Need Honest Assistance with CR England

I drove for CRE for 6 months. It was a starter so I could come back to trucking, fairly painless only $500.
HOWEVER every single person out of a class of about 50 is gone!
Because I already had a license I was swept out, along with a couple of others straight into the orientation next door. About another 40 or 50 folks. I went through this process quietly and observed. Both rooms were full of some very strange people.
I do mean strange. I wouldn't know where to begin to describe this lot. The orientation room seemed to be full of rejects from other companies, the trainee class just knuckleheads most of whom either washed out or just disappeared day by day!
The comment that was made earlier in this thread about CRE being international is wrong, as were most of the other assumptions.
CRE is a good place - for members of the England family! Anyone else there is for being used until they burn out. Frankly it is another babymill. The business model is to soak newbies for the extortionate "training" fee and at the same time grab huge tax exemptions for providing jobs. I don't know how many guys I met who had been talked into leasing and were taking home $200 a week or less in some cases owing the company money. Please nobody say that is because they were playing video games in the truckstops because it just isn't true.
No, overall I would give CRE a double thumbs down. I went there knowing they were a gaff outfit and I wasn't disappointed.
I must also point out that I didn't have a horrible experience. I am not saying this out of some personal vitriol for some unforgivable "crime" they committed against me. I stayed very much out of the limelight whilst there and kept my nose to the grindstone. HOWEVER I have ears and eyes and it didn't take much to figure out what was going on!!
It can be said that you could take the most vile company out there and I would guarantee you that there will be some drivers there that will swear the sun shines out of the companies rear and that they are earning all kinds of money.
The truth is in the numbers though. I worked 6 months for CRE and my 1099 was $14,000 and some of that was 2 months at Crete!!! Most use CRE to start and then go to a good company. I bless the day I got on at Crete - like night and day, chalk and cheese. 2 different places with totally different attitudes toward the drivers. Trucking for grownups as opposed to a Nazi setup where you are always wondering when the knock on the door will come.
I would give England less than 1 star and bag them with Swift, JB, TransAm, CRST, Covenant and all the others that absolutely NEED to run adds in every glossy they can. Spot the ads for Crete, Averitt, Walmart, Old Dominion. Good luck.

 

izy... by gods thank you! Glad to hear that this isn't just happening to my hubs! He's scouring right now to find a local job, doing a couple final runs to try to get out of the red with the company, and turning in the truck for a bus ticket home. He's hoping he'll get his lease reserve money back, as well as his repair funds. We're not pinning on it, but there's always hope.

 

After readin' what'cha wrote, I'm assuming that wasn't really what'cha meant to say, Desy.

I hope that your hubs finds what he's lookin' for and you both can relax and not worry about whether the company is gonna stick it to y'all.
Good luck.

 

Well, i KNOW he's not the only one being screwed over by them... but it is good to hear that we're not floatin in a lonely canoe, even if it sounds silly and blindsighted...

 

No there are many like you. CRE are not alone though. ALL these starter companies are the same some more inhuman than others. Typical offense would be after using somebody and dumping them they leave that person stranded miles away from home with no way to get home.
Heard about a guy at TransAm - security threw all his belongs into a ditch outside the facility and forbade him to reenter the premises. A good buddy of mine was promised that his record would be fine with Transam as he left to go to Crete. When he went through orientation with Crete he was pulled aside and told they had sabotaged him. He explained everything and Crete not only went to bat for him, but got on the phone and chewed out the treacherous ######### who tried to screw him. This is the sort of difference between a good trucking company and one of the typical bottom feeders.

Plz don't think that all is doom and gloom with them. It totally depends on circumstances.
Example:
Guy I knew out of Cheyenne, WY. He got a dedicated to Walmart, home all the time and because the runs were low his take from the sliding payscale was high. Shorter the trip higher the dough.
However he was very, very unusual. Another experienced retread like me.
Point is that if you know what you are doing you can find a niche even with a gaff outfit. BIG TIP whenever you see the 2 words 'sliding payscale' move on. This and 'per diem' will be used to con you into believeing that they are actually doing you a favor. DON'T YOU BELIEVE IT.

 

actually, what got us was all the fees that CRE takes out. They take a fee for everything! It's a scam, and nothing more. He's turning his truck in at the end of this pay period... and demanding his lease reserve and his maintenance account money back.

 

Yep!! They charge you 14c out of the 96c/mile to use their office facilities. So they charge YOU money to make them money. Double whammy!
Don't worry you will get back whatever they owe you they are good like that.
BTW recently CRE lost a case which is all to do with their lease operation. Judge realized they are users and ruled appropriately.
Don't worry Desy all will be well. Trucking is a rough business and it is tough to start. Even if you fell on your feet it takes minimum a year to collect all the junk you need for life on the road and that costs money - or Pilot points
Trucking is a cool lifestyle and a good job but you gotta be a bit savvy.
My advice
Listen, listen listen.
People like Aftershock and myself are not warbling just to hear ourselves chirp.
Much of the stuff is almost impenetrable by an average person. Your best bet is to question and take note of what folks say. I for one am not trying to be a smart ### I truly want to help. If I can help somebody avoid a pitfall I will do it AND for free. It is my pleasure.
The problem is that the world is stuffed with fools who will not listen and I got a very good demo of that when I went through "training" at CRE. As an Aussie would say what a bunch of gallahs. Best wishes Desy it is gonna be ok, especially when this bloody recession is over.

 

Read all the posts on this web site about CRE and I think you will not go to work their. I dont think their are any that are good. Sounds like they rope you in to orientation then tell you they aint hireing companey drivers you have to lease! If you fall for this they only run you just enough to pay for the truck and nothing left for your self till you quit. Then they give you a bad DAC report and you will have a real hard time getting a new job. Sounds like a sweet deal uh! Pay for your own schooling and and do tons of reserch be for taking a job. Better yet run from trucking like its the plague! Its bad at almost all companys and aint gona get better till the economy come back around and that wont happen for a while.

 

Oh dear!
I am so sorry you have got this impression. I don't blame you at all but there is hope.
To enter the world of trucking from cold you really need some money in your pocket and a well researched plan in place.
Read, read, read.
For example CRE are now only hiring teams. If you aren't in a team or go with your wife or brother they have an office run by a guy who looks like Santa Claus to PUT you in a team. Then even with a team they will pressure you to go lease.
JUST DON'T DO IT
This is America and just as you have the choice not to drive team they have the right to try to con you into it.
Try to find a state run training program. They will help you into a company. Bear in mind that you will have to eat you-know-what. This I guarantee. Soon as you can you leave CRST or Covenant or Swift or CRE and find a better company. Bite the bullet and plan, plan, plan.
Nil Desparundum
or
Don't let the ######## grind you down. There is hope.

 

So it is possible for a newbie, who can't get into any other company right now, to start at CR England and endure the ******** for at least 6 months, without giving in to their lease program, in order to open doors later on in this trucking industry. I hope so because that's where I'm going next week...CR England. I'll keep my fingers crossed.