crst contract..uuughh!!!!

And we are just as proud of that fact as well.

 

yea because you're french.

 

ok im going to give you all the low down on how CRST runs there ######## called a business. first off ive been around construction trucks so it was easy for me to know how to do everything i was also showing students how to shift unhook hook up to trailors.but anyway that i shouldve never done this i did my research on this company and didnt want to do it but my friend who i was employed with was twisting my arm because he obviously didnt want to do it alone. anyway the schooling they put us there at hawkeye was a really good experience. there teachers knew what they was talking about, there proof was in there techinques everyones was different, it was up to you to find the teacher you liked and there way of teaching. once completed it was time for me to go to orientation. but me hearing how much we was getting paid from what i was making really pissed me off but i thought as long as the money was coming in with the wheels rolling i wont complain.

We went out from orientation with our heads held high and me praying hearing all the dumb and ignorant things that i would be an execption. I wouldnt be on this site if thought they was aleast a decent company but there not. ok i left cedar rapids to go to carlisle to meet my first lead. that was the most horrid #### experince i have ever ecountered ever. this guy was a ####### worthless ####### teacher that honestly could drive but doesnt need to be a lead driver. That lasted about 900 miles luckly we was going threw crst in cedar rapids so i was dropped off. my second lead driver was a complete 360. he was an awesome teacher we had to part ways due to his home time which was after the holidays. speaking of that i almost forgot i stayed on the truck with him during christmas and new years guess where we was? Sitting in york pa. during those times they didnt get us a load. so here i am by this time, im with my 3rd lead. he was alright we got along but it was one of those things where you just wanted to hurry up and be done. well while all this headache ive tried to get them to route me threw my home state to get my lisence to transfer over and they didnt it ended up getting expired. i had to be kicked off the truck to go home to do this and i only had 900 miles to finish. i had to go back out and get another driver after eight days of being home. i was ready to get the 28 days over with. they got over 3 loads was routed to cedar rapids.

So this is where the ######## started. ok so i was sitting here waiting for them to route me to the truck. well my co driver finished up and was with a temp due to all this ######## i had to deal with. so our truck was in somewhere in North carolina. so they get my co driver to the truck meanwhile im still stuck in cedar rapids. well come to find out this truck is so bad out of line the whole truck was shaking and the fifth wheel couldnt even hook up to a #### trailor. so it took them a full week just to fix this truck and while that time i had to ask for a few cash advances which i even asked my F/M if i got the break down pay and of course not. they need to make some money back off me starving to death and without any money.so after they get the fifth wheel fixed they get me on a truck that was going threw St. Louis Mo and dropped me off. so we are finally together. well we was getting alright loads but the pay wasnt even

 

Man... you ##### too much. You thought training would be easy? You know why you sat waiting for a trainer so long? Because safety talks to the trainers... the trainers work for safety. You got in this truck and couldnt deal with this ####### for a few weeks? Ya some trainers are ########... duh. So when safety calls their trainers, who probably talk to the trainer you had problems with, they say "nah man i heard about him lemme know when you get someone else". As for breakdown pay >YOU ARE NOT A TRUCK DRIVER<. You are a student. But this particular company pays you mileage anyway.. guess what most training companies now pay students $250-300 a week flat rate. Period. Let you starve? They loaned you money every week to survive on and gave you a place to sleep. Had to sleep in the truck? OMFG A wannabe TRUCK Drive had to sleep.. in a TRUCK!! The horror.

Now i do get it you seem like a good dude. And you did have some crappy luck. And despite my criticism hell ya on you for ditching that ### trainer. You stood up for yourself. Good. And ya the dispatcher ###### up. Happens. Youre gonna get on the road and do things that cause others headaches too man. It happens. Your truck is screwed: heres how you handle that. ON THE Qualcomm you send in a message that says "truck is shimmying Badly and the fifth wheel wont latch.. it isnt safe to drive where do i take it for service". If a dispatcher qualcomms back drive it anyway its his ###. If he calls you be nice and say "man id suck it up if i could but this is bad im afraid im gonna run over someone or lose the trailer".. talk to him like a coworker not an enemy dispatchers get a lot of ####. They remember the good guys. ALSO: he's not youre dispatcher and never was. Another note: if you'd thought of it you could have asked thenm to get you two a ride home on a truck going out and then get a ride back once the truck was fixed. Any company i worked for would have done that.

Here are some good intentioned tips to make you a Success.
Stop being so friggin angry. Ya bad stuff happens. A LOT of that happens on the road. #### you have zero control over. Murphys law is gonna make you its #####. Blow it off and laugh about it. Cause right now youre ###### AND miserable instead of ###### and laughing. DO NOT ##### and scream at your coworkers/ the company. They run your life. They got your back if youre not a prick. If youre a prick they'll leave you sitting in a dock in north jersey freezing your ### off all weekend. If youre not they'll send you that run through daytona beach where you have to sit a day on the beach.... (had that happen twice!).

I dont think youre going to make it. You burned too many bridges and people talk. I also dont think you have the temperament you sound like a yuppy kid who had mommy making sure life was perfect. I could be wrong. This business is for MEN and tough ones. You decide if you can be one of those.

 

once your OTR, you'd be amazed at how fast 8 months can pass by, you'll be fine.

pull your 8 and run like hell, and try to do a little research on the next company you decide to drive for.

 

I just had to say something here about your post and its not negative just that you posted "This business is for MEN and tough ones." Its not just for men. there are some awesome female drivers and I've had to deal with my share of hearing that truck driving is for men..I love driving and think I'm a pretty good driver so its not just for men..Other than that your post was right on. Trucking is a hard life on anyone but it is what a person makes it. The fleet managers aren't out on the road, we are. In my time with CRST I've only had 1 bad experience with a fleet manager and that was simply because he had no clue what the trucking life was like on the road him never been there but that man bent over backwards to help me with whatever he could and always made sure I had loads, codriver, money, etc...Good communication is what is needed in this world in which we live in and work...

 

I think I love you.....

 

Awww shucks...tingling feeling happening!!! know any good co drivers????? i'm needing one that wants to run Cat Dedicated..

 

I didnt mean it that way dmhughes. IMHO female truckers as a rule are the safest drivers on the road. theyre more cautious and get all the facts before they do things etc.. whereas the average male trucker (including me) will get a load message and hammer down figuring we'll handle it when we see it. Which helps some on miles and crazy loads but probably not so much on the "dont bend #####" side. Having said that once ran with a woman in nc. Theres a left exit off the little highway with a bridge that looks scary but is marked 13/6 i think. There was a line of 5 trucks following us talking on the cb about how that bridge didnt look 13'6. and nobody really wanted to test it but we had to. So i hit that offramp with this woman and 5 other drivers behind me hauluin but.. i said "if yall see me stop really really fast... prolly oughta go another way". the woman said "hell that happens we'll finally get to meet ya .. up close and personal. And we dont have to drive a truck no more". We all made it That woman had giant ones.

 

ok cdreid first i couldnt even finish my long message about this company. My previous job i was working nearly 90 hours a week bringing home 1300 dollars a week coming to this company not even bringing a third of that home in one whole entire month. thats after taxes as well as insurance and my 401K. But i was currently laid off due to no work. i was drawing unemployment while attending there Hawkeye classes. which was still more than what i made driving. Im first of more of a #### driver than youll ever be with your "8 years of experince", not only did this so called great company that you seem to think is so great while that week i was stuck in cedar rapids waiting on the truck to finally get to where i was. My co driver did send in a macro 25 and they did want us to stop at the nearest petro but not while under a load. which our fleet manager was giving us loadsbefore we could even unhook. while the truck was completely out of line and the shocks was just about to go out. so after we met up we went on 4 loads after that we was forced to and they wouldnt let us stop. ok remember after i told you that i wasnt with my co driver while they was getting the truck fixed. didnt have any source of income so i had to get cash advanceswhich was 3 and they didnt add up to about 125 dollars. well ok youd think after the 7-8 loads that we did i got paid three times before they took any of the money i borrowed back and took it all and didnt even get a pay check and my next following paycheck wasnt even 20 bucks. during that time we only did 1200 miles after my last load only added up to 95 bucks. after aruging with the ########## above my F/M explaining my wife was about to lose my son they said that wasnt a emergency and that it took them another 8 days to get home. hell he couldve died and my wife to for that matter. but besides the point for all of you all know what im talking about you want to know what i made in the whole month of december? 800 bucks that was just ball parking it. it was actually less, you figure the food expenses about 100 bucks a week your looking at 400 bucks take home! that barley pays my #### truck payment. not including insurance rent utlities and cellphone. so you tell me its a good company and ill tell you your full of ####!

I dont complain unless i have to theres things a man has to say and do and making what is the lowest dang amount that i could make a Mcdonalds working 37 hours a week and be home everyday still make more than what they have done. which was my fault that i signed up for this mess which i fully intend on getting out of. Most of you all think you know it all and that crst is a great company. in my opinion there the worst company that i could ever countered in my life. Wendys when i was in highschool treated me with more respect as far as money and understanding then them. i Literally had to cuss this manager the hell out and fully explain to why i needed to come home. i told him my wife was on the verge of loosing my son and they routed me to a terminal which took 8 days. I know all trucking companys are different and everyones different. but dont tell me i wont last.... as a matter of fact ive bought my contract out with my unemployment and going to work for a company locally paying by the hour. so have fun with the 300 a week paycheck!!!!!