CRST contract advice

My advice is pay for the training yourself and find another company but find the company before you tell CRST.

 

@CallMeTrowa hey bud were you aware that texas workforce pays for your cdl. The thing I been told is a bit of waiting list but at the end all you pay is for your test at dps.

 

On your job applications do you put "unemployed" or "student" for those two years? You should put "student."
If you decide to stick with CRST try to get a dedicated account vs. expedite. The drivers on dedicated, such as Caterpillar, post on here they do ok and stay busy.

 

I am currently a student at CRST in Cedar Rapids. The recruiters completely lied to me. I was told that i would get home time after i competed two weeks of training then i would have togo otr with a lead for 28 days. then i would be otr a coupke of weeks and hone for 3-5 days. I am a veteran and i was told by the recruiter that i would not be under the 10 month contract. I live in Ga. I got here and find out that not only would i not be paid after the two weeks training i also will not get home time. The only contract i have signed is for NADTA. Not for employment because i am still testing. We recently found out that there are currently 145 new hires waiting for leads ahead of the current class. While you are waiting for a lead you will only receive $50 a day. If you take home time you will not be paid at all even if you are waiting for a lead. They receive their payment for training from my post 911 GI Bill almpst immediately. We are entitled to BAH for this zip code monthly for 12 months. When i arrived i was placed in the training center which is filthy and overcrowded. I didnt stay in there one day. I was then moved to the Rd Roof Inn which isnt that much better. I was told that i would be provided breakfast and lunch. Breakfast has been toast and coffee and old watered down waffle mix since day 1. Also the hotel gas bed bugs. There are no fridges or microwaves in the rooms so buying groceries to save money is out of the question. 3 of the housekeepers were recently caught stealing out of students rooms. One night a housekeeper let herself in my room while i was in bed talking about she thought i checked out. Not at 10 at night you didnt! I just found put that once you past your road test you are given the contract to sign before they put will put your info in the national database to receive your cdl. I feel.like im in a prison. They wont help you with anything. They dont seem to care if you lose everything you have just as long as you are on a truck and making them money. I dont want to.sign another contract and they will not pay for me to go home and because i have spent so much money just trying to sustain here i cant afford to get home. I feel like i am trapped and there are many others here in the same position. I cant afford to be here another 28 days with no pay. They are also not reporting our time to the VA until after the 28 days so we wont recieve our BAH checks for the month for this month. How can i get out of this place? Can they withhold our cdl befire signing the cintract even though we've comoleted and passed the testing?

 

Hell no. The school I was sent to through CRST is charging me a total of $8459 (that’s with the interest included & I make 36 monthly payments of 236.99 w/ the last payment being 235.98). I have no problem with making payments to the school for the training at all. I just want to do the solo route. I could care less how much longer the training would be as long as I can be a solo driver with another company. I went through CWW (Careers World Wide) based in Keenesburg, Colorado. The training was good, got my CDL in 3 weeks. The instructors were great people. I can’t take that from them. Now that I’m at CRST, I actually would like to drive solo instead. I can’t take my kids OTR with me as a team driver. I’m cool with the guy I chose, but he’s young with no responsibilities. I’m a father of 5, I’m currently in my 28 day training period that requires me to drive a minimum of 12K miles amongst performing other maneuvers ie coupling/uncoupling trailers, alley docking, you know?. The works. So far, I’ve only driven maybe over 1K of the 12K that’s required. My trainer is an lease Owner-Op and he’s been given loads that’s placing him on the verge of losing his family, his home. You know?. Loads that he’s unable to eat off of. I’ve been informed that companies like Stevens Transport & LTI would buy out my contract. How true is this? I have no idea. I need answers.

 

I am also a newbie to driving but regardless, call recruiters at other carriers and ask them straight up if they will buy out your training contract. It never hurts to ask around to several places. Old Dominion, Estes, XPO, Federal Express seem highly regarded. Try some tanker outfits (supposedly much easier on the getting unloaded and loaded than dry van). Personally I would set a goal to talk to at least 20 carriers to get a feel for what your options might be. It sounds like CRST is trying to intimidate and coerce you because THEY know you have options. If you had none, or they were confident they offered competitive jobs, they would not try coercing you.

 

When I broke my contract with swift, I went to Schneider. I didn’t need the certificate of completion from a driving school. That was quite a few years ago though, so things might have changed. Swift also put the “cost” of the school into collections and hit my credit, but as soon as I left I made double and could have paid it off 3 times over in the first year away from them if I didn’t have a resentment and refused to pay.

Anyway, as long as you have a license, someone will probably hire you.

edit: I should add that the reason I broke the contract was the awful pay and ######## that went on there.

 

Wish you'd have posted on here earlier before you signed a contract. YRC Freight is hiring in Denver and has their own cdl school in Denver. You are assigned to the terminal near you. It's a Teamsters Union company and easy to make over $90K per year (expect $65K the first year) on a line haul run and be home several times a week.
Tuition-free CDL Driving Academy - Truck Driver Jobs ...
Get Paid to Earn Your CDL (Hourly pay while in CDL school)

• 100% paid healthcare for you AND your family

Get Paid to Train: Four Weeks at a YELLOW CDL Driving Academy The CDL training program consists of classroom instruction and behind the wheel training with an experienced instructor in preparation for the State Class A CDL Skills and Road Testing. Academy …

 

Swift Refrigerated might buy your contract; call and ask.
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