Truck driver training is an industry to make a profit off people who know nothing about trucking. The target, those who can get a guaranteed student loan, qualify for financing with as much cash down as possible, or acquire some sort of government assistance work program like a workforce investment act voucher (WIA). Suitability for living the lifestyle required to be an “Over the Road” truck driver in the long term is focused on less in early recruiting, this is why is individuals should understand the truck driver student industry before they enter it.
Many people you will meet in student carriers are not made aware that they would be expected to drive 11 hours a day and that the pay in comparison to hours worked calculates out at less than minimum wage. Entry level truck driving students are often stunned to learn that truck drivers do a great deal of unpaid labor that is not logged according to FMCSA regulations and contrary to what they were taught at CDL school. This causes immediate conflict for some qualified candidates who do not understand “how it works” when you are only getting paid when the wheels are turning and not for all of the other daily responsibilites of a long-haul truck driver.
Student truck drivers are required to begin as OTR (over the road). This puts a great strain on familes when pay expected falls short and hometime requests are ignored. Some truck driver training carriers maximize their profits by exploiting student truckers by pushing them to perform “team driving” with persons of unknown origins. Training carriers with an associated lease owner-operator program are generally one-sided contracts designed to have the student essentially paying the carrier to work for them. Controlling miles dispatched so that new drivers make just nough to cover the truck payment and little else. These stressors are contributors to the high turnover of first year truck drivers.
There are some trucking carriers who employ practices to get the most out of ill-informed job seekers entering trucking. These carriers are setting you up to fail from day one, avoid them if possible. If you have already committed yourself to one of these carriers make sure you understand the tricks they play so you can beat the odds and go on to a better carrier.
Click the following links of carrier names to get an idea of some of the current complaints made by recent job seekers who thought trucking was a road to employment for them:
Read the complaints and understand these are often the same complaints by different people year after year. They are not isolated complaints by a few disgruntled employees. There is a pattern and practice by some carriers that generates student turnover for a constant stream of new low wage drivers. This is a profit strategy.
Covenant Transport
**Team driving may work well for a married couple but if you are a single person in a carrier that has primarily team miles you are painting yourself into a corner. Carriers who use the “team model” like CRST and Covenant Transport give few options to complete training in a safe enviroment. Team driving for multiple months or being pressured into becoming a trainer before you are fully prepared is dangerous for you, your student and the motoring public. Don’t put yourself in a carrier who will eventually place you in a situation where you have to choose making enough money to survive, over safety.
Please Google any carrier you plan to commit yourself to for truck driver training followed by the word “complaints”. For Instance: GOOGLE: “CR England Complaints” and read how carriers you are considering, treat student truckers. These are people who came into the industry hoping for a new chance at life but found nothing but rip-offs.
Always look at the date of the complaints for current issues and evaluate the complaints and criticisms. It is not unlike a carrier to pose as a regular person launching a critical attack on anyone who writes poor reviews about them on the internet. By the same token, there are drivers who complain about every little thing and are difficult to please. Evaluate the “anonymous” attacks and recognize that some paranoid carriers and organizations DO engage in online bullying tactics on the internet. Use this conduct as a snapshot of an internal level of professionalism, consider it as the way you will be treated as a driver employed by them. There are carriers who value drivers but it takes time to find the right fit for you and they may not advertise.
Rule of Thumb: The more you see the recruiting ads, the more you should be suspicious.
Other things to take into consideration are carriers who are “dumbing down” student truck drivers by teaching them electronic logs without teaching them how to do a paper log for a backup or teaching them only to drive an automatic truck, not a manual transmission. This will handicap your future as a tr
uck driver.
Suggestion: Skip over any training carrier who is not teaching you how to think without technology.
Carriers on this list are: US Xpress and Werner
Central Refrigerated, CRST Van Expedited, CR England all have recent allegations of trainers, supervisors, “lead seat” or co-drivers making unwanted sexual advances and/or sexual misconduct toward female trainees.
Research carefully before choosing your training carrier so that you don’t end up with a useless CDL. This is what happens to many student truckers who enter the trucking industry with the best intentions.
If you have current information about bad trucking carriers and poor training carriers to help warn others please post on this page. Another good place to look up carrier warnings is on the truckers report.
Please stick to the details and do not use foul language toward others.
Our Mission is to help others make better choices in truck driver training so that they will not be ripped off or harmed physically from the unprofessional training carriers that have created an industry of student truckers.
Hi i am a follower of your website i love to read all the trucking stories because my husband drives truck and trailer and i tell people to quit cutting people who drive truck they cant stop on a dime, so i tell them to slow it down don’t cut them off they can’t stop on a dime you know…anyways..i love your website, and then again i tell them their is not enough information about the trucking industry, to tell people about you truckers and what you load what you do, and how important it is to stay away far away don’t just cut the truckers off, they must stress this bigtime…Charlene Mangan
Actually, I’m doing alot of research on trucking schools as I want to change my career to trucking. I am a woman and I’ve heard alot of horror stories out there especially against CR England. They have approved me to go to school but I would like a school with a better reputation. One who cares about their students and gender should not matter. I want a good education and want to travel. Can anyone guide me to the right school for a woman who will get good training and not a ton on sexual harrassment. I m use to the harrassment because I’m a woman but I want to be able to concentrate on learning and being the best trucker I can be. I grew up in a houe full of men. 2 brothers and 5 uncles. I am a tomboy and want to have a traveling job……….Thanks
Stay away from CR England if at all possible. Look for a community college CDL Program, you can still get tuition funding for this. Your hiring area makes a difference on any carrier suggestion. Call our wednesday conference or call me at 385 232 4258
I m a woman and live in new orleans, could you also recommed a driving school in my area, as there is no driving program @ my local commuinity college.
I really do not know what schools to reccommend in your area. The best I can tell you is stay away from Roadmaster is possible because they charge way too mucb for what you can get much cheaper. The CDL school is really only going to give you very basic skills to go on to a training carrier where you will do your actual training. Any place you choose either CDL school or training carrier you should look up their names for complaints to see if others were ripped off by them.
The states unemployment department is paying for my training now i am shopping for a good employer. Try and see if you can get funding an alternative way.
That a good way to get your tuition paid for if you are eligible. Just choose wisely for your CDL training and Training Carrier. We did a blog talk radio program a few weeks back called “Qualified CDL Training”" with some recent students and they offered some valuable information about a couple of good training carriers. H.O Wolding and Halvorlines. Here is a link where you can replay that show on your computer http://www.blogtalkradio.com/womentruckersnetwork
Good Luck in your training and join us sometime in our weekly conferences and let us know how you are doing!
So , even if I went and paid for training somewhere you still have to start somewhere in the beginning and being in Wa state there are not a lot of choices , I need experience and for us to be able to drive together , so are you saying I shouldn’t drive with him or train to get my CDL, I have been in corp America for way to long and I want something different , this April , may I’m am going on a run with him to see if its something I really want to pursue , how did you get your traing done . So are there no good companies that train you for a CDL…
You should definately drive with him about 2 weeks or more. At least a month and realize you will be in sleeper when he is driving and one of you will be driving the night shift. Maybe he prefers the night shift and maybe he doesn’t but his life will change once you begin driving and you need to estimate the profitability based on what noth of you are will to give and not give. Can you sleep on a moving truck? Can he? After you decide some of the living and working issues I would look into investing in the CDL school and proceed from that point.
Hi,
I am in my last week of school should have my Class A CDL by mid Dec. I am researching alot of companies I am located in Seattle WA that I can transfer into as a student. So far all I am seeing is Swift. There are a few others but much of the research I have done tells me to stay away from them. Does anyone know of any other options?
Thanks,
Debbie
Hi Debbie:
I will email you privately but wanted to respond here also. Sadly, there is no one training carrier that is a perfect situation but a few names with better reputations are Schneider National and ROEHL. Despite that many complaints about Swift with regards to poor and unsafe training I have had very few complaints about trainers pressuring female students for sex. You will have to be diligent to document EVERYTHING yourself so that if you get into a situation you can defend yourself. Most all training carriers handle students as expendable and unimportant, yet they are always claiming to be desperate to hire them. You really have to fight to be treated with any sort of dignity and this goes for both male and female students. That being said you should be respectful of your trainer because this is a very hard job. They are literally risking their lives to train you so unless they are asking you to do something that violates you sexually or that is illegal you should understand they are trying to teach you something about the trucking lifestyle that will help you later. You may call me on my cell, (760-975-6868 or 385-232-4258) it is the fastest way to get a response. You may also call our weekly phone conference for support and advice. Our wednesday conference begins a Noon eastern 805 399 1000 access code 560199#.
Thanks,
Desiree
You certainly hit the nail on the head about how these mega companies exploit student drivers. The other part of this puzzle that I would like to understand is the trucking insurance industry’s cozy relationship with these abusive companies. I have 7 years of OTR experience and an absolutely clean driving record. No accidents of any kind, no moving traffic violations of any kind. I am professional in appearance and conduct and have excellent communication skills. Dream driver, right? No. My driving experience was from 1995-2002. In 2002 my wife and I were called to do mission work for our church in eastern Europe. Now I am back looking for a driving job and every single company I look at or talk to says you must have at least one year of experience in the last 3 because, “our insurance requires it”. When I ask them what I need to do to get back to work they all say the same thing, go work for Swift or CR England for a year. So my hunch is the insurance companies have made it impossible for smaller regional companies to hire drivers without recent experience thus forcing them to go work for the meatgrinder companies whose business plan is based on driver turnover. The fact is if you have driven for several years you do not lose your skills even if you are away for 10 years. Sure, you need to practice your shifting and backing a bit to get the old touch back, but we all know that safety is as much about attitude and mentality as it is about skills. Any insights into the relationship between insurance companies and the meatgrinder companies like Swift and CR England?
“meatgrinder” is an accurate word. The insurance issue is something I hear about frequently. The “meatgrinder” carriers CR England, Covenant Transport, Werner, US Xpress, and others in this catagory to my knowledge have their own insurance companies.
This why they can take someone with no skill off the street and put them in charge of an 18 wheeler in just a few weeks running real freight, sometimes team driving with someone who has just a bit more skill than the newbie. In my opinion they are playing russian roulette with the general public.
Think about it,
The Tractor and Trailer are insured, the freight is insured.
These mega carriers with the help of the ATA and general complacency of the public have created an indentured servitude operation called “The Qualified Truck Driver Shortage” but they are not looking for qualifed drivers, they are looking for ill informed drivers.
CR England is the kingpin of this mess and carry lots of clout in addition to ruining many lives with there lease program and other unethical business practices.
I would like to see an investigation to unravel how they funnel all potential drivers into these unethical carriers , it will take many individuals speaking on what is happening.
England doesn’t have to worry about the insurance aspect…they run their own insurance company to cover it. That’s why they can take on these numerous newbie drivers without worry of the insurance repercussions. I don’t regret leaving England one bit.
You bring up a good point! The fact that these mega carriers that train students have their own insurance companies allows them to take the risk but what is funny is that they push people out on the roads with such little skills and there are plenty of crashes of student carrier fleet trucks. I wonder if this is just another way they make money because they certainly engage in a whole lot of unethical practices.
Thanks for the comment!
Hi seen your clips on you tube getting back with a comp out of St Louis MO safety is #1 with them and waiting for nonsmoker trainer ha male or female at this point hauled hogs for indie for almost a year, worked with guys a lot frist time out years back went with comp out ark and was teamed with an dipshit and 2 weeks off the truck b4 i lost my cdl. Ladies dont take bullcrap hang tight and best of luck go with god.
Thanks for the comment! Good Luck on the new carrier! I hope they turn out to be what they appear to be. That seems to be a little tricky.
Here is a link to our new internet radio program too. It is the 1st trucking radio program hosted by women truckers. You can listen online or call the phone number to listen on your hands free devive.
Women Truckers Network Blog Talk Radio
well went out been with the company for 2 months feel like they want me to fail or leave but i wont to strong. but will find another driving job back to livestock least they walk on and off. Its been hard and my truck has no bunk heat have to work my way to better truck. that was from femail dispatch. Hanging there Cat
This is what happened to me at USA Truck back in 2001 got my cdl at a local school was given a great start learned everthing about a truck how to shift and back, logs, the owner was a xdriver for Mc Donalds.
Went to USA Truck via greyhound got there stay for 3 day company ort, then another greyhound ride to meet my trainer in Northern La, a male, frist red flag was when his woman came and took him on 6 hour play date, drunk as a skunk tells me He can’t drive you have ok where are we going I ask Ohio he says I drive to Northen Al, the rest of the night he gets up and Takes over at about 9 am next day,2nd red flag all the sex talk given I know now, 3rd red flag talking on phone with the woman while driving no blue tooth at this time, 4 red flag driving down the freeway coasting to Qualcomm,5th and final flag wreck outside of Chattanogga Tn, where he was in the bunk talking to woman, car hit into my steer tire and I kept calm and pushed it 200″ down the road the state cop told me to get into driver seat to drive when leaving even when I was still shaken was not my fault for wreck no tickets my way. So thank you X Mcdonalds driver that helped me, I still use what I learned Cowgirl up and let the herd run to the water. Learn by my mistakes. Sue
Hi Sue:
Thanks for the overview of your training story. This helps to let new drivers searching for info understand that it is really a crapshoot to get a good trainer at any carrier so when you find someone knowledgable you should soak up any wisdom they are willing to share like a sponge. You might need it in a pinch sooner than you think.
This week on our new “Blog Talk Radio” program we will be talking to 3 recent female trucking students about their experiences. I hope you will check it out. This is the first trucking radio program hosted by women truckers and we are always looking for good topic ideas and feedback.
Here is the link. You can either listen to online or call the number and listen on your hands free device. Here is a link:
Women Trucker Network Blog Talk Radio
Us gals have to band together there are what 200 thousand of us out there right, Keep shiftn and stay between the lines I’ll be listen when I upgrade to smart phone I’ll dial in. Sue
To anyone wanting to drive a semi. C.Y.A. Cover your A- -! Is a #1 priority. I had a pocket tape recorder and never had a single predicament that couldn’t be proved when there was a problem! Boy was the company ticked off at first but it saved them from a lawsuit! Remember it works BOTH ways!
Hello, I have been also wanting to go to school and get my CDL and there are so many choices out there , and since my husband is currently a truck driver we thought we would go as a team , but he would need to switch companies , because I want him to be my trainer and I was accepted by Prime , CRST , CR England and I’m in Spokane . Wa and I’m not sure who to go with, any suggestions would be greatly appreicaited
Hi Deborah:
All three of those choices are very bad. Any carrier would love to have a team. I guess what yu are saying is your husband would have to leave his current employer to become a trainer at a new employer in order to train you. This is a dream come true for a carrier that relies on unethical business practices for their bottom line.
Prime and CR England and CRST press their unethical lease programs on drivers and are known to with hold miles toward the end of the lease to make it nearly impossible to be successful in their programs. They will accept just about anyone because they make money on the ill informed so do not take it as a compliment to be accepted by them.
We did a recent blog talk radio program with recent students of CRST and CR England that you can hear what their experiences were , plus get a few qualified tips on making better choices in your research.
You can listen to the replay with this link:
Radio Replay: Qualified CDL Training?
Truck Driver Training can break you financially if you are not well informed regardless of your husbands experience. Please proceed with caution.
Good Luck!
Getting ready to enter a community college CDL program,I’m paying out of my own pocket to avoid being owned after I get out. I’ve enjoyed what I’ve read so far here. My question would be, what companies try to pair women trainees w/ women trainers? Surely they have to be out there,maybe you could ask any female drivers for names of companies that try to do this,or even female trainers that are only looking to train female students…I personally don’t want to deal with trying to learn to drive and bunch of nonsense…I just want to learn to drive a truck & make a living,you know?! Any female drivers out there willing to train a 53 yr old,clean record all around that is serious about learning to drive,I’ll be out of school towards the end of May!!
Hi Deb:
A gal in our group named Tracy Tuttle is a trainer at USA Truck. If you want to contact her directly you can email us at realwomenintrucking@gmail.com I also suggest you look at their website first and call them to make sure what they ar offering is agreeable to you. USA Truck We also did a recent blog talk radio program called “Qualified CDL Training?” with some female students who gave some great ideas on good training carriers.
There are not a lot of good female trainers so you may have to wait for one to become available.
You may join our weekly conference to ask more quations as you have them. We post the times on our Facebook page called “Real Women Truckers”
Thanks for posting!
To all you great ladies out there, can some one answer me about the amount of money your making , not the amount but I just want to know if its worth it financially , I am still trying to decide how to get my CDL and I am still going on a three week run with my husband , and then maybe I will find the answers I need, your radio show is helping me as well so thank you .
As a female Professional Driver, with a Class A -CDL, There are good companies out there, but I strongly suggest that if you want to learn to drive a truck, go to your community college that has a course. Apply for whatever grants and programs that can pay for it for you. Pell, and state grants are out there for you to use.
Then apply to a company that has a good to better reputation in employing women. If you know someone that is currently driving, ask them to take you on as a rider and then hire on with their company, if you like the way they handle things.
Anyone have any opinions on YRC,their program and training? I’ve been researching some companies and really like what I read on the website but there’s nothing like getting some opinions from drivers that are out there everyday. Seems to be women driver friendly? Anyone know how difficult to get on with them? I start CDL school this Mon. 4/8/13 with Metropolitan Community College in KCMO,hoping living in KC will help in my job search,lot of truck hubs here.
YRC has been having financial difficulties. I would look into this company more before I made a commitment to them. Your CDL training will last several months and you should try to remain at the same place at least 1 year so your resume looks stable. I do not know about YRC training but I have seen they have had some other issues in pst years you should consider.
Good Luck!