CRST and the LIES and "pay"

I agree, someone who doesn't work there and is thinking about it needs to know how bad the pay is.

From my experience working asst CRST for 8 months it was communication, and not just the required messages sent it on time, that for us loads. That is not an assumption, that is fact from my time there

Like I said before just trying to tell you how to get through it if you under contract there so you can make a little money and not go broke.

I'll put it this way, where I work now, I would only have to run 1200 miles a week to make what I was making at CRST. Right now I average 2500 miles a week. If you can leave, I would get out as fast as I could. There are way better places to go drive team at. Shoot this place I am at pays teams an additional ¢10/mile on all miles driven over 3500 miles a week as a truck, plus fuel bonus, plus your base rate is ¢43/mile. You can do the math.

Good luck sitting at CRST

 

Ok anyone new reading this. Every company has good and bad things you won't like
CRST is no exception. What I can tell you is in my 4 months with them. I have been treated with nothing but respect.
Everything is up front before you go to training and yes you can and should read the contract before you sign it like anybody with a brain would. The pay could be better but remember you start at the bottom and work your way up. They have different tiers of teams so if you do your JOB you will make money. I average about 5-6000 miles a week as a team and almost always have a reserve load waiting for me when I drop the current one off. Ahead of schedule. Everyone that complains is just a loser sorry. Nobody made them become a truck driver, they chose it and CRST said ok we will pay for everything just work for us for 8 months. You can't beat that! As far as the schooling I went to kirkwood and drove for at least 2 hrs a day and then practiced backing up 2 hrs a day. Yes it is long but you are investing in yourself for your future. I think it's worth it. All the instructors are great! With tons of exp and can answer any question!

Bottom line is either your a driver or your not and 90% of the people that come to CRST are not they think they are but they are not and the complaining shows that. If they have you sitting around its cause you suck! If your decent they run the hell out of you and you make money.

Hometime- I haven't had any. My choice. I want money. They try to give it to me.
Driver managers- talk to them, they are your voice at corporate treat them good and they treat you good.

I wish all all these complainers would just quit and shut up and let us drivers, drive. They are the ones speeding through construction zones, bypassing scales, taking down customer fences that give us a bad rep!!

This is is how I drive.. As fast as I can legally and safely can. I drive for 8hrs take my 30 min dot break then finish out my shift always getting about 660 miles. I don't stop unless I have to. And I mean have to cause that is how you make money you DRIVE!!

 

Let me tell you a story about your company and I know this may just be my experience talking. I went through another carrier after I got my license. I went to school and shelled out tuition money because I did not want to be a contract driver, whether 8 months or 18 years, no way.

I got hired on and was teamed with a driver from my area and actually we got a third person for the 20/10 gig. Life was great I thought. Pretty good money and good miles because I am a runner, I stop for fuel and food and the crapper and that is it until I am out of hours, etc.

My partner took over and I went to sleep. No sooner he pulls out of the truck stop in Ardmore, OK, we were T-boned by another truck and I was hurt in the accident. 45 days later I finally hear from my manager who says, hey, we need you back, when can you be ready to go and I said, when I am released and we were cordial, no ill will, no attitude, just a good conversation up until he tells me WTF WTF you mean to tell me your playing the injury card, I am making an executive decision to tell you that if your not ready in 15 days, doctor release and all, you are off your truck, out of the 20/10 gig and you will have to re-apply for your job back.

It was at that point that I knew that it was time to move on and I remember thinking how glad I was not to be a contract driver. I am glad your doing well, not many will do well at CRST. I was there about about 6 months.

I will not say a bad word about CRST, however, I will say that perhaps they have had a culture change. I run regional now and I am home almost every weekend and for me, this is good. My three kids are grown and on their own and every so often my wife comes out with me and we get to see some great sights together and get paid to see the country. I would never have this with CRST.

 

Lol. This was so funny to read. Thank you for the laugh, I needed that this evening.

You must be on a different planet or just have more expectations. Me and my codriver ran our butts off and only took home time twice during our 8 months there and that wasn't by choice. Our FM told we had to take some time off.

We were in the top 1% of teams in the company, always preplanned on 3-4 loads at a time and always delivered early as long as there was no mechanical problems, which by the way all but 3 trailers in our 8 months required repairs because other drivers wouldn't do a pretrip on them.

Anyways, you are right each company has there good and there bad. My FM was amazing and treated me with respect all the time. Heck, we still email once or twice a week when though I am no longer there.

The biggest issue with CRST was the poor maintenance they has in there equipment, the way you got treated by the people at the terminals, and yes the low pay.

As for the training, you are one of the very lucky few that got sent to a good school. I was fortunate myself in that regards as well. But as a whole, especially for those that go to the Riverside terminal, it's a puppy mill and the training is just enough to get you to pass your DMV test. Your only hope is a great trainer once you pass orientation and get hired.

I am glad you feel like you are at the top of the world there. Maybe CRST is the right place for you. Where I am at now, I am driving solo and making over double what I was making at CRST. For me to make what I was making at CRST, I would have to only run about 1,000 miles a week here. I currently average over 2500 a week where I am at now.

I would also agree that some of the complainers on here about CRST are people that have no real work ethic and just want a paycheck for doing nothing, but there are plenty of legitimate people here who's complaints are true.

4 months with CRST isn't long enough for the star dust to wear off yet, wait until you get that nice big pay increase at the 6 month mark and as you reach the end of your contact, you'll see a change.

I wish you luck. Be safe out there!

 

hmmmm. interesting... I have done legally as many as 680 miles a shift with CRST. As far as making money it is up to your DM to assign loads and if they don't you don't. As far as complaining why not start your own thread and sing the praises of your own experience with CRST. I am reporting my own experience. I have had a CDL since 2001 and been back driving full time since 2012. Myself and my co-driver have a great reputation with our DM and company of being on-time deliverers in-spite of getting trailers and assignments assigned to us late or having situations beyond our control delay us. We all have the right to express ourselves in any way we wish. It's called the 1st amendment. I want people to have good information so they can make sound decisions...

 

Hmmm, Poster's very first post on TTR singing the praises of bottom feeder outfit.

Company shill.

 

CRST is a good company. I obtained my Class A license at their Cedar Rapids IA facility. Was it the best experience of my life??? absolutely not.. the hours were long and I wasnt' getting paid but I considered it a small sacrifice in exchange for an otherwise expensive CDL Class A license. I had an excellent lease purchase trainer that wanted to use me to his advantage so I was able to get my required mileage and finished training earlier than required. I had a few bad co drivers but that can happen with any company running teams..some people just arent' gonna work out living in such close quarters with another stranger. Yes the trailers were very bad but that isn't the company's fault, it's the fault of the lazy drivers that either don't do a pre or post trip or they just ignore the issues and leave them for the next guy that actually cares. I was in constant contact with my fm and he realized I was a hard working driver that took my job seriously so he would pre plan my loads..I was always thinking ahead and very few times did my truck sit while having plenty of available hours. Being understanding and thinking about situations can lessen the problems any driver could possibly have with any trucking company. If you just dropped off a load in BF South Dakota....it may take a while to get out of there so u may sit a while ...IT HAPPENS....now if youre in Dallas TX and you have been sitting for 3 days maybe u need to look at yourself and not the company and think...hmmm what am "I" doing wrong. It's very easy to point fingers and blame others when usually the problem is looking at u in the mirror.

 

When did you get the load that was delivering on Saturday? When I would get loads delivering on Friday, Sat, or Sunday...I would ask them to pre plan me a load ...maybe they did this for me because they knew I would deliver on time if not earlier...If a load is to deliver on Friday morning at 8 am and I get to that receiver Thurs night at 11pm...do I just sit there and wait or do I call the receiver and see if I can deliver early?? Using your brain is the key to keeping the wheels rolling....once u establish yourself as a competent driving team then u will get the miles....u have to show some motiviation...with 3,000 trucks plus do you actually think that crst's main focus is only on you??? The fms have anywhere from 20-50 trucks they are responsible for so u have to communicate with them..prove yourselves as a dependable team and you will get more miles than u can handle. And for everyone that has posted on here about making only $400 or less a week working for this company...trucking is not for you ...if u want to drive for a living maybe you would be better off calling Papa Johns or Dominos.

 

Room and board are not free. They charge you out of future checks for those luxury accommodations. The food in Riverside sucks, LACO jail food is actually better.

My son is currently a driver out of that yard, He had a very good trainer whom was a L/O. His first two co drivers , well had problem, hes on his third co driver and they click, makes all the difference.

Per Diem is forced, and they charge you for paying you, the only option is Com Data, no direct deposit. There pay stubs are posted online but do not contain an accurate breakdown of the money, like explanation on draws and reimbursements. The point is the more difficult they make your payroll the higher the odds are you will never find the mistakes.

The trucks are ugly, but who cares you only drive it, seem to be maintained ok.

 

Good info, 62 mph truck , So for 11 hours you averaged 62 mph,hmmm. In a paperlog world yes, but CRST is elog. You would have to change drivers already at 62 mph, and not slow down for 11 hours. Dont care just you did state I want people to have good information of CRST.

Average take home for my son is around 400.00.Some weeks higher or lower.