Central Refrigerated Truck Stop

**HUNGRYONE** · 05.26.2011

Originally Posted by ChromeDome

Hey Hungryone, you are either out of your mind or you are making money off of newbies leasing trucks. Nobody in their right mind would press a new driver toward leasing a truck.
Heck, most new drivers never make it past a year. The first few months everything is shiny and new. A little scary, but new.
It is that 6-24 months where it starts getting to you. And you do not want to hit that point while looking at an 18,000 dollar a month truck payment.

hey chrome dome. I might be out of my mind just a little bit but I think we all are at times. let me ask you a ?. are you o/o? did you lease? do you even work for central anymore? Just so you know I went to school with sparky, hell right after training we teamed up for a while. I am an o/o now and I love it so far. I run 2800-3300 every week. one week I ran
2150 miles and still made more than i did as co. I leased used FOR 18 months and got a truck that was less than a year old and had less than 90,000 miles on it and I pay 794 a week for everything out the door where you got 18000 a month from i dont know. when you lease everything is already done for you, except taxes and keeping recipts other than that its just like being co with more pay. all I said was "no risk no gain" I also said "everybodys situation is different" and I said " be smart"
I have no wife, no kids, no bills and I live on the road everything is going great for me.

HELL YEAH SPARKY LEASE AND CALL ME UP AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU GOT

**Raincatcher** · 05.27.2011

Well,it hasn't done any good yet to send messages every day to safety,hr or payroll. I got hit with anothe $130 for excess idling. That takes the total to nearly $700. Plus,I am still being charged for the lock kit and the $40 per week truck security deposit. I should have paid both of those off a few weeks ago. Both my dm and payroll gal say they are looking into it. I am headed to WVC today and think I will "look into it" myself. Maybe the fact that I am sleeping in my Sherpa lined Carhart coat means nothing to CRS,but I am going to try to convince them it means I am NOT idling like they think. The Qualcom isn't registering idle time that I can see. Wish me luck....

**bnap** · 05.27.2011

just want to thank all the drivers on this forum for all the advice i got before cominf to central. especially ChromeDome.. i really like it here at central so far. i think i got a good recruiter and trainer. (the second one.) who were honest with me up front. lots of guys i hear complaining about recruiters must not have asked the right questions. or maybe had false expectations. (like money coming out the vents as your driving) LOL!! mabe i'll meet some of you drivers OTR now. i got a red prostar truck# 00145.

**ChromeDome** · 05.27.2011

Unless something has changed, and they are leasing trucks for less than the normal payments on a new or almost new truck in a lease. Then the payment is close to 1800 dollars a month. If they lease for much less than that they are loosing money. Since in a typical lease, even from a lease company, that is about the payment on a newer truck. That you will not own.
You are painting a rosy picture, but it is not the full picture. And that is not your total monthly cost not counting fuel. It may be your weekly cost. But not monthly.

No I never leased a truck from Central. I did the math and realized that I can make close to the same money as a company driver. Without the risk. I worked for central for around a year and a half. And that was over 3 years ago now.
I stick around here because I have been asked too, to help out and answer questions.
Notice that most I answer are not totally company related. But more industry related. Because I know that many things at Central have changed since I was with them. Mostly losses in pay and benefits.
They are still not a bad starter company. Compared to the competition. But if I wanted to be an owner OP I would buy a truck and make much more money than a rental owner. And it would be my truck. And it would be with a company that
1. paid more per mile.
2. paid FSC for all dispatched miles, loaded and empty.
3. Took care of all fuel tax and permits (many do this, no charge to driver).
4. Had a more open policy on age of trucks leasing on. judge trucks on condition and not on age.
5. Did not charge back on any load related issues to the O/O (most do not). And many other little things that add up to losses to the owner OP.
6. Had a lease to own program (if that is what I was looking for) without a buyout at the end of the lease. Centrals is equal to the full market value of that truck at that age with those miles. Minus your overmilage that you paid into escrow. As a hint. If you go to a dealership you will not pay close to market value. If you are smart.

I made well over 50k a year with Central as a company driver. That was enough for me. I actually would have stayed on with them longer, accept my wife wanted me home more.
Now I am home most weekends. I still make in the 50k range. And no headaches.
Sure. I would make more if I bought a truck. If I got a good used one I could make allot more. A newer one not so much. Price is just too high. And the emission issues cost too much to fix.

**smadronia** · 05.28.2011

Originally Posted by JimBob24

WOW. Didn't know that is the ratio. Funny thing. I have noticed that there is a lot of stupid trucks recently. Could it be the drivers? They Not SWIFT nor any huge starter, bottom feeder, etc, etc, etc,.... that are totally rude, ignorant, stupid, unprofessional, whatever other adjective, or adverb you can apply that we see every day that do not simply find their way into a normal parking slip????

'

There are a lot of folks that are professional steering wheel holders out there now. With the recession, a lot of people went out of work and into trucks, without having a lot of knowledge about what they were getting into. It translates into rude, stupid people in big, dangerous trucks.

**smadronia** · 05.28.2011

Originally Posted by HUNGRYONE

hey chrome dome. I might be out of my mind just a little bit but I think we all are at times. let me ask you a ?. are you o/o? did you lease? do you even work for central anymore? Just so you know I went to school with sparky, hell right after training we teamed up for a while. I am an o/o now and I love it so far. I run 2800-3300 every week. one week I ran
2150 miles and still made more than i did as co. I leased used FOR 18 months and got a truck that was less than a year old and had less than 90,000 miles on it and I pay 794 a week for everything out the door

So, you've been driving like Sparky for 3 months on your own, but you've had an 18 month lease? Or, you got an 18 month lease and you've been a rent operator for like a month now?

**smadronia** · 05.28.2011

Originally Posted by sparkymax

So let me get some opinions on leasing, am newbie solo 3mos. Some of my classmates have leased already and say they're making more $.
Is it a wise move? What are the tricks to making sure you can make more than company? Any and all advice welcome

Don't. I know there are people here who will tell you to do it, but don't. At least not for a year.

This is why.

Will you be doing this job in a year? Turnover rate at Central for company drivers is 140% or more, according to the safety department. Turnover rate for the lease division is still about 75%.

Drive for a year. Decide if you want to do it for another 5 years. Then, if you want to lease, go talk to the lease op department. There's a big push to lease and get your schooling paid off, but don't. Trading in $2500 in schooling for a $2000 a month truck payment isn't worth it.

Don't ever expect to own your own truck, if you lease through Central. It's not in their best interest for you to own your own truck. They will want you to get out of your lease, into a new lease. It covers the payment on the truck, and keeps you tied to Central. And, they claim depreciation on the truck, not you on your taxes. When your lease is done, you will have to find financing for that balloon payment, if you want to keep your truck. Central won't carry the loan. Many truckers who lease often don't have good enough credit to get the $40,000 loan needed to pay off their truck. So, they lease a new truck. All those damage fees, maintenance costs, over mileage fees, etc that they charge you on the old lease get rolled into the new one.

I don't recommend leasing at all. I've seen it fail for far too many drivers. It's good for a few, they have to have some to parade around and show how much money they make. It's decent for a chunk of them, maybe not like the top group, but enough they stick around. A lot of them train. But for those who do okay, there are drivers who don't. Some of them it's their fault, they don't want to do the work, or they don't know how. And for others, they know what they're doing, but it doesn't work out.

Remember, if you lease, you can't just walk away if you hate the job, the company, or the truck. You are stuck, unless you find someone to take over your lease, or you're willing to walk away and fight Central for any DAC or credit report damages.

Would you rent an apartment forever, and never buy a house? Or lease a car, and never make payments and eventually own it? If so, and you're okay with it, then you might consider leasing. Just try sticking it out with Central for a year, see if you even want to stay with them to lease.

**smadronia** · 05.28.2011

Originally Posted by ChromeDome

But if I wanted to be an owner OP I would buy a truck and make much more money than a rental owner. And it would be my truck.

My co driver and I have had the "own a truck" conversation. We actually considered going and finding one, but in the end we decided not to. Since we're looking at getting off the road here soon, it would be counter productive. Now, if someone just dropped the keys to a truck in our lap, and gave it to us.... well, I think I'd stay out a few more years.

**ChromeDome** · 05.28.2011

Originally Posted by smadronia

My co driver and I have had the "own a truck" conversation. We actually considered going and finding one, but in the end we decided not to. Since we're looking at getting off the road here soon, it would be counter productive. Now, if someone just dropped the keys to a truck in our lap, and gave it to us.... well, I think I'd stay out a few more years.

That is one of the first steps in the decision making process. If you are going to buy a truck, you have to know that you will keep rolling with it for 5 years or more. You can pay off a good used truck in 3 years or less. That gives you at least 2 years with no payment. Most trucks will run past 1 mill miles before they need an inframe. So you may need to have the money for that handy at all times. At least I would.
If I was to buy a truck I would put down enough cash to get the payment less than a grand a month. I would prefer around 800 bucks a month. Plus I would want to have close to 10k in the bank for any emergency.
This is before even buying the truck.
But you figure a good 4 year old used truck will run you around 1/3 if the cost of a new one. It was much less than that last year. But now people are buying again.
Also, when you have your truck payed off. You should put the payment money in savings each month that you would have used for a payment. Do this till you are ready for a new used truck. That way you can upgrade if you like. You will have 2+ years of saved payments. Plus any trade in money.

**jess-juju** · 05.28.2011

My other half was a glorified company driver with central!!!

truck payment on a peterbilt 387 was $645 a week it did have an apu so the payment was a little higher!!

Dispatcher was Lynnette H.

Now let me ask you a question can you take your truck somewhere else if your miles suddenly dry up??????

If some stupid broke 4wheeler hits you they will sue Central and if the damage is over $10,000 you will get fired at fault or NOT!!!

Can you just decide gee im going to take a week of, without sending in a mac well in advance ???

I still have lease Op friends working with Central one has changed fleets and Fleet managers a lot trying to find a good match and it still hasn't happened!

Oh and if you train you have to take whatever garbage ld your assigned!

I will take a $3800 down and $1340 payment a month anyday yep it wont be a nice new truck but when the last payment is made its ours and gee if we run 14000 miles a month there is no excess milage fee, If we want to take a few days off no getting it approved we can just do it!!

A lease Op does make a small profit when he gets someone to Lease with Central!

If you turn the truck in before the Lease is up no it won't go on your Credit as its a third party Lease!

Hopefully the IRS will stop Lease programs like centrals if enough people do the paperwork and send it in, or Central will have to change the terms of the Lease!