cr england is no trking co.

I don't know how "vast" of a majority it is, but I do think you're probably correct. And those also seem to be the best examples of the worst dealings with CRE. Flease programs offered by other truckin' companies can be just as bad, or even worse. But it seems like the number of disgruntled, former CRE workers is disproportionate --- on the high side.

But if I recall,
you mentioned you weren't interested in that program.

I remember sayin' somethin' like 'IF y'all are thinkin'",..... yada, yada, yada .........but I don't recall you sayin' that.

I remember.

I sincerely hope you're correct.

NopE!
Only you should make final decisions, regardless of your experience level.
With more experience, chances are better that the proper decision(s) are made.
As they say -- there's no substitute for experience.
I don't know who 'they' are, but I'm thinkin' it was someone with experience.
How else would they know?
Ya reckon.

No need to apologize, amigo.
And I agree. It doesn't have have to take that long, nor should it.
Additionally, 20+ years experience isn't a guarantee that their advice would work for you.

My advice?
Use the next year or two getting a feel for the Big truck trucker lifestyle, absorbing all you can glean from various sources as you traverse the highways and byways. Don't believe most of what you'll be hearing on the CB and about the same in the truck stop restaurants, especially seated at the counter. Associate with those who are succeeding, and avoid those who constantly complain, --- usually because they're not.

I have no doubt that y'all are intelligent and will learn with time, --- just like everyone else. If someone has been Big truck truckin' for 20+ years, hopefully they learned how to do that within the first five years, or sooner.

You're welcome sir.
Hmmmmmmm -----
"plenty" and "made it"?
I'd need a definition.
I want to believe you're correct.
And I hope that you are.
I pray that you will do both, make it and go further.

YuP!
If this were NASCAR, they'd paint your rear bumper bright yellow,
indicating to the other drivers that car's driver is a rookie.
No shame in that.
If they're drivin' a Big truck or a race car, they were trainees, and rookies at some point.

Personally, I've never met a driver who didn't start somewhere.
I don't know of any other way to get started either ..... or if it would be better.

I know that'll feel good.
Do you plan to celebrate the occasion?
Florida's weather can be nice in May/June.
Maybe you could arrange a trip that-a-way where you and your lovely
co-driver/wife might enjoy a day or two at a holiday hotel, relaxing, before re-loadin' the wagon with the next load out of the state.

One of those believe it when ya see it thangs?
Is that offered to entice and/or retain good teams?
Sure would be nice.

I hope you never do.

SaY WhaT?
"Plenty" of break downs?
Hmmmmmmmmmmm

Would you say that's unusual, or about par for the course?
Do you have confidence in the Big truck y'all are drivin'?
It's nice when y'all do.

I figure if they run outta hours they can legally drive, it's because the wheels were turnin', or they were wasting time somehow. That's what other drivers have told they do --- run hard and reset, and do it again. Which, to my way of thinkin' is what the new HOS wanted to prevent in the interest of safety. Didn't work, probably made it worse.
When will they get it right?

Could be.
You'll learn how to tell the difference betwixt a sitter and a runner.

Absolutely not.
I can respect that.

Sounds like y'all have a pretty good workin' relationship with y'all's DM. It makes a huge difference when everyone works as a team, from the front office to the driver/team.

My advice?
Never leave a bad taste in y'all's dispatcher's mouth.
A good dispatcher can make or break a driver.
I've sent post cards to the dispatchers I've had.
It's twue!
It's twue!
I saw some of 'em pinned to their cubicle walls.

I think it has something to do with it.
All depending on what experience one has a butt-load of.
I've known folks with tons of experience doin' thangs
wrong. And they were good at it. I've also known a few with only a couple of months experience who catch on quickly and do better than many with a lot more seat time. Aptitude? Probably. Attitude? Absolutely.

Yeah, sometimes --- but not always.

So was my reply, as I recall.

10-4.
I appreciate that.

I hear you there, Corneileous.
And I think that's your best course of action. At this time, your attention needs to be focused on learning and being safe while doin' that. No distractions with warnings about the evils of the company with red Big trucks.
From here, let's just talk about success.
And how to bring that to fruition.

 

here is what i know about england. i kept an open mind the whole time i was there. i got out of school in january and went to work for them on feb2. mind you, i JUST completed school. however, they made me go through a driving program at their company in indiana, per their policy. it was a 10 day program, YOU DO NOT GET PAID. pretty routine, no big deal. however, YOU HAVE TO PAY 900.00 FOR IT, they take it out of your check. also there is a 240.00 fee they call a truck deposit, which the take out of your check. (doesnt make sense being that you are in someone elses truck, but it is company policy). if you stay in THEIR hotel, it is less than desireable. however, if you get lucky like i did, and they dont have room at their hotel, you get to stay at a pretty nice one just down the road from the school.
the wait for a trainer was 2-4 weeks,. waiting in their motel, NOT GETTING PAID!!. so i did get mine on the second week. they push real hard to put 2 STUDENTS per one truck. i was scheduled for that but at the last minute that was changed because my trainer refused to take 2 people.
so, sometimes you get a horrible trainer and sometimes a good one. mine was in the middle. then you go out on their "training program". basically, all you are doing is working for the trainer. yes, you are getting training and they are teaching you but you are never really on your own. the trainer cannot sleep if you are driving. so, you do most of the driving and the trainer does very little and then you guys will sleep at the same time. sometimes you get a trainer that will "stretch " the rules and drive more or will allow you to drive while they sleep.
so the first training period was 30 days and then the next training period is 60 days. totaling 90 days. you wil get paid 450.00 a week, minus the fees i mentioned above and minus taxes of course. so, you will get around 300.00 a week for 90 days. you will not be able to go home for those 90 days UNLESS your trainer lives in the same area as you and decides to go home. if they dont live in the same area, WHICH MOST DONT, then you will LIVE in their truck for 3-4 days while they take their home time in their home city.
so, far not too bad right. other than some fees and maybe staying in a bad hotel. well, here is where it gets interesting.
so the first 30 days is pretty routine. the next 60, however, are different. (which i never really got to see as you will learn later). the next 30 days purpose is ONLY to teach you about the leasing program. which means that you are assigned with a lease driver (a different one than the first 30 days). you will get dropped off at A terminal, not particularly the one you started off in, and you will have a wait of 2-6 weeks for that trainer. you will stay in one of their hotels and NOT GET PAID!! the last i knew the minimum wait was 4 weeks due to not having enough trainers.
so you finally get that trainer and you are off. at this point you get paid by the mile. you will be running just like any team would. i dont remember the mileage pay, i think 12 cents but i might be wrong. england advertises it, so look to make sure. i know that it is really low.
then you get back from that in 60 days and they pretty much make you take a lease. what i mean by that is, they have announced that they are not hiring any more company drivers and are doing what they can to change company drivers to lease. i know first hand that they are firing company drivers for petty little things. the lease WAS good for the people that started them a few years ago. HOWEVER, they are not any good any more. (i went to england specifically to lease but found out later they changed their lease program and was no longer in my interest). they give you 91 cents a mile. i know what you are thinking... wow i will be rich. before you start counting those hundred dollar billls, do the math. their average miles (for a team) is around 3500. there are a few that get more,( i was one of them, with my second trainer) but most get that or less. here is the break down though. (my figures may be off a little, but not by much. check it out for yourself and you will find they are real close). the truck lease now went up, 550.00 per WEEK!! yes i said per week. the truck insurance went up, 200.00-240.00 per WEEK!! YES I SAID PER WEEK. then remember the 900.00 and the 240.00 you committed to early in the email>? well they come out too. then their is fuel at 1.25 a gallon which is between 400.00-800.00 per WEEK depending on the miles you drive. now for the big one. they take 14 cents a mile for something they call depreciation on their truck. (the truck you will get first time out will be 300,000-500,000 miles, hard miles). that is between 350.00 and 700.00 per WEEK!! depending on miles. yes i said PER WEEK!! now you have to put 7-10 cents in your maintenance fund for your truck repairs. that is between 200.00-500.00 per week. then dont forget about health insurance. i dont remember what that cost, i think between 50.00 and 70.00 per week. check it out to verify. now, remember this was a team. dont forget, you have to pay your team mate. oh yes.. that money isnt all yours. if you are a trainer you will have to pay something around 300.00 per week for that person. england has the math on that laid out so check it out. plus, you have to either leave that person in your truck or pay for that persons hotel room when you guys stop or take home time. oh yeah, and i didnt tell ya.. they let you sit in your area and wait for a load, vs paying you dead head miles. so lets say you deliver a load in arkansas on friday. you most likely wont get a load til monday night or tuesday morning out of arkansas. then they will usually get you something close or dead head you up to around 100 miles, which pays different by the way. so you will sit all weekend either in the truck or in a hotel, if you or your other driver want to pay for it. that happened to me more often than not.

now if you want to go solo, good luck because they get between 1500 and 3500 miles per week. usually, under 2500.

so, now lets talk the money!! (i will use the low figures to try to show positive side)

this is solo

550 truck payment
200 insurance
50 loan for the (900 and the 240)
400 fuel
250 depreciation fee
250 maintenance fund
45 health insurance

this is team or trainer
550 truck payment
200 insurance
400 fuel
250 depreciation fee
250 maintenance fund
45 health insurance
300 student fee

1745 total per WEEK expenses single 1995 total per WEEK expenses. team trainer
this is low miles week, 2500-3500(which most are) without any other issues
remember, the more miles you drive, the higher the fees such as student, fuel, depreciaiton, maintenance, and so on. i low balled the figures for you so i dont depress you too much.

so now you are making 91 cents a mile for around 2500-3500 miles. so that will be around 2275.00 per week. so deduct your 1700 per week from your 2300 per week, what do you get? around 600.00 a week give or take. you will never be home, rarely i should say, and you havent bought any food yet or paid any home bills yet. i promise you that if you refine the numbers to specific numbers and miles, you will have A LOT of 350-500 per week pay checks, if you dont owe extra money or have any extra expenses or break downs. sorry but i couldnt be away from home, live in a truck, have no life and live on 350-500 per week. i can make that at a fast food place or at a 10.00 an hour job around home, without all the headaches and stuff.
you will have some weeks that you dont take home a pay check at all and you owe the company. being with my two trainers i did see that a couple times, though we usually did get good miles. the best week we ever had was 4700 but the next couple were 3500 and a couple at 2700, as a team mind you!!

now, for the real good stuff. my 30 day training period turned into 83 days. yes i said 83 days. my first trainer was fired on my 3rd week for not delivering a load on time. she didnt turn my paperwork in so none of that time counted for me i had to start over. the next trainer the 30 days took about 40 as far as paperwork to get completed, mainly because the first couple weeks our miles were low. (i aced everything real quick so it wasnt my quality of driving. both trainers told me i was one of their best students and by the second night i was driving alone while they were sleeping). the remainder of the days was waiting for the driver manager to route us to a terminal and for me to get dropped off. that took another 13 days. remember the truck was running team loads by then so we kept getting team loads so they had to be delivered. it was hard for the driver manager to cooordinate dropping me off and picking up a rookie to make the loads on time.
then AFTER the 83 days are up they said i still had to do the 60 days even though i already did 83 and both my first trainers were actually lease drivers and taught me all about the lease. and they didnt want me to go home after the 83 days, they wanted me to sit in a hotel for 2-6 weeks waiting for a phase 2 lease trainer, NOT GETTING PAID.

oh yeah. last but not least, and this is right from enlgand, they MUST keep a turn around rate of minimum 205%,.. yes i said it right 205%. their goal is actually 210%, but 205% is bare minimum. they want to keep getting students in because they make more money that way. they pay you very little but they still get full price for the loads. plus, remember, the trainer pays MOST of your salary anyway.

im not saying these companies are the greatest either, but they are better than england, and they take just about anyone. werner, swift, jb hunt, covenant , usa truck and a few others

the little bit better ones are stevens, trans am, watkins shepard, schneider, and a few others

the one i really wanted to go to was crst, they have the most home time and good pay and they pay you 2 times a week as well.

SO, do research, look at the figures closer, talk to some drivers, and so on BEFORE you make a decision!! there are better companies out there.

so, i hope that helps you and who ever else wants to go to england

 

It makes perfect sense if you read the reviews on them prior to going there.

 

so did this help?

 

Maybe one or two. Most question why people complain about them. Then go there anyway.

 

Amazing ain't it, NT?

I'm certain some folks believe the CRE stories are exaggerated. Then learn the hard way that the stories are rather conservative compared to reality.

Ahhhh, what do I care?
I get a lot of typin' practice tryin' to 'splain whuzzup with CRE.
It's all good.

 

well, you are right. they are the only one around here. there were only two real reasons i went with them. one was, they were the only one hiring around here, and two was when i was in truck driving school i had 8 pre-hires, england NOT being one of them. i started in december, and was suppose to be a 3 week class, (nuway truck school in pontiac, DO NOT GO THERE), and it ended up being almost 8 weeks, not my fault, all there's. i tested out first in my class, so i know it wasnt me. anyway,.. by the end of january when i FINALLY got out of school, all the truck companies changed their hiring rules on jan 1, and so i no longer qualified for ANY of them. england, was the ONLY company that would hire me. so, yes.. .if they are the only one that will hire you, go to them and be with them 1yr, and then go to the company of your choice. for your situation, that is your best option. this ISNT the best option for most, but for you it is, i believe.

 

Ground hog day....

 

Yeah, like I said, it seems to me that The vast majority of the haters of England are the people who thought their lease program was a good idea. Hence the reason I decided to go company.

^^^^ There it is....

Im sure plenty have made it, I see'em on the road everyday.

We'll see what happens. I know for one thing we plan to start stashin money away since we'll have more on the check.

Well, thats what we were told. I spose I will believe it when I see it. Contrary to what others have said about Englands school, I think they did a fine job and my wife and I both learned alot.

Whe havent had all that much trouble in this FL'er, but that KW we were in for the second part of our training was plauged with some kind of bad luck. Had a steer blowout, batteries had to be replaced, several airline issues....

That may be the case with some people, but the 2 drivers we talked to wernt getting alot of loads and that they spent more time sitting somewhere waiting for a load then they did driving.

 

I work and am phase I trainer for england have been for a while. I was sceptical about your numbers at first, but they are suprisingly accurate. In I believe it was march of 2010 they dropped the reward in the rewards program that let you reduce your variable milage payment. The most you can make now is 66 cmp empty, and 1.39 loaded, 99% of the time loaded you will get paid 76 cmp though its bordering on false advertising as far a pay rate goes, I do believe a good lawer would be able to hit them and win a false advertising lawsuit against them for advertising there rates. Its like advertising $5.00 per mile then having a variable milage deduction of say $4.60. Same thing in exaggerated form They are now trying to make it impossible to get retention detention whatever when you have to wait longer than 3 hours, and also trying to get out of paying for trailer washes (make you pay for them without reimbursing you) They are trying to do same thing with toll reimbursment as in make it to where you have to pay most of your own tolls. Crazzy! CrazY! And they somehow think this is going to bring in bigger proffits and make the company grow in the longrun??? The england family is nothing more than a bunch of inbred #######, each generation of Englands more inbred and retarded than the generation before.

I have talked to dozens of drivers who have been driving for crengland for over 2 years who are quiting. They all say the same thing. It used to be one of the better big companys to work for. But in the last 5 years it went to he.ll. I have picked up two trailers in last three months from two different o/o one I think 7 years the other almost 10 years with england. Both owned there own truck, and they both were quitting. I personally cant see this company being around very much 5 plus years from now. They keep making it worse, and with the electronic age, its almost impossible for a conartist (what england has recently become) to fool uninformed people out there and con them into paying to work for england. They just shut down there denver CO shop. I am sure there will be more to come as far as closures go. They are phasing out all company driving jobs, they have the worst lease program I have heard about on the internet.

Time is not on englands side right now they would need to transform england from a ripoff scheme to a legit company immediatly. With them transforming into a ripoff scheme (about 5 years acordining tothe oldtimeers) and everyone being so informed and connected to whats happining all around them via the electronic/internet they dont have a chance in my opinion.