CR England

I don't know,,,, I can't really relate to statements like this and I see them alot. Because a person goes through CR England, Swift, or your local truck driving school, what difference does it make? Because people hate CR England, so that makes everyone who goes through their training a bad driver? We were all green at one time, these schools struggle to get you your CDL. Regardless where we trained, we all have to go to the DMV and pass the same test, regardless.

Once a person has their CDL, then the real training begins. Starting with your trainer, and just plain old experience building as you drive and go to various places,,, learning to back up, learning to drive in adverse weather conditions,,, etc. This is what makes a truck driver, not the school. IMHO

 

@Kevin...CR England is a DL170 school which means they administer their own driving test and if you talk to CR England students and those who went to the DMV you will realize that it is NO WHERE NEAR the same test. CRE should be shut down, and yes, if you graduated from their I would venture to guess you are a bad driver.

 

I've been there, done that and can validate pretty much everything claimed.

There's a lot I can say for CR England but NONE of it is without foul language, so I'll take the 'better to say nothing if you have nothing nice to say'.

I probably didn't spend quite,... no,... come to think of it, I was a lease operator so they probably took me for more. I was already a CDL operator when I went to CRE but, because they delayed my transportation (which was by bus, cross country from New Jersey to some flea bag hotel they use in Indiana and yes, my bus driver got lost somewhere in Pittsburgh, PA on me too - I used my GPS to get him 'unlost') for over two weeks, they claimed I needed 'familiarization' with their 'system'. I sure got familiar.

CRE's 'System' is to do whatever it takes to separate you from any money you might have, put you into indebtedness with them for the contracts they rush you through under the premise of, "this is a standard form" and, if you have any money left in the coffers (they put aside money for maintenance on your rig), they will claim damage to rid you of even that upon the termination of your lease or departure from the company.

I swear, If you were to put a Mormon in a room with a Jew, the Jew would not only come out broke, they'd also come out naked. Nothing against Mormons OR Jews but I've made a personal promise to myself that I'd never work for either again unless they think I am of the same faith as they are... they take care of their own, everyone else is a target.

You have my prayers and may use this letter as evidence to the experiences of others.
Respectfully,
Gary A Fink (FINGAA @ CR England).

Addendum: I MUST comment on the quality of drivers coming out of C.R. England because they tossed the derelicts in my truck twice. Indeed, they are NOT ready for the road. In fact, they are not ready to safely driving in a closed parking lot without damaging the equipment somehow. Cases in point (I did say two):
Case 1: Straight line backing at WalMart in Cheyenne... no less than 12 attempts and the student couldn't 'bump the dock'... they couldn't even back up straight.
Case 2: Driving up a mountain somewhere near Denver through a construction site, the Student stalls the truck and can't get it going again. I have to climb out of the bunk and 'fix it'
Case 3: Another faux pas: Student takes out a stop sign and doesn't even know it. I stop her, make her get out of the truck and show her the tire marks OVER the now flattened sign. She says, "Oh, did I do that?"
Case 4: We're in Tennessee picking up a load to deliver to Tacoma, WA - note: This does require team driving to complete this load delivery. Student decides she 'doesn't feel like driving anymore'... what? I call CRE and report this. They say, "Just get it there on time". I'm 4 hours late making delivery and get fired. When I go to the office and show them the reefer log they fire her too. All but the first signature on temperature checks is mine because I drove the WHOLE way using both of our logs.
I can go on and on but you get the point. CRE Drivers SUCK when they 'graduate' from that school.

On a Positive Note: I now drive as a Company Driver (they even got me a 2013 Freight Shaker) for Foodliner/Quest out of Dubuque, IA (they too may be Mormons but they don't act like it... great company, great communicators, good benefits and top notch equipment).

 

Sorry you can't relate. I was so looking for that.
You don't see it because A) you're biased and B) you haven't been in the business long enough to have seen the changes.

There are a LOT of idiots driving trucks, these days. A whole lot more than there used to be and, yes, as much as you may hate to hear it, a majority are behind the wheel of the mega-carrier fleets that have "trained" their drivers their way. You say these "schools" struggle to get you your CDL? Wrong. These "schools" only struggle to fill the seat with whatever moron will get as many loads moved as possible before stacking up the truck somewhere and, hopefully, not killing anyone in the process.
A local driving school (in most cases. There are exceptions)will always give much better and more realistic training than any of the mega-carriers, so, no, they are not all created equal. Maybe not all CRE drivers are "bad drivers" per se, but a majority of them are, as well as Swift, Stevens, CRST, Werner and a whole slew of others.

I was at the AZ scales after just buying my oversize permit when a young driver came up to me asking for help because he didn't know how to adjust his weight to get weight off his drives and on the trailer. As I walked to his truck with him to help him out, another guy was climbing out of the sleeper. I asked if the other guy if that was the trainer and the guy I was helping said, "No, he's my trainee. I'm the trainer.".
Really? This is what they're turning loose on the trucking world? What exactly are these "trucking" companies teaching these drivers? I wouldn't let a majority of them drive a nail, let alone 80,000 lbs worth of truck.

Oh, and the company the blind leading the blind was driving for?

CRE.

Again, I'm sorry you can't relate, but that's because you don't know what we know, not because these posts are wrong. I'll not sugarcoat anything and I will not spare feelings. There's too much at stake. The mega-carriers DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOU! If you fail, they have a couple things in their favor. Huge insurance, big legal teams and a thousand drivers standing in line to fill the seat that those that fail (or wise up) vacate.

Oh, and what you stated is only part of what makes a REAL truck driver. Attitude and aptitude are huge factors, as well.

Unfortunately, with the attitude shared by a majority of newbies, things won't change.

 

my reply wasnt meant as a flame to the OP, just to inform he has no leg to stand on, Now he may find some low-life law to take his case, but IMO, an un-winable case, England has a lot deeper pocket than he, I would assume

 

I was smart enough not to go there. I tripled checked everywhere. I'm glad I didn't go.

 

Wow a lot of stuff here, i currently work at this sorry ### outfit, and soooo not impressed, for anyone who reads this believe everything you read, at least the bad stuff lol i wished i had, the only thing good that came out of cre for me was my co-driver, cre is like most big companies in that it will skirt your big questions like for instance, i asked specifically what the 14 cents per mile charge was, my dm couldn't answer, the ic department proceeded to tell me that it was to find me loads, so in essence a brokerage fee, and she said yes thinking i would be happy with this anser and i am not, when asking why i was being charged .14 cpm to get the same svcs a company driver was given, her response to that was that she cannot presume what horizon leasing does and i needed to speak with them. Im okay with brokerage fees god knows imma have to pay them as an o/o, but let me tell you this, if im going to pay it you had better #### well give me the option, of the load i take and better pay or at least let me have access to a load board, otherwise stop charging me for teh same svcs you give to the company drivers. schneider states they charge 36% brokerage fee, i'm okay with this as i have access to teh load boards to pick my loads and can vfy myself if a load pays what it needs to, to keep me operational i do not have that here. With CRE even as a lease purchase driver if i decline a load they are all over me with why did you refuse the load, no matter what reason i give they come off agitated, i'm sorry i was under the impression from all authorities that i was not force dispatched and that was a company thing. My contract states that they will not mix their business with mine and i will not mix my business with theirs, but i'm sorry here as well because if your sister entity is doing my taxes, and your giving me loads and dictating whatmy truck runs mileage wise is that not mixing your business with mine? granted i chose not to take their tax plan, but they are forcing me to take insurance, through them and didn't give me the option to get my own on the day we leased the truck, we had to go through them and then we could switch insurance, and fyi for those leaser who do not do this i reccomend it, it's cheaper. this is only my experience with cre and again i wish i had listened to the advice given me on this site, my co-driver has also posted on here in a forum and i have strongly advd him and anyone else we direct to this site to pay attention to what is stated here.

 

Good explanation of what goes on at the school in SLC. They were not charging the 3000 a few months ago.

 

I started with England. it worked. got my cdl. got training. drove team. Did not LEASE! asked to go solo. waited about two Weeks calling daily for a truck. we don't know how to route you back in. because your not a new driver. offered a lease truck. no thanks I'm a company guy. tired of waiting I moved on to another company. so all in all it got me into trucking. but from an ethical standpoint. there creating a very dangerous situation on American roads. drivers leasing trucks while learning how to drive , while training at the same time. what a shame. how greedy can one be. my god!

 

C.R. England requires 4 words... Do Not Do It!!!!!