why i choose crst

I know very little about CRST,GOOD LUCK

 

I hope your not banking on that. You get 1 week paid vacation after your first year, and your not getting a rental car to orientation. It will be a Greyhound. and you will have to pay it back. The benefits from day one are going to be an overly expensive gap plan until you normal insurance kicks in at 6 months. I hope the best for you but take it from a 3 year CRST trainer that just quite someone isn't being straight with you.

 

Here's a thought; is it at all possible that 60,000 miles, as quoted by the website, and Truckerjaw's 1 year estimate for your vacation time are the same thing? I've hear tell of nightmarish situations where a rookie is sent to someplace no experienced trucker will go, usually in New York or California so you can't idle, and he's left sitting for three days waiting for his next pick up. You could, in theory, work for twelve months and only log 60,000 miles. The company would feel so bad for you that they give you your paid vacation, it's not like they're using you anyway.

 

I'm not going to go threw the last 3 months of my employment but I assure you that at no point was I walked on. I went threw a lot of things that in the future could get me drug into court by OOIDA and a couple o/o's as a witness over the things I know. I'm just trying to warn you.

You don't have to take my word for it. You can go find out for your self. Like I said I was a trainer for a long time. I saw first hand what the new drivers went threw. I will tell you that most of them quit as soon as their contract was up and some even before (this will get you sued for 5k). I'm not trying to tell you what to do. I'm just trying to warn you about what your getting in to. There is paid vacation and maybe they figure you will average 60k miles a year (thats 120K to the truck). Thats not hard to do at all. When I left I turned in an '06 Freightliner that I got new that had 430,000+ miles on it when I left.

And I don't know where you got the idea of home every weekend. CRST Premier witch is a small regional sub company of CRST doesn't even get that on a regular basis. You will earn 1 1/2 days off per week but you will have to stay out for 28 days before you can go home unless there is an emergency. You might luck out if you prove your self and live in the right area and get into a dedicated run. That might get you home more often. Problem there isn't too many of them left. They are loosing them faster then they can find them. Like the Kitty Hawk account that was 60+ dedicated lanes a day that they lost in February.

If you don't like the idea of paying back the Greyhound bus ticket your going to hate that any hotel they put you in until you are assigned a trainer is also coming out of your pocket. And lets not forget $100 for that pre-screen drug test. These charges will come out in weekly payments for your first 90 days.

Like I say I was never walked on. I got a lot of things no one else could. Faster higher HP trucks, choice of terminals to have work done, ability to refuse loads. Someone who is getting walked on doesn't get these things.

Again I wish you luck but your recruiter isn't being straight with you. I suggest you go to a truck stop and ask CRST drivers and see what they say. Or call and talk with a different recruiter and see what they tell you. I promise you it will be different then what you have heard so far.

 

Hes talking about seasoned drivers- not students. My experience with CRST as a company driver was positive and I left on good terms. I hired in as a trainer and CRST paid for a rental car to drive to orientation and paid for my lodging and orientation. I really enjoyed working for them but I also had a great dispatcher. In return I delivered his loads on time and treated him with courtesy. Just my two cents.

 

i wouldnt do it stay away

 

oh no, top 3 worst companies in my book.

 

So far recruiters have been pretty straight with me. Vacation wise I didnt bother asking since any industry it's pretty standard 1 year = 1 week. The only suprise so far was the change in plan from 3 weeks in school then home for 4-5 days to now finish school in Kentucky, then bus or rental car to Ok then orientation and straight into a trainer truck. So I will be 7-8 weeks at least before I am scheduled home time. But hey thats the price of being a rookie. Sure I'm not getting the best deal out there, but with no experience and no other prospects.....I am getting my foot in the door with a deal I can live with.

And I wont judge CRST as a company during the first 8 months. I am sure they will treat me diff as a contract driver than one who has completed his commitment and now drivers for them simply by choice. At that time if they dont treat me right, well I'll be asking about other companies.

That 7-8 weeks out right off the bat isnt my favorite thing. But they gonna have to do a lot better than that to make me walk.