IM ELIGIBLE FOR REHIRE!!! Does this sound like a good plan?

That sounds like a really good plan. 1 year is what needs to happen. I'll also advise you, just because you get a year in at CR England, doesn't mean you have to leave them. If you're happy there, stay. Don't change jobs unless you absolutely have to. Truckers too often make the mistake of committing change for change sake. Don't worry about the negative things folks say about CR. It's a job and helps you in the sense that it's a reputable company and a verifiable reference whenever you NEED to switch jobs. Nothing wrong with working there. I'm glad you landed on your feet, and good luck to you!

 

I'd take it. With those running lanes you'll probably get more hometime than just those 2 days since you live in Dallas.

 

Hell yeah!!! Besides they're offering you a regional position that ain't too far from a local job. I always tell newer drivers to block out the noise. I started with Western Express and it wasn't the bad experience everyone had. Honestly, I've never worked at any company and left there saying that it was a horrible experience. Most of time, I left because it was time. Wanted to make more money, or I was fired, or I just couldn't make the cash anymore. If Western paid better money, I might have worked there longer than I did. At least Swift will pay drivers if they stay there long enough from what I've been told. With Western you'd have to become a trainer to see adequate pay.

 

I didn't say you cheated. Another person compared your situation to a spouse or romantic partner cheating on their partner. I was pointing out how that comparison was faulty because the trucking company didn't cheat on you. I then said *** IF ***, that means that if (staying with the cheating analogy) it is wrong they should look at it as the other party is guilty. You would be the other party. So if I said "I'm not trusting another woman because she cheated on me", that is one situation. But, If I said "I'm not trusting another woman because I CHEATED ON HER, that would be a very different situation and not be logical or reasonable. Of the two examples, the last one is closer to the truth than the first statement. Remember, I did NOT pick that other person's analogy and I didn't claim you cheated. I just said if anyone cheated you were closer to the one that cheated than the company, depending on the exact question they asked you.

I've asked before for you to write the exact question the company asked you about past accidents, but I haven't seen an answer. I apologize if I missed your answer. I previously wrote that if the question the trucking company asked was "please list ANY accidents" and you decided that because the accidents where you were the victim were not on your MVR you apparently didn't need to mention them. I'm not saying you should or should not have listed the accidents where you had no fault. I am saying only if the question is please list any past accidents, the truthful answer is not "please list accidents that are listed on your MVR". If the answer to the question they asked was meant to be satisfied by reading your MVR they would just read your MVR. But based on what happened to you, the MVR wasn't the full answer they wanted. I can't read your mind and I can't read the company's mind. My answer get long because I am trying to guess what was said or done since often times key details are left out of people's shorter question/replies.

If I'm mistaken type what the actual question was so I can better answer it, if you want. In the absences of that exact question I have to guess based on questions that I have seen and what others have written over the years. I'm not trying to stand on you. I'm trying to be accurate, as best I can, with limited info. I didn't pry into your life, you asked the question. I've made many bad assumptions in life. I've paid the consequences and I try desperately to learn from each one so I can make less or different mistakes later. Thank God perfection isn't a requirement to make a living in trucking. I would be broke and unemployed. It's just friendly analysis. Others have a different view.

 

Another driver on here looking for home daily in Dallas. OK, to tag you on that one?

 

High risk of hitting stationary objects like cars, dumpsters, the building, etc due to cars parked in the tiny parking lots that also are where the truck must back in to unload. There are maybe a dozen new drivers per year posting they have 30-180 days of trucking experience on some dollar type store (regardless of the actual name of the store) account and they have accumulated a few backing incidents with some damage are about to get fired because of them.

If you had a history of falling off a bicycle I would not recommend you make a living riding a bicycle SLOWLY around the inside of a dishware shop. You are walking into a situation with a dangerous outcome. If you are good at backing, I mean really good not just as terrible as the majority of new drivers, then give it a shot. I got good enough at backing in my first year I never failed to get into an assigned door, but I would sometimes spend 45 minutes getting into that door. I also had a trainer that made sure EVERY time the truck stopped for ANY reason, we backed into a spot. Virtually no trainers do that anymore because most trainers have little experience, less patience, and are just collecting extra pay as a trainer. They aren't teaching anyone, anything. Most newbies have no CB radio and if someone doesn't try to drag them out of the truck because of the inability to back the newbie will assume I've got average backing ability. They get no feedback except from the trainer that is asleep in the bunk while this happens. That's my view, others have other views.

 

There is a difference between hiring on as an experienced driver, hiring on as an inexperienced driver, and obtaining your cdl thru these companies.

For Schneider orientation is 3 weeks, no teaming. Getting a CDL is 5 weeks total.

For swift, the whole inexperienced hire training program is 8 weeks, with 4 of those being run as a team driver. If using Swift to obtain a cdl, add another week and some kind of promissory note.

CR England takes 6 MONTHS to do the same, and generally the "graduates" have less knowledge and skills than a 4 week cdl mill "graduate ".

The main difference between Schnedier and Swift is the 3-4 weeks of team driving. Rough math tells me that almost 2/3's of the hiring/training costs are recouped in those 3 weeks. For CRE, they keep the trainees just above starvation level for 6 months, then try to entice them into a modern share cropping scheme. That is what all the CRE warnings are about.

For anyone who doesn't have to go through training or sign a work contract to obtain a cdl, there is nothing wrong with CRE.

 

I think your best choice is really a slam-dunk no-brainer.

With management & marketing on these levels, I just don't see how you can miss:

CRE "no fail - get 'em" recruitment video



-- L