CR England's Integrity Interviews
I started training with CR England in November, 2005 at their Mira Loma, CA training center. Paid their administration fee (which is the cheapest in the industry) which is NOT refundable by any trucking school in the USA, took physical and started training class on first day. On the 4th day of classroom training we were informed that we would be having an Integrity Interview with an ex-FBI agent later that day.
I had taken many psychology courses in both the military and in college.....so I was very aware of how these types of interviews are conducted. All the interviewer said to the class before the interviews began was 'just answer the questions honestly and you will have nothing to worry about'.
Out of our class of about 50 students, only 1 person was deemed unacceptable because he was caught in a lie about his drug usage in the past. Now mind you.....most of us had a past which included drug or excessive alcohol usage. I just answered all of his questions honestly and had no problems.
As for CR England's interest in a person's drinking habits, it is much more than their religious doctrine that motivates their interest. It is motivated by accident rates, insurance costs and the Federal DOT's requirement that a truck driver's BAC always be 0.00% when on duty. CR England's policy is that a driver can not come on duty until 24 hours has passed after consumption of alcoholic beverages, very reasonable considering the risks associated with working or driving while intoxicated.
I completed CR England's entire training, including the Over The Road and CAT portions and began working as a solo company driver in February, 2006. I was given a 3 year old truck and assigned to a nation-wide fleet for 3 months, Driver Manager (DM) was fair and did all he could to help me. In those 3 months, I did have 1 late load that was my fault.....misread appointment time on Load Assignment sent over QualComm....resulted in no disciplinary action against me but DM wanted me to make sure it didn't happen again.....fair enough! The starting pay was low.....0.25/mile but I was a beginner.
After 3 months I asked for and was transferred to their Western Regional Fleet (11 western states only), kept same truck, pay was raised to 0.29/mile. In June, 2006 was assigned a brand new Freightliner Century with only 24 miles on her. My new DM was absolutely great! Of course, I made some dumb rookie mistakes in that time.....log errors, 1 overweight ticket, and 1 small fender bender in truck stop, but no late loads.
(Most log errors occurred while trying to utilize the split-sleeper berth provision). I worked hard with the log department to correct my errors and always weighed every load over 20,000 lbs after that.
The only disciplinary action that was administered during my time in this fleet was connected to the fender bender that occurred in August, 2006. I was required to go to the Salt Lake City, UT terminal to receive retraining which consisted of attending 1 live safety meeting, attending 1 advanced defensive driving class and demonstrating safe driving skills with a driver trainer. I was also placed on 1 year probation (a bit excessive I thought at the time.....3 or 6 moths seemed more appropriate). I also did have to report to Salt Lake City, UT one time for a random drug test.....wasn't a problem.
In February, 2007 I requested a transfer to a dedicated fleet that runs from Oxnard, CA to Salt lake City, UT or to Portland, OR and back. After talking with the fleet's DM and Safety Manager, I was accepted (even though I still had 6 months remaining on my 12 month safety probation) and received a raise to 0.36/mile. The DM was good although she was pregnant and could be moody at times! After 2 months, my fleet was assigned to a new DM who did not have a lot of experience. He is doing a great job! We have a great working relationship.....he does all he can for me and I do the same for him! In 2007, I made $43,0000.....not bad for a so-called 'bad company'.
This year I am averaging 2,900 miles/week and will make the promised $50,000 after only 2 years.
I have always been payed any expense reimbursements, training pay, detention pay, layover pay, load/unload pay, vacation pay, short-haul bonus pay, etc. that I had earned or had coming!
Also, CR England has proven to me that they really are serious about safety issues more than the almighty $. They go out of their way to help anyone who is willing to ask for help.
I have company-paid life and medical/dental insurance, company co-paid vision and accidental death insurance, and employee paid legal services. I also a have company matched 401(k) retirement plan.
2 months ago, I put my resume out on a few truck driver employment sites and received 72 responses from trucking companies, ranging from large nation-wide carriers to small local operations.....wanting to hire me. I declined all the offers as none were able to match what I am making now with CR England. Some paid more but could not give me as many miles/week.....some could give me more miles/week but paid less per mile.....none were able to offer me a comparable benefits package for the same costs to me!
During my employment at CR England, I have always been treated with respect. I have never witnessed any special treatment given to any employee or trainee by any staff member. I have never witnessed any bigotry or racism displayed by any staff member either.
In closing, I wish to extend my best wishes to anyone who believes they either got the shaft from or were just treated unfairly by this company.
I do recommend that any beginner stay away from any 'lease program', no matter what company is offering it.
Life is what you make it and everyone gets what they earn.....even if they are unwilling or unable to see it.
CR England damage control?
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Originally Posted by almondlikethenut
