Truck Driving Jobs

dljames50 · Joined: 22 Dec 2004 Posts: 2 Location: Easton,Pennsylvania

Can any drivers out there especially those that work for this company tell me about CRST? I would like to know about the company and their training program. Thanks :) :)

BanditsCousin · Joined: 05 Jun 2004 Posts: 3322 Location: Chicago, IL

I hear the van sector stinks, but I hear good things from CRST Malone (flatbed).

just_froggy · Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2004 3:37 pm Post subject:

Ha ha ha......read my signature. CRST is horrible. My fiancee' drove for them for 3 months. I'm surprised he lasted that long. I look back and laugh at the thought that I almost went to their training to get my CDL. I'd stay away.

dtrain · Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2005 11:39 am Post subject:

just_froggy wrote: Ha ha ha......read my signature. CRST is horrible. My fiancee' drove for them for 3 months. I'm surprised he lasted that long. I look back and laugh at the thought that I almost went to their training to get my CDL. I'd stay away.
just_froggy; what was it about CRST that is so horrible? :twisted: I was thinking about going with CRST for the training and run with them for six months. :idea: After that I would move on to a better company and solo driving. I was wondering if I could deal with this companies problems if they weren't too horrendous for six months. :roll: Thanks in advance. See you on the big road! :rock:

dtrain · Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2005 11:45 am Post subject: Current CRST drivers

professional drivers; are there any current CRST drivers out there that can tell me from their own experience about CRST :? . I am getting negative feedback but no examples of what is negative about CRST. I would like to know because there is possibility for me to go to work for them soon. Thanks in advance. Go safely; see you on the big road! :rock:

littleman2 · Joined: 03 Jul 2004 Posts: 1954 Location: Washington State

dtrain if you go get training with crst here is what you will find 1 two year contract you can't leave for two years shoots the 6 months find a better place to work down. 2 on crst web site they even threaten you before you even sign up about not jumping ship. those 2 reasons alone would make not even think about signing up. the French Foreign Legion sounds better than CRST.

just_froggy

1. His co-driver was a complete psycho. I mean, this guy had some mental problems and should not have been behind the wheel of a truck. Asked several times for a new co-driver, never happened.

2. Co-driver took the truck home on time off. He lives 5 hours from here. CRST knows thats the co-driver took the truck home. Co-driver does not show up to the truck until 2 days after he was supposed to be there. We had three phone numbers for this guy and every one of them we called this guy was no where to be found. Result? Screaming dispatcher blaming the whole thing on my fiancee'. I can vouch for this.

3. Driver refresher course. He had to go through it. CRST took the payments out of his pay twice a week. When he started out, we knew he wasn't going to be making good money. They took their payment (I forget how much it was) and sometimes he was left with maybe $20. No one can survive on that. And god forbid he was on hometime. Since they pay twice a week, the day he would not get any pay for his hometime, the next payday where he would get money they took out two, yes count them, two payments. He called to check his comcheck balance the one day after this happened and they left him 67 cents. In the meantime I am home packing up our apartment because we can't pay the rent. We pathetically moved in with my mother.

4. His dispatcher. Now I know dispatchers have pretty stressful jobs, being responsible for alot of trucks. Heck, there are even nice ones out there I hear. This guy was just downright mean and nasty. I listened to him scream at my fiancee (see #1) and could not believe what I was hearing.

5. The miles. They are not as great as the recruiter promises.

6. He quit, with no load on the truck, they put on his DAC that they terminated him.

7. Expected him to find a ride to where the co-driver lived. Recruiter promised (HA!) That they would have him dropped off at one of the truck stops along the interstate near us. This only happened once, and he had to catch a ride with another team coming this way. The co-driver lived 4-5 hour drive away, and our car is a rickety '89. Sure, I see this happening.

There are many other little things along the way that went on. This was a year ago he drove for them, so I don't remember all of it. I have seen some posts on here from CRST drivers (not many) that it is not a bad company. If your back round is clean, I highly suggest another company. CRST will treat you like dog crap on your shoe.

Oh, and I forgot to add, we owe them money still for his refresher course. We didn't pay it, we are getting all our stuff together and filing for bankruptcy. If you don't fulfill your contract with them, you end up owing them the money, plus they tack on a hefty interest rate. He owed something like $250, we got a letter in the mail the other day and it is now up to $800.

Onlythefacts · Joined: 04 Feb 2005 Posts: 3 Location: Birmingham, Al

I cannot speak for the VanEx side, but I can tell you anything you want to know about the Flatbed side... there have been major changes done with the flatbed division over the past four months (and they were for the better), and I am sure there are more coming. The flatbed division is agent based, with good paying loaded miles, and one on one dispatch, NO QUALCOMM.

devin · Joined: 04 Mar 2005 Posts: 13 Location: mesquite

crst is a great company to get started with if you have never drivin before you just need to keep a tight grip on your home,other than that they are prity good overall. i drove for them for almost a year, i left after my codriver rold are truck. and as for the flat bed division it is a closed area because thay dont want to expand there solo division if you run under an o/o already leasted on then you can get in,there teams in flatbed run well.[/img]

tired old trucker · Joined: 03 Mar 2005 Posts: 81 Location: hartwell,ga.

you can do better than Crash and Roll StreetTruck...miles may be good...but you got to have they money that goes with them........45 cents a mile aint worth it if you only get 1000 k miles a week.......they money has got to match the miles......and i know that hometime is a major issue.....keep looking and you will find better.....

wbecca52 · Joined: 02 Feb 2005 Posts: 14 Location: Saint Augustine, FL

I drove for them about 4 or 5 years ago. The thing I hated about them was teams. I'm not a people person, and changed co-drivers like a baby changes diapers, so I spent lots of time in terminals and motels. That's about all I remember about them. :?

8ball1977 · Joined: 11 Feb 2005 Posts: 27

just frogy,who was his trainer?sounds like he and my hubby had the same one :cry:
I guess if he would've gotten a better trainer,it would've been a bit better,but still don't know how long he would've stayed with them

RustyShackleford · Joined: 17 Dec 2004 Posts: 17 Location: kansas city

I think that they are mainly teams there, right?

I would want to stay away from that. With the possible exception of a husband-wife, I would think that that teaming would suck. I wouldn't want to spend that much time with even my best friend closed in a little area like that.

devin · Joined: 04 Mar 2005 Posts: 13 Location: mesquite

if you like having the truck making money will you sleep it is a good company to start out on. you should really get to now someone before you jump in with them though. its just like a marage in the truck. it can get as for the miles we ran 7400 miles a week. but we got paid split miles, we were paid .52 cents a mile split between us.

lifespalette · Joined: 08 Jul 2003 Posts: 305

Every time I read someone's post about how CRST or any other company screwed them, that they owe a ton of money for the refresher course or the schooling what with the interest and all, that they weren't making any money because the deductions were killing them or that they were going to have to file bankruptcy I have to take it with a grain of salt.

Folks the truth of the matter is.. trucking maybe a job or a lifestyle if you want to call it that... but when you boil it all down, it's a business and you're a business executive... you're the CFO and CEO all rolled into one.

You can pretty well bet that most folks who end up broke getting into the profession, didn't have a clue nor a plan..... just wanting to be a trucker and getting your CDL isn't a plan.

Here's a few observations I think are pertinent. One.... if you're having financial problems before you get your schooling and your training period, you're not going to make it. The realities are against you. Even if you can get the miles to make $30 - $35K your first year... the largest portion of that is going to come in the last 6 months of the first year. Few if any companies are going to pay you while you are in school. Some will only pay you a fixed rate while you're in the training period and will deduct any advances from that taken out during your training period. You need enough cash reserves to cover your first 3-4 months into your big adventure......simply put, you need to be able to cover all your household expenses for 3-4 months without depending on that pay check during your training period. You need to be real folks... while you're out on the road, momma and the kids are still back at home with all the expenses......there's the rent or mortgage to be paid, utilities, car payments / operating expenses, car / medical insurance and any bills you have accumulated, not to mention little johnny and mary's school clothes, fun money, school lunches, school supplies, little league fees, dance fees, etc. etc.....now throw in your living expenses on the road (cause you have to eat, shower, brush your teeth, etc., etc.).......add that all up and your paycheck is gone before you know it. Before you even think about making that big jump, you need to take a realistic look at your finances and be honest. If you're behind on your monthly bills, rent, mortgage, etc., etc..... go get you a job flipping hamburgers until you can get your house in order, the odds are you will make more take home pay doing that then you will just getting into trucking.... I promise you, if you're already in financial trouble and thinking that by becoming a truck driver you're going to solve your financial troubles... you're standing in the batter's box, you've got 2 strikes against you and you're wearing a blind fold.

Second.... read every paper before you sign it and if you don't understand it for god's sake and yours don't put your signature on it. Especially if you can't pass the first point above.........you're setting yourself up for failure. Remember, any paper you sign that involves money is a contract.... every big trucking company has a boat load of lawyers who have created those forms and there are very few loop holes If you sign it you can't complain then when you find yourself broke. Remember, most of those contracts will spell out that any funds extended on your behalf to get your CDL by the company are educational advancements (student loans), that if you don't satisfy the contractual agreement, they become immediately due and start accruing interest...........and another thing to remember, student loans are usually not wiped out if you declare bankruptcy.

Third.... let's say you have the cash reserves to make it 3 to 4 months getting started........you have read and understand the business and contractual nature of the papers you're signing. You still need to have business plan and you need to execute that plan...... failure to plan is a plan for failure. You need to set up your budget for on the road, yeah it maybe nice to have all the toys and electronic gadgets, but you can live without them........don't fall into the temptation of instant gratification.....save that for the drive though at McDonald's. If things are tight, instead of buying that refrigerator for the truck and the inverter to run it.... get you a good ice chest and use that for a month or two or three. Buy your food stash before each trip at Walk-a-mile-mart and eat out of your food box. Forget the TV and CD/DVD player... get you some books from the library for those down times..........instead of that cell phone, get you a calling card with a set limit. You would be surprised the number of new drivers I've run into with the latest cell phone that they use to call home everyday, and then momma calls 3 or 4 times Ada and the kids call and at the end of the month, die from shell shock when momma calls and says the cell phone bill is $300 +.

I would be willing to bet, that for every 10 folks who post on this forum about the so and so company screwed them money wise, cheated them, ruined them financially and left them with a pile of bills and obligations... 9 of them had no business going into the business from the get go....... they weren't ready nor were they prepared to insure their chances of success.

And the last point is simply this.........attitude. The company doesn't exist to provide you a job.....it exist to make a profit for their stockholders. Your employment is a contractual situation .... you perform "x" services for "y" compensation.......something you have agreed on and too before you ever step foot in the cab..... if they screw up your pay check don't go
in all bent out of shape.......remember, you're a business professional as well as a truck driver, act like one....if you can't resolve it there are legal remedies and the great thing about this country of ours you have the freedom to move on to some other company you think will treat you better...... that does not relieve you of your contractual obligations to that company.... identify the consequences of your decisions and then be honorable to accept them if you choose to hit the road.

Every time I read some rant here, I have to wonder just what the company's side of the story would be........what would they say of the driver and would they be embarrassed for the whole story to be revealed to us here on the forum......I drove for CRST for about 6 months..... the only bad thing I had to experience was the lunatic partner they put me with.........besides some of the things I've posted in other threads here..... he was constantly bitching about the company screwing him out of money,.... not paying him on time, etc., etc.... yet he was always screwing up his paper work, losing his receipts, holding trip reports days after we dropped the load off, leaving off information on the forms that was required, etc. , etc..........but it was always CRST's fault for screwing him..... Hell, I wanted to screw him...........to the back of the trailer in a blizzard going through Montana in January just for the fun of it.

Folks... it's a business.... if you ever forget that for one week, you're setting yourself up for nothing but frustration, and hard times.... not only for you, but for momma and the kids back home and we all know that when momma ain't happy.......ain't nobody going to be happy.

Sorry for the rant... I'll climb down off the soap box now.........."we now return the control of your favorite station back to it's normal operations..."

be safe.... be smart........be professional.

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