My Central Thread

Discussion in 'Central Refrigerated' started by Scott7975, Sep 6, 2010.

  1. Scott7975

    Scott7975 Light Load Member

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    Cortland, NY
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    Well, I thought I would start my own thread to give my experience at Central. The other threads were huge and have alot of information in them. I am taking my laptop with me and have Verizon MiFi, so I plan to post my experiences here as often as I can.

    I currently live near Syracuse, NY. The school they are sending me to is in Buffalo, NY. Actually it is in Niagara Falls. This will be a little different then going through Centrals normal schools, I think, because it is not Central training me but rather a school they are paying to train me. I leave today to goto Buffalo and start the school process tommorow morning.

    A couple things differ, that I know of, so far. 1 thing is that they do not provide housing here. For me, it is not so bad. I am from Buffalo and still have many friends in the area. I will be staying with my friend so I will incur no expense for a room. For others that dont have friends or family in the area, it would probably suck. Im sure it costs alot of money to stay in a hotel or something for that long... even the no-tell Motels lol. Which leads me to the other difference that I see so far. I believe most people go through 3 weeks training at Central schools. The Buffalo school is 4 weeks long. Although thats an extra week without pay.... its an extra week of learning.

    Well, I guess that is all for now since I havent actually started anything yet. I am both anxious to get started and a little nervous too. Im sure after the first day or two the nerves will go away. Its just the unknown thing that gives me the nerves. I know I am going to miss my wife but I will be able to handle that. Im only about 2.5 hours away so I may pop back here for a weekend and surprise her =) I will post again tommorow after I get home with something to tell.
     
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  3. thelastamericanhippy

    thelastamericanhippy Road Train Member

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    So you are going to work for Central, and not Simon-correct?
     
  4. Scott7975

    Scott7975 Light Load Member

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    Cortland, NY
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    Central Refrigerated. This is the only forum I saw for Central. I am in the right forum I hope.
     
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  5. thelastamericanhippy

    thelastamericanhippy Road Train Member

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    There is also a good thread under favorite companies !!!!!
     
  6. Scott7975

    Scott7975 Light Load Member

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    Aug 5, 2010
    Cortland, NY
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    Yes there is! I read every post on there and its 1136 pages long. I got alot of good info there and it helped me make my decision on Central. I decided to post here so that I can leave my "journal" and not have it mixed in with what is now a general information thread. I do totally suggest that anyone starting out and thinking about Central to definately read that thread. Invaluable information there and alot of good, friendly, helpful people posted in there.
     
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  7. ChromeDome

    ChromeDome Road Train Member

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    Lakeland, FL
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    Central refrigerated was Dick Simon before Jerry bought it.
    Same company. Just different name, owners, and management.
    But yes, this is the thread for Central Refrigerated.
     
  8. Scott7975

    Scott7975 Light Load Member

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    Aug 5, 2010
    Cortland, NY
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    Well, I started class today and it was good. We went over parts of the study book for the permit test. We watched a bunch of videos. I took a drug test and then passed my DOT physical. We are taking the permit test on friday. One good thing is that there are only 5 of us in class so thats more training time in the truck for all of us. We didnt take the work well yet nor did we take a security interview yet. I was surprised as I thought that would all be knocked out on day 1.

    Going to study a while then hit the sack. Ill post later about day 2 (tommorow)
     
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  9. Scott7975

    Scott7975 Light Load Member

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    Aug 5, 2010
    Cortland, NY
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    More work on the permit test book. Took our first practice test today. It was on the general section 50 questions. I missed 2 questions. One of them was due to a brain fart. I actually had the right answer and marked the wrong one lol. We got through the air brakes section today and will do the combinations section and hazmat tommorow. Although hazmat is not required, the teacher is going over it in case we want to take it. We also, of course, watched some videos. Oh and we filled out the contract paperwork today.

    Friday we will be taking our permit tests. We will learn shifting afterwards. Saturday we will be learning backing. By Monday we will be learning how to drive on the roads. We will be taking our road tests on the 30th. I guess we will be taking the work well tests sometime next week.

    Well I got some homework and a little paperwork to fill out so Ill post more tomorrow.
     
  10. mulliganstew3

    mulliganstew3 Bobtail Member

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    Sep 8, 2010
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    looking for info on central ref school in fontana ca
     
  11. Scott7975

    Scott7975 Light Load Member

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    Aug 5, 2010
    Cortland, NY
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    Well today I took my permit test. I got 3 wrong on the general section and I got none wrong on air brakes and combinations. I also took the hazmat for the hell of it and got perfect on that as well. So I got my permit yay! We got back and we went through some trip planning and log booking. Some of it is still a little confusing to me so I hope we go over it a bit more.

    Tommorow we are going to learn to shift while bobtail and possibly some backing manuvers. If not on the backing then we will do that Monday. Im very excited and nervous at the same time.

    Our class started with 5 but unfortunately 1 was told he couldnt go no further. Without going into too much detail for privacy reasons... it was because one of his meds was an inflamatory and Central wont allow it because they feel it could affect his driving. I felt real bad for him because he was a real nice guy. They did tell him that if he got the med changed he could come back in 30 days.

    I will write about my experience grinding gears... err I mean shifting tommorow.
     
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