C.R. England Truck Driving School Review – Paid CDL Training

Truck driving keeps the country fed, stocked, and moving, and the people who move that freight stay in steady demand. Some trucking companies are more generous than others in what they promise to provide for you. C.R. England is one of them.

Founded in 1920, C.R. England has grown into the largest temperature-controlled carrier in the world. “Temperature-controlled” simply means refrigerated freight, the kind of loads that keep food cold from the packing plant to the grocery store. Drivers call these trailers “reefers,” short for refrigerated units.

The operation is large. C.R. England runs roughly 4,000 tractors, around 6,000 trailers, and about 900 containers, with a workforce somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 people. The company has been in business for over a century and family owned and operated across four generations. It’s based out of Salt Lake City, Utah.

The nice thing about C.R. England’s training setup is that you have a few locations to choose from. Training runs through the company’s own driving school, Premier Truck Driving School, with locations in California, Indiana, Texas, and Utah. Lodging is provided as part of the tuition cost.

Why Companies Pay to Train Drivers

It’s fair to be a little suspicious when a company offers to train you for next to nothing up front. Where’s the catch, and why would a carrier spend real money on someone who’s never driven a truck?

The answer is supply and demand. The economy needs far more qualified drivers than the industry produces on its own, and that gap has held steady for years. Retirements, turnover, and the sheer volume of freight moving across the country keep the seats open.

Carriers have two choices. They can compete over the limited pool of already-licensed drivers, or they can build their own. Paid CDL training is how a company grows its own workforce instead of waiting for one to show up.

That’s the trade underneath the whole model. The carrier fronts the cost and the time, and in return it gets a driver trained to its standards and committed for a set period. You get a license and a job you couldn’t have afforded to chase otherwise. Once you see the logic, the terms stop feeling like a catch and start looking like a fair deal.

Paid Training Versus Paying Out of Pocket

There’s another route to a CDL worth understanding so you can compare honestly. You can pay a private truck driving school directly, finish the course, and then go job-hunting on your own.

That path has one real advantage: freedom. You owe no company anything, so you can take any job you want the day you’re licensed. If you already have savings and you’re picky about your first employer, paying out of pocket keeps your options fully open.

The cost is the catch. Private CDL schools often run several thousand dollars due up front, before you’ve earned anything driving. For someone changing careers because money is tight, that bill is the exact wall that blocks the whole plan.

Company-sponsored training removes the wall and adds a guarantee. You don’t front the tuition, and a job is waiting when you finish and qualify. The trade is the commitment period and the fact that your first job is set rather than chosen from the whole market. For most career changers without a cushion in the bank, that math favors the sponsored route.

Premier Truck Driving School’s Class A CDL Program

Premier Truck Driving School is C.R. England’s own school, and its Class A program is built to move fast. Students can earn a Class A CDL in as little as 10 days, well ahead of the four to five weeks many schools require. The program is a 120-hour certificate, the length most employers in the industry expect, backed by more than 30 years of training experience.

A Class A CDL is the license that lets you operate the heaviest combination vehicles: tractor-trailers rated over 26,001 pounds, or setups towing more than 10,000 pounds. That range is why employers keep Class A drivers in high demand.

Premier sets its tuition to beat competing schools’ rates, with added savings for students who pay upfront. Beyond the core Class A track, the school offers CDL upgrades, refresher courses, endorsement training, and on-site CDL testing, so you can keep adding qualifications as your career grows.

Premier trains students on both automatic and manual transmission tractor-trailers. Automatic trucks handle the shifting for you and are common across newer fleets, while learning on a manual rig gives you the skill to drive any truck on the road. Manual Class A training is offered at the Indiana and Utah schools, while the California and Texas locations currently run the automatic program (see the tuition table below for details).

Class A CDL Training Program Curriculum

Premier’s Class A curriculum centers on three skill areas you’ll be tested on and rely on every day behind the wheel.

Pre-Trip Inspection

Training starts with the pre-trip inspection, the safety check every driver runs before rolling. You learn why it matters for safety and regulatory compliance, then work through the full procedure step by step, checking brakes, tires, lights, fluids, and the truck’s overall condition. Part of the work is learning to spot defects and document them properly.

Backing Techniques

Next comes backing, one of the toughest skills for new drivers. You master the core maneuvers, straight-line backing, alley docking, and parallel parking, and learn the mirror use, vehicle positioning, and steering that make each one work. You practice in different setups while staying aware of obstacles and people around the truck.

Road Skills and Testing

The final area is on-road driving. You build proficiency in acceleration, braking, shifting, turning, and lane management, and you practice defensive-driving habits for traffic, intersections, and highway conditions. You learn to anticipate hazards like bad weather, construction zones, and distracted drivers, then rehearse under test conditions before taking your road-skills test on-site at a Premier location.

Premier Truck Driving School Tuition Costs by Location

Premier publishes its self-pay tuition by school location and program. Upfront is the discounted pay-in-full price; Liberty and Climb are the school’s other payment options.

Note: Utah’s CDL B option is listed as CDL B Bus. Cells marked N/A are programs not offered at that location.

C.R. England’s Truck Driving School Schedule

Week 1

Once you’re accepted into C.R. England’s truck driving school, you can expect to be there for 15 to 20 days, depending on which school you attend, of course. During the first week of C.R. England trucking school, you’ll spend all your time in the classroom, meeting your instructor and learning about the individual components of a tractor-trailer, truck systems, FMCSA safety regulations, state commercial driving laws, proper logging procedures, and more. Expect a minimum of 40 hours of classroom time (8 hours per day, 5 days a week).

Many company sponsored truck driving schools prefer that you obtain your commercial learner’s permit (CLP) in your home state before arriving at school. This is where C.R. England trucking company differs from most trucking companies when it comes to paid CDL training. They prefer that you obtain your CLP while you are in their C.R. England truck driving school.

You should be prepared to do homework assignments throughout the entire first week of the course. This will help prepare you for the CDL written exam which you will be required to pass in order to obtain your commercial learner’s permit (CLP). Once you obtain your CLP, you’ll then spend most of your time training on the lot, with a little bit of classroom training mixed in.

Two areas of classroom work carry more weight than the rest. The first is the pre-trip inspection, the head-to-toe check of your truck that you’ll perform every single day you drive. The second is defensive driving. A loaded tractor-trailer can weigh up to 80,000 pounds, and stopping one takes far more room than stopping a car, so the classroom teaches you to read traffic early, leave yourself space, and make decisions that keep you and everyone around you out of trouble. The drivers who take this week seriously are the ones who pass their exams the first time and avoid expensive mistakes later.

Week 2

On the training lot, you’ll share a truck with 4 to 6 other students and start training behind the wheel under the guidance of your instructor. You’ll practice the following:

• Climbing into and out of the tractor
• Clutching, accelerating, braking, and shifting gears
• Coupling the tractor to the trailer
• Uncoupling the tractor to the trailer
• Inspecting both the tractor and the trailer
• Turning the tractor-trailer
• Backing up the tractor trailer
• Docking the tractor trailer

Practicing these things will help prepare you for week 3 of the C.R. England training program, which is driving on the road under the supervision of your trainer. Please note, that this is a fast-paced course that is well-suited to those individuals who are good at learning skills in a short amount of time.

Week 3

During week 3 of the program, you’ll get some real-world driving experience as you learn how to maneuver the tractor-trailer through city streets and on rural roads, highways, and expressways in both light and heavy traffic. Be prepared to handle intersections, on-ramps, off-ramps, slight inclines, slight downgrades, and railroad crossings. Overall, you should expect to train behind the wheel of a truck for 10 to 15 days.

Program timelines vary by student and location. C.R. England advertises completion in around 17 days, and Premier Truck Driving School notes some students finish in as little as ten. How fast you move depends on how quickly the skills click, which is normal and expected.

Once you finish the CDL training program at the C.R. England truck driving school, you’ll then be required to go through 30 days of over-the-road (OTR) training with a driver trainer and then 60 days of OTR training with an independent contractor. You are allowed to request a driver trainer who doesn’t smoke during the 30-day and 60-day OTR training period, if you wish.

Be sure to bring the following items with you to school:

• Your original Social Security card (cannot be laminated).
• Your birth certificate with raised seal (not required if you currently reside in Indiana).
• Your current valid U.S. state driver’s license.
• 2 government forms dated within the last 60 days that verify your current address.
• $180 in cash to pay for the administrative fee, permit fees, and DOT physical/drug test fees.
• Enough money to pay for food and basic living expenses for the next 30 days.
• 7 days worth of clean clothes, including outdoor winter gear, if necessary.
• Toiletries such as soap, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, a tooth brush, and a shaver.
• Clean bath towels and wash cloths.
• A pillow and a sleeping bag or twin-sized sheets and blankets.
• An alarm clock, flashlight, sunglasses, pen and pencil, paper, and a calculator.
• A voided/cancelled check or bank deposit slip in order to set up direct deposit (optional).

Remember that you will be training outdoors so, dress accordingly. Be aware that most company sponsored CDL schools do not allow sleeveless shirts, tank tops, flip-flops, sandals, or cowboy boots during training. We recommend bringing along a pair of work boots with non-slip soles.

CDL Training for Veterans

Premier runs a dedicated CDL training path for veterans, and the money is the headline. The school is an approved provider for Veteran’s Education Benefits, so eligible veterans can use the GI Bill® to cover the cost of their CDL education. Most students pay tuition out of pocket, but that benefit lets qualifying veterans train without the same financial pressure.

The case for veterans rests on fit. Trucking rewards the structure and discipline built in the military while offering the freedom of the open road. Demand for Class A drivers is high right now, income scales with miles and experience, and drivers can pick regional or long-haul work to match the lifestyle they want.

At Premier, veterans get Class A and Class B CDL training with classroom and behind-the-wheel instruction, the same 120-hour certificate required by most employers, and job placement help through the school’s partnerships with top trucking companies. Support for the move from military to civilian work runs through the whole program.

OTR Training

OTR stands for “over-the-road,” the term for long-haul driving where you’re out running freight across states rather than coming home every night. During your over-the-road training, C.R. England trucking company will pair you up, one-on-one, with a certified driver trainer. Your trainer will observe and guide you from the passenger seat while you accumulate the required minimum of 15,000 miles behind the wheel time over a required minimum time period of 30 days. The truck will be dispatched as a team operation and you will be paid $430 per week which comes out to $61.43 per day. The truck is dispatched as a team operation.

Once you complete your 30-day OTR training, you will then be enrolled into the C.A.T. Program, which stands for Career Advancement Training. C.R. England will pair you up with an independent contractor, one-on-one, for 60 more days of OTR training. During this time, you will be shown how the lease operator program works as you and your finishing trainer are dispatched as a team. You will also graduate to a Second Seat Driver position, where you will make 12 cents per mile for every mile the truck is in operation. You will also receive pickup, drop off, and detention pay. You can expect to make between $450 to $600 per week.

Some drivers eventually move toward lease or owner-operator arrangements, where you run under the company but take on more of a business owner’s role and rewards. That path can pay off, but it comes with real financial obligations and risk. If you go that direction, understand every term before you sign, and treat it like the business decision it is rather than a shortcut to bigger pay.

Once you successfully complete your OTR training, C.R. England will then hire you on as a full-time truck driver. You will be assigned your own late-model truck and will begin driving solo. By that point you’ve already run thousands of supervised miles, dealt with real customers and real weather, and picked up the daily habits that turn a nervous graduate into a driver who trusts their own hands. The solo seat feels earned rather than sudden.

Pay and Benefits Beyond the Paycheck

Driver pay in trucking has shifted a lot in recent years, so treat any specific rate as something to confirm with a recruiter rather than a fixed promise. First-year earning potential at C.R. England runs up to around $75,000. Be clear-eyed about that number: it’s a ceiling for strong performers, not a first-year average. What you actually earn depends on your miles, your route type, and how the job fits your work habits, and new drivers typically start below that figure and climb with experience.

Truck driving often pays by the mile, meaning your earnings tie to the distance you cover rather than a flat hourly rate. Run more miles, earn more money. For people who’d rather be measured by output than by hours logged in a chair, that structure feels honest.

A mileage rate is only part of what the job pays. The benefits package is the other part, and for anyone leaving a job that offered nothing, it changes the picture.

C.R. England provides health, dental, and vision insurance to its drivers. If you’ve been going without coverage or paying for it yourself, folding all three into the job removes a monthly cost and a constant worry.

There’s a 401(k) retirement plan with a company match. A match means the company contributes money to your retirement on top of what you put in, which is free money toward your future for every dollar you save. Drivers also earn paid time off, so the days you take to rest or handle life at home don’t come out of your pay.

What You Can Expect From the Program

Overall, here’s what you can expect when you sign up and get accepted into one of the C.R. England training schools sponsored by the C.R. England trucking company:

• Tuition for the Class A CDL Automatic program is $4,500 paid upfront, or $6,495 through Premier’s Liberty or Climb payment plans. See the tuition table above for every program and location.
• The length of the paid CDL training course is about 10 days, depending on the location of the program.
• You do not need to have your commercial learner’s permit (CLP) before signing up.
• During the first week of school, you will study for and pass the CDL written tests.
• After obtaining your CLP, you will then go through a mix of classroom and driver training.
• You will receive approximately 40 hours of classroom instruction.
• You can expect to train 10 to 12 hours a day as this is a fast-paced paid CDL training course.
• The ratio of students to instructor is usually 4:1 but, may be 6:1 in rare cases.
• You should expect to share a truck with a few other students during lot training.
• After the classroom and lot phase, you’ll complete a 30-day OTR training program totaling 15,000 miles.
• You can request a personal trainer who doesn’t smoke during the over-the-road (OTR) training period.
• You must pay a non-refundable $50 administration fee when you enter the program.
• You must also pay a CDL Permit fee of $50 – $100 depending on the location.
• You are required to pay a $30 fee to cover the DOT medical exam and drug test cost.
• Tuition includes lodging and transportation but does not include meals.
• Premier offers financing through its Liberty and Climb payment plans, plus a discount for students who pay tuition upfront.
• You are not required to undergo a credit check or have someone co-sign your loan.
• Paying upfront saves about $1,995 on the CDL A Automatic program compared with the Liberty or Climb financed price.
• Your repayment schedule depends on whether you choose the Liberty or Climb plan; confirm the current terms with Premier.
• If you stay with C.R. England for at least 3 years, you will receive a $1000 reimbursement.
• Pre-paid students who stay with C.R. England Trucking for 3 years also receive the $1000 reimbursement.

A major benefit of C.R. England’s paid training course is that they provide you with travel and hotel costs. If you have to travel from another city in order to get to a C.R. England school, they will charge you nothing when you sign a driving contract, and will provide you with top-quality company paid CDL training in only 17 days.

While the program has a lot going for it, there’s one thing prospective students should keep in mind before signing the contract. Financing your tuition through a payment plan adds to the total cost, so it’s worth comparing Premier’s Liberty and Climb terms against other options like credit union loans or government financial aid before you commit. If you can pay upfront, you avoid the financed markup entirely, which on the CDL A Automatic program is close to $2,000.

There’s one other thing to weigh. Unless you become an owner-operator, there’s really no straightforward way to fully work off the cost of tuition so that your training becomes free. If you finance rather than pay upfront, you’ll also carry the plan’s markup, and even with any retention reimbursement you’re left with a real tuition cost. It’s a manageable expense for a lifelong skill, but you should see it clearly going in.

With an emphasis on driver safety, C.R. England truck driving school will make sure that you get comprehensive truck driver training in the classroom, on the driving range, and on the road. Once you complete the training program, you’ll obtain your Class A commercial driver’s license (CDL) and be guaranteed a driving position with C.R. England upon meeting the company’s hiring requirements. Those requirements are the normal expectation of any driving job: a valid license, a passing physical, a clean drug screen, and a driving record that holds up. In exchange, the program asks for a commitment period, currently nine months, meaning you agree to drive for C.R. England for that stretch after you finish.

The OTR Lifestyle: The Honest Version

This is the part most reviews gloss over, and it’s the part you most need to hear straight. Over-the-road driving is a lifestyle, not just a job, and it asks something real of you.

The biggest adjustment is time away from home. OTR drivers live on the road for stretches at a time, sleeping in the truck’s sleeper berth, the small cabin behind the seats. You’re not clocking out at five and driving home to dinner. Your home for weeks is a well-equipped cab, and your schedule follows the freight.

That’s the trade, and it’s not for everyone. If you have young kids and can’t stand missing bedtimes, OTR will test you. It’s fair to weigh that honestly before you commit, and to talk it through with the people who share your life.

Now the other side, because it’s just as real. A lot of drivers fall for the freedom. No cubicle, no manager over your shoulder, no repeating the same eight hours in the same building. It’s you, the truck, and the country rolling past your windshield.

There’s a rhythm to the life that grows on people. You see parts of the country most folks only fly over. You solve problems on your own. You end each run knowing you moved something real from one place to another. C.R. England leans on a family-oriented culture to support drivers through the adjustment, and with over a hundred years in the business, they’ve seen every rookie question before.

What a Week on the Road Feels Like

Picture the actual days rather than the idea of them. You wake in the sleeper berth, run your pre-trip inspection, and roll toward your delivery window. Federal hours-of-service rules cap your driving time and build in required rest, so the truck sets a rhythm you learn to work with.

Between drives you fuel up, grab food, and handle the small logistics of living out of a cab. Truck stops become familiar territory, with showers, laundry, and hot meals built for people doing exactly what you’re doing. Most drivers settle into it faster than they expect.

The freight gives each day a clear finish. You picked up a load here, you dropped it there, and the miles between them are on your settlement. That direct line from effort to pay is something a lot of office jobs never offer.

Then there are the stretches home. OTR schedules run in cycles, weeks out followed by time off, and drivers learn to make that home time count. The people who thrive treat the road and the time off as two halves of one life rather than one swallowing the other.

Room to Grow

A first driving job at C.R. England is a starting point, not a ceiling. Once you’ve got miles and a solid record behind you, you can become a driver trainer yourself, teaching the next wave of new drivers and earning for it. Many drivers find that mentoring sharpens their own skills and adds a stream of income on top of their freight.

There’s also specialized freight. Refrigerated loads, dedicated routes for specific customers, and other assignments often pay better and offer more predictable schedules than general long-haul work. Experience earns you access to the routes with the best mix of pay and lifestyle.

Beyond truck driving, there are leadership and non-driving roles across a company this size, from operations to training to management. Drivers who understand the road from the seat often make the strongest candidates for the offices that support it. You can drive for a paycheck, or you can use that first seat as the entry to a longer career with more control and more earning power. The choice stays yours.

Benefits:

• $0 Tuition Plan for students with a driving contract.
• All your travel and hotel costs are covered.
• Obtain your Class A CDL in about 17 days.
• The ratio of students to instructors is usually only 4:1.
• You are guaranteed a driving position upon meeting C.R. England’s hiring requirements.
• No credit requirements and no co-signer required.
• You will receive a $1000 discount if you pay your own tuition up-front.
• If you stay with C.R. England trucking company for at least 3 years, you will receive a $1000 reimbursement.
• Prepaid students who stay with C.R. England for 3 years also receive the $1000 reimbursement.
• You’ll most likely operate newer equipment. Trucks are equipped with electronic logs. No APUs.
• You’ll receive full benefits, including dental, vision, and health insurance.
• After 1 year, you will be eligible for a company match 401(k) retirement savings plan.
• You are allowed 1 passenger, 12 years of age and up, with approval and $100 yearly insurance payment.

Requirements:

• You must be at least 21 years of age to apply.
• Students ages 21 to 23 are required to have a clean driving record.
• You must show your original Social Security Card (cannot be laminated).
• You must have a valid U.S. passport if you plan on hauling freight in and out of Canada.
• You must complete all parts of the application including 3 years of employment history.
• You must have a good employment record.
• Your driving record cannot have more than 2 administrative suspensions in the past 3 years.
• Your driving record cannot have any reckless driving violations or license suspensions.
• You cannot have more than 2 moving violations in the past year, or more than 3 in 3 years.
• You cannot have any DUIs in the last 7 years.
• You must undergo a full criminal history background check. Be honest and up-front about any convictions!
• Any felonies you may have been convicted of must be 10 years of age or older.
• You must be able to pass a DOT medical examination and a mandatory drug test.
• You must have a blood pressure reading of 140/90 or less
• You must have 20/40 vision or better.
• You must have a horizontal field of vision rating of 80 degrees or more.
• You must pay Premier’s Class A tuition: $4,500 upfront or $6,495 through the Liberty or Climb plans (see the tuition table for other programs and locations).
• You must pay a non-refundable administrative fee of $50 upon entering the paid CDL training program.
• You must pay a $30 DOT physical and drug test fee.
• You will be required to pay for your own meals and basic living expenses during school.
• You must pass a road test administered by the C.R. England trucking company.
• You must be mentally and physically able to be away from home for at least 7 days at a time.
• No pets are allowed inside company trucks.

How to Prepare Before You Apply

You can smooth the whole process with a little prep. Pull your own driving record ahead of time so nothing surprises you, and be ready to explain any older marks honestly rather than hoping they go unnoticed.

Get your documents in order. A valid driver’s license, your Social Security card, and proof of your work history make the application move faster. Recruiters deal with paperwork all day, and the applicants who arrive organized tend to start sooner.

Take care of the physical side too. The DOT medical exam checks basics like vision, hearing, and blood pressure, so knowing where you stand on those before you sit down for it removes a lot of stress. If a routine issue like blood pressure is something you can improve in advance, it’s worth a head start.

Be honest with yourself about the drug screen and the commitment period. Both are firm, and there’s no point starting a program you’re not prepared to see through. Going in clear-eyed is the surest way to come out the other side with a license and a job.

Is This the Right First Step for You?

Strip away the details and the decision comes down to a few honest questions. Do you want a skilled trade that pays without a degree or a pile of debt? Can you handle time away from home in exchange for real independence and mile-based pay? Are you willing to work hard through a few demanding weeks of training and a mentorship phase to come out the other side employable for life?

If you answered yes, C.R. England’s paid CDL training does what it says. It removes the money-down barrier, teaches you the trade in weeks, licenses you, and guarantees a job when you meet the hiring standards. The 18% financing and the nine-month commitment are the real costs of that on-ramp, and you should weigh them with clear eyes. For someone ready to drive who can’t wait years to earn a stable income, few paths move this fast or ask this little up front.

C.R. England Paid CDL Training Locations: