Best Course of Action

First off, both companies you mentioned are terrible.

Anytime a company pays for your CDL, most have you sign an agreement that you'll work for them for 1yr or they'll charge you the class. You will definitely want to leave both those Mega Carriers, they don't pay ####. Save up and get your CDL on your own, if possible.

 

Put your location..... makes it easier to suggest companies, schools ect

 

If my only two choices are CRST or England, then I would choose CRST.

Why are they your only two choices?
Put your location on your profile.
Several other trucking company schools to choose from so make some more comparisons.

Swift Transportation
Celadon - free room & board
Southern Refrigerated Transport - free room & board
Knight Transportation
Pride Transport
Schneider - pays for private CDL school
JBS Carriers - pays for Roadmasters
KLLM
Mesilla Valley Transportation

Depending on where you live; there are others also.

 

Probably won't have to relocate. I-80 is a major freight lane.
No personal income taxes in Wyoming; keep that in mind.
Nothing wrong with trucking company CDL schools. Probably a million unemployed would love to sign a contract for a guaranteed job the next 12 months.

 

The biggest scam at a lot of these companies is the lease program, not so much the training. I would suggest you concentrate on finding a company that stresses tue training more so than the lease to start with.

While I do not know a lot about CRST, I know they are a team operation and I am not sure how much training the new guy is getting if the senior driver is sleeping, but what always has bugged me about England is the sign on the back of their trailers...


Lease
Train
Drive
Team

Lease is at the very top, that should give you pause to think.

 

In my opinion, find a way to get CDL first and dont get it through the company you will drive for. Many community collages will finance it for you.

Problem with a contract. All the CDL with carrier programs are different, but most require a 1 year contract with them. They pay horible rates, give you horible loads, and make you sit empty sometimes. You dont like it? Well if you leave you owe them 3000-8000 dollars for the CDL they got you. they dont need to treat you well because they know you cant afford to leave. You are literaly an indentured servant. In the past, people would be forced to work to pay off travel cost to America. Now days your forced to work to pay for the cost of you CDL. If you make it the year you wont be in bad shape, but a year is a long time to go working for a company that knows they can treat you however they want and pay your horribly.

This all assumes you actualy pass their class. The fail rate is over 80%. If you fail, you still owe them all the money and dont have a job. Now your left 3-8k in dept and no cdl. If you do get your cdl, they can fire you at any point and demand the training cost.

If you manage to get CDL on your own, you need to finace 3000ish for a cheap community collage class. A company will still train you after you get your CDL, but for free since you already passed. Most companies will give you some money every month to reimburse you for the cdl cost. You now get the company to pay for it still, but you can leave at any time and go to another company. Most community collage programs will finance your education even if you have horrible credit and no down payment.

 

Most of the training companies are the same so it does not matter much although unless you like being with other people constantly and sleeping in a moving vehicle I would stay away from the team only outfits such as CRST. You will be teaming and with someone during your training but I would look for a company that will let you run solo after that so your life is not dependent on someone else skills, plus it can be challenging to be in a truck 24/7 for weeks on end alone let alone with some stranger.

If you have a high tolerance for bs you should make it thru the training and initial contract period of a year, after that you are golden to go any where. To answer your question about it hurting you with future employers to be associated with a starter company, no it will not hurt you prospects of getting a better job as long as you keep your nose clean, no accidents, incidents, tickets, etc, and complete you contract. Do not abandon the truck and walk away because you get frustrated, that is the quickest way to get blacklisted in this industry.

Also to point out, you do not have to go to one of the major OTR training companies to get on the road, there are several local and LTL freight companies that have training programs if you are willing to start at the bottom and work your way up in the warehouse or on the docks. These can be very good paying jobs with great benefits and may be a better fit than OTR for some people. I never did a day of OTR until I was licensed for 10 years, and then it was my choice, I wanted to do something different. I started at a local bus company and then went to an oil company then to an grocery distributor and finally an auto auction all before I ever drove a dry van OTR. Funny, I came back to the car haul business and have not looked back again, it took a little while but I found what I am meant to do.

Good luck, make the most of your new career and Stay Safe!