My Crst Malone EXperience

I have been at Crst now since January of this year. This isn't a post for or against only to share my own individual experience. I'm a lease purchase driver. The first two months were a learning experience for me. I broke into trucking as a flatbed driver with arrow but since I left them it has been purely van and some reefer. There was a learning curve with that but I think mostly with getting out of the company driver mentality. I had to pay attention to what was going on to my business and not just pick loads. Learn who the good agents were and where were the good lanes. I'm still learning but I'm seeing the type of money that I wanted to see when I came over here. As a company Crst is like every other, they're out to turn a profit but they provide you with the tools to succeed. The reason I chose them was not because of some sells pitch by their honest recruiters lol. But it was the ability to pick my own loads and really take control over my business and not depend on a dispatcher to make me money. As such I pick all my loads. I use their load board even though I'm also on get loaded because as a lease purchase driver I cant haul loads and still see money that an o/o without a note can. Crst does have a lot of agents with dirt cheap freight. I dont haul any of it. The exception only being when I need to get out of a bad area. More often I'll just rather deadhead .Thats another thing I learned try not to go where Ill catch hell getting out of. Before I came here I consulted this board just like a lot of other guys and I read one that stuck out the most was of a driver who started went through his initial head aches. He eventually started to put the pieces together. That has actually been how it was for me. Some guys who have been in flatbed longer and who have more rescent o/o experience may pick it up faster and some will crash and burn. There is no safety net . you can suceed or you can fail. If you are willing to be honest with yourself and look and see what YOU may or may not be doing right I believe you can as a lease purchase driver make money with this company. Again Im speaking from my experience. Most of us don't want to look in the mirror and say what could or can we have done differently. But how can you ever be successful if you are unwilling to learn from your failures. I've met drivers who have paid off their trucks and owner ops who've been leased on for years. One for over twenty years. It's your business you run where you want to run and run how you want to run. Its your business. I have talked with other drivers and the ones who are making money all seem to have their own methods. Im still working on mine. Again I'm not a recruiter just telling how it is for me. I still have a whole lot more to learn but its looking good.

 

Everybody's experience will be different. I met a driver who started after me who's about to quit. He had the misfortune of getting a bad truck and would often run in bad freight lanes. Having a truck that continues to break down can sink any o/o. If you aint rolling you aint making money. I also said about learning from what works and what dosent work. I've found that That crst freight is consistent from I-35 over to I-77. I try not to go beyond that much except for a few exceptions. In regards the maintenance "program" it covers the truck except for driver neglect. If you run out of fuel they will charge that back to you. The hitch they will try to charge any repair back to you. If you catch them they will reimburse you. If not, like I said they are a business trying to turn a profit. You also have a business so its your responsibility to watch your settlement sheets. Like I said in my initial post I met one o/o who's been here for over 20 years. I assume he probably has his own contacts by now. I dont get on here to comment about other drivers but to relay my own experiences. In my opinion a lease purchase driver can make it here. Ive met guys who are. If a lease driver can make it surely a o/o can. I'm still here and I'm consistently making money. If I have a down week its usually because I was not rolling for what ever the reason. Be it I was in a bad freight area (west Texas) lost 2 days once. Or stayed home longer than usual. All the l/p trucks are from crst van division side and they run team over there. Even though my truck is a 09 it already had about 625000 miles on it. So I've been blessed to get a truck that dosent have any issues so far considering the usage. To shorten an already long story Im good. Lastly I'm not on here often so if a couple days go by and I dont reply its probably just been busy and thus tired. Yall be safe.

 

I haven't seen a crst malone truck with a satellite on his truck. Mine sure doesn't. As for the fuel I have no issues with it whatsoever. I actually like it.