Um, if you hit someone with a hammer chances are you're just gonna knock them out. Not a very effective way to teach anything.

But then again...

I'm starting with CRE next month with every intention to lease. They haven't even had the chance to talk to me about it. But, see, I've got an advantage. I used to work in the Entertainment Industry (Sound Engineer), if you want a real good sc#$%ing give that a shot. $80,000 in schooling only to find out that you have to bl#w someone to get a job. Wasn't my style.

Someone a few posts mentioned how people who are researching a company on this site could use honest information. Well, that's what I'll give when I can.

I'll keep everyone updated when I can I am not going to bring a laptop or anything else I value with me to training. I might be crazy, but I didn't crawl out of the cabbage patch yesterday.

So, I don't know what happened to Grandma and Virgil, but I'll try to pick it up at some point soon.

And please don't tell me that I'm gonna fail when you've never been there yourself ... you know who you are ... just how does a "Student" know how a lease is going to go? By reading the negativity that abounds here? I don't think do.

If you've got experience with CRE, and have been a lease driver there, let me know about it ... but please try and back it up with numbers and an honest telling if how you ran on a weekly basis. "I ran my ##### off." doesn't explain anything. How often did you stop? Did you hang out in truck stops? Pickle Parks? Did you frequent casinos? Did you frequent lot lizards? I mean let's have some real honesty here.

Anyway, that's what I'm gonna try to do here ... probably in a new thread ... don't wanna step on Grandma and Virgil's toes if they come back and find that I hijacked the thread.

L8er

__________________
------------------------------------
The Rattlebunny
It's your attitude, not your aptitude that determines your altitude.

The thing is, it's okay to argue with yourself, I understand that. But what if it comes to blows and I'm left in the fetal position back in the bunk bleeding. Is that still okay?

__________________
------------------------------------
The Rattlebunny
It's your attitude, not your aptitude that determines your altitude.

I decided to actually start a blog. That's probably where my insanity will reside.

__________________
------------------------------------
The Rattlebunny
It's your attitude, not your aptitude that determines your altitude.

Aaah thats just it. Most of us here have been honest. God willing you get a good trainer.

__________________
Looking for work, LOL
Building a 2.5" scale Stainz
Building a freelance Ford railcar 7.25guage

Rattlebunny if yoy have your heart set on going with England good luck to you. Have never drove for them so can't say anything good or bad about them. Look foward on reading your post about them

Most are, but there are those that are just surly enough to bash anything they see. C.R. England is really just a means to an end for me.

I don't have my heart set on them. In fact I'd rather pull out my own toe nails. Problem is I've been out of work since February and after all this time I'm sorry to say that they're my only option. So, finding myself in a unique situation ... and being an aspiring writer ... business school grad ... and so on, I'm hoping that the information I gather is useful to others out there in making an informed decision.

In reading through the threads there are those like lovedthedrive that are providing honest opinions, but there are also a bunch of lemmings out there that chime in with no real first hand knowledge or experience. We'll see how it goes. I've started a blog on this site and will most likely be keeping that as updated as I can. Found out last night that I will have a laptop with me ... guarded with my life of course ... so that should help.

__________________
------------------------------------
The Rattlebunny
It's your attitude, not your aptitude that determines your altitude.

I have Drove for England back in mid 90's. They were ok to a point, but it all how you handle your self and how they treat you. It took me a while to realize all companies are about the same, just different faces. There is no Great Companies, and it only what you your self makes out of it.

I figured out my problem a little too late, 8 jobs, 4 years later and a divorce.

Learn how to work their system to the Max, and you will do fine. Keep a cool head and learn to let some things roll off your shoulder.

__________________

Hey Rattlebunny, you might want to think about getting a wifi adapter for that notebook. There are some rest stops in Nebraska that you can get free access, but that is not the norm. Any of the truck stops that have the (forgot what Pilot's call them) overhead gantry, run tv signal blockers so you cant use your free tv. Personally I recomend Verizon, as they have a lower price.

Most of the trainers will give you a set of the truck keys (as long as you dont lose keys), and the truck is locked up when away. Yet for down time, The trainers I had were all out gogogo! The most down time I witnessed was when we traded loads. We had a load that was supposed to go east and another driver was running out of time. So we had to wait in a stop some 6 hours for her to show up and trade to go back west. The only other time was when my trainer "roy" spent some 6 hours in Burns Harbor trying to get christmas off with family (no he didnt get it). Yes there is extra pay for driving on holidays.

When I was with Western Express, "Greg" loved to stop at the casinos. There was a little more down time then with Western.

Personally I would recomend you go down the road in Salt Lake to [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. of Salt Lake (just around the corner) and sign up for a used CR England truck. You can finance a used truck for $50,000 with a lot less headaches and payments will be alot cheaper. Plus the maintenance on said truck will be yours.

I beg you, please dont fleece. If you really do want that private property. Buy it.

__________________
Looking for work, LOL
Building a 2.5" scale Stainz
Building a freelance Ford railcar 7.25guage

I do appreciate the advice, but ... I've got no credit at the present. Foreclosure. And I've been unemployed for an extended period. I also only have 6 mos experience and insuring a vehicle I own might be a problem. It is a direction I am going to go in the future. I just can't right now. I wish I could.

I know by fleecing I'm buying my own trouble not a truck. But what else is there. I can't turn to the Government for a bail out ... I'm not a bank. Any viable Ideas for trucker in mortgage foreclosure limbo hell would be appreciated, but I'm not holding out much hope.

__________________
------------------------------------
The Rattlebunny
It's your attitude, not your aptitude that determines your altitude.

You've stated that you respect Lovesthedrive opinion, well what you read above it the best advise you will ever receive with regards to CRE. If you can't afford to buy or don't have the credit to do so, stick with being a company driver until you put in enough time to move on. If you think the "sound" business bent you over you ain't seen nothing yet.

All you have to do is read every post on the board about CRE. Of course, there are those on the far left and maybe one or two on the right side of the debate. What you will find is an overwhelming imbalance of information that clearly points to caution. Don't simply dismiss every negative post about them as rantings of lunatics just becuase you have found that CRE is your only option at the time.

There is a lot of valuable information on this site for those that are willing to do some research. As a matter of fact you will read numerous warnings that flow along the same lines as this one. All too often that advise is ignored.

Remember. Reputations are never given, they are earned.

Move forward with eyes wide open and drive safe. Best of Luck to you.

Oh yea, I also wanted to address the wifi thing.
I just switched from Sprint to Verizon. I had been using the Sprint notebook card for years and was always happy with it. But I found out that if I got a Verizon blackberry I could then plug my laptop into the Blackberry and use it as my internet connection. It costs an extra $30/month to do so, but I was then able to cancel my Sprint card which was costing me $60/month.

I also found out just how bad, slow and spotty my Sprint card was. I kept both for one month and downloaded identical files to compare speeds around the country. Verizon consistantly outperformed Sprint by a wide margin and Verizon's coverage is infinitely better, in my opinion, of course.

__________________
"I REJECT YOUR REALITY AND SUBSTITUTE MY OWN" Mythbusters