I start cdl school through CRST Monday

Run away from them. Abort mission is right.

 

They are just a typical mega-carrier. You will find it very tough making any kind of substantial money at the mega-carriers. Go to a smaller company if you are in it for the money making. The mega-carriers are new driver recyclers! Its called "cheap labor"! Don't you find it rather odd that these companies spend millions of dollars in advertising to get YOU to work for THEM?! Do you know of any other companies that do this? The good companies don't have to advertise, their turnover rates are lower because their drivers are happier. One reason most newbies go to these mega-carriers is because they make it super easy to get hired on and they start brainwashing you before you even finish school making you think they are the only companies out there that will hire inexperienced drivers.

Good luck, wish you the best....

 

well, evry starts somewhere right?

my training at swift has been excellent so far

 

How do you know he will ?? Not everyone that goes there has problems. The only reason you hear more about CRST is because they hire more. Simple numbers.

 

Swift hires more than CRST and you still hear more negatives about CRST than Swift, so thats actually not true. Not saying Swift is perfect, far from it. But to use the excuse that CRST is somehow bigger than every other company and thats why they have some of the worst publicity is factually incorrect.

To the OP, if you do consider CRST do so when you have some experience and consider their O/O side. My good friend and former trainer makes bank with CRST as an o/o trainer. He pays six cent a mile to keep a student on his truck but averages 150k a year before take home. 60 days out, 5-10 home. It's hard work but you will make money as a trainer. And even better, with some experience you could become a flatbed cowboy for the Malone division. They actually do really well and run 100 percent SOLO.

CRST is bad, not as bad as maybe CRE, but #### near the worst in the industry. With a good attitude I'm sure anyone could make the best of the situation over there, but if you have options...exercise them! I'm actually done with Swift orientation tomorrow and will be getting my own rig Friday. I started with CRST way back but wish I'd gone straight here. Like I said, this company is far from perfect, but when I weigh the benefits of having several close terminals and my own truck vs dead heading 500 miles and sharing a truck with god knows who i'll take working here any day...

 

Once again gang, I'm not trying to make the mega-carriers look evil or that you have no chance whatsoever with them. Its just that you have so many other better options out there. Sure occasionally you will run into some drivers that do ok with those mega-carriers but overall your chances of success are going to be substantially greater with a smaller company. Some drivers do need to babysat though and have their hand held and be told what to do. If this is you then yes, a company like Swift or CRST or even England would be a great fit.

There are many other factors that you are guys are yet to be aware of in which make the smaller companies much more profitable. I personally like to have a say in where I go and what I do and what my options are and this cannot be exercised at the mega-carriers. When you have a good personal relationship with your dispatcher and work together on a daily basis you can get lot more done and make a hell of a lot more money! When you have the option to have dialogue with your dispatcher and together work out your loads and your future loads and where you need to be or end up for another good one, then this is how you make money! At the mega-carriers you are a number. Whatever they have on their computer screen if this somewhat lines up with your current location then this is the load you will run. Hopefully by the good grace of God it has some good miles and will put you in a fairly decent area for your next load when the dice is rolled.

Anyway, point being, guys keep your eyes and options open! Take the time to really dig down deep and find a good company. It really is worth your effort to find a good company right off the bat and to be able to have a long lasting career with them. Many don't realize that the trucking industry is just like the rest in that they don't like to see job hoppers or guys who just drive for a year to move on. This hurts you guys! It goes on your DAC! So really try and find a good company to not only start with but to stay with.

 

Hey all,
I'm new here, also starting school in Feb with Florida Coast Career Tech Driving School.

Looking forward to 8 weeks of learning experience.

 

And why do they hire more? Because they can't keep drivers in the seat. They can't keep drivers in the seat because they don't treat their drivers like they're worth anything. When your underlining motto is: if our drivers quit we will just have another one in the seat tomorrow...that shows through. People don't just quit for no apparent reason thers always a reason