CR England "refresher course"

How are you all doing,

I went to C R E back in Jan and let me tell you all straight up don't waste your time!!!!

I SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO ALL THE WARNINGS ON THE INTERNET!!!!!

I WAS STUPID AND DESPERATE!!!

I know a lot of people will want to start a pissing match over what I'm going to say and if you do so be it I don't care if you take to heart what I'm telling you or not but if you have any sense at all you better Listen and HEED what I tell you!!!!

I have had my Class A since 1998 I was checked out and called by a recruiter who went by the name of Randy Chapel he told me up front I would have to take a refresher course because of Lack of experience I found it odd but I didn't argue I need a job so I agreed he then told me you will have to run Team (I don't like running Team) but again I need a job so I agreed I told him up front I wanted to be a company driver He AGREED!!!!!

Moving on let me say this and I know better now but I should have done more Research but I was too anxious to get a job and get making money so I can pay my bills and take care of my wife and 2 boys and moving on.

I was told everything looks good you are good to go was told I would be required to pay a admin fee of $50.00 I found that odd but okay I need a job so I get my bus ticket and endure 2 days and 1 night on the greyhound (HARDLY any SLEEP) I'm so tired can't see clearly everything is fuzzy and blurry, I get to Gary IN to attend Burns Harbor and I'm thinking lets get to the motel get a shower and some sleep wrong they picked us up took us to the terminal and started the paper work and D O T physical and drug test now let me remind you I'm so tired I can't see straight and hungry that being said I barely passed the eye test,then we did a stress test a shuffle under the trailer test then back in for the drug test by the time all this was done by the time we got to the motel it was 2300 hours we had to be back up 0500 to be ready to get back to the school to start orientation and the refresher I was labeled as a SR and yes as tired as I was and still tired they were like we got good news you have passed everything up to this point I thought woo pi do but I needed a job!!!

Now for the great orientation class the instructor went so fast you couldn't learn or get anything all of us in the class was teaching ourselves if you were lost he didn't care if you raised your hand he would ignore you,we all learned from each other and that is how we passed the class.I passed the class with a 91% and we were allowed to look for the answers so in a nutshell what was the $50.00 for this was a joke!! but I needed a job!!!
I also want to add I have been a truck driver soon to be 12 years all Local very little O T R and I didn't have that much of a gap in my employment but was still told you have to do a refresher to get in?

Truth I'm leaving for Piston PA to attend orientation with Prime and they are a good company (no pissing match please) I will be going through 3 days orientation then out with a trainer no refresher required!!!! if anyone wants this nice lady recruiters number look at my posts in Prime driver thread in my Favorite Trucking Company Forums!!!

Now the Driving range back to C R E well right from the start I was criticized I had bad habits I was told you can't float gears in these new trucks I was like this is a Eaton Fuller 10 speed Trans you can Float it saves on the clutch, it saves on Fuel,it saves on Brakes, I proved the instructor wrong I Floated a 2010 Cascadia and he told me it couldn't be done.then it was well you are going to do it the England way? wrong other drivers that were in training told me the trainer told them to Float.

Now the Backing we were split into groups of 12 we had no one there to say this is the right way we were teaching ourselves to back up then we had a snow storm the instructor takes us to a parking lot that simulated a rest area parking lot there was snow covering the lines couldn't see to do the offline back but yet he passed all of us?

I will add this all the way through this ordeal they kept trying to get us to LEASE a Truck many caved in they were hired on the spot training stopped they got a truck went home hooked to a load those of us that refused they found reasons to send you home.I had 2 days to go to go out with a trainer, I was out with my group we were practicing and a instructor came and said they want you up in the office? my response was why she wouldn't tell me? I get up there the admin is like what are you doing here? I told him I don't have a clue I was told someone wanted to talk to me,he told me to have a seat.I'm sitting there wondering to myself what is going on dumb founded.

Now the Finale I'm sitting there and this fat security guard walks in he says are you Mackdog I said yes he went on to say you Jack knifed a Tractor-Trailer I was like no sir and he then told me I was being disqualified so then I called the recruiter he told me he couldn't do a thing about it I asked again after sitting in the greyhound bus station for 2 hours begging them for a bus ticket home the recruiter got very nasty and said your lucky to get the bus ticket home.

I will say this if you want to go out there be my guest the motels are dumps I will say the Travel Inn is like night and day compared to the hometown lodge they don't feed you at all you pay your way all the way while you are there they set up traps for you they have strip bars at both of the motels they own the motels and the strip bars along with a restaurant called shenanigans if you are caught in any of these you are disqualified bottom line this place is the Pitts heed the warnings listen to others who have said the same things stay away from this company.!!!!

Truth I had a Backing Accident I was up front didn't lie (that is stupid to lie they will find out!!!!)
Truth I have my driving record and Dac Report all that is on there is a backing accident.
Truth my recruiter at Prime said that what they did to me was strange and all the safety Dept found was what I told them!!!!!

I have been a trucker for almost 12 years if you lie you don't have a job!!!!

I leave you with this believe what you want I know whats true and no pissing match please Thank you!!!! __________________
Mack Dog

 

Mack i also came to burns harbor indiana to do the "refresher course" pd my fee was not told about any contract or payment or anything like that. have now been sitting a week waiting on a phase one trainer, but i was on a bus for 20 hrs with no sleep straight over to the facility did drug test eye test things like that amazingly after 20 hrs on a bus and maybe 2 hrs of sleep and butt load of coffee later? paperwork? no sleep no shower nor real food? this already worried me. i am makinng 25 bucks a day sitting in a hotel. as for the range we were on our own, the only time i saw an instructor was when i was running my road evals. we saw a trainer long enought to show us the tire chains, dos ome things in the yard with the fuel islands, but other than that our classroom was also self taught, here's your paperwork find the answers. the admin i've not dealt much with. so i can't complain either way there, but the hotels holy crap. HORRID!!!!!!!!!!!!!! travel inn had a couple of cases of bed bugs, mold on the walls, and worse of all no freaking coffee. my roommate (who they force on you and hard to get a different roommate if personalities clash, luckily i have had some awesome roomates.) has been here a week and a half waiting on a phase one trainer as well she has no smoking or sex preference. Since being in burns harbor, i've of course heard good and bad things. trying very hard to get through my training to see if things are different when i get my own truck. did you hang around long enough to see about hometime? i'm curious to see if they are going to be as difficult getting you home as jb hunt or schneider was. Put some thought into prime, i am only here long enough to get some experience to get on with flat bed. so far my overall opinion of the training program is horrid. i strongly recommend anyone who has taken their road test or only has experience with automatics, to get some experience with a stick shift first, the training program rushed a couple of ppl with no exeperience with a stick shift through refresher, i don't feel that was fair to them at all, three days to learn the double clutch thing with no clutch experience in a personal vehicle really? i'm talking sessions of 30 mins tops, not enough time in my opinion. i like the idea of not being trapped in a regional thing though. so again i'm trying to stick it out to get my own truck and get through training. will be very upset if i don't get one today. one other thing, leasing a truck with C.R. England no longer waives the phase two training, all drivers go through phase 1&2 training now no exceptions.