CRST - training review.

LimpyLegs · Jun 21, 2010

Well night/weekend dispatch here has always been horrible it doesn't seem to matter who you talk to.I guess that's just the way the entire business is set up.interesting note i was calling central transport about a job and apparently their hold music is the same as crst's *shutter*

free2frog · Jun 22, 2010

LimpyLegs said: ↑

eh...well since i have been here the passed six month's my point of view on the company has certainly changed.my co driver quit about 2 weeks ago and haven't made a dime.they approved me to go solo but then the POS truck broke down.the passed 5 months its been in the shop about 4 times.what a bunch of crap.ive only been running maybe 2000 miles a week and that's with a co driver,and hazmat end.this all started right as soon as i hit the .31cpm mark.
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Lol me and my co hit six months in may and finshed with 6000 miles less then in april and as of today were at 11k for the month with only7 days left for this month.

LimpyLegs · Jul 14, 2010

just wanted to update the thread on how i feel about the company,new thread started in the "trucking company dac reports" section.

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/crst/115981-poor-poor-poor.html

Maxx Stone · Nov 8, 2010

sarah is my recruter as well. she has been absolutely WONDERFUL!!!

Maxx Stone · Nov 10, 2010

does any one need a co-driver from pittsburgh area?

jasper_truck86 · Nov 14, 2010

Shelby is my recruiter and she is the nicest "customer service" type that I have ever had to deal with. I will be starting school in Dallas on the 22nd. Needing a co-driver in the north metro Atlanta area.

Snakeman 02 · Nov 25, 2010

LimpyLegs said: ↑

Well first off I decided to post this particular review under the "favorite trucking company" post because I wanted to keep it positive.I'm neither here nor there when it comes to being opinionated so take whatever you want from this thread but if you don't like what you read please don't sit there and try and tell me how i "should" feel about the situation,it is what it is.

If you're money hungry chances are CRST isn't for you,but if you are tired of recruiters and trainers lying to you CRST is the way to go.From the very first day I had Kyle as mine he was a hell of a nice guy,and he told me the entire truth about all company policies and they were not lying about the mileage for company drivers or their lease/purchase program.

I showed up in Cedar Rapids,IA on Sunday January 3rd.Orientation started on the 4th,it ended on the 7th.The main terminal can be down right dirty sometimes,the rooms are student maintained so basically if you get a sloppy roommate,you're screwed.The showers aren't that bad but they ain't great either,you just have to watch which shower you're getting into.A word of advice,when you walk into the guys shower the first one on your left is a handicap shower with a bench in the shower itself a small word of advice:

DO NOT SIT ON IT ,I DON'T CARE IF BOTH YOUR LEGS ARE BROKEN!!!

There are 3 beds to a room,one closet no tv's and no microwaves.There's a shuttle that will run you to walmart to pick up whatever you need but I'm telling you right now,if you buy anything to put in that fridge in the common area,better break the sharpie out and label because people WILL eat your food.The logo store is expensive as all hell,the only things you should ever buy there are the map,fridge and microwave.You can pay the company back in installments of about 50 bucks a week.It will suffice until you get enough of a paycheck to buy a better one at walmart.

Orientation is like most others in the business,long grueling,god aweful boring and always has at least one idiot asking what seems to be some of the dumbest questions just for the sake of making everybody else stay there longer.They do not pay you for the 4 days you're sitting there.Be sure to keep enough money with you to help avoid advances whenever possible.They do require hazmat (apparently,however I have heard of quite a few company drivers that have never had it).

after you're done with orientation they send you to a howard johnson hotel to wait on your trainer.This time I chose somebody in my class to room with as he was a pretty nice guy overall.This was much cleaner than the terminal and the people are pretty nice,there were only two beds to a room there and a small tv,still no fridge but ###### at least we had room service that kept a mighty clean shower!!! The only problem I really had at this place is you had to call dispatch every day to get a room voucher and trying to get them to fax it over was like pulling teeth.I don't know what they were doing in that office but I had to wait #### near 45 minutes for it to come through every time.

I finally got on my trainers truck on the 14th.They bussed me down from cedar rapids to their oklahoma city terminal....made me want to go back to cedar rapids.The trainer was a hell of a nice guy and I lucked out by him being owner-op.No new york,no hazmat.Granted my miles have been a little low but the wealth of knowledge I obtained from him more than made up for it hell the guy even taught me how to float without ##### up the transmission(against company policy for students).His truck was already fitted with a fridge and microwave so I had no problems financially with food.It's usually company policy that for the first 5 days the trainer stays up with the student during the entire shift,but I showed him I could drive and we have been "teams" since the 2nd day I got on his truck.We have been doing nothing but undercutting each other (in a friendly manner of course) and buying each other lunch since.He's not like most o/o trainers that try and make you buy crap for the truck hell he actually gave me some cash here and there when I couldn't get an advance.He went through the lease/purchase program TWICE has his own IC authority on one truck and has been training me on the pitfalls of the program and how to succeed by choosing the right runs so you can actually make it seeing as how they pay 70% and that was only because I asked him to,there was absolutely no pressure from dispatch or the orientation trainers like most other companies that I COULD mention....Since I've been on his truck this month I have helped put about $5,500 in profit from this truck alone since jan 14th and it's now feb 10.We have had our differences however he has always treated me like an adult since I have been on this truck and we have settled them as so.

Our dispatcher is fantastic,she's always given him loads that pull a profit and she doesn't even try to give something he doesn't take but she's never screwed us either.She's very polite and knows how to take a joke,she's not your "run of the mill idiot",she was driving a truck for 31 years before dispatching,she knows what its about just as a tip if you ever get a message over the qualcomm asking "for a little favor",do it.Chances are she's got a problem on the loadboard and needs your help clearing it,almost every time after finishing the "favor" runs my trainer got a load almost evey time paying at least $2.50 a mile sometimes more.This is truly a "you scratch my back I'll scratch yours" company.

Well now that we're on our way back to oklahoma as I've finished training and will be waiting on a truck there,I'll be sure to post more as I go along.Any other questions feel free to post them here and I'll try my best to find an answer.
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Im a student im thinking of CRST. If i finished 28 days of training how soon can i start driving teams.how often you r home and how long you stay home before you get back on the road. if i push my self get dare on time can i make closed to a $1.000 a week.

Sheron · Jan 13, 2011

I'm thinking about going to CRST myself. I live in burlington, NC and was wondering the same thing, seeing how I have been off the truck since May of 2008. I'm ready to get back to driving and just hope that it is going to be a smooth transition.

okeydoke · Feb 18, 2011

hey, i'm also looking into being a student, coming out of fontana california...and i was wondering what you needed to do to be a solo driver when you come out of school? is it based off of your performance when you're with your mentor?
and do you have to pay for gas and maintenance to the truck? i was asking Wanda, my recruiter, about this information and she wasn't giving me a clear answer...

thanks.

free2frog · Feb 19, 2011

okeydoke said: ↑

hey, i'm also looking into being a student, coming out of fontana california...and i was wondering what you needed to do to be a solo driver when you come out of school? is it based off of your performance when you're with your mentor?
and do you have to pay for gas and maintenance to the truck? i was asking Wanda, my recruiter, about this information and she wasn't giving me a clear answer...

thanks.
Click to expand...

Only way to go solo is lease purchase after you spend 8 months of team driving. As a company driver you do not pay for fuel or maintenance.

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