C R England?

Looking at C R England (and others) for a sponsored CDL program. Any thoughts???

I would do your research carefully and find the trucking company that fits YOU and if that happens to be CR England. Often times folks get into bad situations due to not having fully done their research or make emotional choices based on real or perceived financial circumstance.

Hope it helps

Moe.

Looking at C R England (and others) for a sponsored CDL program. Any thoughts???

Moe wrote:

Note: Moe's comment was edited out by Brett but G-Town's reply is full of great information

Moe, CR England is one of the oldest, successful TL carriers in the US. Highly innovative in cost-effective intermodal transportation of perishables by rail. They have also increased their compensation model to become more competitive in the driver employment market. I know you are trying to help our new friend Michael, that's cool. But unless the drivers you spoke with have direct experience with CRE for at least several months, the information they provided is unsubstantiated, hear-say and likely embellished for effect. I encourage you to consider that as fact, and realize good drivers; safe, focused, grounded, and efficient can be wildly successful for any of the companies that will train and hire novice drivers including, CR England.

That said, ask any random driver about Swift, Prime, CRST, Roehl...etc, and you are bound to get a similar response. As a personal example, Swift is the darling of Negative Cyber-Bull... my 6+ years of experience with Swift has been nothing but positive; they always have treated me with respect, professionalism and highly value all of their top-performing drivers. Further to the point, there is no way I could have achieved success out here without their consistent support and assistance during the first 12 months of my employment. CR England is NO different in that regard. With very, very few exceptions the drivers (or former drivers) spreading venom about any of the companies represented in this forum; flat-out failed because of various reasons having nothing to-do with the company name on their door. Most who try this career fail or quit...fact.

My suggestion to Michael is to consider all of the options and not focus on one particular company. Hiring policies with all companies vary, many times geographically, and are subject to change without notice. Please try not to put all of your eggs in one basket.

Paid CDL Training Programs

Apply For Paid CDL Training

You can find reviews of all the companies offering company paid training in this link: Trucking Company Reviews

Good luck Michael.

Any company that is willing to take you on is taking a huge risk. CR England is known to have a lower starting pay than other carriers, but they're also more lenient and give people a chance that other carriers won't. If you prove yourself you'll find yourself moving up the payscale quite quickly. If I'm not mistaken CR England now has 3 bunk trucks for all their training trucks. This means there will be another student driving while you're trying to sleep. We recommend you use this app to Apply For Paid CDL Training, fill out one application and it will be sent to many different companies. There are some not represented, but it's a good start to your process. I wouldn't waste too much time right now looking at who you want to drive for. First get numerous offers and THEN compare your options. We've had people make spreadsheets and research for months just to find out the company they want to drive for isnt willing to take them on. Things to keep in mind are hometime, pay, rider/pet policies, if you're required to team and any other criteria you think is important when choosing your company. At a bare minimum stick with that company for a year and you'll find some companies that weren't willing to give you a chance will now happily hire you.

Most companies that offer CDL training are talked about on the CB in a negative way. The reason for that is they often have a larger amount of inexperienced drivers that make rookie mistakes. They also tend to have more trucks on the road so you're seeing them more frequently. Swift is definitely the most made fun of online and out on the road. I dug up some numbers a while back and posted them here. It showed that even though the internet leads you to believe Swift is involved in nearly every accident on the road or putting a truck in the ditch Swift had a much lower % of their drivers involved in accidents, as well as DOT violations than the national average. It seems they're more involved due to the amount of trucks they have on the road... plus in this age of chasing "likes" on facebook you'll get more reaction showing a mega carrier screwing up than "jim Bob's transport" where nobody knows who they are. I'm skeptical of anything I hear at truck stops. Far too often anything people want to hear is negative.

By many peoples account the job I have is super easy and I'm overpaid. Does that stop some of our senior guys from talking badly about the job, and telling new drivers to leave now before your wife leaves you? Absolutely not, the way some of our guys talk about our company you'd think it was the worst place to drive for. When they get negative I always ask why they've stayed for 30+ years and they shut their mouth until somebody else comes in that will listen to their complaining. One thing that always amazes me is that nearly every company that employs driver is a "terrible " place to work yet they have many drivers who stay for DECADES and drive MILLIONS of miles for them. The truth is every company has things we like and dislike. One complaint at my job is about 90% of our loads leave midnight to 2am. I love it because I can get into our stores and in many cases be out of the major city before morning rush hour. Other guys absolutely hate starting at that time. We all place importance on different things. The key is to find a company that most closely fits what it is you want out of a company and this industry. Commit to atleast a year at each company to figure out the way each does business and see if it improves, if not then go elsewhere.

Moe, I apologize, but I had to edit out the first part of your response. I'll be happy to explain why if you would like an explanation.

Michael, I always recommend that you first apply to as many companies as possible to see who will offer you an opportunity. Most people have this idea that truck drivers are in high demand so they can work anywhere they like. That will not be the case. Some companies may give you an opportunity, most will not. So there's no sense in wasting your time doing research on companies that may not hire you. Once you find out who is willing to hire you, then you can compare your options.

Your decision will be primarily based on:

1) What type of freight you would like to haul

2) What regions of the country you would like to run

3) How often you would like to get home

Once you determine those three answers and you have a list of companies willing to hire you, you can compare your options if there is more than one.

We've watched people spend months putting together huge spreadsheets of information about dozens of companies only to find out that none of their top choices were willing to hire them. They could have made thousands of dollars in the amount of time they wasted pondering opportunities they weren't going to get.

All of the major carriers are fantastic places to work. They're the largest, most successful companies in the nation. Start applying when you're ready and see who gives you an opportunity.

Any time you might spend doing research would be much better spent preparing yourself for your career with our High Road CDL Training Program. That's time well-spent right there. The companies are all good companies. Your happiness and success will depend on your knowledge and performance. Make sure you're as prepared as you can be for the challenges you're going to face.

Moe, I apologize again but I've deleted your next reply also. In the comment I most recently removed you said:

I hate to sound like THAT GUY, or a negative troll

I'm glad to hear that, and I very much appreciate it. As you know, we maintain a very high level of professionalism and integrity. We focus on helping people understand what they have to do to make themselves successful in their careers.

You're still in school so I'm asking that you leave the career guidance up to the experienced drivers. We're always happy to answer any questions you may have.

Brett,

It is your website and your rules and I really have no say in how you choose to run things, I get that. Privately run websites or forums do not guarantee freedom of speech or expression, I get it it is private ownership. To this end I am just simply going to log off and not come back, it seems you have a different way of doing things than I do and I am 100 percent willing to accept that and agree to disagree.

I wish you all the best in the goals you are trying to accomplish

Sincerely

Moe

Moe, I apologize again but I've deleted your next reply also. In the comment I most recently removed you said:

I hate to sound like THAT GUY, or a negative troll

I'm glad to hear that, and I very much appreciate it. As you know, we maintain a very high level of professionalism and integrity. We focus on helping people understand what they have to do to make themselves successful in their careers.

You're still in school so I'm asking that you leave the career guidance up to the experienced drivers. We're always happy to answer any questions you may have.

Moe wrote:

To this end I am just simply going to log off and not come back, it seems you have a different way of doing things than I do and I am 100 percent willing to accept that and agree to disagree.

Moe, your reply is truly disappointing and absolutely a knee-jerk reaction to removal of a comment you made about CRE; that is unfounded, and not grounded in any truth. You are still a student Bro and the name of this website is Trucking Truth!

We have done nothing but try to help you and encourage you to continue and what to-do to improve your skills...good luck getting anything close to our level of support, guidance and encouragement anywhere else on the internet. Seriously Man...not smart at all.

Moe, it's a shame to see someone like yourself, someone who is still in school trying to become a truck driver, be tainted already by the terminal rats that infest this industry. It's not your fault. You're new to all this. You don't know who to believe. I get that. Believe me, I do, and I certainly don't hold it against you.

Moe, you're getting advice from the wrong people. That's a fact. It happens all the time in this industry. It's frustrating as hell for me to watch people ruin their careers because they were misled by bad advice.

After 15 years of success as a driver, I couldn't believe how much negativity and misinformation there was on the Web. It was appalling. That's why I started this website, and that's why I named it Trucking Truth. I wanted to set the record straight. I know how many bad players there are out there. Someone has to help give people like yourself a chance to see things from the perspective of someone who knows how to be successful in trucking, and in all areas of their life.

Moe, you've been tainted by "terminal rats" and I've done a podcast on it. Listen to this if you care to learn more about the people who are misleading you:

Episode 10: Terminal Rats Are Derailing Trucking Careers

If you want to talk more about this let's start a new topic and I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have. If you're convinced you're getting good advice from those types of people and that we don't know what we're talking about then I wish you all the best. You're gonna need it.

Moe you will be doing yourself a huge dis-service by choosing to no longer participate. What separates us, and the reason I choose to stay involved here is unsubstantiated "facts" are not tolerated. The internet is full of lies, or half facts. Here we are willing to listen to the negatives of a company IF its first-hand knowledge. Things sometimes get lost in translation.

Remember that "telephone" game from elementary school? By the end of the row of people the sentence or paragraph was completely different from what it really started as. You also are only getting one side of the story. The drivers that said to avoid it may not be turning big miles due to their own doings. Sometimes somebody will come here venting about their company but by the time they leave the great group of experienced drivers here have been able to show them how making a couple simple changes will change their situation entirely. We're not trying to run you off, but what you posted isnt a first-hand account of what happened. I've had things deleted here, life goes on. This website wouldn't be what it is if Brett and the other moderators allowed anybody to make an account and spread false information.

The purpose of this forum is to educate. I've seen other places online that bad mouth this community. Does that mean that I should avoid coming here because of how someone else perceives the way this website and forum successfully get drivers ready for a successful career? If you'd rather deal with the negativity about the industry and become a driver that hates the industry and everything about it, by all means, find another forum. If you want drivers who genuinely care about your success that are taking the time out of their hectic day to give you advice and direction then by please stick around. I spend quite a bit of time on the forum and even though I'm not experienced in OTR lifestyle I've been around enough to understand how most things work. If I can help even one person then to me it's worth it.