Looking to head out on the Road for the first

It has been my experience that driving schools teach you how to past the CDL driving test. Learning to drive is another thing altogether.

Failure to pay a speeding ticket is not a big deal, you will be able to overcome that one. Getting insurance for you is your problem. In Missouri you have to have proof of insurance to get your license back. That is an SR22 form. You have to have that for three years following a suspension. I am not sure if trucking is like that but I would bet it is. You might have to start with a very small company to start. The big fleets will pass.

 

It won't let me PM because I have only posted 4 times in the forum. Here is what I found through research online - I have tried to be as impartial and factual with this as possible:

Here are some highlights:

1) You must team drive with CRST - solo driving is the exception, not the rule
2) The main training facility is in Cedar Rapids, IA. They train at Kirkwood Community College, which is located at 6301 Kirkwood Blvd SW. There is no lodging within walking distance of this facility except for long-term housing (apartments) geared towards Community College students. CRST houses student drivers in their own lodging facility, which is divided by gender. If you plan on team driving with a spouse (unless you are a same gender couple) you will NOT be permitted to lodge with your spouse unless you pay for your own hotel/motel. If you elect to do so, they will NOT provide transportation for you to and from class. Someone else posted on the forum that when they arrived at CRST training the lodging was three cots per room with a single light and a window that would not open. The bathrooms were shared and down the hall. They charge you $150/person for each week you utilize their lodging.
3) All costs incurred for the pre-hire drug test, D.O.T. physical, transportation to the school, and lodging will be deducted from your paychecks at $40/week until paid. If you already have your CDL and D.O.T. physical and are just going through school as a refresher, you can get out of the D.O.T. physical expense ONLY if you have more than 6 months remaining on your D.O.T. medical card. The refresher course is 2 weeks, the new CDL course is 3 weeks.
4) HAZMAT endorsement is required, but CRST will pay the $100 (some states are cheaper - Indiana is around $86) processing fee for fingerprints, background check, etc. Documentation does NOT state that you have to pay this back.
5) They will pay up front for your transportation to Cedar Rapids, IA. However, they will not necessarily schedule you for the most convenient time (some forum posts mentioned being up all night on a bus ride and having to start school without any sleep) AND you have to pay them back for this expense. Depending upon your starting location, you may want to look into trains, renting a car, or your own choice of bus ticket and rent a hotel room for the first night before school starts.
6) Your trainer may have only been driving for 12 months. I did some google searches on CRST and read one woman's horror story about waking up falling out of the bunk because her trainer flipped the cab swerving to avoid a deer. I don't know if you've been through CDL training or not, but if you haven't, one thing they teach is to NEVER swerve for a deer. Hit it head on. Much better rate of survival for all except the deer.
7) Trainers are supposed to supervise students driving, which means that the truck is supposed to run as if only one person is driving. However, the stories I've read point to the trainer and student running the truck as a team. CRST states in writing that you must complete at least 14,000 miles in your 28 day training. That's an average of 3500 miles/week to reach this goal. At 55 mph average, that's over 63 hours per week of driving time.
8) If you opt to contract with them for 8 months (as opposed to pre-paying the schooling fee of $2500) you have to arrive at the school with a $50 money order for "A CRST Processing Fee." You will also have to pay an unspecified (but estimated around $100) amount for your CDL-A permit and license. If you pre-pay for schooling, all the items above that would normally be deducted from your paycheck (transportation to school, lodging, etc.) you will NOT have to pay for. All you would have to pay for is the cost of your CDL-A permit and license.
9) You are required to have a Motor Carrier Atlas, truck stop guide, and calculator. If you do not have this they will charge you $28.00 for their "package" and deduct it from your check at $7/week for 4 weeks.
10) All of your meals and laundry costs are on your own
11) If IA is not your home state, you will have to transfer your license to IA (or whatever state you train in)
12) From start to finish, you will likely be away from home for at least two months. 3 weeks of training, then 4 day orientation, then waiting for your trainer, and then 28 days out on the road. After trainer clears you, you wait to be matched up with a team driver, and are OTR for two more weeks before getting FOUR days of home time. So even if all goes well, you're looking at a minimum of 10 weeks before you see home again - 8 weeks training & orientation and 2 weeks driving with your new team driver.

Here's a link to the 18 page PDF that has their nitty-gritty info:

http://www.joincrst.com/pdfs/P78 7.8.11.pdf

Here's a link to a youtube video that seems to say that the rooms CRST houses you in are not necessarily cleaned - from his narration, it sounds like if the people before you don't clean the room, you won't get a clean room:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpJjs95ffv8

This is the orientation PDF for if your orientation is Cedar Rapids also (note that orientation is AFTER your Kirkwood Schooling and you have your CDL):

http://www.joincrst.com/pdfs/cedarrapids.pdf

~Kit

 

Thank you so much for such a great summary. Am going thru the info on the links and such.

 

Prime offers training. Not sure bout the suspension though.

 

You are very welcome! If I think of more items that I found out, I'll post them here.