CRST International, I go up to Cedar Rapids Iowa May 21st for a 2 week refresher course, then go to 4 days of Orientation, then go out OTR with a trainer for 28 days, WOOHOO!

Finally getting back in a TRUCK, been to damn long.

Congratulations

Thanks!

Congrat buddy but i dont see the need of a training if you are taking a refreshment course.
have you ever drove for an otr company?

Yes, I went through 3 months of training back in 2007 with Werner, but since I've been out of a truck so long, and only went through training I am required by law (not company) to take a refresher course and go through training.

Congratulations!

I have had that song playing all day in my head...

Good deal

ok, so got home at 815a this morning, its been a nightmare of 2 months. i completed training, and got in a brand new freightliner cascadia, which is nice. but not making any money, im actually in debt to the company more now, then i was in the begining. isnt the idea of working...to make money, not owe it?

im reconsidering this company in a major way...

ps. anyone know a good lawyer that deals with this stuff?

wow man that is a bad way to start at the company. I would check your contract. I know that some law enforcement agencies will put a candidate threw the academy with agreement that they will stay with the agency for X number of years. Maybe this is something similar. But really the worse thing they can do is have you repay the training costs. Just don't let them try to tack on admin fees to it. That happened with an LEO friend of mine when he left the PD, after 6 months, to go work for the FBI. Ended up costing him almost triple what the academy would have cost out right. Good luck my friend just remember that jobs are tough to find right now.

You gotta spend money to make money brother... I wish I had an opportunity right now, there you have the potential to do well, just that OTR sucks when you have a wife or any ties to "land". The driver who make the money in that career are the ones willing to be on a truck for months at a time... Either way, good luck, and consider how much you will owe, and if they will be taking it out of your earnings in small increments... If that is the case, consider it a loan on your education and let the miles rack up!

-swordfish

Congratulations and good luck!

Little off topic;

With good old Willie up there it only seem right to bring in Jennings Waylon in these times with the song i like! Okay it has nothing to do with this thread...

Bad A$$ SONG - Dont hate!

How long do you have to stay with em?
Another point of view is, be glad you're not buried in 150k of student loan debt.
Here's the thing, In 1972 the US Gov created the student loan marketing association (Sallie Mae). It was a government sponsored enterprise or GSE. In a nut shell the fed regulated all student loans. Who was eledgible, how much they got, and the terms of pay back. That included a fixed fixed interest rate and the cost of a credit hour. Which at the time was about 150 an hour average with a few exceptions. Texas for instance was sitting on a sea of oil. You could go to a public college in Texas for 15.00 a credit hour. College enrollment starts to grow and by the mid 80's is over 2.5 x what it was when the act was signed into law and still climbing. In about 88 certain members of congress decide it would be a good idea to privatize the program and let the market lower costs. Like that ever works. As long as the Dem's held congress it never got to the floor. While credit hours did increase in cost a bit they were still very affordable depending on the course credit and level, graduate=more and post grad = even more. starting in 92 everything changed. from 92 to 96 the gov consolidated all the grant and loan programs placing most under Sallie Mae. Then in 96 they privatized Sallie Mae. Because deregulation lowers costs. Well it lowered the lenders costs but the students got hosed.

The short story Justin, you're stuck till the end of whatever training agreement you entered into. A lawyer can't help you with that. In fact he could make thing's much worse. You cause a problem they can and probably will fire you. Then you'll owe them and your lawyer. Your best bet is payoff whatever you owe without adding any more to the debt and go independant asap.

OHH, OK
user28 first you dont owe any training or orientation to d company; those were advance that you took from your future paycheck (right??), not even the bus ticket.one thing im sure if you quit today the amount you owe will be cover by your next pay. labor market it is very bad, my advise is this for the next 2 years: run 28 days rest 3 you will have 2 weeks in the $700 range and 1 week in the $300, cook the book, when backing GOAL if not sure move on if you are sure not to much, your objetive wiil be at the end of 2 years have a CLEAN driving record to move to a local carrier
if you are running team your partner its EXELENT if he run the miles, forget about caracter and manners, keep pissing in the bottle.
try to document every potencial problem.
be prepare for a LOT of manure it simple wont stop no matter how good you do.
2 years thats it.

Damn crash, I love reading someone who seems learned... I have been wanting to go to college, but that is what stops me... Sadly though, it seems like its mostly about luck landing a job I can and want to retire from. I think I need to go and fish a bit with ya for some valuable advice, or if nothing else simple some intelligent conversation. I am at that point in life where I want to commit to something long term, but what? LOL School is scary though, you end up with so much debt and most times the same pay as people without college...

Now, not to derail the thread. Yeah bud, finish your training, do your bit of time and like I said, hit the open road! I was just on their site, and it seems that they are willing to train you in return of 8 months worth of contract time from you... Hell, Id do that no problem, that is less than a year... Yeah they are going to work you, but, nothing in life is free, and 8 months go FAST, and they are still going to pay you... I may look into this myself. Got nothing to lose at the moment, and time will pass regardless. My .02 cents.

-swordfish

my brother is a driver for swift and hes been doing otr for almost 8 years now , what your going through is normal now days , just remember to try and not take advances if possible can lead to trouble , if i remember right when he started he was makeing 10 cents a mile , now he makes 23 cents a mile plus hes a driver trainier so when they get off the truck and are passed out and get there own truck he gets 1 cent a mile they drive so he makes like 29 cents a mile so far , dot know if CRST has electronic logs yet but if not theres a program called drivers daily logs i would look in to getting it and a lab top http://www.driversdailylog.com/index.htm this has saved my brother a few tickets .

just take your time with your trainer and you will get there in no time but that depends on your trainer too , weather yall get along ..

to make a small fortune in truck driving you need to start with a small fortune lol and dont let the nick name of the company fool ya CRST = cant remember chit trucking , swift has one too as most do SWIFT = stop wineing im *ucking trying

good luck out there and keep the rubber side down and between the lines !

Been there David, The first 11 weeks of my apprenticeship was school. We got payed for it. A whopping 5 dollars a day. At the end of 11 weeks we had to buy 400 + dollars worth of tools which we could not go to work with out. We started out at 40% of scale which came to about 7+ an hour. Another big difference was you didn't plan to go, you went when you were called. From the day I got my acceptance letter, I had 10 days to quit my job, and pretty much put my life on hold for the next 3 months.

Sword, first thing you want to do is figure out what you want to go to school for and what the job market will be for that when you get out. Like em or not, High demand job's are the way to go provided they pay. Some don't so you'll really need to do your research on this. Another thing to consider today is benefits. Some company's pay better but their benefits suck balls. You'll need to look at that when considering an employer. You can talk to your current employer and see what kind of promotion would be ava. if you went back to school. And what courses you'd need to take.
The bottom line is where there's a will there's a way. 40k a year with good benefits is worth 80k with no benefits. OB has fired up all kinds of back to school programs. Look into em here. http://www.ed.gov/
My parents always told me education was key to a great life style. Wish I would have listened.
Below are the 10 job's in highest demand right now. Many don't require a ton of college.



Computer specialists
Most common job titles: Project manager (information technology), Java developer, Web developer, .NET developer, SharePoint developer, PHP developer
Median entry-level salary: $56,750
Education: High-school plus equivalent experience or bachelor’s degree plus experience; certifications are available for both entry-level and experienced workers

2. Marketing managers
Most common job titles: Product manager, business development manager, product marketing manager, marketing manager/director, account manager, marketing communications manager
Median entry-level salary: $66,000
Education: 84 percent have a bachelor’s degree

3. Network and computer systems administrators
Most common job titles: Systems administrator, network engineer, network administrator, system administrator, systems engineer, SharePoint administrator, Linux systems administrator
Median entry-level salary: $55,000
Education: High-school plus equivalent experience or bachelor’s degree plus experience; certifications are available for both entry-level and experienced workers

4. Medical and health services managers
Most common job titles: Director of nursing, clinical manager, medical director, nurse manager, nursing home administrator, practice manager, director of pharmacy, program manager rehab
Median entry-level salary: $73,000
Education: 52 percent have a bachelor’s degree; 41 percent have a master’s degree

5. Industrial engineers
Most common job titles: Quality engineer, quality manager, process engineer, manufacturing engineer, project engineer, test engineer, design engineer, product engineer
Median entry-level salary: $60,000
Education: 62 percent have a bachelor’s degree

6. Occupational therapists
Most common job titles: Occupational therapist, OT
Median entry-level salary: $60,000
Education: 85 percent have a master’s degree

7. Merchandise displayers and window trimmers
Most common job titles: Merchandiser, retail sales merchandiser, retail project merchandiser, reset merchandiser, master merchandiser
Median entry-level salary: $35,000
Education: 77 percent have a high-school or equivalent degree

8. Medical scientists, except epidemiologists
Most common job titles: Clinical research associate or coordinator, research scientist, clinical laboratory scientist
Median entry-level salary: $57,000
Education: 81 percent have a doctoral/professional degree

9. Occupational therapist assistants
Most common job titles: Occupational therapy assistant, certified occupational therapy assistant, occupational therapist assistant
Median entry-level salary: $53,000
Education: 96 percent have an associate degree (O*Net data)

10. Physical therapist assistants
Most common job titles: Physical therapy assistant, PTA
Median entry-level salary: $49,500
Education: 71 percent have an associate degree