Central Refrigerated Truck Stop

anyone know an all in one printer that will work with a cobra power inverter? I already tried the HP F4580 and apparently it requires a pure sinewave source and most power inverters put out modified sine wave.

 

Hey guys Ive been reading your posts for weeks. Im headed to Utah in 3 weeks so I thought I would introduce myself and ask a few basic questions. First Im Charlie 29, from Arkansas.

1). Is there anything I should be aware of right out of training? By this i mean is there somthing I should do to help my situation being the new guy I mean. Talk to this guy or that.

2). Is there alot of freight handling ? {Do you unload your own #### ever}

3). The maximum amount of hours you can drive without going to jail in a 24 hr. period is ?

4). What kind of equipment are they currently using and what can I expect to be driving out of training ?

Thanks in advance guys and I will keep you all up to date on how everything goes with the training and hopefully see you guys on the road in the near future.

 

Weird, I once had to take a rail trailer up there because it was all Hernderson had. The first time we picked up, we showed up at 1400 for a 1600 load, and they told us to go take a 10, it wouldn't be ready til morning. so we went down and exit and got a room. The 1600 load ended up being ready at 0400 the next day... was a mess.

I ended up with another bad trailer, I think you're passing them off on us. This one has another cross member wrecked, and holes in the floor of the trailer the size of cereal bowls. looks like someone threw a chain at high speed. So now it's on the "try and get it to a yard" list although we won't be doing it.

 

Evening Charlie, I'm tired, so I'm babbling. I'll try and answer questions, but keep in mind everyone's opinions vary, so my answers will not be someone else's. Except maybe the legal ones.

1. I don't know what you mean by right out of training, so I'm assuming you either mean right out of school, when you're with your trainer, or when you upgrade to your own truck.

With your trainer, remember it's only 4 weeks, and while you're in the truck, your trainer is your boss. That doesn't mean you do illegal, stupid, or dangerous things just because your trainer says to, but it does mean you should try and put up with some of the crap. If your trainer has you do things that are illegal, or your trainer does illegal things, or things against training, or you absolutely don't get along, contact the training department. You can get off your trainer's truck and onto another.

When you get your own truck, trip plan, and stick to it! Learn your macros if you didn't get them down in training, and practice backing in places with lots of space. Trip planning is the #1 most important thing; if you don't trip plan, you're going to service fail loads (deliver late). Pay attention in school, buy yourself a map (they're about $40 for the large print, laminated ones), and if you have the money, a truck stop guide and an exit guide. Truck stop guide will show you all the truck stops in a state, so you can plan where to scale. Exist guides show you everything at every exit on an interstate. I love them because they show scales, rest areas, pull outs, and what sort of food the truck stops have. They're useless off an interstate though.

2. Central is mostly no touch freight. There are three sorts of freight I can think of that you have to lump, or help lump. Fred Meyer loads out of the northwest require you to help pick up fallen boxes and stack on a pallet. Not much work. Nursery loads can require you to tailgate (drag to the end of the trailer) the load, and sometimes to stack on a pallet or sort. They're a pain. And the third is christmas trees, which can go from tossing them off by hand, to not touching at all.

3. Before we were on paperless logs, I would have said 13.5 hours in a day. This will be explained in school. At long as you've taken at least 10 hours off duty/sleeper berth, you can drive 11 hours, as long as that 11 hours is accomplished in 14 hours. that 14 starts when you go on duty. Central requires you to do 2 pre trip inspections a day; back on paper logs that was 15 minutes each, usually. So, you could start an inspection at midnight, start driving at 12:15, drive straight though with 11 hours, and stop at 11:15 am. Then take a 15 minute post trip inspection, and be in sleeper by 11:30. Get up at 9:30 pm and drive until midnight. There's 13.5 hours. The odds of you having a schedule like that a lot are slim. I don't know of anyone who can drive 11 hours without a stop, and usually you have to fuel. On busy days, you'll log 12-12.5 hrs driving in 24 hours.

4. Central's trucks are mostly 2007 and newer, and are Kenworth T2000s and W900s, Peterbilt 386 and 387s (I think I always get those wrong), Volvo 670s and 780s, International ProStars, and recently Freight-liner Cascadias. I mgiht have the last backwards, and it's a Columbia. I'm tired. When you get a truck, you will most likely get a volvo, a kenworth, or an international. Your truck will have a host of problems, probably have been wrecked (at least slightly), and will have had several previous drivers. However, Central generally restores the trucks pretty well between drivers, so you'll get a fairly clean truck, without a hug pile of body damage, and usually not smoking black out the exhaust. If you recover one, then all bets are off.

Hope that helps.

 

That's it in a nutshell. Now take several weeks to absorb and keep asking questions...and yes there are no stupid questions, some are just a lot funnier than others.

 

Thanks guys that was very informative and much appreciated

 

no im not passing them on to you! Im the one taking them to go get repaired one by one! I msg OTR about the broken ones i get then they ask me to take it to the nearest trl repair facility... they try to make me wait there for one but i just tell them that im dropping it there and heading to the nearest drop yard to get another trl. So if you had to pick one up at Utility or some other trl repair place I probably brought it there!

I have this "WTF" load going to Mesa, AZ... its 31k of cardboard going to Boxsmart coming from Nestle in Springville. I opened the hatch and it looks like a bunch of trash!

 

Does central pay the costs to get you to school , and how do they get you there ?

 

Hello everyone, I leave for Central's school in Salt Lake City on 07/05/10. Meatskin, to answer your ?, they will pay for a bus ticket to get you to the school. I opted to get a plane ticket b/c I am in TN, and it would be a 26 hr trip. My recruiter said they would reimburse the price of the ticket, if I pass the school.

I had also applied at Roehl, b/c they were recommeded to me by a driver friend of mine. They sound like a great company, but for me it was going to be much easier to go thru Central's school. The big differences where: Roehl required you to get your cdl permit on your own b4 going to the school, Central does not. Roehl did not pay for transportation or lodging, Central does. And finally Roehl runs a credit check b4 offering tuition assistance, Central does not.

I obtained a cdl manual from my license testing center, and have been absorbing all the knowledge I possibly can on air brakes, combinations, and general knowledge, so hopefully I might have a slight leg up when I get to school, wish me luck.

 

Well here I sit, at Smadronia' favorite place, I'm past my drop dead time and for some reason, Cargill just can't get it together!!!! Am really beginning to hate Plainview!!!!!