My hubby and I are thinking about CRST. Neither one of us has our CDL and we can not afford to pay for school ourselves. Our credit is horrible and we can't even get a short term loan. Our local community college costs $4340. My hubby does not want me to train with anyone else and CRST said that after 6 months he can train me. So, we are thinking of having him go ahead and get the training, start working and get the 6 months of experience and then he can train me. I have heard some horror stories about CRST and I am scared, is there anywhere else any better where they will allow my hubby to train me later on and still pay for our training? I know that having a company pay for your training sucks but it is the only thing we can do right now and we are willing to suck it up for a year.

With Interstate, I read you can both go together to school, then they'll set you up with a trainer OTR so you can go out together.

Interstate or Us Xpress would be better choices than Crst.

Well thank you to everyone for your thoughts. My hubby and I have done alot to thinking and talked to Covenant, CR England, Interstate, and Swift along with CRST. We have decided to go with our gut and go with CRST. I have heard bad things about all of them and have to go with what feels right for us. The worst stories that I heard about CRST involved women and thier trainers...my husband is going to train me so we can avoid that. There is no way on Earth that I would go with someone else for 28 days by myself. My hubby has some experience he got for a short time over 6 years ago, so he knows what he is getting into.

We both really liked CR England and would have gone with them, but we can't leave our dog and the only way they allow pets is if you do the lease program, which we do not want to do.

Interstate sounded pretty good but the pay is horrible.

We have met several drivers for CRST that are very happy. I think it also depends on your expectations. We have very low to no expectations so I think we will be fine. To me what can you expect when you are getting your training paid upfront. I know about all the deductions from the pay so we know exactly what to expect. And we are going to pay my school ourselves so my hubby is the only one who has to be contracted and by the time he can train me (after 6 months) his contract will only have 2 months left.

All I can say is pray for us and wish us luck!!!

You need to keep an open mind with whoever you choose to train you. Remember that these companies have a large number of trainee/inexperienced drivers, and as a result, they don't pay very well, and are not the kind of companies you want to spend a career with. But since you are just starting out, they are a good choice to begin with, and you have to expect to give up some money in exchange for the training you will get.
You should do your homework and check to ensure that you know what you are committing to. Most companies require you to sign on with them for a set time, usually at least a year, or you have to pay them for your training. Also make sure you know what you will be paid, as well as time off, so you don't get stuck out on the road for months at a time, unless that is what you want.
You also want to make sure that their equipment is good and safe.
Once you have a year or so of experience, you can move on to a good company to run team with. There are many of them out there. I know that my company, FedEx National LTL has many husband/wife teams. They routinely earn $130,000-$160,000 per year combined with excellent benefits. You would need 1 years experience to work here, as well as having your double/triples endorsement (they will train you if you have the endorsement, which is easy to get), as well as your hazmat endorsement to get hired. There are other companies that pay as well as FedEx, but you need to get the experience first.
It is well worth the time you will spend with a training company for the rewards you will reap later. Besides, even with one of the training companies, you should be able to earn $70,000-$90,000 per year combined once you start running together.
Good luck with your training. I have been driving for 30 years, and I always say to those who ask me about my work that if it weren't for this, I would have to get a job. now that would be bad!

Well....I have a new update. Goodbye CRST...hello Interstate! I am so happy with our decision to go to Interstate instead. I have heard so many good things about IDC. I am now really excited. Turns out the pay is better as well, but that is not the only factor. The best is that they let us train together and we can have our pet with us once we get in our own truck. (CRST let us do that too, but CRE would not).

We are starting after the holidays. Can't wait to get going. I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my chest now that we have decided to go with IDC instead of CRST. We don't have a lot of high expectations but IDC sounds way better than CRST. I am glad that I came to this board and sought feedback or I would not have ever even known about Interstate. Thank you everyone!!!