CRST new hire non-cdl, should I look elsewhere?

@ujman Here's a lovely story about how Western Express treats its drivers.

 

Lol I'm going to check it out....Western Express is on every episode of "Bonehead Truckers of The Week." Hahahahaha

 

You're right about that, but quite honestly me experience wasn't as bad as everyone else's. I was pulling flatbed for them. I have worked for far worse companies, at least in my estimation. In that year at Western, I made pretty steady money, but getting hometime was like pulling teeth. All in all, it was a good starting place. Those bottom feeders will increase your BS tolerance lol.

 

You ain’t lying about the hometime issue. They loved to pull the BS where they know you’re scheduled for hometime on a specific date and then they try to put a load on you that’s going in the opposite direction of where you need to go!!

 

Man that never fails! If you ask for a weekend date, forget it. You never pick up a weekend load til the weekend you ask off lol

 

Yes if you can afford to do it your better off paying for your own truck driving school that way your not held under their heal so to speak however those that are in that unfortunate position of not being able to afford trucking schools are at the mercy of those companies like CRST that offer the training for a price in the end it comes down to what price are you prepared to pay?

 

Happened to me a time or two or three.

 

I went with Swift (refrigerated) and it had worked really well for me so far. They have a refrigerated terminal i Jurupa Valley, not too far from LA. It is the terminal I drive for. Great terminal in my opinion. They have always treated me well.
I also went to the Swift Academy in Phoenix. Being a vet, my 'contract' to cover the school costs were a bit different, but still had the same basic one year obligation. Lots of folks don't end up staying a year and I think several other companies will cover your Swift Academy fees if you switch to them. Had one gal I went to the Academy with, switch to Warner agter a couple of months and Warner paid off her Academy fees.
Anyway, of all the megas that will give you chance with no CDL and experience, I think Swift is one of the best. I can't exactly be objective because my experience with them has been really good. But, I think the fact that I have had a really good experience with them says something too.
Any training school will pretty much just teach you what you need to obtain your CDL. Unfortunately, there's alot more to this than just having a CDL. After that, you go out with a trainer or mentor and they are the ones who actually start to show you how to do all this. Hopefully, you'll end up with a good trainer. That phase of training is really important and is a mixed bag of good and bad. Kinda sucks being with someone in a truck and that part alone van be difficult. However, it is only temporary. Just ride out the sucky part and get through it and do your absolute best to learn everything you can about how to do all this so you can do it by yourself.
Once by yourself, the 'fun' really starts. My first month really really sucked!!! It wasn't until about my 3rd month that things started evening out. I've been out OTR for around 16 or 17 months now and enjoying it so far. Far from perfect, but the good clearly is outweighed the bad for me and my priorities.
One thing about Swift is that being a started company, they are geared up to help new drivers. They don't just throw you out there and expect you to do this perfectly from the get go. Some of that seems like being nannied. But, it has a useful purpose and if you pay attention and try to learn and improve, you'll get past it all.
Anyway, encourage you to look into Swift. As a starter company, I don't think there's a better one. Maybe others as good, but I don't think any others are better and there's a few that are a whole bunch worse.
Good luck to you. Biggest mistake I see newbies make is having unrealistic expectations on what being a driver is and isn't. Hanging around this forum and reading the experiences of others really helped me develop a good idea of what is realistic and what isn't and has seriously helped me make this all work for me.