Central Refrigerated Truck Stop

Well I got a real shower today and feel somewhat like a human being again. Still in a bit of pain but getting better every minute. So now that I am not as on as many drugs at the moment I have a couple statements to make.

1bad has about 3 and 1/2 weeks left in his 1 yr commitment. He has already begun to circulate his new resume. Had an interview but due to my surgery missed it and the job it was a local gig almost tripling his income. But more offers are coming in so hopefully something local will happen soon. With the exception of what happened last week with him getting home for my surgery we have been happy since he has been on the kraft fleet. And who knows he may decide to stick it out a while longer. Since hopefully as soon as I am recovered I will be back to work. I have a job waiting although only part time that is better than no time. So Please everyone just look at your life and what you want out of it but know that anytime you start a new career you have never been in you will start at the bottom and can't climb to the top in a year's time. You have to have the motivation and dedication to stick with anything in order to make it work. And like I have posted before you have to learn how to work the system to make it benefit you. No one in any company is going to offer that info to you that is something you have to do on your own. So that is my 2 cents for the day now I have to get up and walk for a few. Hard to sit for to long, lay for to long or walk so I have to keep my body in a rotation.

Jess, give me a shot sometime tomorrow hopefully I will find my phone by then I hope I didn't leave it at the hospital. LOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!

 

Crap 1bad forgot to log out so I posted under him again. God I wish I had the stregth to make smack him but I dont!

 

<soapbox>For those thinking of jumping into this:

I for one came onboard knowing it would not be perfect. Having spent 2 decades in the Navy, I am highly familiar with stupid stuff and what can be lived with and what cannot. Now, that last statement does not mean that if you have similar experience it will be easy for you. In fact it is far from easy and there are unique challenges everyday.

On my last run, I spent 58 days out. 52 of those days I was 1200 or more miles from my home. I was two weeks past my scheduled approved hometime and questioning why I was doing this while also pestering central everyday of the situation. Tomorrow I head back out and am happy to do so. Why? I'm on a self defined path for what I want. Central just happens to be along for the ride on my journey to my end goal.

On the flip side, it has been stated many times in the press media that 2009 was probably the worst year in trucking ever. Companies were doing everything they could to hold on. Who suffered the most? The drivers of course, even though the drivers are the backbone of the industry. All this and now the government stepping in and pushing more stringent regulations, and that focus is primarily on the drivers.

Personally, I do not recommend to anyone to get into this business right now. Having left an okay job to do this I can say... if you have a job, keep it or try to move laterally within that profession. Re-train in something similar to what you know, do not jump into the deep end of this cesspool.

2010-2011 should see a shake up in the trucking world. The days of what you may think the trucking industry is are over. Watch Smokey and the Bandit for entertainment. I posted a link to a video a few pages back. Take that 10 minute video and multiply the feelings you may have felt while watching it by 1000. Then think about dealing with those feelings for 60 days straight.
</soapbox>

 

*Quote* If anyone has a better idea for me than Central, I am totally open to suggestions."

Ya, drive the extra miles and get a job at Burger King. You will make more money. Hell, even $277 a week unemployment is more then you will bring home at Central.

1Bad i have sat and laughed at your comments. No one will listen cause they wanna believe that magic lie..."Earn $45,000 your first year!" My ###! As many posts you see from drivers and ex drivers telling these poor souls to stay away and they just keep coming. Central makes double the money off of the students. The govn't pays them for you to goto school and then you pay them as well. We were lucky. Wayne's O/OP teammate had to foot the bill for his schooling. He paid $300 a week to Central for it for Wayne to be able to team with him. His teammate paid him .38cpm and they got about 6000 miles a week so they didn't do too bad. It wasn't so bad cause they were on the Dole fleet and they made it through every week even if it was only for 6 hours or so. When his teammate lost his home cause miles started to drop, he moved back east and hubby went solo. It just got worse from there. As soon as a electrical position opened, he took it. Sitting for 4 days waiting for a load in Colorado and then another 3 days waiting in Georgia was the end. He couldn't handle it any more. He was too worried about his family sitting 1000 miles away wondering where they were gonna live cause he wasn't making enough to send home. As other have said...come back in 6-9 months and post. We wanna hear if you are still there and about how much you lost. We are not trying to scare you. We just wanna lay it on the line so that you know what to expect and if you are willing to give up everything. I will keep watching to see who keeps posting...Didn't a husband wife team goto Central that posted on here? Forgot the screen name but haven't seen them since. Anyone know? I hope everyone stays safe.

 

That would be Mama mia and Lextec and they leased a truck and as far as I know they are still with Central.

 

Laugh all you want but you guys are there already and I don't know if anybody tried to stop you but you went anyway. This is not a Burger King or McDonald's forum. All of you are so high on flipping burgers yet you won't leave your drivers seat.

While ya'll laugh at us asking questions, I have to ask myself how you wound up behind the wheel of a truck when the drive through is really where you want to be...

 

I'm not trying to scare anyone with my comments either. But it seems like new guys get on here, ask questions then when us "Old timers" add our input we are just bitter, and they have it all figured out. I'm not really an old timer, I will have been here 2 years in May. I'm real, I won't sugar coat things, and hold someone's hand.

My story is simple like others. I was unemployed, couldn't buy a job back home, my house was going into foreclosure. It seemed like a sure thing, come to Central's school, after a year your training will be paid for, you will run 3000+ miles a week, we have miles, I was taken in by the recruiters. I had it all figured out... Figured I could stand on my head for a year, then get a local job, or go back into the industry I was in before. Funny thing about driving a truck, you get a call to come in for an interview "Can you come talk to us tomorrow?" Well you are 1000 miles from home, no can't just pop in for a chat...So how's that job hunt going?

Add on the lifestyle, sleeping at varied times, lack of excersize, spending $100 a week just to keep food stocked in the truck. The fact is, now not only do you have to support 1 household you have to in effect support 2 if you have family at home like I do, them and your mobile house. So if you have a week where you sit, take time off, or break down, even as a company driver you end up with a negative check, so you cut back things don't get paid you end up in worse financial shape than you were in before. I am in process of filing for bankruptcy, this seems to be a common thing for drivers. I couldn't even imagine an Owner Op if they turn their truck in, yes it's "Walk away lease" But that doesn't mean you aren't still on the hook for that truck payment, I have heard of Central turning people over to collections, "Sorry it didn't work out for you, but we still want our money" same for school payments.

I knew nothing about the trucking industry, if I didn't have a family, or was 10 years younger, this would be a great job. Fact is, you will never get ahead.

I'm not bitter, but if just one person would understand this going in, think about it. If you still choose to come on in, you have information I didn't. I like the work. It's just everything else that is becoming a real pain in the ###. And I am just about done. I'm not bitter, I just don't want to see someone else who has it all figured out end up like me. This industry, this company and probably all companies, will chew you up and spit you out. The recruiters are paid to put ##### in seats, and when I turn this truck in in days someone else will be in the seat.

 

i been here for 2 years im on a deciated run to ny back to pa its a good place to start i did not have a problem yet

 

Ya know, Black Panther, your post was #8,600 in this thread glorifying Central Refrigerated! Tell us wannabes more, please. Do they have a school, do they train recent CDLers, what else? If they do have a school, did you go through it? If they provide training to new drivers, did you get your training there? Oh yeah, welcome to the forum. Seems these days most of the new members who have been out there only come on here to blast their companies, then they go on their miserable way. Your post is refreshing. Thanks!

 

Read all the #8,600 posts, the answers are all there. If you wannabe that bad, Rhino I'm sure will be parking his truck in the very near future. It's a T-2000. LOW MILES

Glad to hear it Black Panther. It's nice to hear that some of the fellow drivers have it good. Thanks for your post.