My Experience with CR England so far......

My name is Chris and I wanted to share my experience and opinion(s) regarding CR England. First, a little about me...I am recently medically retired from the US Air Force with 12 years time in service. My job in the Air Force was as a pavements and heavy equipment operator. Although driving a tractor with a flat-bed trailor was part of my duties, I did not list that as experience going into CR England as prior experience as a truck driver. Since driving military vehicles does not require obtaining a CDL, and since I have never pulled a full size trailer, I DO NOT consider myself worthy of being an experienced truck driver.

My experience so far with CR England has been nothing more than GREAT! I found information on becoming a truck driver through the google search engine on 26 October, 2010 and filled out the application on the spot. On 27 October, the very next day, the representative called me and gave me a very detailed description of what I needed to bring in with me for the training class. She indicated that the training would be approximately 2 and a half weeks, immediately followed by going out on the road with another driver for 90 days. Travel accomadations would be made and paid for by bus to the training site in Indiana. Hotel stay would be free and yes, she did inform me that I would have to pay for my own food. She also told me to bring a certified birth certificate, a social security card that was not laminated or atleast a receipt showing application of a card, and $50 for the administration fee. Even better, she told me to call her back the Monday before class starts so that she could give me more insite on what to expect and some of the positive and negative feedbacks are from other drivers before I made the commitment to the course and the career.

Between the CR England Website and the recruiter that contacted me, I am extremely excited about "Choosing" this career. I have been informed on the training pay, which I believe to be generous for being in training status. I know that I have a lot more to learn about the company and with becoming a truck driver, but like all jobs, experience only comes to those who stay with their trade, and great experience comes to those who stick with their trade and the same company. 90 percent of the complaints in these forums came from a few of the same people that did not even make it through training or have had family and financial problems going into the career. I have not seen even 1 complaint from someone that has been with the company for more than 6 months. All I am saying is think about what you want to do before you make the commitment to do it, and that is not just a job.......THAT'S LIFE!!!!

 

I will be talking with the representative again this coming Monday for more in depth questions and answers. I will be sure to pass on any positive information. Thank you for reading my post.

Chris

 

Hampy,

First, I just wanted to say thanks for your comment and also thank you for your time in the Air Force. I see you are based out of West Milton, OH? Who are you working for now?

 

Thank you for your input MysticHZ. Currently, I am using Chapter 30 of my Montgomery GI Bill to pay me while I am enrolled at Sinclair Community College-Online. As far as the VA goes, there is too much time and paperwork involved and I would probably be with the company for a year before I could get any assistance from the VA.

I have checked into numerous trucking companies so far and from what I have gathered, they are all pretty much the same as far as the expenses are concerned. I have come to the conclusion that for anyone to make it in the business, it will just take a lot of time with the company and a lot of sacrifices. Also, thank you for letting me know that they reimburse 50% of the tuition fees after a year on the job, I did not know that. Actually, that is just all the more reason for me to commit to this idea even more.

As far as leasing is concerned, I just want to get through the first 100 days before I decide where to go with my trucking career. I definately don't want to bite off more than I can chew in the beginning, thinking that I can make 1500 dollars a week. I will keep an open mind throughout my training and if leasing is something that the company pushes, well, I have 100 days to think about it.

 

I will inform the recruiter of my prior experience and hope that it counts for something. Thanks!!