free training

CRST is teams only and has almost all solo freight. Good business plan.

 

So I've read on here a lot that a program such as a community college is a bettter way to go than a "free" company such as Swift. My understanding with Swift and other such companies, its not "free"... you repay them while you work for them or if you leave you pay the balance.
Even though Im in Phoenix which is Swift's HQ, it seems I'd be better off paying for my own school and getting a higher quality training, and if I want to start with Swift and can get hired go for it, rather than go the "free" route. BTW the contact at the community college tells me that Swift uses them for new hires, if thats the real deal remains to be seen.

 

Howdy Donny, welcome to the forums.

I'm curious how you narrowed your choices down to CRST and C.R. England? Or is it that they are the only companies to show interest?
It's an employer's market now-a-daze, with a glut of applications to choose from. At best it's about the worst time to enter the Big truck truckin' industry.
Training companies are profiting from their training programs and seem to have a revolving door of wannaBees who go through the training, ..... become newBees who become disillusioned quickly and terminate their employment --- leaving an empty seat for another trainee to fill. If no drivers quit, they'd have a problem placing all the newBees. So they depend on drivers quitting, sometimes to the point of making conditions intolerable and thereby forcing or starving a driver out.

The incentive to retain drivers to save recruiting dollars is absent because applicants are flocking to their doors without coaxing. They're desperate for a job and the bottom-feeder companies know it. To say some of these companies take advantage of the situation is an under statement. Abuse comes to mind.

If you haven't researched the threads about good and bad truckin' companies, you really should. Keeping in mind what you're reading for the most part are opinions. But notice how often the same opinions are presented with the same company.
One company in particular seems to have a disproportionate number of negative comments that tend to say the same things and relate similar experiences.
That's a ReD flag.
It's also a truckin' company with red Big trucks and on your short list of two choices.
YuP, C.R. England has probably the worst reputation for trainee treatment and company demands. Not to mention their hard-sell approach to getting inexperienced newBees into their lease (flease) program.
I'm still waiting to read one success story from C.R.E. drivers.

If you can wait a year to 18 months to see how the economy and the truckin' industry are doin' then, I think conditions could be better than they are now.
If you're bound and determined to go for it now, you should be doin' a LOT of research on the various companies to learn what they're offering. If you don't fully understand what they're sayin', ask the posters here who can explain what's written betwixt the lines in truckin' company advertisements.

Choosing which company to start with is more important than the color of their Big trucks. Pick the wrong company and your career could be over before it begins. It's not uncommon for these bottom-feeder companies to fire a driver for trivial or trumped-up reasons to clear the way for another, lower paid, trainee to learn the hard way how cut throat the truckin' industry is at this time.
To add insult to injury, a bottom-feeder company is prone to dinging a driver's DAC report, making finding another drivin' gig a lot harder.

There's a lot more to consider than just wanting to drive a Big truck.

 

Maybe part of the rationale for hiring newbies is that a newbie's DAC is "pure as the driven snow". Gives sub-standard companies a little breathing room before a newbie gets a "ding". The "ding" becomes a "donk" and the dinged, danged, donked newbie is history, clearing the way for an "undinged, undanged, undonked" newbie who gets a ding, gets donked and...........hmmmmm?:smt017

 

That's about the best description I've ever read.

 

DONNYH, You really need to look close at the company training. I spent a couple of months looking at different companies that offer training. None of them are FREE, they ALL make you sign a contract saying that you will stay with them for a year or 2 before they will start paying your training. But they will be deducting money from your pay checks all the while, they will even be taking money for the motel room, bus tickets and meals. So as you can see it aint FREE. And if if quit before the contract expires YOU will OWE THEM for the training. I chose to let the Government pay for my training to get my CDL at a local college that way I won't start off $6000.+ in debt. I will still have to get my OTR training, but I won't be in DEBT from the start.

 

You have a short list of 2 of the worst around.
I think after your "research" has sent you that way that you many want to evaluate how you do it.
Teaming is a very very bad idea unless both drivers checks go into the same acct.
And is an even worse idea with new drivers. Since most new drivers do not make it 6 months.
You can very easily get stuck with a succession of wanna be's that quit and leave you sitting.

The Votech route to training is by far the best route if you cannot afford a good private school. And if you for some reason must go to a training company then try Roehl or Millis.
If these are not training right now then at least go to one where you will be a solo driver after a month with a trainer.

 

Donnhy...

If you are serious about becoming a professional truck driver and are thinking of it as a career, then why not give yourself the best opportunity for success. Which means not going with the sub standard schooling, traning and success rate of driver of the cdl mill companies.

You can bite the bullet and hope for the best, or, you can make wiser choices and give yourself better odds.