Central Refrigerated - Essential Student Info

I am currently going through Central Refrigerated's school in Salt Lake. In making my decision to come here I read through this forum and did my research. Now that I am here I have learned so many things that no one else has really touched on. If you are planning to come to Central, maybe this advice will be helpful to you. It's only my opinion, based on what I have experienced so far. Hopefully, it will help you.

First, it's a great company. Everyone is really nice. They have great instructors and nice equipment. Having said that, they are a large company moving a lot of people through their schools. You have to keep that in mind as you start the process for yourself. As with all things in life these days you have to check and double-check, and follow behind people to make sure you have all the right information and that your paperwork is complete.

First and foremost- you must, must, MUST make sure you have all of your identifying paperwork before you get here. I was sent a packet of info from my recruiter that said birth certificate OR passport. I had a passport so didn't worry about the birth certificate. In one of my confirmation conversations with her she brings up the birth certificate and says I must have it. I had to order it and it came in just a few days before I had to leave. Many people get here and there is something wrong with their identification documents. You have to have a birth certificate with a raised seal. NOTHING else will do. You must have a blue social security card. NOTHING else will do. It's not the school's requirement, it is Utah. If you make it to SLC and don't have what you need, you may be going home at your own expense. They don't play.

This course is very fast paced. If you are a slow learner you need to get a CDL book and study, study, study. Air Brakes is huge. You need to know and completely understand that system. So why not get a jump on it and read all you can to understand it.

There is a lot of "hurry up and wait" that goes on. They have people in various stages of training. Yours will not be the only class. So there are many people being shuffled to and from the hotels. Sometimes you have to wait. When we arrived, after a 30-hour bus trip, nasty, tired, cranky, hungry and nerved out, we were picked up at the bus station and taken to the office where we had to wait a couple of hours for the office to open before we could go to our hotels. Just know you have to be patient. It's only a 10-day class here. You can do anything for ten days. You will go where they tell you when they tell you. But they have made it so that you can ride shuttles to go shopping and they have a store there at the facility. There is a laundry facility, pool room, cafeteria, etc. They make it as nice as they can, but it's not the Hilton.

My advice is to remember when you are here that it's kind of like an on-going job interview. If you are rude or impatient, they know it and they take note of it. I can't tell you how many guys have stood around making jokes about Mormons. It would be prudent to realize that this is a predominately Mormon city and it's not smart to make cracks about them because some of the staff members ARE Mormon. They do not allow any drinking while here. I have been told but I do not know this to be true, that the maids check your rooms and trash cans and report what they find to Central. I think it would follow that if they disapprove of alcohol while you are in school, it probably doesn't make much sense to sit around and complain about it. Clearly, it's important to them. Complaining about it shows them just how important alcohol is to you. What you say on the shuttles probably gets reported back. If you have a bad attitude or are rude, it will be noted.

I strongly advise you to bring an ipod or something with headphones. I'd say this is critical. You are around people ALL THE TIME. All their conversations clog up your head space. It's constant yak, yak, yak. That's not a complaint. It is what it is. You are in rooms with people that you probably wouldn't choose as friends, listening to their phone conversations, foul language and silly banter. It gets tiring especially when you are trying to study. You don't have time for distraction here. You have to study and work for it, it is not handed to you on a silver platter. There is a lot to learn and memorize. The guys who are not studying and taking things seriously get weeded out.

It is what you make it. If you are kind to people they will be kind to you. You can so do this. They really help you through everything but they are not half-stepping. You gotta hustle and you have to show them you are serious.
I will post more as the days go forward. I am glad I chose Central. OH AND THEY NOW ALLOW PETS!!!!!

 

Contrail - I have quite a few things I can tell ya'll that will help you, just too busy to type it out right now. So check back. I will try to write more in the next couple of days.

The Utah requirement comment was about the documents. It's not necessarily Central requiring the info. They are telling you what Utah requires to give you a license. You have to prove your identity. I am looking at Central's handout about this now. It says " It must have a raised seal, be on copy proof paper, have the registrar's signature and have the file number." That's all I can tell you. To be sure, just order a new one. If you were born outside the US your BC must have been issued after June of 2010. The raised seal is a seal that is placed on the certificate certifying it's authenticity. If you rub your hand across the document you should feel it.

Let me just tell you, many people are sent home every week because they do not follow these directions.

Puppage, I am from Seattle. They do take people from the northeast. I think there is a map on their webpage because there are places they don't hire from. But that's not a big deal. You can always establish residency in a state they do hire from. You go out with your trainer for 3-5 weeks - you have to have the required 200 hours. You can be based anywhere you like. You just have to talk to the recruiter about it.

 

One more quick thing before I go study: I would know the CDL book inside and out before I came here, if it's possible. You really need to understand air brakes. You need to understand all of it. But be sure you know all the parts. Make sure you really, really understand it. That will help you a lot. If you can study the truck parts and how things connect, that will be helpful. Once you get here they are talking about parts and pieces and if you don't know what they are it is hard to absorb the information.

This is not hard. You can do it. It's SO doable. But you can't have a relaxed attitude about it. This is serious stuff.

I have two instructors who are really nice people. They are funny. They are down to earth and easy going. They make this so bearable.

 

Passion, one of the managers told our class here that comment about it not being Central but Utah who wants that info. I know they ran their hands across ours to see if there was a seal. And, yes, I am meeting many new people who are awesome and I am sure that lifelong friendships are being formed. It just gets overwhelming sometimes all the constant banter when you brain is already on overload. At least for me it does.

Tomorrow is off-set backing and then we actually go out on the road to drive. This should be completely awesome!

 

Contrail- I am from Athens. Where are you located?