Experience with Crete & CFI recruiters
 

Planning, as I am, to move to the Pittsburgh area from Canada, I called up both Crete and CFI to ask about potential vacancies, since, from what I've read on this board so far, they appear to be arguably the best companies to work for by far.

The Crete recruiter, a specimen by the name of Bill, was one of the most abrupt & obnoxious characters I've ever had the unpleasant experience to talk to : even though I've been driving tractor-trailers for quite a while in Canada ( local, mountain and cross-border ), this "luminary" pretty much pooh-poohed my driving experience, and told me that it counts for absolutely nothing in the US, and that I would have to go to a driving school again. He made it very evident that I was wasting his time on the phone, even by calling him and asking for info. I thanked him ( with a heavy dose of sarcasm ) for his "kindness"....I'm pretty sure he was too dense to understand the undertone !!

The CFI recruiter, Margaret, was quite the polar opposite. She not only took the time to ask me about my situation and what kind of work I was looking for, but she also explained to me patiently, what I need to do to start driving in the US. And she did say that CFI certainly values my Canadian experience, and would seriously take that into account at the time of recruitment. I would, however, need to go through some orientation for a week or two, before being assigned my own truck...which is quite understandable.

Crete may be a great company to work for, but by placing such ignorant cretins ( no pun intended ) as the aforementioned at its point of first contact with potential drivers, it's certainly not doing its reputation any good....or is it simply arrogance as a result of smugness ?!?! Go figure !!

If you are a fatalist go with CFI. If you are curious call Crete back and speak to somebody different. There is good and bad everywhere (especially in recruiting).

I happen to know Bill and he happens to be one of the better mannered recruiters in the industry...as nice and non-pushy as you can want out of a recruiter. Can't say what happened between the two of you, but he is correct in that your Canadian experience doesn't count for anything in the U.S. with most companies. CFI might be the exception, but those exceptions are rare and they are the exception BECAUSE they run Canada and Mexico both.

curious
 

Hi. Graymist, welcome to the US. I'm curious as to what you have to do to be able to drive legally in the US. I take it you are a canadian citizen only.
I'am a dual citizen and have worked in both Canada & US. I moved from N.W. Ontario to Arizona back in May of 2006. Maybe I can help you in some way, if you have any questions. See ya...

If I came across as "a specimen by the name of Bill, was one of the most abrupt & obnoxious characters I've ever had the unpleasant experience to talk to " then the message was misunderstood.

It is our companies policy that requires that a driver have a permenant residence in the United States. The driver also must have a Class A CDL from the United States to come to work at CCC. To obtain a Class A CDL and meet our hiring requirements the driver must have attended a PTDI certified school or have at least 6 months of experience driving in the United States. Reason behind this policy is two fold. Number one, we have different rules and regulations required by the United States Department of Transportation that are different then in other countries. A solid understanding of these policies is required. Second, we are unable to verify driving experience in foreign countries.

I believe in delivering the truth. If it comes across as being too honest, then I am sorry. But why sugar coat something?

Good luck.

Man...us recruiters cant seem to win :shock: .....Either we get blamed for not telling the whole story or we are too truthful and the driver gets mad because it wasnt what they wanted to hear.
Recruiters DONT create company policy....we just have to abide by company policy.

If you are interested in CFI go to CFIDRIVERS.com. It,s a site like this but a little more cfi specific. I have gotten a lot of good info there.

It's the whole "not what you said, but how you say it" factor that bites you guys back most of the time. Recruiters are the face of the company, and what sucks is that sometimes you don't have all the information that you need or the training to do your job correctly. It's just easier for the company to blame you. I couldn't do it based on the simple fact that you talk to so many people with different backgrounds and personalities.

Anyway, Graymist, I hope that everything goes smooth with your relocation to the States. Good luck!

Graymist,

I called Crete yesterday myself and talked to a lady, don't remember her name but I was not highly impressed with Crete either.

My personal choice between the two would be CFI. Although between all of the large OTR companies there is not a dime's worth of difference between them at the end of the year....just what makes each individual satisfied.

I am leaning more towards some of the private fleets, talking with a couple of them now and they seem to be better than your run of the mill
truckload companies.

Good luck.

Bluebeetle????
 

Heck, I am just amazed that something has brought Beetle out of hiding. :D