CRST ok to start with

I've heard they will but my trainer has told me he will sign me off even if my backing isn't perfect as something like that takes time to perfect. Now as far as not having the driving skills like shifting and maneuvering a tractor trailer then they send out for a bit more training after that they cut you and send you a bill from what I heard!

 

Here is what I know. I started with them on 3/23/09. I was given a bus ticket to Cedar Rapids, when I got there I was assigned a room (not a bad room just 3 beds a small closet and a couple of benches and night stands) and sent for my drug screen. The next morning they put all the people w/o CDL's and refreshers in a room and tell you about the company and how much you will owe them when its all said and done. It breaks down like this you will owe the $50 each for the drug screen and physical, $300 for your room, and what ever the cost of the bus ticket was. My total came to $492. That money is then deducted from your pay check when start making money with them. I am not sure if that means from the $350 a week you get while with a trainer or when you are out on your own. Now what they don't tell you is that you have to get permit before you go out there. From my understanding is that they dropped the first week of class that was to get your permit so now the training is 2 weeks long instead of 3. Also they don't tell you that you have to bring $125 with you in addition to the money for food for your application processing fee witch is $50 and $75 for your CDL when you graduate from Kirkwood Comunity Collage. Now that said, I paid them my $50 and then was sent down to do my physical (oh and the $50 has to be cash or money order). Everything was going great till I had to pee in a cup for the protien and sugar test and I came up with a minute amount of surgar in my urine. The nurse said the Dr. would talk to me about it, well I was talked to and told I could not proceed any father with my training. So I went and talked to the guy running the class and told him what happened and he told me I had to talk to my recruiter, and that my $50 was non refundible. I called my recruiter and told her what was up and she said she would get me a bus ticket home and that I would have to pay for it along with my previous one that got me out there. Now I am at home with the diagnosis of Diabetes, the good thing is I am able to control it with diet and oral meds. So I am waiting for my recruiter to call me back because I had to have my Dr. fax her this form that stated what was going on and I am able to drive a comercial vehicle, that she has to fax to the Dr. in Cedar Rapids for him to clear me to drive so I can take the training there. I allready have a spot reserved for the class that starts on 4/6/09. Funny thing is that when I got my permit here I had to have a physical and nothing showed up. Also on a side note you are only allowed 1 carry on and 1 bag stored under the bus any more and you have to pay for each additional bag, I had 2 bags a my lap top bag so I had to pay an additional $10. Hope this helps also the CDL traing costs $3950 if you quit or are cut loose for any reason.

 

Yea that pretty much sums it up but the school I went to in fontana I got my permit and cdl in 2 weeks then 4 days for orientation and 28 days out on the road with a trainer which I'm almost done with.

 

yea they fed me a line of crap, told me i only needed $50 and food money...what a joke crst is, even if my son had not have gotten sick, which caused me to go home, i wouldnt have had enough money for food after i paid all their b/s. but thats how it goes i guess..Good luck to all who is tryin with crst though! you'll need it...

 

As soon as my contract is up I'm changing companies hah.

 

I have a 9yr old felony and was accepted so i decided it was the only way i was gonna get into the trucking industry so i was gonna give crst another shot. called rob today and he said cuz of new policies they cant bring me back up there with my felony, now crst wont hire you unless your felony is 10 yrs old! wow blew my mind, if you cant get a job with crst there's no hope in my oppinion!

 

Wow that is bad yea I think it's true if you can't get hired on with CRST there's not much chance

 

I have a felony also that's why I choose CRST. Because nobody else wood hire me because they went into Caanada. And mine is now as of March 10 yrs out. I am now waiting on my recruiter to receive a fax back from the DR. in Cedar Rapids to give me the ok to come back. I faxed her the form that she sent to my Dr. stating I was clear to go.

 

good luck shuzzbuzz, hope it works out great for ya, and make all their money! lol,, crst isnt as bad as stevens trans i dont think cuz they lie so much they believe themselves! same goes for werner! bunch of crooks..tell u one thing and do the complete oposite. The recruiters will tell you anything to get you there so they can make their incentives. as for rob from crst, i dont know if i believe his story ob the new policy or not. theres just to many fat guys in million dollar suits head of these good trucking companies these days in my opinion and mess #### up for everybody, ex felons, no felons and ect..I would like to see these big companies ran by the average joe not some piece of #### billionare who's only goal is to get richer and #### over anyone who gets in his way to hell with them! so yes im suggesting A TRUCK DRIVER STRIKE!!! they screw us lets screw them rite back, who knows we could change the industry lol

 

First let me start by saying I'm new to the trucking industry. I got my CDL A with all endorsements about a year ago. I have spent the last year trying to find a local job. But all the local companies want at least 6 months to 1 year experience. So after being turned down by every local company I started doing research on the OTR companies. It seems to me that if you are a new driver with no experience all the OTR companies are going to take advantage of you. Every OTR company SCREWS you one way or another because you have no experience. Everyone has told me the first year sucks. After that there are alot more options. So I guess the bottom line is pick what company you want to screw you and suck it up for 1 year. If I'm wrong on anything i said can someone please let me know.........Thanks!