the leasing thing relentlessly. You don't have to lease of course, but they're going to do everything in their power to persuade you to do it. So be aware of that.

The pay would be my only big concern though. Compare their pay with other refrigerated carriers and it really doesn't stack up.

You must maintain a profession attitude or else you will be miserable. Be a dependable, hardworking and a safe driver and you will be treated well no matter what company you go to. CR England is a good company to start with. In the end, your experience with the company will depend on you. The best drivers get the best treatment and the best loads. The bad drivers sit and complain about the company online.

Like Daniel said, I have heard by some of their drivers, that they do push the lease hard. Now I can tell you, with CRST, we go all over the lower 48, and there is no place we go, that I do not see their trucks on the road, or at shippers. So they are moving some freight around. One thing that always made me wonder though, i have seen their team trucks with 3 people in the trucks. I think that is training, but after running team for almost 9 months with 2 of us on a truck, I cannot imagine having 3 there, and someone must be sleeping in that top bunk when it is moving, and that is insane.

CRST had a student fatality about 3 months back where the trainer was making the student sleep in the top bunk when the truck was moving. The truck rolled and the student in the top bunk was killed. That happened on I 40 in NM. One of the guys who I went to school with ended up with a trainer who was making him use the top bunk while the truck was moving, and he called me, and I passed that on to my trainer, and my trainer called safety, reported the other trainer, and got my friend off that truck. If any of you guys go out with a trainer who wants you to do that, GET OFF THE TRUCK! We had our monthly safety conference call on that issue right after that student was killed, so all my info came from the company, and they told us at the time it is entirely against company policy for that to be done, because it is so dangerous. I cant see how having 3 people on the truck it can be done any other way though.

There was an hilarious video making the rounds a few months back, from a TV station in Salt Lake City where a disgruntled driver from CRE drove his truck into the entrance of the parking garage at the SLC airport. Took them 6 hours to pry that truck out, after taking all the air out of the tires.

I do know that most of their trucks are governed about 2 miles an hour slower than us. CRST passes CRE just about every time But we also pass Swift, Werner, Prime, and Stevens we leave sitting in the dust.

But yeah, you have to remember, all these training companies are just big companies. I would imagine if you go there and work hard, and be professional, you will do fine, and get the experience you need. I was layed over in Laramie Wy about 2 weeks ago because of winter storm closures on I 80, and was at the Petro. I hung out for a couple of hours and met a Landstar driver who is an O/OP, which is what Landstar is, all O/OP. He started at CRE about 18 years ago, and told me they are fine to start for, just watch the lease thing. My trainer with CRST is a lease/op and is doing well, but had about 5 years experience before he ever tried a lease, and did a bad one before he started his at CRST. Now I am shopping for solo positions, one of the companies I have talked too is Trans Am, because they hire out of where I live, and they are all lease, and they were selling it big time. I know most of you here recommend against it but it is something I may consider in a few years because I want to get into flatbedding and the only flatbed company that hires out of here is a lease company. That being said, I have about 9 months experience, and if I ever consider doing a lease, I plan on running a company truck for a year at least like a O/OP, looking at the numbers, before I ever consider doing it.