Question:
yes it's me agian and i need your feed back iget out of school in 9 days what are the pros & cons with teaming out of school.

Answer:
You will be Teaming with a Trainer at any Carrier after school for a few weeks.
CRST is a Team operation permanently,if you don't like Teaming you will have to quit.
Answer:
I talked to CRST, specifically Brett in recruiting. He was very honest and forthcoming with information. I decided to heed the words of wisdom given me by whoever said it's tough enough for one person to live in the space of a walk in closet much less two people. I may look into teaming after I get at least a year in and if I buy my own truck but not before that.

Answer:
As for teaming, particularly if you have never done it:
1) Can you sleep in a moving truck? ...and sleep enough so you feel rested and able to take the wheel when you wake up. Along the same lines here, can you get relaxed enough with someone else at the wheel so you can sleep?
2) Can you get along in very cramped quarters with someone else for days and weeks at a time?
There are positive sides to teaming, however the above items are the main ones as to whether it will be for you. If you cannot sleep and cannot get used to the situation enough to be able to sleep then it is a no-brainer... teaming will be out.

Answer:
Hi Beantown, I have chosen to go the route of team driving with CRST for the first year of my new career and still don't know if I made the right decision. Yes it will be close quarters with a co-driver which is my biggest concern. I can sleep anywhere so the sleeping aspects are not much of an issue for me. Choosing the "perfect" co-driver is probably not a reasonable expectation as I know husband and wife teams that get along very well under every other circumstance but drive each other crazy after too much time in the truck together.
The Idea of team driving is to keep the wheels moving 20 hrs out of 24 (in theory) At CRST both drivers are required to be in their seats in Metro areas and a spotter for all blindside backing both of which are for safety.
IMHO... For a brand new driver like myself... under the right circumstances (the right co-driver and enought miles to support both drivers),team driving for my first year will be an extended training opportunity.
I have no idea what the stats are concerning team operations as far as safety and milage goes but would be interested to see some. If it ultimately puts more money into the pockets of the company and driver, adds a measure of safety, and is an effeective way to create better drivers, I wonder of other companies will adopt team driving as a norm.
If it turns out that all of this is total BS I will find out soon and take "corrective action" but am willing to give it a chance.
Many professional drivers I have known over the years are very independent and self sufficient folks and others simply think they have or wish to have these traits. Good drivers don't happen overnite and I don't believe that there is a good driver gene in our DNA. (the jury is still out on the "Truck Driver" gene)
Good luck Bean, which ever route you choose and be careful out there...t.g.
Answer:
Two newbies teaming in a truck is anything but safe.

Answer:
I'm an ex Crst driver. Once you sign up, you are a slave for a year. They will come after you if you quit for the school, plus a hefty interest rate. My school was 2,400 cash. Crst wants 3,700 back! I have seen crst drivers who were as close to going hungury as you can get. (Eating scraps from a pizza in Fontana terminal) There layover pay stinks, and you will get lots of that. There pay for unloading is even worse. $1.50 a thousand. Even lumpers make more than that. Just my two cents!

Answer:
There is a lot of good advice here. I once considered CRST when looking also, and am very glad I made another choice.
Teaming is one thing while training....it is necessary... But being chained to someone in a truck, especially a stranger, would make me nuts! Not that this is any distance, mind you.
If you go out the door teaming you will never learn to do it all on your own.
That said, once you go solo, it is a MAJOR adjustment to team, if you are used to your own routine. I tried that, and it was a disaster, because I hauled AZZ, and this person was used to sight-seeing.
Good luck in your choice.
Answer:
Interesting!! I'm talking to an Oakley driver loading next to me "right now" ...
He started out teaming with CRST, he says he nearly starved,. had to give up his apartment, and the CRST gave him a hard time about not having a resident address.. Well, DUH.... CRST didn't pay enough to eat and keep the apartment!!!
He quit after 9 months. Walked away from the truck. He said, picking up soda cans along side the highway on his way back to his parents house would pay more money.
He says, at the time he worked there , 1997, he made OK money for the first few months, but nothing to write home about, then things started to change and go down hill fast. .

Answer:
I am a CRST team driver that has had a very positive experience with the company. Good miles, quality freight, timely payments and a dispatcher that works very hard to keep me happy!
I have read numerous posts bashing various companies and have concluded most are from malcontents that will probably be miserable no matter their circumstances.

Answer:
Not to knock CRST or anything....but If I drive for them can I have a classy two wheeled apartment like yours Beanbag?

Answer:

Sure! Be frugal, invest wisely in small cap and International funds, work your (edited) off and have a rich aunt. Worked for me!
I drive a truck because I like it and am dead set to build a quality trucking company.
It was either that or go into the escort business.

Answer:

Hmmm....just how long have you been in this Vocation? What can you compare your experience too?

How many Carriers have YOU worked for? One Day you too will be cast from
the"Fantasy Island" that Newbies reside on. The fact remains that until the exhaulted CRST rids themselves of the Recruiting Department and
"Drivers"are on a waiting list for Employment,they are just another of the less
(IMO)than desirable OTR Carriers of today.
Answer:
I drove teams once. I almost beat my codriver senseless. Hogtied and threw him on the catwalk until we got back to California . But I did'nt want to go to jail when I got back.
Im easy going but this dude was beggin for it. Anyways goodluck with CRST and the teaming thing.

Answer:
Contemplating going back on the road after a 7 year hiatus, off doing other things.
I thought about signing up with CRST and doing the team thing. I started out with them back in '91, but left after a few months to run solo for a small family refer outfit. Stayed with them for 7 years, running all 48 states, and ended up owning my own truck. (I seem to do things 7 years at a time). It was only after my daughter was born in '96 that I decided to get off the road for a while. Between my wife and I, we have a couple of businesses; a small pizza & burger restaurant, and I do some stuff with websites for a few clients I have, but we're really just about breaking even. The restaurant, we opened up last December and I think it's going to take a year or so before it's really pulling it's own weight. Maybe it never will. Remains to be seen.
Anyway.... CRST seems interesting because of this thing they've got (I think it's new?) that they call 20/10. You're one of a 3 driver team. You go out 20 days and you're home 10. The way it's supposed to work, they run you through the terminal every 10 days and you switch off. Anyway... that's how it's supposed to work. While I've kept my Class-A CDL with Tankers & HazMat endorsements, CRST, too, would want me to go through their two week training program just like a brand spankin' new driver. The experience I had with them before, back in '91, and then again in '96 and '97 when I ran solo regional runs for a while for CML, which was a CRST division that, I guess, no longer exists, wasn't all that bad. Like a lot of things, I think it hinges on developing a good relationship with your dispatcher. Or, I guess, they call it fleet manager, now.
On the other hand, it looks like I could work for a small family outfit right here in town that runs refer loads from here in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, down to points south. Mostly to North Carolina and Florida and back.
To be honest, in my case, the notion of running with somebody who's a little more current, while I get my legs back, has appeal. Maybe a little re-training isn't such a bad idea either. Thing is, I remember plenty enough about how weird things can get out there, even though I've been out of it for a while.
I wonder how much stuff has changed. Things like those chicken coops in Illinois and Georgia, for example. Never had too much trouble with them before, but that was because I knew how to roll through them. California's not going to be a problem with this outfit, because they don't go out there. I guess Ohio still has a 55 mph speed limit on trucks on the Interstates?
At this point, I'm pretty sure I'm going back out there. For one thing, for some odd reason, I kind of miss it. For the other thing, I'm only going to be doing this a week or two a month.
But, it would be kind of interesting, I think, to hear from others who have been off the road for an extended period, like I have, but have then gone back to it. Was it a big shock? Was it basically just like climbing back on the same old horse? Besides changes in Hours of Service, etc., just how much has stuff out there actually changed in in the past few years?