I drove for C.R. England from September to December.
I went through the CDL training program at Burns Harbor, IN. When I arrived, the city was being flooded due to heavy rains in the area. I went to the hotel to and there was a line for people who were checking in to go through the training program. I went to the school and checked-in like I was supposed to. I passed all of my things (Physical and Drug Screen).
When I get back to the hotel, the manager at the Hometown Lodge (note: these ladies at the front desk do not have a sense of humor and they are very rude) tells everyone that they need to leave their luggage at the hotel in room 108 (note: if this room floods, your luggage is ruined due to the room is located on the first floor). I was thinking, you have a the gall to tell me to leave my luggage after being on a bus all night... Kiss my butt because I am not going to do it.
I ended up taking my luggage with me because if I could not get a hotel room, I was going to get a bus ticket back home the next day. About 11 that night, they stuck about 60 of us at an emergency shelter in Gary, IN. At this point, I have been up for close to 36 hours without no sleep. About 1 that morning, they came and got us and sent us to a local Motel 6 and we had to room up two to each room. I finally got to bed about 2:30 that morning and got only 3 hours of sleep that night. We all loaded up and went to the school at Burns Harbor that morning.
They went through all the necessary things to tell us that we had to sign a $3000 loan plus another $300 for financing. The lunch and supper money is joke. You had to pay for all of your own food for lunch and supper and the shuttle does not go to Wal-Mart in Burns Harbor. The only place that you could go and get things cheap was the Target in Hammond. The only good thing is that you about a mile from the nearest restauraunt unless you wanted to go three doors down to the Best Western but be forewarned that the buffet will cost at $10 plus drink.
I made it through my training those two weeks and was placed with a trainer the same day I got my CDL hard copy. I had no problem with my phase I trainer. He taught me things about his experiences that he had while he was trucking. I had little to no problems with the phase I trainer. When I got back to Burns Harbor to do my phase I upgrade, the instructor (which his name is Bill... This guy has no humor as well) was very rude because I got back to the yard around midnight that night and I was told I was not suppose to be there. To make a long story short, I ended up spending the entire day at the school because the secretaries would arrange a shuttle not take me back to the hotel to check-in so I had to wait until the end of the day to ride the bus back to the hotel. I got my upgrade done and was off to do Phase II.
When I started Phase II, that's when things started to go wrong. The first trainer decided to quit the company because he being cheated by the company. He decides to dump me at a hotel in Mira Loma, CA, which is outside of Los Angeles. During that time, the area was going through the wildfires. I was doing my check-ins and that is were I ran into one of my classmates who was with me in Burns Harbor. He had been in Mira Loma about a week doing his upgrade.
I finally got bussed back to Salt Lake City and was there about a day before I was place with another trainer. Needless to say, this guy was not any better (the second guy's name was Kevin). I was forced to drive nights while this guy drove days. According to training regulations, trainers are to drive nights while trainees drove during the day. Apparently, this guy did not follow the rules.
During the last two weeks on the truck, I noticed that several of my personal things were missing and I had a feeling that he threw them away while I was either in the shower at a truck stop or put the items with his things and threw them away while he took his shower. I did not know at the time that he had serious log violations and I did not know this until I read a qualcomm message that he was at level 3.
At level 3, you are supposed to call logs and arrange to come to Salt Lake City to take a log class to get your viloations cleared up. Apparently, this guy did not do this. It was not until we got back to Salt Lake City that there was a stop dispatch message waiting for him. I was lucky enough to have had my days in. Needless to say, the guy was fired because of his logs. I did my final upgrade in Salt Lake City and was on my way home the following day.
When I got home, I checked my ComData Card to see if my pay had gone through. Apparently, it had not. I checked it the next day and it was not there. It was right there I decided to quit the company and turn my fuel cards and paperwork into Salt Lake City.
Needless to say, I wasted four months of my life to a company that mistreats the drivers and potential drivers that want to drive for them.
In short... Do Not Drive for England because it will ruin your life as well as your DAC report.
Jeremy
Russellville, Kentucky
U.S.A.
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