Central Refrigerated Truck Stop

They like to try and turn down loads that go to places they do not like?
I would hear broke lease Ops at Central say they did not run north of I-70.
Then they wondered why they were broke.....

As I have said on here before.
When I was OTR with Central my dispatcher was Tamala out of Conley.
She was really great, would run my but off and would make sure I got all money owed to me without requests.
All I had to do was prove to her over the first 2 months that I could trip plan and communicate.
Everyone gets offered loads they cannot legally do. The freight needs to move and planners hope they can pawn everything off.
As the driver you have to look at the trip, deadhead, route, miles, times, citys in route etc.
Then plan out the trip.
Once you do this you will know if you can do it.
At this point I would accept or not accept a load. And if I could not do it I would explain clearly why. And when I would be able to get it to the receiver.
Then it was there call if I was still on the load.
Many times they would redo the delivery time. If not they would get me another load.

I lost some good loads this way, but never had a late one that was not already late when I picked it up. And in those cases it was known that it would be late before. So was not my fault.

If you run right, plan well and communicate, your dispatcher will trust you with the big loads on the larger accts.
Everyone is happy, and everyone makes money.

BTW, I would never lease a truck lol. I may buy one in the spring, but I will not lease.
My company pays .95 cpm for owner ops, no charge for extra stuff, they cover fuel taxes, i pay truck payment, fuel, non-trucking liability ins, and my taxes.
But no huge mileage weeks.
So it is a trade off. I could be ok with 2000 miles per week, would average around 2300 per week, and could be home weekends.
Or I can do the same as a company driver.
I will not make as much, but less gamble.

 

What is the average starting annual income of a Central Driver?

I did my calculations and if you drive 2500 miles a week ($700/week), it comes out to be something like 36k...minus the training cost which would be about 1k and another 1k less from the training period... 34k. 

 

Are there any Central drivers wiling to give me a ride so I know what the job is like before plunging in?

 

I can't answer you about any company but Central, but if you make it through all the hoops before getting your truck, you will have a job with Central. How long you keep it depends on you.

The hoops are the application (don't lie, don't be a felon, etc), the background check (don't lie), the lifting test, called a Work Well, the physical (don't be a diabetic or have super high blood pressure), and then school, and training. If you can make it through everything before school, make sure to pay attention and work hard while you're learning. From what I hear, you only get so many tries to pass things, so if you don't pass, you're out.

When you go out with a trainer, do what your trainer tells you to, unless it violates Central's policies, DOT regulations, or the law. If he tells you to double clutch for the full 30 days, or never play the radio, do it. He's the boss while you're in the truck.

You'll have a driving test when you're done, it's pretty simple, left and right hand turns, freeway driving, pretty much basic stuff that proves you can handle the vehicle. Then you'll upgrade, and get your truck.

Once you have your truck, as long as you follow company policy, DOT regulations, state laws, and don't hit anything or anyone, you should keep your job.

Central is not the type of company that will take you on for school, get you through it, and then dump you a couple weeks in with your trainer. If you lie or screw up, they'll can you. If you do your job, minimize your late loads, and handle the freight with a little common sense, you should be able to have an keep a job for a number of years. I've managed to keep mine with them for more than 3.5 years.

Read through this thread. If you don't want to read the whole thing, check the last 20-30 pages, and see what's being said. It will give you a pretty good idea of what's going on with the company. There are many posts from folks who are in the recently hired, in school, with trainer, and freshly upgraded, so you'll several points of views about Central and it's training program.

 

Do more than get your feet wet. Spend at least a year over the road, with Central or any other company, before you decide you're going to buy yourself a small fleet of trucks and run a company.

 

Central has a "rider" program which the driver must declare a passenger and pay an insurance fee. What I did was ride with a friend who drove for a different company. In hind sight that was good enough for me, albeit I served many years in the Navy, so the living conditions weren't an issue. There is so much to learn about this industry that a Central ride-a-long isn't going to make that much of a difference.

If you choose this lifestyle it is universal in most ways. Long, lonely hours with a few moments of sheer terror. The company experience will differ from driver to driver, DM to DM (Dispatcher, Manager or whatever the title)

Long answer to a short question, but if a Central driver were to allow you to ride without the aforementioned declaration and forfeiture of monies, might lead to that driver's termination.

Gosh, I hate lawyers and Human Resources. Good luck in your research.

 

On the plus side, the rider fee is one fee, good for a year, and whoever you have on the truck. So, if someone already has a rider policy in effect, all they have to do is get the info to Central and they're good to go.

 

is there are way to do a practice cdl test the paper one i mean ive read the utah cdl and want to do more than just the test quesitons there online ive found no real free ones they all charge for it,, just want to try to be ahead on class monday

 

how much time do your normally get to plan and accept or reject a load? what is the best way to plan it out does the qualcom do that or do some people use google maps....

 

Good old fashioned map book for a commercial motor vehichle is the best way to plan a trip and the only way your trainer should allow on his truck. (when u get there).

Also google maps does not take into account restricted routes for cmv's and low clearances.

Once your out here for awhile you just know how to get places and how many miles are on each highway. Ca I5 is 799 or I5 is 308 ca I80 is 201 nv I80 is 410. It just becomes routine. You will also start remembering where the best truckstops are and where the worst are.