CRST reviews

CRST stay away from this company. They don't care about their drivers. They only care about their bottom line. They have a steady flow of students coming in because they have such a high turnover rate. Also the type of people they hire are careless and not the type of people one would want on the road. They get ten grand a head from the government for each student they pass and then charge the student like eight grand for the training. Then charge them 40 bucks a week for yen months to pay them back. Let's talk about their DMs... Only there for a check. Some are great while others get fired quickly. I've been here a little over a month and have had three different DMs so far. Also haven't broke a thousand dollars yet either. They lie to you on just about every thing your recruiter tells you and they also don't yell you that you have to pay for your own drug test. CRST has made their millions by screwing people over. I am currently looking for another job as I have givin them my two week notice today. I have never quit a job before having another one in place until today. I highly advise everyone to not only stay away, but run from this company. They suck!!!

This is a very unethical company. I got my CDL from them and completed an 8 month contract. They were advertising a new pay raise which they gave me a .01/mile, but then took away the safety bonus. I did the math and I came out ahead without the .01 raise if I had kept the bonus. They would add money on my pay stub like I had earned, but never paid. So, at the end of the year it shows I made more, but I never got it. If your co-driver quits, they pay you .21/mile while your delivering their loads until they find you another co-driver.

Crst worst company i ever worked for only good if your goal is to lose weight from starveation cause of haveing to waste your 22cpm on tolls and scales and never getting reinburst lol i lost twenty pds in 4 wks

well first off I wanna start off by saying hello. I come here often to read and learn from many of you. Lots of useful info here.

Anyway as the title states I'm gonna post my gods honest review from someone who has work ethic and doesn't just want to get paid for nothing.

I come from a background of trucking, i was driving trucks for 2 years with no cdl, got caught and the officer was real cool about it. I was 20 years old and couldn't get a cdl in my state so he told me once I turned 21 which was in a 60 days or so, to go get it or he'd fine me. Took all my information down and I got his to send a copy of my cdl to him, once I got it. At this time I had no choice other than Cr England and Crst.

So I call Crst they promptly send a bus ticket (which is horrible, fly if you can). I get to the terminal and immediately start orientation. I was tired but wanted this to get done asap. So I got through orientation, flew threw the written tests, and got to driving. Coming from real world to "dots way" is quite a change lol. Anyway I do there pti then backing and driving. All said and done I was in and out in 17 days. Got the dumb white hat and gave it to a kid who got sent home. Went to dmv got my cdl and faxed a copy and the Iowa paper work to the officer. Boom in the clear, that's all I cared about.

Now onto the trainer, they gave me one trainer, who was a complete slob and had poor hygiene and snored while awake, so I refused it, got into a little argument with my temporary fleet manager, brushed it off and found another one. Cool guy, young with only 1 year experience, doing the lease op here at Crst. Like I said super nice guy, but doesn't have what it takes to hang with o/os. When your an owner operator you have to have some serious capital or just be a savage. He made me drive 60mph the whole time which sucked, but I made about 375-425$ a week. Crst does have some serious miles. After I got off the truck with the trainer I went home for my girls birthday, and her sisters wedding. Took about a week off, got back to Cedar Rapids and got with my co driver. I'm making 26cpm at this point. Me and my co driver decides to run for two months out to make up for the money lost during the trainer and home time. Well, even at 26cpm I made about 2400-2600 per month. I went home with about 3100$.

After that, during the holiday rush, I got bumped to 28cpm. We're currently running 1300 miles a day between he and I. Usually running about 7500-7850 a week. Well you do the math. Pay checks aren't so bad now. We've had 1 of 22 late loads, and are always keeping Crst updated with etas and when were empty. I've never been empty for more than 18hrs unless we're doing a 34hr reset. Now this is the holiday season so freights moving quite a bit now, so I'm sure it will slow down here pretty soon.

Now I'm in this little fiasco. Our freightshaker blew a clutch with 182k on it. Gotta love Crst drivers (can't really shift today). So we waited and waited it took them about a week to 100% diagnose it, then we got impatient and demanded a new truck politely. They quickly got us this turd Volvo I'm currently sitting in broken down. The truck was supposed to be a trade in, and Crst needed to get us rolling because we actually make them good money. Also I have home time coming up where I have to take a flight. Which is in 5 days and I'm in Idaho, 2600 miles away from home. The Volvo ate an egr and I'm sure that they'll get us another truck, as we've been down for almost 8 days.

Is it the companies fault? Absolutely not. They're doing the best they can even though it's New Years and the weekend. I think Crst gets so many lazy people who don't want to work, so they smoke em with garbage loads and garbage trucks until they quit because they're liabilities. I've talked to many teams who sit for long periods of time, and complain so much it's ridiculous. "I don't make any money wahhhhh". Well maybe if you delivered the air freight load you just got on time you might have another load. But nope. This company is filled with lazy ### people with the iq equivalent to a hair dryer. Crst didn't hire you to pay you 40$ a day and maintain a body tempature. Get your ### to work and see how it actually operates. I get whatever I want from these guys and make decent change while I'm at it. If you don't want to run hard, and don't like to work, and would much rather sit in the truck sucking down chicken fingers, then stay the #### home. I don't hate crst and I don't like them, but they got me out of a bind, they pay me well and keep me rolling. i cant ask for a whole lot more with only a few months of "verifiable" experience.

The reason I like the CRST option even though I hear so much negative feedback; Is the fact I don't need to pay for training, and even though my pay would be crap initially I'd be gaining experience, educations, and a decent salary after 6 month mark all at the same time.

I appreciate all the knowledge guys. Thanks.

My CRST application was accepted, but I won't be making any decisions until I "put all my ducks in a row".

I did ok with CRST as far as running miles. You have to stay on top of them though. You and your co driver have to take it serious, aND if your Co driver doesn't you need to replace them. I went through 5 with my time there. My problem with them as now that I have completed my contract and moved on they are still trying to bill me for anything they think I will pay. .. Yep that's right I played their game by their rules on their terms and still they are trying to charge me.

My husband started working for CRST Dedicated, running a flatbed. He has worked for the company for a few months now and we are both happy with the company. I'm mainly happy because he likes his job for once lol.

From the day he put his app in it only took a day or two for someone to give him a call back. He then spoke to a great recruiter, Shonda, and she had him an email with his hotel, rental car and orientation information within a couple hours. She was very helpful and had an answer to every question. Then he went to Ashland, KY for orientation (which was 3 days), to pick up his truck and meet his dispatcher Mike. And although i dont know a lot about the over the road side of the business i do know enough to know that Mike is an excellent dispatcher. My husband has been home EVERY, yes! EVERY weekend since he has started. And even though i ride with him its one of the things they make sure of.

In the 3 months he has been working for them not only has he been home every weekend but he has already got a .05/mi raise, paid loaded or empty, guaranteed 2000 miles a week, no issues getting a load and plus insurance(eye, dental, vision, 401k, etc)from day one and more. Basically if you can't tell we are happy with the company!

Please note this is from our experience with CRST Dedicated flatbed. We have no clue about any of the other divisions of the company but we are always hear about how "horrible" CRST is to work for and that has not been our experience at all so I thought I would chime in. I mean there have been a few different drivers tell us to get away from them but we honestly currently don't have any complaints about the company and besides when it comes down to compare pay with "those^" drivers their company doesn't even come close to the pay. And as my husband would say, "Chrome don't pay the bills!" Either the truck or the paycheck can be pretty but not both usually, lol.

I have been driving with crst for about 6 months now, during my physical at the start of this mess I was requested to take a sleep study before these 6 months were up. My dispatch being what they are never got around to getting me around to hometime before these 6 months expired so they had my co-driver drop me off over here at their riverside terminal where I could begin the process of getting my sleep study taken care of.

Initially I was dropped off to one of those scammy take-home-equipment places that charged me 100$ cash to take one of those overnight tests, they told me I would have to have a doctor look at the results of this test. In order for me to see a doctor I'm having to get my insurance transferred over to this county which could take 20 or so days from now.

So right now instead of sheltering me while I take care of trying to find a doctor to see or if there's some other insurance I should sign up with they decided to basically kick me out of their terminal, leaving me with 200$ to get a rental car or a bus ticket with.

I need a rental car for my amount of things I have with me, but I'm short on money in order to get one with, alternatively there's a terminal with swift just down the road. Soo right now I'm torn between getting shuttled with my things to swift, or beg/borrowing money from home in order to even get home and finding a job more suited to my needs.

And about the sleep study thing, I don't have issues sleeping, I don't doze off when sitting, I'm usually pretty well rested and alert after getting up after 5-6 hours of sleep and I'm a nighttime driver. My 'need' for having sleep study is purely based on the speculation of one of CRST's physicians.

CRST- Mainly poor reviews (I've heard positive reviews from every company except this one). Team trucks. Newer Freightliner Cascadias. Not so good safety record. Below average pay. Trying to address issues with driver fitness (CSA) but who's waiting? MUST live on a truck with somebody else for a min. of 8 months to fulfil contract.

*I've met 2 drivers who trained with them recently and both left shortly after their contract was fulfilled.

I am a L/O and I am not a brand new driver. Lease is not available for new drivers (for good reason). Therefore, a new driver is most likely going to be required to be a team company driver and make peanuts.

Secondly, CRST's organization and communication capabilities leave much to be desired. A driver with a year or so experience can probably deal with it. OTOH I cannot imagine a brand new driver who knows nothing about nothing trying to deal with these issues.

There are much better organized and new-driver-friendly companies to choose from than CRST.

30 Years of CRST: Some Insight For Consideration

First let me start by saying, I am not a recruiter for this company and never will be. Secondly, I am a Owner-Operator but at one time was a company driver, then a lease driver. I've also been a driver trainer here as well.

I wanted to give those who are here searching for info on CRST with the hopes of coming onboard CRST some insight from a veteran driver, based upon experience.

The first thing you need to come to realize is that we are not the holy grail of companies even if recruiters paint that picture. We have issues here that other companies also have, so with that said, don't expect to have a heaven on wheels ride all the time.

Recruiters here have one job and that's to bring people in and with that said, they may not give you all the right information, so when you arrive, expect the worse, this way, when you see things that bother you, the shock is already worn off.

Realize that your training is going to be at a school that is contracted with CRST to provide training to you and others. CRST isn't going to mandate they have certain equipment, certain age ranges, that they are clean all the time. Your not going to ride in the rolls royce of trucks during school and probably not until you buy a truck.

Understand this, whether the tractor is a Western Star, Volvo, Freightliner, 5 years old or 10 years old, should not matter because every tractor does the same thing, it moves, you shift gears, you back up, you dock, etc. Your going to be learning the skill sets it takes to move a 60,000 to 80,000 pound vehicle at 55 to 65 mph down the road. Your in school to learn what you need in order to do this job and it's a start, which many desperately need in this day and age.

Your going to start at wages that seem like nothing because when you take into consideration the fact that your not getting paid by the hour but by the mile and some are accustomed to earning a decent per hour wage, anything less seems poverished. However, some fairly new drivers are making $800 to $900 a week, which is more money than most are earning in this day and age. Majority of non executives will never see $800 a week in their lives.

Let me say this to you, you will have weeks that are crap. Miles will be down, freight is slow in the region of the country your in at a given time. You must realize that you need to take the bad with the good, it is what it is.

Some have written here that this is a training company and CRST gets Government Subsidies for training people, well if that were true, all the other training companies would as well. Realize this, who cares at the end of the day if CRST is getting a subsidie, because your not paying up front for training, housing, bus ticket and there is a risk in taking you in because you could quit on day two. CRST is no different than any other company in Corporate America that hires inexperienced people. Training still has to take place!!!.

CRST is a huge company with lots of drivers and trucks and is a no nonsense company. As a company they have a low tolerance level to BS!!! They are not your friend, they are your employer!!! If you get through the training and are released to drive, your expected to do your job and to follow policies and you won't win when it comes to doing anything less.

Lack of home time is a problem for many. You have to be out weeks to get significant home time. Right or wrong, it is what it is. This is not a career for those that need to be home to hang with their home boys and home girls, go clubbing, go to the mall and shop. This is real work and can be demanding at times.

I will say that this is not a company for a lot of folks. If your coming here just to get a license and move on, that's fine but don't express that and dont let it shine through because you will be out the door.

From my experience I've learned this. If your a hothead and have a chip on your shoulder, you will not have a good experience here. If you have accidents you will find your existence at CRST will be short lived.

If your constantly late, they will begin to examine closely how you operate your truck to find out why and they won't tell you and you'll find out fast that you will not be considered for anything that requires a lot of trust, meaning really good loads and opportunities.

If you can't keep good records and logs, you'll find out the hard way, just how tough safety can be to deal with. My point in all of this is to point out that there is a price to be paid for not doing what you need to.

It has been said that we have one of the worst safety records and I don't know about that. I will say that if your not doing pre and post trips, watching tires, watching simple things like windshield wipers, lug nut covers, monitoring brakes, reporting issues before the truck brakes down, then you will be sitting on the side of the road. You are expected to keep your truck in good working order but obviously not being a mechanic.

Now do trucks go down just as a result of things happening outside a drivers control, yes they obviously do, and no one will ever in my experience beat a driver up over that, but not monitoring tires and failing a DOT Roadside or weigh station inspection is all on you, it's your fault not anyone else's.

Not getting reimbursed for expenses happens, but it's your responsibility to handle your business and your truck as a business even if your a company driver and be on top of it.

As an experienced driver, I will say that you need to understand this is no 9 to 5 gig, it's stressful, it's more than getting in and driving, it's more than just a job.

Being at CRST is not a gift, it's an opportunity to work and support yourself and a family at a time in your life where such opportunities are not readily available. Just know going in that hundreds and hundreds of drivers, lease operators and owner operators roll day in and day out, year after year that have none of the problems and issues others come here and talk about.

Keep that fact in mind when you think about passing on CRST.

I drove there nearly 2 years on the company side. Made decent money. They aren't the best. They aren't the worst. I lurk silently in a lot of threads in the individual company forums just to see how experiences compare to mine and as far as the mega's go they aren't any better or any worse than the others. The team driving was an issue. If I were to ever team with my wife I would consider working there again. Wouldn't be my first choice but if you know how to communicate effectively it's not horrible.

CRST Van Expedited will send you through a 2 week course, enough to teach you how to get your CDL, Then you would go out with a lead driver for approx. 28 days. If the lead driver passes you (which most do), you are labeled a co-driver, and you team up with another co-driver to complete your 8 month term commitment.

Hi everyone I'm Michael, 26 years old and I've been in a lease purchase with Malone since June 12th.

I already know.... save it. OMG they suck what're you thinking, haven't you heard the stories, Lease purchase really???

Now let me tell you the truth.

I run with a lot of freedom, we have a load board with between 350-1000 loads posted on it at any given time, and about 50 agents working with us that we pull freight for. I have a fleet manager who I rarely speak to and don't need to to be successful.

I have a 2013 cascadia for $375 a week and 185 a week trailer rental. EVERYTHING minus windshields is covered bumper to bumper until September 2017 on my truck. After that I will enter a different period of maintenance. Afterinsurance everything my weekly expenses are 918.74 a week, before fuel.

I know what you want to hear, MONEY how much money right? Since getting my truck on June 12th and taking three weeks off one vacation, two for the loss of my wife's father. Not counting this week.

I've ran 19,798 miles including deadhead miles, and I've generated $39,629.55 worth of revenue. Average weekly bring home before setting aside for taxes 1250-2600

How? I am an extremely motivated greedy son of a gun who is after every dollar he can get, NYC, east west I don't care I run everywhere. I keep myself pre planned, and give excellent customer service. I am willing to tarp, chain and strap anything that will fit on the deck or get permits for what doesnt. I can be home every weekend if need be. The reviews on here before me failed because of to much home time, a nagging wife asking when their coming home and bad BUSINESS decisions. I have a 7 month old daughter and an amazing supportive wife at home, failing isn't an option. Multiple combat tours didn't make me a man, I only grew up faster. Men take responsibility and take care of their own. I love my family and want to be home, however I grew up with little, and letting them go without isn't an option. So I try to get through the house every couple weekends.

If your interested I will try to keep in contact with what I'm doing weekly and how I'm making out.

MALONE is my favorite company in the three years I've been driving commercially.

Thursday I picked up two steel coils taped in Savannah GA paying $700 on 270 miles to Marietta GA. Unloaded same day and slept in Commerce GA at the TA. Loaded Friday morning in Jefferson GA for a load of Kubota tractors paying $850 on 393 miles to Lynchburg VA and went home until Monday. Delivered Monday and picked up no tarp pipe in Lynchburg VA paying $2700 on 1262 miles going to Kearney NE to finish the week. Delivered yesterday and started my first load this week. Grand Island Nebraska to Heyburn, Idaho no tarp plastic pipe $2163 on 920 miles. Currently in Snowville Utah for the night at the flying hook.

Hope you follow, feel free to hate and down on me. Theirs a 100% you never step foot under my table to eat, therefore your opinions are only words. 

May high rates bless you,
Mich

Thought I would share my experience and thoughts since I've been here, as there isn't alot of info about CRST Malone. 

Why I choose Malone;

1.   I had only run tanker up to hiring on here and wanted to stay with something a little more physical than swinging doors.

2.   I wanted a walk away lease option in the event I didn't like flat or being an O/O.

3.   I like the fact they have a "full warranty", yes I pay .15$ per mile but I haven't had to worry about any repairs thus far. Which was something I didn't want to have to learn while learning a new job and trying to find freight. Not everything is covered more on this later.

4.   At the time I thought I could run mainly Texas... later on I realize that's not possible, more later.

What I wanted was to get the experience for flatbed, being OTR and learning freight lanes. I felt that this was the best place for me, it may not be for everyone.

Orientation; 
Orientation was supposed to be 4 day's in Oklahoma City, turned into 5 day's. With that said some advice before going to orientation. 

If I had to do it again I would have had my recruiter verify all my employment and ensure I was hire-able Before I left to orientation. The reason for this is one O/O was booted on the first day by safety, on the 2nd so was someone else for something on there record, on the 4th day (I believe) there was a guy who sat at our table who said he had everything checked before coming and what do you know he was cut, told to come back in 3 months when what ever it was dropped off his record. 

The bad about orientation there was only one instructor and most of her time was working on getting things verified, asking drivers for info they already provided and numerous other task's including training us how to strap, chain and tarp..Oh My.

I started orientation on October 26th;

The first day was the basic stuff do more paper work, drug test, watch a video or two. The second day we watched another video I believe and did a little trailer work. The third and 4th day were fairly much the same. I came from a construction management background before driving truck and felt the whole process was disorganized and confusing. 

A word to the wise check your attitude at the door, if you've done flat OR Think you know flat work keep it to yourself so those of us that don't know have the opportunity to learn. One guy in our group knew it all and at one point I asked him to be quite as he kept talking over the instructor, this lead to a later confrontation which ended with the threat of both of us being booted.... we later kissed and made up but haven't kept in touch I wish him the best.

I'll post more later

Okay try and wrap up the orientation stuff;

Unpleasant surprise,

You are not paid for orientation, if there was a bonus offered when you sign up you ( at least I did) will get 50$ on Tuesday and part of the rest on Friday. I received 50$ and than 700$. 

However, you are charged 100$ (50% of weekly) rent for your trailer even though you don't have a trailer or truck yet (if doing a lease purchase). You are also charged for the weekly portion of some of your expenses like 2290, securement equipment etc. 

I point this out because the add and recruiter said no payments.... no Truck payments for 3 weeks. That is the rub it is Truck payments only everything else starts before your really even hired. Additionally, the Truck payment 3 week deal includes the week you're in orientation.

Some trucks were at the yard, mine wasn't so they got me a rental card and added 170$ for fuel to go get mine which was in Dallas. My trailer was supposed to be with the truck but it wasn't.

So since no one knew where it was I deadheaded from Dallas to San Antonio for the weekend and get everything in the truck. They found my trailer at a drop yard 8 miles from where I picked up the truck on late Monday afternoon. 

They pay all the motel fee IF you room with someone else, if you want your own room you need to pay half the rate, which was around 30$ a night.

Some guys were put up for the weekend after orientation because they didn't have trucks. I can't say for sure but having been in management for years, it appeared that those who didn't have a plan or crappy attitudes were left without trucks. However, I can't and won't swear to that, as said before check your attitude at the door.

Lastly, if you come to any company broke and think you'll make money being an O/O.... You're wrong. You need at least enough money for two months bills at home AND enough to fill your truck full of fuel AND enough money to cover yourself on the road for at least 3 weeks. Any less than this and you stand a good chance of failure. 

Securement Training
Do yourself a favor if you never pulled a flat, go through either JJ Keller online securement class or Alabama Coil Securement certificate program (https://metalcoiltraining.com/). You don't have to but it greatly increases your knowledge of proper procedure. As stated before the training you receive is very basic and just enough to make you dangerous, imho.

Inspecting your Truck, Trailer & Securement equipment.
You will receive a sheet of paper for each of these that you need to file out and report any damage or deficiencies. It is important to take your time and check everything and note even the smallest of issues. If not you could end up paying for this lack of detail down the road. This is a 2 edge sword because at the same time you're trying to get on the road to earn some money.

However, go through everything related to your securement equipment no matter how new it looks. If your tarps are torn or just heavily used request new ones you're paying for them. Double check your straps, as an example I had some straps that were brand new I checked 3 of 4 and then found the fourth was cut beyond use about 20ft in from the end. I payed for this and have to pay to replace. 

Order a tarp repair kit, your going to need one.

The trailer wasn't bad but I have had wiring issues that have caused me to be late for loads and drop some loads. I'm not sure I would have caught this at the time as much of the problem is corrosion which is hard to see unless you take wiring apart. Trailer rent, yes rent, is a whooping 200$ per week. 

The truck I received is a 2013 Cascadia with a DD15. You do not have a choice in your truck, however if you don't like it they say you can request a different truck. They were letting guys get trucks through Quality Leasing, I don't know if this is still the case.

I am fairly happy with the truck I received, one of my concerns was having a 10 speed and this concern has proven to be a real concern. I didn't like 10s in the oilfield and I don't like them OTR. I look forward to being able to buy my own truck with a 13, someday. So far I havn't had any real issues with the truck. I have it it the shop for poor fuel milage and hopefully to have an overhead done. 

The .15$ per mile warrenty, so far CRST has been very good about getting things repaired when needed. A overhead is not covered under the warranty, However I was told that if recommended by a dealer or approved freightliner repair shop they would cover the overhead. I talked with the main tech at freightliner and with almost 500K he said it needed one so I'll see what happens. 

As far as I can tell you don't receive any of this maintenance money back if you leave, so use it to your advantage and keep your truck running smooth as possible.

Since I've been here I've meet drivers who have been here anywhere from 2 months to 15 years, almost all are happy and appear to be doing good. The only real complaint I have is in orientation they tell you to stay in the box which is a line from the Texas border north to the Illinois/ Wisconsin line straight across to the atlantic coast and cuts back across North Florida just about the Tampa area. 

This is the area they have freight and I can not disagree with this area having loads, but I live in San Antonio and have wondered why they would recruit from an area they don't have much freight. Really peeves me because getting home and out again is costly. 

The Load Board and approved brokers;

There is an approved brokers list but unless those brokers have public load boards getting access to any private or login required load boards good luck. It is very difficult to have your FM provide any information to sign up. I have been trying to get access to the CHRobbinson load board and can't even seem to get access to that even though I've pulled loads for them and they are approved. When you sign up you have to have the address that malone used to create the account but my FM doesn't seem to know what address was used.

Malone load board is very basic and is simply a list of loads and contact numbers. You can not set alerts, search is a real pain, simply put it is barely usable and is so basic that finding loads off there is an exercise in patients as well as a complete waste of time. Yes, the loads pay better off this load board. I think it is important when starting that you find a load where you want to go and find a load that is available the day you get there, or at the very least take a load to a place that has several loads listed the day you are looking at the load you want. If you see a great paying load you better check your destination for loads if there aren't any within a 100 mile radius you're going to DH for that next load. Remember this cost you fuel and .15$ per mile. 

Being from Texas at first I didn't think much about DH since everything is a drive in TX anyway, this has come back to haunt me later on and now I pay more attention to my DH.

Word of Caution, sometimes the load on the board isn't really there! I commented on another post where someone was saying the same thing and slightly disagreed with the OP, however this has turned out to be true. I had a situation where I parked early for a load in the morning only to find out that the load canceled, before I knew this I called the same broker (crst malone broker) to ask about a different load that's when he said the load I'd waited for had canceled, he said the other load was good to give him time to get the load sent to Qcom. I said okay grabbed a bite to eat. When I came back still no message (I should have called) so I head out to pick up this load. I drove 80 miles and stopped to check something on the trailer. I thought I would call the broker he tells me that load has canceled also, So I drive up the road to find a safer parking area and start looking. I see 4 loads 25 miles from my current location, none of those loads where available. A couple of considerations, 
1) Don't move without a load confirmation 
2) The brokers are brokering loads so sometimes the owner/broker finds a truck to haul the load. 
3) The malone load board is behind sometimes so that load could be gone already.

Your FM

Your FM isn't your babysitter nor your dispatcher! You are in the big leagues now baby act like a man. If you expect your FM to find you loads talk to the agent & book the loads, then you should go back to driving company. 

I say this as a result of a guy I meet in orientation. We have since become good friends, however he left after about 3 weeks. He has told me that his FM wanted to book his loads and hold his hand for the first 60 days. I understand why he was leaning on his FM so much that's what the guy said to do. 

In the end it hurt him more than it helped. Most of the FM's have 35 or more drivers and just can't babysit everyone. It's your job to run your business for profit, not theirs. I described the area's that Malone has freight so use that as a guide. If you stay in these area's and plan ahead you'll do fine. If you sit at the house waiting for that perfect load or take a load out west or southern Florida you're going to enjoy lots of DH and cheap loads... good luck with that. 

In my next Post I'll talk about setting yourself up to track your expenses and stay organized on the road.

They still have charged me for repairs even with that 15cpm they get (it's on my statement). I haven't bothered to ask them what that was all about because I'm leaving anyways. Learning freight lanes? Is that what it has come to? The key to success is to work harder in areas far from your home, go home much less, and hopefully get people to like you enough to throw you a bone every once in a while? You can have it... I'm working harder by securing freight and making 1/3 what I'm used to. The funny thing is, I LIVE in an area that is so called a "good freight lane ", and I still see where this leaves much to be desired. It sounds like a silly ploy to me. The company is doing bad so in a desperate attempt to assure drivers that there is still a way to make a living they use a term like "freight lanes". I have a better term for them, "total quality logistics".

The company is decent. If you understand you're responsible for finding your loads, either from the company load board or calling our agents. Your Fleet manager can assist but its really on you. The big issue right now is freight has been crazy. Some weeks its been fantastic, others its slim pickings.

I was told i was hired was told that motel was provided drove 188 miles to orientation the was told i have to sleep in my truck for the 5 days of orientation in Rockport Indiana no truck stops close by no shower facility on my third day of orientation I was told that they were releasing me because of my work history even though they had 3 weeks before I came to orientation to do all my paperwork now I'm out of the money it cost me to drive there and to eat i quit my job to come here and I was told I was already hired and 22 days before Christmas I have no job at all they can do is say sorry