CRST im a student...

Well in the beginning my trainer taught me how to be a lease op. how to drive 11hours straight, how to piss in a cup while i drive, how to save on fuel, how to calculate mpg's and fuel surcharges, im a superior driver in 6 months, now its time to get my feet wet with a lease until i can afford my own truck. financing of course cuz my credit is ####. starting trans am monday. heres the deal, unless you r a ######, two men cannot coexist in a truck for 30days at a time. drivers out of training think they know everything and drivers with A FEW months dont know a #### thang. i came close to ###### up a few codrivers.so now i can drive solo and be an owner op. i need this my fam needs this and crst is just a training company like i said. the pay is good miles r good if u have your dispatcher on lock and ur a runner. but this only comes in play if your co is on the same page. it takes too much sweat to find the rite codriver, maybe even death or injury ###### wit these know-it-alls.

 

I started driving with CRST 5/26/2006. so a little over 2 and a half years now. I understand a lot of people's complaints about this company. However, I have to disagree with most of them. My trainer was an o/o and very professional. She instructed me on any and everything, and I felt like i needed everything i needed to know about how everything worked out here on the road after I got through with my training. I suppose it didnt hurt to team with my faher from the get go, but I did end up having several codrivers after my father left the company. I think it's generally not hard to get along with any codriver if you just have a little humility. Ever think that they might not think you're perfect either? if you just go with the flow you can drive with anybody. you may be wondering why I had several, but it was always due to them being removed from my truck by dispatch for not showing up to the truck. Either way now I'm a solo dedicated driver who works 4 days a week, for a salary. I'm home every night and and on my own. It's very freeing having worked retail for so long and now just being alone. I worked hard to get where I am in the company. If you want to succeed you must work hard. If you want to be average you can quit early and go somewhere else.
try asking for airfrieght loads and communicate with your dispather via phone. Get personal even if it feels strange. I know my dispatcher (friend) very well after only short time with him. The better you get in with your dispatcher the better you will start to feel at and about the company.

 

I went through the student program in Fontana like you are and completed the 6 month program. The worst thing about it was the team system and its not just about finding a good partner. First of all, what was terrible was the truck didn't stop except for refueling, it ran around the clock. If you can't sleep while going over a pot holed freeway in Oklahoma with the engine running, you've got problems when your shift comes because you're dead tired. My teammate had this problem and I always entered the bunk dead scared he would fall asleep at the wheel because he hadn't slept. Also, the team system means you can be driving the day shift during one week and the night shift the next. Its like constant jet lag. If your body can't adjust, you have to pull over and sleep (they drill that into you!) or you're an accident waiting to happen. Which probably means you'll be late for your delivery which means you get hell from your dispatcher which means you get a crappy miles the next load. Fighting constant "jet lag" and trying to sleep in a moving truck was easily the worst part of the job: all because of the team system. And in the first 6 months, you'll make squat btw.

 

I start the school in Mira Loma on Monday the 22nd. I hope I dont have to deal with the junk I have read on here. I know some people you just cant make happy and they will complain about everything. I hope thats whats going on here!

 

Hoping and going into a co that is not one of the better ones will put you into what you have been reading.

 

I've been driving with CRST since August, and entered as a student. I came in knowing and expecting to it wasn't the most ideal of situations for the first 6 months. I have to say it hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be though. I have a very good dispatcher and we've been running a lot of air freight so we've been getting 5500-6500 miles a week. As long as you are on time, the miles keep coming. Obviously the money could be better but I am just using the company as a springboard anyway. I'm really not a fan of the team driving concept at all. Something about trusting my life with a total stranger just does not sit well with me. I did get lucky with my co-driver and we will be starting our 3rd tour of duty here next week. But sleeping in a moving truck can be difficult at times, and it sucks when you have to get up and drive after not really being able to sleep well. The only other really negative I have with the company is that if you bring your truck in for service, get comfortable cause its gonna be a while, and they probably won't fix it right the first time anyway.

 

I just graduated from Northern California Teamsters Apprentice Training. I have a new CDL A with doubles/triples and tanker endorsements. I also passed the HazMat written test at the DMV and was fingerprinted, but the results are not in yet. I am hoping to get a freshly minted license with all the endorsements in the mail soon. I am also hoping to start training at CRST in Fontana soon. New start on the horizon.

 

I was totally screwed by crst expedited. This is a warning to all potential students.
my story goes as follows.
I filled out an online application w/CRST and was contacted by a recruiter. I told her I had A previous felony convictions and asked her if this would bar me from employment w/them I was told no because it occurred in 1979 & 1991 and to go ahead and attend advanced school of driving in Fontana California.I was given a bus ticket and arrived on OCT 19. I completed the course and was very happy w/ the
competency and the instruction I was given by the trainers. The School was great.
Upon completing the course I was sent to orientation. The first day there I was pulled into the office and told I would not be hired because of my felony conviction. What angers me is I was very open and honest w/ my recruiter and told her explicitly what happened, what i was charged w/ and so on. I had exhausted all of my funds while in school and because of crst I found myself out on the street and no way home.(I live in Washington State) In retrospect I wish I had went to swift. Anyways crst sends 20 to 25 students a week through their schools & because they are subsidized by the government they receive 5,000 per student if they complete the course.(the company makes ###### sure you complete the course) Their recruiters have mandates that require them to fill a quota and get a bonus if they exceed that quota. They will say anything and everything to get you through the school, also in the off chance you do get hired they require you to repay $4,800 in increments out of your pay for the school so they get paid twice. I don't know if this is the practice in every big company but I do know it is the practice of crst. Hell they wouldn't even give me my cdl which I paid for!!!!!!!!!
I have contacted the american association of truckers, the local media, and have an attorney. All I wanted was my CDL and to support my family. Now I have occurred even more debt because of crst . Please leave me a post if this has happened to anyone else. I am trying to possibly file a class action law suit against them

 

I agree, like mentioned above work hard,do'nt be a complainer,on time,be courteous to FM, should be good to go,I've been with crst just a short time and they've keep us running cause we're not late or finding excuses,but problem I've had so far is codrivers. Like moneyman said if you can meet them and talk and hangout and get the feel for the guy the better chances you have of finding someone you get along with 3 wks. in a cab. The phone deal,might sound alright on the phone but wait till reality hits when you're on the road.Maybe they ought to get a website just for codrivers u know,just like online dating,get to know each other mayber go for dinner or something,just kidding,when I first started out I thought teams was the way to go,now I ca'nt wait to go solo,pretty much a loner and work better alone anyway, been on hometime ,my new codriver is MIA was supposed to pick me up this morning and get a truck,the FM cant get ahold of him me either,my last driver knew abit about trucking but knew nothing about people skills,being stuck in a truck with somebody who has issues in life and think they can cut loose on you to feel better,they can go and find somebody else to drive with and go seek some professional help. I'm putting my time in go solo and higher pay and more hometime, you all have a good day.

 

out of cre, swift, and crst, crst seems to be the best choice of the three.