What Is The Consensus On C.R. England?

I am looking at working for them and I have about 4 days to decide. I am looking for some opinions from all the truckers out there.

I've heard more bad then good but they are still on my list of possibles! I hope there is some more experienced people to chime in soon.

Have you already graduated from truck driving school or are you looking into CR England Company-Sponsored CDL Training Program?

I think it's fair to say that you can get your career off to a great start with CR England, as you can with any of the Company-Sponsored Training Programs, but there are better places to do it.

There are two major problems with their program. For one, the pay is about the lowest in the industry. For two, they have a bad reputation for pushing their new drivers to lease a truck from them. They'll even show you a long line of beautiful brand new rigs with all of the amenities just sitting there ready to go. All you have to do is lease it from them. If you're not interested they'll have you sit around for a few days or sometimes even send you home on the guise that there are no trucks available right now - only lease trucks. I don't know of anyone in the trucking business that would consider that an honorable practice. You should never try to convince someone to start a business that provides a service they haven't even learned how to produce yet. I mean, how could you even begin to defend that type of behavior?

Those are facts about CR England - not opinions. They do have low pay and they do push their lease program on new drivers. So just a fair word of warning before anyone decides to start ripping the company.....facts only or I put it in the trash.

That being said, CR England also has the most lenient hiring standards so they give opportunities to people that often times can't find an opportunity anywhere else. I don't think it's out of the goodness of their hearts. I think it's just part of their business strategy. But none the less it's a positive thing and it has given a ton of people a new start in life.

Go through all of the Company-Sponsored Training Programs. Apply to any of them that interest you and get a dialogue going with the recruiters. Hopefully you'll wind up with a couple of choices on where you can go. But if CR England becomes your only option then I say go for it. They're not the ideal company but it's still a fantastic opportunity to get your trucking career underway for little or no money out of pocket and drive some beautiful equipment.

And by the way - you do not have to lease a truck from CR England or anyone else. In fact, do not lease a truck from anyone. Remain a company driver. But just be aware of the fact that CR England will push that lease program hard. Just smile a lot, nod your head like you're open minded to what they're saying, and then persistently decline. Basically humor them, but don't fall for it.

Thanks for that reply Brett. I have a start date with C.R. England near the end of this month and I am going through their training program. I remember from last year, on these threads, that some folks fingered C.R. England and a couple others as being a bit dishonorable with their practices. So, I've braced myself for the hard sell on that lease program. The fact that the companies want a new driver to assume all financial risk without knowing the business is downright shady. But, the business is trying to make money, any way possible, right?

The fact that the companies want a new driver to assume all financial risk without knowing the business is downright shady. But, the business is trying to make money, any way possible, right?

That's exactly right. You're prepared for it so you'll be fine. Just go in there with an awesome attitude and work really hard.

I don't know if you went through it or not, but you're going to want to use our High Road Training Program before you head off to school. That will put you miles ahead of the rest of the class.

Today I went up to Waxahachie, just south of Dallas, to check in at the motel where CR England puts you up for however long. Upon arrival there was a CR England tractor-trailer in the parking lot with a couple of guys doing their thing. Probably a pre-trip inspection. The motel looked right on par with a bad horror movie. Went inside and caught a buttload of attitude from the desk clerk. All I said was that I would be checking in. So, I go back outside and there is an obese dude with no shirt half stumbling down the balcony, and a crackhead hitting the pipe in the corner where the building turns 90 degrees to the west. Folks, I'm not making this up at all. I noticed that the structure of the building was sagging in places. Right about that time I thought "bedbugs". Then I thought "If this is a sign of things to come with CR England, I'm not playing". My wife was with me to drop me off and we talked for a while about this situation. In the end we agreed to just leave and that I would go to the professional truck driving school at Central Texas College by FT Hood, using my veteran's benefits. We will just tough it out and eat rice for a while if we have to in order to not be taken for a ride in a CR England hell-hole situation. I'm not so hard up in life that I would take it in the pooper from a company like that for a little bit of scratch. There are other companies out there that have partnered with the VA so that the veteran can access their benefits during training. In fact, one particular company that I spoke to last year said that they pay you a salary while you're training and collecting your GI Bill benefits, but the catch is that they first let you collect the benefits money, then after that phase is done, they then pay you the salary that you have also earned. Now that is what I call taking care of drivers. Tomorrow I am submitting my paperwork for the local trucking school and hopefully there is a seat left for me in the next class. I'm not trying to be completely down on CR England. I'm sure that they give folks a new start in life with a CDL and job, but holy crap do I feel bad for them after all the checking that I have done and what I personally ventured into. I know people have to start somewhere in trucking, but it shouldn't be that high of a sacrifice. When I told my trucker buddy at church who I was starting out with, he literally cringed. That's a guy with thick skin and usually doesn't act negatively. That's saying something right there!! So now I'm going to start getting in touch with local trucking companies and Melton truck lines and let them know that I will soon be available with a fresh CDL and see where I end up. Not that I'm picky, but I will definitely be watching my back so as to not get screwed.

Well there's nothing wrong with holding a company to high standards and looking elsewhere if they haven't been met. It's also good to trust your instincts when it comes to making major decisions.

Try another path and see if that's the one.