Newbie...Would Like Opinions

Hi all, I'm new to the forums here and kinda of new to trucking (dad was a driver), so a little about myself I'm a 39 wife and mother of 5 looking to get into driving to better support the three teenagers I have left at home. The area we live in has almost no year round jobs and the few there are don't offer benefits, so driving makes sense. I hope to get local once any commitment to the company I go with for my schooling/training is done. I'm scheduled to start school with C.R. England on Monday, August 12. I've seen a lot of people on different places saying not to go through them, however they are the only company that was willing to train me and "offer" me a chance, other programs wouldn't bring me in because of where I live. Every thing I've read on here points to this being a non-biased group of drivers and I'd like to know what you think about going through CRE for training?

Not an experienced driver here, but have done a lot of looking into the various trucking schools and company sponsored training programs and here is what I have found.

The company sponsored programs like CR England have no incentive what so ever to provide crappy training to a new driver. They have all of the incentive to give you quality training so that you may pass your CDL , become a driver, safely and efficiently handle their freight, and stay within the DOT rules. CR England nor any other company would want to give a new driver poor training since the company has all of the risk, your driving their truck, trailer, and hauling their customers freight. They have a lot more skin in the game than the driver does.

Probably the biggest factor of the training will be the pay, not sure if CR England pays you while your training on the road or not, if they do it will be minimal. However if they are close to your home that will be benificial since you won't have to travel out of state and stay in a motel for several weeks and pay for meals. I would think that if you have the chance, being able to stay at home and eat your own food would probably outweigh the minimal training pay.

One thing CR England and a lot of training companies will try and get you to do is lease a truck, DONT DO IT. Just be a driver, no need to take on more responsibilty than you need. You will have your hands plenty full of just being a safe and responsible driver, you don't need to deal with all of the other issues that a lease brings.

In final, I don't think there would be anything wrong with training with CR England. Train with them, get your CDL, stay there at least a year longer if possible and then if you want to find a different company then go for it.

Welcome aboard Tanya!

There are two things I would suggest about going with CR England.

One would be to take our High Road Online CDL Training Program, which you already are and you're doing great!!! 99% average at almost 25% of the way through. Nice! You want to be as prepared as possible.

The other things is to expect CR England to really push the leasing thing. They really, really want you to lease. I mean, like Tom wants to catch Jerry! Like Italians want spaghetti! (I'm Italian). I mean, they really, really want you to lease.

Ignore it. Smile and act like you're listening intently. Pretend you believe the hype (it is some great hype!). Then just say "No thanks" and become a company driver.

As you had mentioned, CR England was the only one who would give you a shot because of where you live. They also tend to be the most lenient when it comes to hiring standards. The latter means they won't always bring in the people with the most "potential for success" to put it nicely. In your case it obviously has nothing to do with that. But once you get their you'll immediately see that half of your class won't be there in a week. Some will fail the physical, some will fail the drug test, some will quit for various reasons, and some will get put back on the bus. So CR England probably has the worst reputation across the Web, but that's not saying much. Mother Theresa would get chastised for being a manipulative punk if you brought her name up at TheTruckersReport, and she probably has several complaints against her at RipOffReport

Ya know what you have to do? Ignore every last bit of it and focus on yourself. Study our training program til you're blue in the face. Show up there with a big smile and take everything in stride. Avoid the knuckleheads in your class and buddy-up with others that plan on taking their opportunity seriously and making the most of it. Learn all you can, stay the course through the inevitable ups and downs that every rookie driver experiences, and in the end you'll do just great!

Trucking is performance-based. Go there with a competitive spirit. Go with the intent of out-performing everyone in your class when it comes to driving, book knowledge, and attitude. If you take that approach things will work out great in the end.

Probably the biggest factor of the training will be the pay, not sure if CR England pays you while your training on the road or not, if they do it will be minimal. However if they are close to your home that will be benificial since you won't have to travel out of state and stay in a motel for several weeks and pay for meals. I would think that if you have the chance, being able to stay at home and eat your own food would probably outweigh the minimal training pay.

Thank you both for your comments. I'm looking forward to the experience with a lot of mixed feelings due to the huge lifestyle change for myself and my family. The school isn't close to home but they do pay while on the road, it is minimal but still more than what I'm making now.

Thank you both for your comments. I'm looking forward to the experience with a lot of mixed feelings due to the huge lifestyle change for myself and my family. The school isn't close to home but they do pay while on the road, it is minimal but still more than what I'm making now.

Well I understand the uncertainty of getting into a job that is totally going to change your lifestyle. I have a wife and a daughter and I too have thought about how the time away is going to affect things, but what I keep thinking about most is needing a stable career with decent pay to support my family. Getting your CDL will open up a variety of driving jobs that will cost a lot less than most training schools. So as I see it, becoming a driver is just an investment for the future, being tired of jobs that don't deliver what they promise is getting rather old and I am ready for the next chapter.

Its good to hear that CR England will pay you while on the road, not much to be made during training but your working towards a bigger goal. I think you'll do fine as long as you use the study materials on here and prepare yourself. That will put you ahead of most of the class. Also keep a good list of friends in trucking, new drivers and experienced as well. These drivers will be your support when you 1000 miles from home and wondering why you got into this job, chances are whatever problem your having they are currently dealing with it also or have been through it.

Good luck and hope to hear about your time in school, I am anxiously awaiting mine.

Well I understand the uncertainty of getting into a job that is totally going to change your lifestyle. I have a wife and a daughter and I too have thought about how the time away is going to affect things, but what I keep thinking about most is needing a stable career with decent pay to support my family. Getting your CDL will open up a variety of driving jobs that will cost a lot less than most training schools. So as I see it, becoming a driver is just an investment for the future, being tired of jobs that don't deliver what they promise is getting rather old and I am ready for the next chapter.

I fully agree with the jobs not delivering what they promised. Just put in my two weeks at the most recent (3 in the last 3 yrs.) so that I can start school and the new life. Good luck as you also prepare for this wonderful new adventure. I look forward to hearing about your time in school also when you get there.

Getting ready to leave for school in about 10 days I realized that there are a lot of changes coming. When I started out on this adventure I didn't think about all the little things that will change when I'm not here to take care of them, like writing down passwords and user names for the different online bill payments, getting my husband on the checking account, getting him a debit card so I can have mine with me, and the list goes on. I'm getting more excited, nervous, a bit scared, and even anxious about beginning this new phase, as I told my mom today though I would be really worried if I weren't feeling those things. Super excited to be taking the chance on doing something I really do LOVE!!!!

Tanya, it will be a change for everyone in your family. Your husband and children will have to become more resourceful.....do the laundry, dishes, cooking, garbage out, cat in...that sort of thing. There will be a shift in accountability, and responsibility....like it or not. Its a new era in your family..I hope they are on board with it !!

A little fear, nervousness, anxiety is a good thing. It keep you sharp and focused. Naturally there is a line where it becomes a burden and prevents you from enjoying your life and being sharp and focused.

One big thing to keep in mind is that you are only living now. The past is gone and most importantly, the future isn't here yet. You can be prepared for the future if you can't focus on what you're doing now. So focus on what you're doing right now and practice putting the rest of life out of your mind. This is something I remind myself of constantly. We all need to. We all get scatter-brained from time to time thinking about 1000 different things we have to take care of and we lose focus. When that happens to me I try to pick the most important thing I need to take care of right now and I focus on doing that alone and nothing else. Even doing that for 10 minutes can be incredibly helpful. Not only does it calm the mind and help you relax and focus, but you'll actually get something done!

So stay sharp and focused, keep marching slowly forward. And don't forget - it's easy to get in a mindset of work and worry. If you can't find a way to enjoy yourself right now then you'll never be happy because right now is "real life" - the past and future only exist in our minds.

Thanks for the responses, Starcar the family is fully on board with this decision even the two that are married and on their own. Brett thank you for the reminder, staying in the now is a very big part of my current job, I tried to stay focused and have fun every day as well as learn at least one new thing. It just hit me all of a sudden yesterday how many little things I'd never even given a thought to that I do that someone else will have to pick up now...lol My husbands favorite line when I start to get scatterbrained about stuff is "Honey, we can handle everything here, you want to do this and it will be much better for all of us" calms me right down.