Best Team Opportunity Starting Out?

The story is: I am going to team drive with my brother in law. I am a former OTR and local CDL driver (5 years pre and post millenium!) who let my CDL lapse when I went into management (bad decision). I am coming back into trucking with my brother in law who has never driven. I want to help him transition into trucking while also getting us some miles. I will be going to school with him. Although I provided Safety training (Smith and CARE), drove and backed CMV's around the yard, ran local routes and managed local drivers during the last 10 years, I know I need refresher training and to become reacclimated to OTR (always alot to learn=never stop learning). I am considering CRST due to the Team driving and the starting CPM. I joined this site because of the lack of negativity and finger pointing it tolerates. Asking for some input on company sponsered or provided training. I have read all the company reviews under that topic (very informative) and spoke with a few companies. Hometime will be taken in the Southeast (FL, upstate SC). Any words of wisdom-suggestions?

The story is: I am going to team drive with my brother in law. I am a former OTR and local CDL driver (5 years pre and post millenium!) who let my CDL lapse when I went into management (bad decision). I am coming back into trucking with my brother in law who has never driven. I want to help him transition into trucking while also getting us some miles. I will be going to school with him. Although I provided Safety training (Smith and CARE), drove and backed CMV's around the yard, ran local routes and managed local drivers during the last 10 years, I know I need refresher training and to become reacclimated to OTR (always alot to learn=never stop learning). I am considering CRST due to the Team driving and the starting CPM. I joined this site because of the lack of negativity and finger pointing it tolerates. Asking for some input on company sponsered or provided training. I have read all the company reviews under that topic (very informative) and spoke with a few companies. Hometime will be taken in the Southeast (FL, upstate SC). Any words of wisdom-suggestions?

DEFINITELY GO CRST. They will give you credit on your pay for your previous OTR experience. I am a CONTRACT student and my recruiter is getting me $.41 per mile STARTING PAY because of my previous OTR experience once I have my CDL back. Now as a team here you SPLIT the MILES, not the CPM rate. So if the TRUCK does 6k miles a week you will get your own CPM rate at 3k miles, even if you didn't DRIVE 3k miles that week. You get half the miles at your individual CPM rate, no matter how many miles you DRIVE. Hope that helps.

How long has your cdl been lapsed? If it has been a while they will more than likely make you do the whole training period which isn't really a bad thing. There are a few people on here who drive for CRST. I haven't really heard anything bad about them. I know they are a team company so since you will be teaming that works out for you. They seem to get good miles. They pass me all the time in my slow Prime truck lol.

How long has your cdl been lapsed?

Was this question directed to me or Rodney?

I was asking Rodney. I wasn't sure how long it had been since he had one.

I was asking Rodney. I wasn't sure how long it had been since he had one.

Ok. Cool. I wasnt sure. Me and Rodney are in the same boat here. We let our cdls go and now we are both restarting our journeys.

Thanks guys.

It has been about 7 years since I had my CDL.

CRST does look like a good option. We have the option of schooling in Jacksonville, FL (private) or going to Cedar River. Even though I like the idea of heading home on the weekend while at school (getting my Harley windshield time while I can), I am thinking it would be good to see HQ and put some names with faces and scope things out there. I am waiting until after July 4th to start. One last family VAC. My twin daughters are teachers and summer-July 4th has been the designated family reunion at my parents in the NC Mountains for years.

Rodney, a couple of things stood out to me in your first post on this thread.

You've been exposed to this career before, so you kind of have a good idea of how things work, and the effects it can have on a person. You are planning on teaming with your brother in law who has never been exposed to the career. As I am sure you are aware, there are a lot of folks who go into this with a sort of "kicking the tires" approach so they can see if they like it or not, and most of them are simply blind-sided by the demands and the disciplines required to do any good at this. Add on top of that the problems that just go along with driving team, and I suspect that you can see where I am going with this.

You know your brother in law well enough to make a proper assessment of whether you think he has got what it takes to perform well in this environment, but personally I would be very leery of trying to re-start my career with one of my brother in laws who was a total greenhorn, all while knowing I had a contractual obligation to keep with a company like CRST who will absolutely hold you to every jot and tittle on that page. I can't tell you how many people we have tried to console in here who could not get employed anywhere because they broke their contract with CRST.

I like what you are doing, but I would count the costs of what is going to happen if your brother in law bails out on you. I think when you consider the raw statistics out there on getting started in trucking, you have got to realize that it is highly likely that he won't last for a year at this. You need to have a back-up plan in place, and you will need to stay with CRST to complete your contract whether your brother in law does that or not.

Old School,

Thanks for your insight! You are right in that I have considered the very real possibility that my brother in law (B-I-L) may not make it for one reason or the other. Fortunately, I am not worried about him bailing on the lifestyle as he is a retired Air Traffic Controller who spent over 10 years remotely in Alaska (away from family, working shifts at remote sites) in order to get his retirement, and he has been considering OTR even before I came back into the picture. My biggest concern is his ability to actually learn to drive a Big Rig safely, and where that could leave me with CRST. Like all of us, he has his unique way of learning and approaching things, which may or may not be lost on, or tolerated by a trainer, not really invested in their trainee. Getting a good/patient trainer is a Crap Shoot, but with that being said, he has to get his CDL and pass his training ride without me. That is actually my biggest concern. As I believe you may be suggesting, I am considering other companies as well, which would leave me the option of running Solo, should that happen. Thanks Again!