My Crst Experience as a 21 Year old

Ok lets start off with Hello to all that read this and I hope it helps you out. I'll try to answer questions I have answers to, Thank you.

I signed up for CRST about a month after I turned 21, I did so little research, I applied at rohel and a couple other but crst called me first and they have the song of a life time by my recruiter. I fell for it like a fish on a hook. But fudge it, they bought me a ticket heading out to cedar rapids Iowa were the training would commence.

Dorms:
Dorms in cedar rapids are by far the best but by far the worst. The dorms consist of maybe a hundred rooms with 3 beds each, so as one can tell there will be 3 roommates to a room. The rooms are not great but not bad, no TV, WiFi does not reach all over the building just the main eating area. The dorms are kept as neat as your roommates were, house keeping came once a week or sometimes onces every two. Showers are filthy once again kept as clean as the people are,lf I was you I'd make sure to have some shower shoes. The people at the dorms are not all bad but not all great, I highly doubt crst cares who they hire as long as they can drive for them.

Orientation:
Orientation was in a room near the front of the dorms, it was about 3 days, they tell you what they have planned and what will occur. How they will pay for your CDL and what you will go through.

After Orientation:
After orientation depending on the day, you will go to a building across the dorm were they will give you papers explaining that you will pay crst the money back for keeping you in the Dorm, and as well as a 40 dollar allowance they will give you once a week(woohoo....). After that classes commence, and by fudge is it hard. They give you a book for doubles and combinations and air brakes then make you study for 2 days to a tests on the third day about combinations, air brakes and double. The tests consist of 50 questions for one,25 on another and 20 on another. All that is just to get your permit, if you fail one test, its not the end of the world they will give you more time.

Truck driving school:
There are three schools you will go to depending when you pass your permit tests. Kirkwood, HawkEye and NADTA. I was lucky enough to go to NADTA(woohoo... Again). The school is not so bad its also 10 minute walking distance from the dormns, but there are shuttles that run you there. The instructors are great with some bad but over all they are amazing. The first 2 days you will be siting inside a classroom watching movies obtaining papers and taking tests, then the next 5 you will be learning to drive and back, and for fudge sakes obtaining a CDL should not be a week. The second week at NADTA is testing week, they have DOT come to NADTA and well you take your CDL test. Which consist of pre trip inspection, backing test and a driving test. Once all is done they give you a slip saying you passed and then you go inside they condraulate you and you do a speech in front of the next class going after yours. You go into the office were they sit you down and sign a contract saying if you quit you have to pay them 6500. Then after that you rush to the DMV to take your picture and obtain your CDL.

Orientation for hire:
Orientation start ether the following day you get your CDL or Thursday. Ether way its a 3 days orientation, where they explain the saftey, comdata cards and what to do with certain situations, what your pay will be. You will sit down and watch some fudge boring j j Keller videos from which you already saw at NADTA, on the third day they bring you out the new contract stating you will work for them for X amount of months which in my case is 9, and if you were to quit you will have to pay them back the money they invested in you. Once orientation is done, on the third day they give you your ID card and ComData Card and you obtain a lead Driver whom which you will be with for 24-28 days depending on how much experience you need.

28 Days:
My 28 days wernt really 28 days. I had an amazing lead Driver but I couldn't handle the being away from home, after a week I broke down crying saying I wanted to go home( I know panzy of me). He kept asking if I was sure, since he said I was a talented driver, great at backing and driving knew what to do. I was Certain I missed home.
So we got a load going back to Iowa and once we delivered the load we went back to the terminal were I talked to the fleet manager and told him it wasnt for me and I missed home. He said that's fine but if I ever wanted to come back I was welcomed to. After that I was directed to finances to pay them back the money I owe. Now for the best part, after I quit I was basically crap to CRST no interest in me. Was stuck in Iowa for a bit until my fiance sent me money to get a bus ticket (should've seen that coming since I quit).

Question I think people would ask:
Crst said once hired you will not be able to obtain a CDL job until u ether pay them back or complete your 9 months. Complete FUDGE, when I returned home a week after quiting I obtain a local job with falcon Transportation. A LOCAL JOB with 1 Week experience! Of course I had to have a trainer again for 3 weeks but fudge I didn't care I was driving local and getting paid well! I stuck with falcon for a couple of months until their yard closed down.

Rehire:
Since I left crst on a good note I came back to them to finish out my 9 month contract (so I wouldn't have to pay it back). And thus thats where I am now, since I came back a more experienced driver they pay be .33 cents a mile instead of .23.

Final thoughts:
Make sure you do your research before choosing a company to sponsor your CDL. I can't necessarily say that crst fudged me in any way.

Another thing to know is if trucking is for you. I found out the hard way, but I'm feeling a lot more confident now then I did back then. I'm on a dedicated account now so I'm home every week and pay isn't so bad.

I know this was more of a description then my experience but I hope it helped some out there. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Take care and thanks for reading.

 

Thank you, and that's the goal to find a local job at the end of the contract. Just time seems to fly slow rather then fast.

 

Sorry been on the road none stop, I would say bring at least 400 and spare it wisely because the total program permit and CDL test takes about 1 month but they give you a 40 dollar allowance each week, BUT BE CARFUL THEY MONITOR WHAT you BUY LIKE BEER AND STUFF. sorry for the late reply

 

I'm the opposite of you. I miss my local

 

Hate being OTR and not with my family but a jobs a job