We've been with CRST 2 years

Discussion in 'CRST' started by RamettePeregrine, Dec 9, 2016.

  1. RamettePeregrine

    RamettePeregrine Bobtail Member

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    When I first joined this forum it was to determine the lesser of the evils when it came to company-funded training. We've now been with the company 2 years and I thought it was about time we posted our experience to help the next round of folks.

    My husband drove a school bus before getting his class A but he couldn't find a job in my city when he moved to be with me. We searched for work for over a year and exhausted our savings so when we turned to trucking it was out of desperation. We ultimately choose CRST because it had an 8-month contract and they paid pretty much all of the up-front costs of getting a CDL. We had almost no start-up costs going through CRST. We had to repay $480 lodging, $252 transportation, $50 drug screen, $50 DOT physical and $50 processing fee. ($882 total) which was deducted at $40 per paycheck. It took about 7 weeks from the time he left to getting the first paycheck but that was because of a problem with his birth certificate that kept him from starting right away. The recruiter told us 5 weeks was a more usual number. Food is taken care of except dinner. They recommend you bring a couple hundred bucks to buy yourself dinner but we didn't have it so he took canned goods with him and used the microwave they had available or he went hungry.

    The school sleeps 3 to a room and you are at the mercy of your roommates for how pleasant or unpleasant it is. The bathrooms are gross, and you aren't going to have anything resembling privacy. During your training, it is imperative that you find someone you get along with in your class to make up your team after your time with a trainer. Finding a teammate later is really difficult and you often don't know anything about the guy except whether or not he smokes.

    After school, you go out with a trainer immediately. There is no home time between phase 1 and phase 2 training. They said to expect 8-10 weeks away from home, it ended up being a little over 3 months for us because of paperwork delays and wait times between stages. We got married in July, He left for training in August we got our first paycheck on October 2nd. We were recruited through the dedicated side of this so he only had to be with expedited until the first part of 2015. Expedited was trial by fire. You never knew where you'd be or when you'd get home. We had the truck break down more than once and there is nothing quite like being stranded 3000 miles from home while the truck gets fixed. I know a bunch of people complain about CRST paying really low during the contract but it paid the bills.

    Things improved greatly when he moved over to dedicated. After awhile he got a run where he leaves Sunday night and gets home Friday morning. He occasionally gets a backhaul thrown in unexpectedly and gets home Friday night. We like our driver manager, he does his best to get him home on time and fix screw ups with the paychecks (which happens way too often). He's been through a couple of partners but now has one he really gets along with and that makes all the difference in the world. Overall, CRST has been good to us. It is hard at first but it gets easier as time goes on. I think that is intentional to weed out the people who aren't a good fit for the long-term.
     
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  3. strollinruss

    strollinruss Road Train Member

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    Kudos for sticking it out. I firmly believe that sticking with something pays off in the long run.
     
  4. x1Heavy

    x1Heavy Road Train Member

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    People DO get weeded out. And they WILL be removed from the industry... USUALLY through something THEY did to themselves. You did two years. I would say you are doing well. IF you can be very careful and cautious every day you run in this third year on you build a golden ticket to any company in the USA to run for, they will fall over themselves to hire you both provided neither of you have preventables etc.

    It seems you and your Husband found a lane of freight that fits well. I hope that it stays well what with winter and all. Do your best to avoid drama etc.

    If you somehow make it 4 years or more consider yourselves hireable by anyone in the industry. All you have to do is pick a outfit.
     
    morpheus Thanks this.
  5. Midnightrider909

    Midnightrider909 Road Train Member

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    Two years is plenty long with CRST. You now have experience and can move on to something better.
     
    TequilaSunrise Thanks this.
  6. RamettePeregrine

    RamettePeregrine Bobtail Member

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    I've heard that one before and it might be that I suck at looking for trucking jobs but we really haven't seen any job postings we can look at an say "That will improve our lives". he's home weekly and on the weekend, he gets .43 a mile and they split miles not pay. We get 2 weeks paid vacation. 401k with company match (We are 20% vested) we have ppo health coverage with fixed copays on most services and coverage for the whole family. we have a good relationship with the driver manager and HIS manager because my husband is dependable and does not need baby sitting. The driver facing cameras can be capped as long as your driving record is good (he has no accidents, tickets or priors and loves dot checks for the easy money)

    The only greener pastures we've seen are the perks of solo driving like being able to ride with him when I don't have the kids. We aren't willing to trade the money and home time just for that though. CRST isn't perfect but it is sustainable and it is the devil we know.
     
    DRAGON64, x1Heavy and Midnightrider909 Thank this.
  7. MrIT

    MrIT Light Load Member

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    Cameras? He must work for one of the companies crst owns as expedited and dedicated do not have cameras
     
  8. RamettePeregrine

    RamettePeregrine Bobtail Member

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    As of two months ago they put cameras in the trucks
     
  9. MrIT

    MrIT Light Load Member

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    No they didn't. I worked there up to 2 weeks ago. Maybe your hubby lying to you

     
  10. Chinatown

    Chinatown Road Train Member

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  11. morpheus

    morpheus Medium Load Member

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    Where did you train? Des Moines or Keenesburg, CO?

    Thanks!
     
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