Leaving CRST After Training

I have a question for you guys. I am currently in school for CRST. However, due to my mother being sick (lung cancer) while here at school she has been recently hospitalized. Is it possible to get my CDL and go back home and still pay back CRST without affecting my chances of getting another job? I wanted to go on board but my mother has fallen ill and is at the hospital because she needs close monitoring. I really can’t be out for 4 weeks only to be home 4 days, I’m really scared of loosing my mother while I am gone.

Is it possible to get my CDL and go back home and still pay back CRST without affecting my chances of getting another job?

That will depend on how long it takes you to pay them back. You signed a noncompete agreement which is part of your financing agreement with them. They are pretty aggressive about enforcing that agreement. Until you've paid it all back you will probably have issues getting someone to hire you.

So even though I haven’t been hired, it would still affect me? I can just pay the school back?

You can just pay them for the schooling, but I believe you have to pay the entire amount before you’ll be able to go work anywhere else. I don’t think they’ll let you make payments on it if you’re working for someone else.

I haven’t signed anything with CRST yet though. Just applied and got sent to school and signed then Schools contract. After school is over then I go to a 4 day orientation where I actually get hired, placed on pay roll ETC..

You’ll have to look at the contract, but I believe once you’ve gone through the training you all the money for the contract or you have to work for them to fulfill the contract. If you’ve already gone through the training then you owe them the money. The whole point of the contract is to make sure you don’t get training from them for free and then go work for somebody else. They need to get a return on their investment for the money it cost them to train you.

The best thing you can do at this point is talk to them, and see where it goes. This would certainly fall under unforseen circumstances. Maybe they wouldn't consider a ltl or a food service company competition, and would let you work and pay them back I have no idea. With your mother becoming ill like that not much you can do family certainly comes first. But that would be you first step. Communicate with them. Find out more about the job compete agreement.

I forgot to mention. This isn’t CRST’s driving school, it’s a 3rd party school that CRST is sending it’s student to get their CDL.

I know this goes against what the moderators on this board advise. But it's one of the reasons I chose to do community college instead of company training. Granted it has worked out for me. I know sometimes we get situations like the OP... and this really screws their plans on being a truck driver. You're essentially an indentured servant. Don't get me wrong I totally understand the company's position. They shelled out thousands of dollars and months of their time. I also understand that there are a lot of weak excuses for people to try to get out of their contracts. But when people have a life-altering situation they are cornered. Again that's why I chose the path I did. I have an elderly mother and her health currently is great and I have two daughters, I want to be there if they need me. I enjoy working for the company I drive for and though I don't see me at my age doing OTR more than another year or two. I did not want to be under a contract. Then again my situation is different then many of these younger drivers.

You're essentially an indentured servant.

This idea is blatantly wrong. Contracts are agreements between two parties. Both parties benefit considerably, or else neither party would ever be willing to sign the agreement. That's how contracts work. Each party knows that something out of the ordinary could happen, but they are willing to take the risks because of the reward involved.

Look, we've seen this same scenario multiple times. Every time it's happened, CRST has been willing to let a decent trainee return and finish out their part of the contract. There's nothing about this contract that makes one party a "servant" to the other.

Commitment is required, and Lalo needs to commit to fulfilling the contract. That means either ponying up the cash, or working for CRST (while being paid) for the duration of the contract. If anybody can show me where anything close to being an "indentured servant" is involved in that equation, I'll eat my spare tire.