Training at CFI/Conway

Hey Mike, I have a second interview with Triumvirate Environmental for TEU April 2nd. They said starting pay is High teens to Mid $20's,Heres hoping for mid $20's with the price of gas. Hope you've made it home for some downtime.

 

Thanks Bud, I'll keep you posted

 

My boys got home Monday and will be home until next Monday. They had asked for 4 days off but got 6 which they were fine with. They don't have very many bills so a week without pay at this point is okay with them. They had to be home Saturday and Sunday because John has national guard duty but since we live in Florida it is harder for the dispatcher to work around that schedule so they were sent here with a load to Orlando and then to Hialeah on Monday and they didn't have any thing else for them, so they were dispatched home. They had been gone for 5 weeks. One week for orientation, 3 weeks out with their trainers and one week out on the road together. They needed this week off to get their stuff moved out of the apt into a storage locker so it all worked out! The only thing we're wondering about is the dispatch home isn't showing as paid miles. I thought they were supposed to be paid for those miles as well? It was 234 miles from Hialeah to home? Maybe not, they'll have to check on it.

 

GLAD THE BOYS ARE DOING JUST FINE. I enjoyed reading your updates.

 

good to hear things are lookin up for you hope to get the 20 bucks ..Take care.[/QUOTE]
Interview went great, dont know if the money is going to be there. Called ABF back to see if any word came back from Arkansas. The TM wasn't in today. I'll be back at my old job next week at the new pay scale and keep waiting for it to warm up. Good Luck and Stay safe out there.

 

Hi,
I've been reading your post and think its great with both your boys doing this together. You must be so proud.
I have been searching the different companies out that train the new drivers. Could you tell me did CFI change recently to do this? We were looking at them and you had to have some experience.
My husband need to find a company and CFI sounds pretty good with insurance. How long are you commited to drive with them?
Could you tell me how has the pay been with them every thing on the up and up what they say other than you mention they need to check into the dispatched miles
Thanks

 

Mikel,
I'm glad things are going well with you. Could you tell me what pay do they start you at. I couldn't find anything on the sight. ALso what about the extras detention and so on?
We have been looking for a while where my husband will go. He needs to go somewhere that will train him. What I've read sounds good.

 

As far as I know they have been hiring student drivers for quite some time, it's not anything new. The boys went to school and got their cdl's before going to CFI. However, CFI does have a deal with a school for people who need to get their cdls. It's called Crowder College and the price is very reasonable and the training is top notch. All student drivers who get hired that already have their cdl's are still required to spend a week at Crowder College where they are taught some very valuable skills that will help keep them safe on the road. That week is your orientation week. You get paid $100 the first day that you get there. They pay for your hotel and meals. At the end of the week you are paid an additional $300.00. Assuming you make it through the week there, you will then be assigned to a finisher (trainer) who you will have to drive with for 7500 miles so that they can evaluate you and teach you the things you can't learn at school. You are basically driving as a solo driver, your trainer sits in the passenger seats and supervises you. During these 7500 miles you will get paid .26 per mile. And that is for every mile dispatched regardless of whether you drive or the trainer drives. The trainer may occasionally drive if it is required to get a load delivered on time, but the student should be doing the majority of the driving. At the end of the 7500 miles which takes about 3 weeks, if your trainer feels you have caught on and ready to go out on your own, the two of you will go back to Joplin and go over the evaluations with the safety dept and do a lot of paperwork and you will then be assigned your own truck. The boys got their first load the next morning after receiving their truck. They are driving as a team so they are paid 44 cents a miles which they split. They both get credit for all miles dispatched. I believe you will find that the starting pay is very competitive with other companies. I can't say what a solo driver gets paid as I only have experience with the team pay. They do also have some bonus systems set up, not sure exactly how those work yet. They also allow pets and their hometime policy is one day off for every seven out. You take the truck home with you which is great so that you don't have to drive your personal vehicle to the nearest terminal. Conway Truckload recently bought CFI, at this point, the transition isn't complete and there seems to be a lot of bitterness between the 2 companies. I know that they don't share their terminals or facilities, for instance, the boys had to make a delivery to a Conway yard in Orlando. They were treated pretty rudely by the office people and weren't even allowed to use their restroom. But it goes both ways, apparently the Conway drivers aren't allowed to use the CFI terminal facilities either. I assume at some point down the road that will change and things will smooth out. Just some hard feelings going on right now. But overall, as far as training companies go, I would highly recommend CFI.

 

Sorry, I missed some of your questions. There is no contract with them or requirement to stay with them for any length of time because they do not pay for your schooling. You either get your cdl on your own at a school near you, or you can go to Crowder College in Missouri that you will pay for, don't know the exact cost, but it is very reasonable. They do not offer financing for the school, you have to pay it up front, but check into it if you need the school because it's MUCH cheaper than a lot of them. My boys wish they had gone their to start with because of the excellent training they offer.
They do offer extra pay for things like layover, it should say on their website the exact amount and I know for a fact they pay extra for driving in the Northeast. Their website shows a list of states that you get the extra pay for. They also pay extra for additional stops.
As far as doing what they say, yes, in our experience they do. Other people may say differently, but the boys were never told anything that wasn't true.