Well in case anyone cares I am not longer working for Central.. My own stupidity. One too many what Central calls preventable accidents..

Ran into a landscape boulder with the trailer tandems and busted off the brake chamber. I didn't see the boulder, and it only cost $356.00 to fix it, but Central said it was preventable.

So I am scrambling to find a new job.. Least the total cost of all my accidents were below $8500. I may get lucky and find a job..

I won't be asking to close this thread so keep posting..

Celtic, southeastern freight is hiring local drivers all over NC. Both line haul and pick up and delivery drivers. For what its worth. Good luck

Yes we care Celtic!! Glad you are sticking around. You still are a knowledgable driver and have good info to share. You also aren't the only ex-Central driver to wander through this thread

Originally Posted by ChromeDome

I was taught to double clutch and to progressive shift in school in 1992. So they are not new methods. Also taught the smith system back then.
Too bad that timing lights and other things they use to teach are no longer taught. Also school back then was 8 weeks.

We did 2 weeks classroom, 2 weeks backing, 2 weeks driving days, 2 weeks driving nights.
I believe we were much better trained when we came out of school back then. But nobody wants to pay for training anymore.
And getting federal grants and student loans is harder than it use to be. The schools use to be certified and covered by federal student loan programs. So the army paid for my housing, and a pell grant paid for my school. So I was not stuck with a 3500 dollar school bill.

This was 20 years ago though. And times change. Training now is just drills to pass a test. Then they expect rookie drivers to train other rookies to drive once on the road.
Hopefully the FMCSA will fix this this year like they plan too. And make it so these 2 week schools go away for good.

That's a hell of a program if you can afford all that schooling..Unfortunately though, Chrome Dome,many people can't.Especially in this troubled economy..I also think that your education was much better than most drivers got,even by the standards of 20 years ago..

If I remember correctly ,before the CDL,all anyone had to do to get behind the wheel of a semi was to just pay a few bucks extra for the chauffeur endorsement .Maybe they would get a little training from their Uncle Jimmy ,maybe they wouldn't.No one had to demonstrate an abilty to perform the basic minimum standards to safely operate a truck.

Hell,many people could barely read or write.Not to mention the rampant drug abuse in the industry that had many drivers popping ''west coast turnarounds'' or ''caffeine ,nicotine and benzadrine.'' The result was a bloodbath on the highways when tweeked out drivers eventually crashed and burned..Unfortunately though,too many times,they crashed into unsuspecting motorists and burned them alive.Personally,I'm glad those days are behind us and that the industry no longer tolerates drivers who abuse drugs.I don't want to share the road with those people.

If you can afford the lengthy training,that's great.But like I said,many people can't afford to go for months at a time without a source of income. Myself,I've also attended one of those ''two weeks schools'' back in 2001.Since then,I've run over a million miles without a preventable accident and I'm now an instructor at TDA.The program works if you apply the methods both TDA and Central teach new students.

I'm pretty impressed with the training offered by the school.Yes,it is a fast paced program.It's designed to get people on the road as quickly and safely as possible and I think we do a pretty good job.By no means are students expected to be seasoned drivers at the end of the program.Neither were you at the end of your program.That's why students go with a trainer (not another rookie) for at least another 200 hours of driving before they are eligible for an upgrade to solo driver status.That usually takes at least a month and a half.Now when you add in the classroom time,and the range time,it's pretty darn close to the amount of training you received many years ago.But,it's more current and it's a fraction of the cost..

One other thing too,many of those schools that offer two months of training do little to nothing in the way of offering students job placement assistance.In other words,you hand over $10,000 for training and you still can't get a job because you have no over the road experience. At least with the TDA program,if you can complete the course and the extensive training program mandated by Central,you'll have a decent paying job with a good company when it's all over.

Originally Posted by niners77

Hey, Lady K! How have you and your husband been? I believe I met him on a repower in Lake Havasu, AZ when he was in training. If you ever see a red Peterbilt 587 with super singles, mudflap hangers with LED lights, tinted windows, and Sippycup on the drivers' door, hit me up! I will be pulling a dry van (I'm on Coors Dedicated).

We'll keep an eye out for you

We are still out here and are leashed... Lease... now. So far so good for us. We are dedicated with Cafe Valley right now... Wish the miles were a bit more, but we've had to have some home time recently, so it's hard to judge. We are in a white company spec Freightliner ... No frills