I am training at CR England Burns Harbor Indiana

Oh by the way their head guy for trainning in burns harbor(robert) is working for the real company now in gary,in

 

Thankx Slim. I just read another post with "Fawne" another driver for CRE. I will use them to get my license and 6 mounths experience. They dont seem to offer too much more.

Being prepared for the B.S and knowing what to expect before hand is a great tool. I only want them to honor when they say $430 "something" (ha) during training. (sigh) let me go sharpen my mental swords.

I will need them!!!!

 

Good Luck.
Just watch their mental swords, In the back!

 

I hear you polvan. 6 months just cannot be that hard. I only just picked up my greyhound ticket, and I do have a week to prepare myself for the worst. I actually want to call the lady anonymously just to pry her brain some more. They are not ready for me.

 

Thankx alot!!!

Now I really want to know what happened to Kevin....he may be dead!!!!

 

Ihad read a message that A guy, seemed pretty "sensible" in his post (unlike most haters that cannot assume their responsibilty or fault) but he went to CRE and got thru 90% of the program no problems, on the day of assignments they asked the group 'who would be staying on with CRE' and 'Who would not', he was the latter, he payed to get the CDL and felt he did well, they asked to see him down the front of the auditorium and walked him outside the down and asked why he did NOT want to stay on, HE EXPLAINED...*paraphrasing* 'that he just wanted to get his CDL and work for another carrier', they told him *again paraphrasing* "we dont just give out CDL's you need 12 months (He says he paid the tuition) so why would he NEED to do 12 months???
Well, they asked hime to be off the property by 5pm, and he said that meant to have his bag packed in their hotel as well, also...no bus ticket home...AND no CDL.

 

CR England doesn't seem to have a good program or rep. I'm starting with Schneider. They only pay .26/mile too BUT you get .03 raises in 3 months and .03 more in 6 months..... plus a .02cent bonus every 3 months you work without an "incident" combined with low idle time.

They are also reimbursing me $3500 for my school at $150 a month + good quality benefits at a good rate in 60 days.

They also offered me serveral programs as to work/home times..... 7 out and 7 home, or 14/7 or 21/7, slip seating. If you want your own truck to bring home, you could do the normal 14 out and 2 home.

Too early for me to tell if they are full of crap, but from what I've read, Schneider seems to be on the up and up.

 

I'm not going to beat a dead horse by going over my horror story for time spent at CRE..I have read over and over the statement AT LEAST I HAVE A JOB in this economy...People! Just because you have a job, doesn't mean your going to receive a livable wage...I highly encourage you to seek employment/CDL training else where.

If your thinking is...I will get my CDL and a little experience...Great, but don't have a car payment, rent, house payment, child support, an unemployed spouse or anyone or anything depending on YOU for support...you will have VERY LITTLE money while gaining that little experience...

There is a reason for this saying...
ENGLAND= Every New Guy Lasts About Ninety Days

I lasted 90 days, I arrived at orientation with $2,883.00 cash in my pocket..(already had my CDL)...I had to borrow money from my brother for a bus ticket home.

 

OK .. I drove for CRE .. the 6000 miles, with a student doable, but on OTR, probabaly not consistantly. The 3500 solo, again doable in theory, but not likely. But for the sake of argument, lets say you can do that ... Why?

If you can do it at CRE you can do it anywhere. By your own admission CRE is not a great place.

Not all companies are the same ... that's the CRE myth to hold you there. Heard the same thing when I was there ... No point in going anyplace else, they're all the same. I did my research and leased with Swift.

Let's take your 3500 miles solo. At CRE that will get around $900 to $1100 net, depending on your truck payment, fuel milage, the LDM/EM and whether or not you stayed on the fuel cap. At Swift I pull $1400 to $1600 net for those same miles and that's not including the $.10 cpm going to the maintenance account.

And as an added side bonus, the maintenance account is all mine, I can choose to have one or not. If I do, I can tap all or any of the money any time I want, for anything I want ... one Macro on the QC and it's loaded to my Comdata within minutes.

 

My husband went to the SLC school 6 months ago and is now a CRE over the road driver. I am thankful for the recruiter that he had as she was very specific about the hiring criteria, fees and when he'd start getting paid. My brother-in-law applied at the same time and had a different recruiter who said he was approved. They were both scheduled for school at the same time. But, B-I-L went home due to having his DL suspended the entire year of 2010 due to back child support. Plus, on his application he put down his 3 DUI's in 1978, 1979 and 1980.

I called my husbands recruiter and asked her WTH. She told me that some recruiters run MVR and background checks but do not review them and leave that for their assigned "team partner" to do. The team partner is assigned 3-4 recruiters and are supposed to be a fail-safe making sure all necessary hiring criteria is met; verifying employment and if any other items are needed they let the recruiter know. My husband's recruiter actually reviewed his driving record and background check while on the phone with him. We were in an accident in 2010 that showed up on his MVR. Our recruiter had us go to our insurance company to get verification that this accident wasn't our fault and that nothing had been paid out by our insurance. Also, his DL renewed in 2010 and there was nothing on his MVR indicating he had a DL before this renewal. So, she had our insurance agent write a letter verifying we had an auto policy since 2005; which is considered proof as one can't have auto insurance without a valid DL. These items were completed a week before my husband was scheduled to start CDL school.

My B-I-L's MVR wasn't reviewed by the "team partner" or his recruiter until the 2nd day of school which is when the year suspension was discovered and so he was disqualified for not having a valid DL for two years. Then B-I-L put his DUI record on his application even though they were 20 plus years old. These DUI's did not appear on his background check but due to hiring criteria he could have only 2 DUIs in a lifetime and he had 3. Sometimes less is more, anything over 12 years old shouldn't be disclosed.

When my husband met his recruiter, she had a hard time figuring out who he was by his name only. She explained that there are so many applications being worked, that it's not uncommon for each recruiter to get 60-80 applications a day; and, they are under pressure to contact these assigned applications as it wastes company money if they don't. Plus, she routinely schedules 20-45 applicants each week for one of the five schools CRE has, It made sense why we didn't hear from anyone right away after submitting his application; and, why he had to call her to get things started.

Oh, yes CRE has it's own school to hire applicants for their company. They do not have these schools to merely facilitate individuals getting their CDL and then going to another company. If this were the case then they wouldn't have hiring criteria and wouldn't indicate it's a "train-to-hire" position. If someone is interested in getting their CDL only and not working for CRE then they should attend CDL school somewhere else. The recruiter is supposed to go over this before scheduling a school start date, if any of the trainers or managers over hear someone saying this is their plan then that person is sent home at his own expense.

Additionally, if someone has a CDL but doesn't have current over the rode driving experience in the past 12 months (and, past 12 months means just that...not 4 years ago or, having experience from 1980 to 2000 then taking time off to pursue another line of work; isn't going to magically change the criteria and let the recruiter classify you as an Experienced Driver. Even if she did this it would be caught when compliance reviewed the file again); then the Refresher course is needed. The cost for this is $50 and although considered a $1495 value no one is charged for this training. Orientation is 10 days and then a 60 Day over the rode training. My nephew went through this training when he came back from the military and already had a CDL.

My husband enjoys his job and likes the company he works for. We are not making six figures a year but we are making enough that he contributes the maximum amount to his 401k. He was asked several times to consider leasing a truck but it didn't seem reasonable or a smart move to make with having to learn a new driving position. My husband declined all these offers and the last couple of times, not very nicely either; and, he wasn't told to pack his stuff to go home.

I guess it's true that in any situation "there's one side and then the other side. Then somewhere in the middle is the truth".

Thanks,