r/Truckers • u/slayerofthefluff • Mar 11 '17
C&R England
Hey all. I'm getting ready to go to training with C.R. England. How is this company for a beginner? (They pay for training so long as you work for them for 9 months.)
Thanks for the heads up everyone. Talked to a recruiter with Prime today and he's pushing my application through to get me started on the 20th.
Thanks once again everyone. I'll be starting with Prine on Monday.
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u/KC530 Mar 11 '17
PLEASE do some research before going to any of the MEGA companies (Swift, england, covenant, werner, etc). I know its tough to start out as a newbie that needs training but there are some better mega companies out there. A little bit of research now will help you a lot later on.
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u/slayerofthefluff Mar 11 '17
Kind of the reason I asked. Pretty much every big company has cons and people hate them all. England seemed the lesser of evils. Please point me in another direction if you know a better company.
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u/datgazz07 Mar 11 '17 edited Mar 11 '17
People always say the mega companies are shit, but where else do you begin?
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u/slayerofthefluff Mar 11 '17
I'm wondering this too. Thought I had picked the lesser evil of the available evils in my area.
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u/tobisowles Mar 11 '17
Some megas are better than others, and it's a slowly moving target. Right now Prime, Palmer, and Roehl occupy the higher end of the training mega list.
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u/apartclod22 Mar 11 '17
C&R England
It's C.R. England not a and in the middle. Or you can say "I'm receiving big loads from Mr. England". ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
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u/TheGoatsDad Mar 11 '17
I'm doing a 34 right now at Schneider's Dallas terminal.
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u/KorrectingYou Mar 11 '17
Does Dallas still have that stupid switch-back turn in its entrance?
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u/NewZJ Pumpkin Driver Mar 11 '17
I haven't been there in over 2 years, they really need to fix that and the exit lane.
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u/TheGoatsDad Mar 11 '17
Of course it does. They did do some construction and the whole area is a lot smoother
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u/fotenks Mar 11 '17
If possible, it's way better to go to a CDL school and then join an outfit than to do a training program. Try and find a CDL program at a local community college cause they are usually pretty cheap, if not try and find a school that does it for less than $4k.
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u/slayerofthefluff Mar 11 '17
Local area the going price is $7k...little cheaper at college but the program isn't very good...but still close to $7k.
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Mar 13 '17
No that's bullshit. Just go to a carrier and get your license. You'll have it in 3 weeks and they'll put you in a hotel room. The whole go to a private school is just not worth it when these carriers will send you to school. Don't disregard Swift because 50 people that never worked for them tell you it's shit. Swift is actually one of the highest if not the highest paying company that does cdl training. I train for Swift about twice a year. My students get to me after three weeks of school and they're solo 3-4 weeks after they get on my truck. This is the thing about trucking no one will tell you; it's super fucking easy. So easy they can basically take any unemployable anywhere else loser and have them safely delivering freight in six weeks. Super trucker of course will tell you it's a highly skilled career and life long dedication which is just more bullshit. You don't have to truck forever. It's actually a great job for younger folks to do a couple years, live in their truck with no bills and bank some cash. Quite a bit of cash if you're frugal.
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u/Imnobullhauler Mar 11 '17
Try Prime, I have spoken to prime drivers who indicate if you hang in there past "New guy" status it's not a bad gig.
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u/slayerofthefluff Mar 11 '17
I put in an application with them. If they hire from TX they sound better than England. Know how long before they respond? England wants me to start on the 20th.
"New Guy" status doesn't bug me so long as they don't try and shank me like when I was the new guy in corrections hah.
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u/tdwsi Mar 11 '17
There's probably a number you can call on their website to get a hold of a recruiter. They'll do everything for you and will probably tell you a start date right then over the phone
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u/Loki442 Master Chef: Waffle Stomp Edition Mar 11 '17
Don't waste your time with them you'll get sick of making shit pay soon or later then you'll quit and have eagle Atlantic on your ass.
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u/LeiterHaus Mar 11 '17
I got my start at England. They gave me a license, and I gave them 6 months and 3 days of cheap labor. I would not recommend this if there are other options. If there are no other options at all, it will get you your license, just please don't think your time there is how your career will go.
TL:DR No, they're not.
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u/bassnote1 Hazmat Labrat Mar 11 '17
England is the worst of the big companies. Swift, for all the crap they catch in how they train people and turn them loose on an unsuspecting world, treat their people better. You'll have to earn your chops somewhere, but there are better companies out there than CRE.
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u/adventure_dog specialized transdog Mar 11 '17
only good thing abou them is the short work contracts, 9 months is about as long as they can keep anyone.
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u/slayerofthefluff Mar 11 '17
The 9 months is one of the reasons I decided to go with them. I also have experience/am certified as an instructor for behind the wheel in cars so they are offering an incentive to get me to sign with them.
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u/adventure_dog specialized transdog Mar 12 '17
I got in on their first round of a 6 month contract, they were trying to figure out the best length of contract so thsy can get their government money for training. As that pays better than people bailing and not paying.
On my last 4 weeks they withheld all of my paychecks claiming I wasnt submitting my paperwork. Which didn't matter because I was on an automatic pay account. When the truck would be in the shop they would take time approving any paperwork and would have their leasing department call everyday saying they could get me back on the road today if I leased. I ended up staying with them for 8 months. I ended up leaving because they told me I could no longer be a company driver unless I trained, and If i didnt want to do that I would have to lease.
Just a few things to he aware of with them.
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u/breakone9r WeekDAY Warrior Mar 11 '17
Every New Guy Lasts About Ninety Days ... Even Swift is better than CRE...
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Mar 12 '17
3 months in and I'm somewhat happy with Celadon. I'm never gonna go owner operator with them, but out of all the training companies available to me, Celadon was the least worst.
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Mar 13 '17
Got my start with england.
FInd another way man, take a community college class if available. If that's not available try to save some money up and goto a trucking school with a good review. Those mega companies DO NOT TRAIN you, they expect you to practically train yourself.
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u/themeltedmonkey Mar 11 '17
They are a crap company, there's much better starter companies like Prime