Where to start. My name is Colt, I am 23 years old, and I live in Pocatello, Idaho. I was working for Coca Cola as a local delivery driver when I got a phone call from CR England in August. Anna Sorenson, a CR England recruiter called me to tell me all about the company. Anna told me since I had been driving for 2 years with Coca Cola that I would be considered as a experienced driver and would not need a trainer and would be making 39 cents per mile. Anna told me I would be home every 3-4 weeks with four days off at a time. I told her that sounds like a good deal. I told Anna I would call her back after I talk to my friend Greg to see if he would like to drive over the road with me. Two weeks later I called Anna back and told her Greg and I would like to work for the company. She said great as soon as orientation is done you both will be a team and on the road in less than a week. Anna said I will book both of you a Grey Hound bus ticket to Salt Lake City, UT. When you get to CR England you will need to check in at the front desk for your hotel room. Once you get checked in you will have orientation for four days then you will be out on the road. I said awesome. When Greg and I arrived at CR England in Salt Lake City we both checked in at the front desk for our hotel room. Well, we both had different rooms. The lady at the front desk gave us a packet with a test in it that had to be completed by the next day when orientation started. When I walked into my room i'm like this is a joke. There for 8 other men in my room. This is not a hotel, this is like being in the army. I did not sign up to be in the army I applied to be a truck driver. After I found a bed I put all my stuff together. After I was done putting everything together Greg and I went and explored the building. When I got back to my room someone had taken my bed. I'm like this is my bed, he said no i've been here for a week now. So I went back to the front desk and argued with the lady and told her my situation so she sent me to the Econo Lodge. That night Greg and I filled out our exam. The next day we started orientation which was a joke. The first day we took our drug exam, filled paper work out, and had a interview. The interview was a joke. All the old man asked was have you ever done drugs and how often do you drink? The second day you were required to take a driving evaluation and a backing evaluation which if you failed it more than twice you were not qualified to work for CR England. The third and fourth day all we did was listen to people come in and talk about the company that put us to sleep. After orientation was done we were told by the training department that Greg had to go out with a trainer for 3 weeks and the a CAT trainer for another three weeks. Thats not what Anna told us on the phone. She told us as soon as orientation was done and over with we would be able to go out as a team. Well I went and talked to the training department and they said since I have two years of tractor trailer experience that I could take a four day training class to become a certified trainer. I said ok. So while I took the training class Greg went back to Idaho. During the training class I was only getting 5 hours of sleep cause they gave you so much homework to do in so little time. After training was done we went and met with our DM. Our first load went to Buffalo, NY. What a joke that was. We got there in two days and had to sit for 4 days because they would not unload us early. After that load we were dispatched a load from PA. We got all the way to Indiana and got a call from our DM and she said I need you to turn around and go back to Philly and pick a load of chocolate up. We said we have been driving all day you have no choice. Well we drove all the way back to get this stupid load to take to California. Once we got our pay settlement voucher our DM did not pay us for the miles for turning around. I was sick of the company all ready. I told myself I need to keep my cool and see how it goes. Well after 4 weeks of being on the road and doing 25k miles Greg was done with training so I signed him off. Once we got back to Salt Lake City our trainer TRACE BILLINGSLY told us both that Greg now has to go out with a CAT trainer. That's not what we were told so he up and quit. After Greg quit I picked up a new apprentice. He was great. After I signed him off he later quit due to the CAT program and the money. The only reason they want people to go out on a CAT program is so MR. GENE ENGLAND can put more money into his pocket. Trainees only make 250 bucks a week. How are they suppose to live off of that kind of money and support a family? They can't. I bought almost every meal for Greg and my other trainee. After my second trainee quit I went solo for a week till Eric, my best friend started with England. After Eric was done with training I signed him off and the training department told him he now has to go out with a CAT trainer. We both said NO NO NO we were told he would not have to go out with a CAT trainer. So we argued for an entire day with everyone and finally got out of it. Once again Gene is money hungry. After two weeks of having Eric on my truck they pulled my training status which you are qualified to have it for 45 days if you don't have a trainee on your truck. Well since they pulled my status they took $300 out of my pay check for not turning TWO SHIRTS IN, so I had checks bounce because I knew how much my check was going to be. What a bunch of crap. When I first hired on I was told I would get home every three to four weeks. Well after Eric got on my truck it was two and a half months before we got home. We went from Idaho to Nashville then were suppose to be home. Well that did not happen. We ended up going from Nashville to Maryland to Portland, Maine, To New York City then picked a load up going to LA. We told our DM no way are we taking this load to LA. We will drop this load off in Indiana at our drop yard and he can have another driver take it. He told us if we do that then he will keep us on the east coast. So we took it to LA and had another two loads before we got home. I don't understand these crooked people. Another thing you are required to take safety meetings every month. If you don't take safety meetings every month they take a percentage out of your payroll every week until you do take them. Well our DM would never route us to a yard to take them so I ended up eating $500 just for safety meetings. After Eric was a full time OTR driver we were making 20 cents per mile for team pay. Well I was looking at my check stubs and actually the company was screwing not only us, but two other friends of mine that worked for CR England that has also left. We ended up making 12 cents a mile. 12 cents at working 70 hrs a week each and never see your family or friends. I can make more money flipping burgers at 70 hours a week then these dip wads. CR England has company trucks governed at 65 mph, but according to your logs u can only go 60 mph or you get a log violation. If they only want you going 60 mph then why don't they govern your truck at 60. After so many violations on your logs you are terminated. Also you have to log what time you put fuel into your tractor or you get a log violation. Well according to the DOT you are not required to log that. That is another way of getting rid of drivers. Eric and I were in Detroit and we had to swap a load out in St. Louis cause it was running late. Well this load was the biggest account they have ever had and they had 60 people watching us like a hawk. We had a day and a half from Detroit to get to Portland. We got to Portland 2 hours to spare and did not even get a thank you, but who cares.Us drivers don't work hard. Only 70 hours a week, cake right? Back in November I was picking a load up in Nebraska and slid off a scale due to ice. Well I had to have a tow truck come lift me off and I had to have a new tire put on. That cost $1000 and guess who had to pay for it? Me. It was my fault so CR England would not pay for it. England will scam you any way they can. I do not recommend working for these crooked people. If you have any questions feel free to contact me. Thanks Colt
Colt xxxxxxx
Pocatello, Idaho
U.S.A.
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