Central Refrigeration Service, Inc. - West Valley, Ut.

I will tell him that Cromedome. He said he was praying yesterday because a kid was scaring the heck out of him, the trainer and another guy in the truck....lol...Said it rattled his teeth! He just can't wait to get out with a trainer. He wasn't so happy with the shuttle though. They didn't get back to the motel until 8pm last night. If they are so picky about drivers, why don't they get a better shuttle driver?.....lol

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again. There have been many new hires who have come to the company on their first day, and they have had such a bad experience with the shuttle that they say:

"If this is the way that this company works, then maybe I don't want to work here after all."

I can't believe that nothing has changed.

 

I second that as far as when will things change opp's I'm sorry they won't thell just get worse. This company dosen't care about anyone the only thing you have is to do your best for your D/M and maybe you will see more miles short of that don't hold your breath. I'm still sitt'n in Conley now wait'n for a load. Someone sang a song I got ta get out of this place and thats how I feel. I'm done for now ya all have a nice day......

6pak


By the way how ya do'n Lastkid better then me I hope LOL.

 

Okay, Kids, I'm getting concerned about you all.

Talking to other Central Drivers in person and on here, I am noticing a very definite feeling that things are not going very well right now for many people.

Many people with good work habits and good attitudes are starting to feel frustrated.

Any ideas on what we should do from here? What can be done to make things better?

I have some ideas that Central can put into place right now, but I want to hear from you all before I start spouting my opinions.

 

Your right we are all frustrated! For instance 6Pak being stuck n Conley for days, DragonMatrix having a huge problem getting back out with a trainer, Juniper having a few trainers and them using him for the miles only, JJ and I not getting the miles we need and when we do get the miles its something like 1500 miles and 5 days before it delivers and they won't let you drop the trailer.

A couple of Guys who work for Central (finished there training recently) call JJ on a regular basis because they need help........He doesn't mind, he likes to help out any driver who is having a problem.

Central have now decided they won't take any drivers who graduated from private schools! I will not get my CDL through Central the training is not enough one on one and if I'm paying to be trained then I want some one on one, the only advantage I would have going through Central would be JJ would be my trainer and I already know how to Log and do Macro's (took Chromes advice and went through all macro's one day)
JJ has a load to PA now good miles, but it was supposed to be dropped at WVC for another driver, until he said no he had the hrs to run it.
Guess I'm just frustrated today Lol and felt like having a #####

 

Jess, this is what I'm talking about. Everything you just mentioned can be fixed if Central would just step up and take care of it.

Here is my list of what could be done RIGHT NOW to make an immediate improvement:

Problem: Sixpack stuck in Conley for days
Solution: Once a driver delivers a load, driver is paid $10/hour until the next load is assigned. I bet Sixpack wouldn't be sitting long if it was costing the company money for him to sit.

Problem: Dragonmatrix is stuck waiting for a trainer
Solution: Pick out the very best drivers and pay them enough to make it worth it for them to train.

Problem: When we do get the miles its something like 1500 miles and 5 days before it delivers and they won't let you drop the trailer.
Solution: Make it a company policy that teams ALWAYS drop trailer and allow local drivers to take it from there.

Problem: Wolfden is sitting at a grocery warehouse for 5 hours waiting to be unloaded.
Solution: The rate the customer pays should be based on miles plus a two hour allowance for loading or unloading. Past two hours the customer pays $10/hour to the driver for detention pay.

Problem: Good, stable drivers like ChromeDome leave for greener pastures.
Solution: At the end of their first year, drivers should have a career review where they can recieve feedback from the company. At the same review, the driver should be told, "We want you to stay for another year. What can we do to make that happen?"

It seems to me that Central has the power to make things a lot better. Any other ideas from you folks?

 

Well, they already do one of those.
There rate includes all miles, and 2 hours at each end, for load and unload.
As long as you are on time for your appt. you are paid 16 and hour after that 2 hours. In 15 min increments.

They will not pay for your sitting, unless it is more than 24 hours. If 24 hours passes from the time you have on your Mac 6, then you get paid for layover.

On Jess's issue. If they will not allow you to drop the trailer, I would get there as fast as I can. If I cannot get it unloaded early, or get a drop, I would request operational layover for every day I sit. I have done this when I was full OTR and received it.

SixPac was waiting on Maintenance. So he therefore should be paid 50 a day for mechanical layover. That is company policy, and as soon as he has an operational qualcom, or access too one, he needs to request this. I am sure he will get it. But he will have to ask, they will not just give it. Kind of like the hotel thing. He asked for it, and he got the money back.

On the new idle policy. There "solution" is the worst idea ever. The best fix would be to equip every truck they will be keeping for 24+ months with an APU.
I used the savings calculator at an APU site for there fleet. They would save between 3.5 and 4 million dollars over the next 4 years on fuel, including the cost of the units, and main of the units. And this is if they lowered idle from 30% to 5%. You can actually lower it more than 5.
I have had long talks with management on this. It is still being kicked around.

A good DM is the hardest thing to find. The first few months out solo you have a temporary DM. They just work with newer drivers. After that they get you with a full time DM. They do not have to be from your home terminal. Remember, regardless what there title is. Your DM works for you. Not you for them. You will have to suffer thru a few months with one, if the help is still not there, fire them and get a new one.

On the local driver thing. We have a few in select areas away from our terminals. Most of these are used to stage loads though. They will shuttle trailers between a drop yard and shipper. They usually do not deliver loads, accept around terminals.
They are paid on salary. 800 a week. Home most nights. Not necessarily off weekends.

Your DM gets paid mostly based on there drivers getting paid. If you are not getting miles, they are not getting paid as much. If you are idling allot and delivering late, your DM is not getting paid as much. You being happy and delivering your loads, is in there best interest. If they have too many unhappy drivers, that are not making the miles, the drivers will all fire them. And the company will fire the DM.

This is a training company. They like there drivers cheap. They will not try hard to hold on to them. The dedicated fleets are different though. They expect 100% on time service. 100% fuel compliance ect. They try very hard to hold onto there drivers. My fleet manager is very very unhappy that I am leaving. He is trying to hold me so my last day will be the 31st. I had to tell him today that I need to be ready to work at my new place before that. But no date is set yet.

Idea from me.
Our pay scale has not changed for several years. For company drivers or Owner Ops. They need to catch up with the reefer industry. At 1 year company drivers should all be at 36 cpm or more. Not 31.
Owner Ops, should be at 95 cpm. Not 85.
We are falling behind fast. Now Swift even pays it's drivers better at 1 year. And reefer has always payed better than dry van. And there Owner Ops are at 91 cpm.

They still have the freight. They just need to work on better planning. New planners come on all the time, and they are not planning well. They need to plan at least 2 loads out. Espically for owner ops. If they are going to send an owner op to a short freight area, they need to have the load out set up before they send them there. A company driver can dead head if needed, an owner op cannot afford too.

It is not rocket science. They just need to start looking at the big picture.

 

Hey all. Been reading the problems and i hope they get better. Wayne finished another day. He said the new class has 25 people in it, so it looks like a lot of people are answering their ads. He went on the freeway today. Only problem he had today was a idiot on a motorcyle came up on his right today while he was making a right turn onto a road. Never knew why people were stupid and did that. I actually witnessed a woman with a child in the car, do that when i was a teenager. Didn't even have the kid in a car seat. She jumped out of her car, opened her truck and grabbed the car seat before cops arrived. I stayed around to tell the cops what i saw....lol....Was her fault! I guess they are gonna start testing out drivers starting Thursday. Well, the better drivers. Don't know who yet. I guess i will find out Thursday. He said the kid was doing better today but went down hill. The trainer almost had to hit the brakes and he jerked the truck around again today. Reminds me of high school drivers ed....lol...Had a girl scare the crap out of everyone in the car. I feel sorry for the students who ride with the scary ones.

 

Thats the reason I won't be getting my CDL with Central!! Im a real nervous passenger and I would have been freaking.

 

Thanks for the information. I found it useful

Stellathomas