C.R in retrograde

England on occasion offers schooling for free or at discounted rates. I took my refresher in Burns Harbor during Christmas, and didn't pay a dime for school. If I were you, I'd ask your recruiter about these offers to see if you are eligible for one.

Once you have a CDL, you can pretty much sign on with most of the OTR carriers. OTR jobs are a dime-a-dozen, and someone's always hiring.

 

Might want to check out the Prime threads. Great training program with no upfront cost and nothing owed after one year of service.

 

I went to CR England's driving school this year. School cost with payments was 2995.00. I was very very happy to be an England student and an England Lease driver, but after I was lied to by my DM, I had to cut my losses and leave.

 

Hi do you know if they still offer the refresher course? I need more windshield time, I have been driving a dump truck with a trailer.

 

Just go into this understanding that unless you go to an independent school and pay, you are walking into a company that has a better than 200% trun over. Some of this is because people start this and hate the life, but most is because the people getting into are bottom of the barrel people. These companies are dealing with liars and cheats all day long and treat EVERYONE like a liar and cheat. If you understand that, and remember that you may be the 50th person they talked to today and all 50 before you treated that person like an idiot, you will give them a little slack, a smile, a thank you and maybe a nice note to the boss on how they helped you.

In terms of driving, the real training begins once you have you CDL and get on the road. This will be the luck of the draw. Many trainers in these companies have less than a years experience. They are leasing a truck and you are cheap labor. You get windsheild time but little else.

Best of luck.

 

Thanks, I have a CDL with every endorsement besides a bus on it, Everyone wants 6 months to 2 years experience OTR Thats what I am after.

 

I'm currently a student @ Central Refrigerated Service just down the street from C.R. England and I must say that CR does not have a good rep out there but I can neither confirm nor deny this as I have not been there. But what I can do is tell you my experience with them while training at Central. On my bus ride to SLC from Dallas there was over 20 ppl going to CR and I was the only one going to Central. By the time we got to SLC bus station there were over 40 students waiting for a ride to CR and myself and one other going to Central. As the rest of my class formed up there were similar stories and we estimated that CR must have had over 200 student start the fist day. This was later confirmed at the DMV when I ran into a girl that was on the bus with me and she said that may have had over 240 students the first day and down to 120 in 3 days for various reasons. My class at Central started with 23 and went down to 15 by that point. I have really enjoyed my training with Central and would strongly recommend them to anyone looking for a great school. I must warn you however, ALL OF THESE SCHOOLS ARE SUPER FAST PACED! So if you don't pick things up quick, don't come to these schools, fail out, and then trash talk them later. I have researched many different companies and found that Central was the most well rounded for me and my situation. Not to say that they right for everyone. I hope this helps in your decision. Just remember, I think that all of these CDL mills are mostly the same, just read and talk to all the recruiters before you make a commitment.

 

All CDL schools are fast paced. The reason being is all they are about is your ability to drive the truck and pre trip the truck well enough to get a CDL. A CDL test comes in 3 parts. Pre trip, yard driving (mainly different backing manouvers) and city/highway driving. As already stated, your actual training doesn't start until you have the CDL in your hand and you're in a trainers truck.

CRE brings in that many students because the turnover rate for students is extreemly high. Plus, not every student there is on the same agenda. Some are getting a CDL for the first time. Some are taking a refresher. Some are upgrading to Phase II.

On to the turnover rate. Lets say you bring in 50 students for a refresher. 8 students lied about employment history, or couldn't verify it. Remember that FMCSA regs mandate 7 years of work history if you haven't driven a CMV and 10 years of work history if you have. This MUST be verified. If you cant verify employment for the required period, don't bother taking the refresher because you will be sent home.

9 students couldn't verify 10 years of address history. This is needed to perform MVR checks and criminal/medical history checks. They got sent home.

10 students failed the drug test, 5 more couldn't get a medical card. This is the first thing you will do as soon as you get to the terminal.

That leaves 18 students left from 50, and we haven't even started training yet. We barely finished orientation.

2 students got terminated and sent home due to accidents. 5 more couldn't pass the course and/or get a CDL.

So, out of 50 who started, 11 made it to Phase I training, which lasts a month. 3 get fired for whatever reason, and 2 quit.

Now were down to 6 students.

On to Phase II, which is 2 months if you plan to go company or 10 days if you want to lease. 2 more students get fired, and another student quit.

Of 50 students from a single orientation group, only 3 made it through the entire training period.

Lets say one decided to lease and the other 2 decided to go company. From that entire group, CRE only got 1 student to get into their own truck within 3 months. The others will need to stay on the Phase II truck for 6 more weeks. And if that student wants to take home time, that's a voluntary quit.

Now you know why CRE brings so many to orientation. From my group which consisted of 70ish people, only 2 remain today, including myself; and we took our refresher last december.

Be prepared for orientation. Be able to verify work history and address history. Liars will be caught because CRE does check DAC. If you can't do this, you will be sent home. If you worked for a previous employer who didn't use DAC and went out of business, get a W-2 or 1099 from the IRS to verify the employment. Word of mouth doesn't work in this industry.

And yes, CRE does offer refresher courses.

 

Thanks, I have no problems with the checks,test. I have all of that information, I have also worked for a couple of places in ten years that don't report to dac.