Central Refrigerated Truck Stop

Hi all, glad to see things are upbeat around here. I've been hanging around this forum on and off for quite some time and I've seen the ups and downs through the others on here.

I was planning on going to school in Conley back in March but took a job that would keep me home more when my son was born in February. Now here we are early November and that job is over (I knew it was short-term coming in). I am giving up being here at Thanksgiving and possibly Christmas to go to school and get my start with Central. Through all the posts I've read and all the questions I've asked, I honestly believe this job is what you make of it and Central provides ample opportunity for success if I don't screw it up.

I am going into this with an open mind, open ears, and a closed mouth. I want to learn as much as I can and I hope to be in the business for years to come. As I said before, I am very likely giving up Thanksgiving & Christmas with my family but I am at the point of my life where I have to choose long-term over short-term and give up things now to accomplish long-term goals. Simply said, I know I can make more money driving a truck than I've ever made in my life. That combined with me knowing this is not what I have to do but what I want to do and having an open mind, I feel like this will be a well-made decision. Thanks all for listening to me ramble. Be safe!

 

I'm getting tired of waiting for another load after I've delivered a load I was on for 3 days. Either the freight sucks in Indiana or my DM is just not doing their job.

 

One, What part of Indiana are you in? Two check your PTA, Three, Your DM may not be doing their job. Indianapolis has several places to get freight. Most of the time i find it is pta that got blown way out by someone like night dispatch, cause they can, or you pissed someone off. try resetting your pta again. if you dont have anything within 30 min, give your DM a call to check in. If you don't call, send a Qualcomm message and check in. tell them good morning and have a good day also. this might brighten their gloomy day and might put you ahead of others. If all else fails, you may have to find another DM.

 

Yes they do. However, there aren't a lot of them. And, if you're a guy, you may not get a female trainer.

 

Yes? If you're sitting on Friday, it means they didn't start looking til today for freight, and most of Friday's freight was assigned on Wednesday.

How early do you badger your dm for the next load? If it's not 2 days early, you might want to start doing it.

 

Don't start until January if you want the holidays off with your family.

Central does not guarantee any holidays off. don't expect your home time to be exact either. So you're going to miss holidays and important events, it's how the job goes. Freight doesn't care what day it is.

 

Sometimes you will blank out and faill. When I took my 6 tests, I actually failed combination vehicles, so I had to go back the next day. When my co-driver and I came down to Oregon, I failed my Hazmat, and my co-driver failed the general knowledge 4 wheeler test.

We're not stupid people, but neither one of us has a perfect record on test taking.

 

And if you feel 100% safe driving in the snow and ice, especially in Wyoming, you should stop and reevaluate how you're feeling. Over confidence is a killer.

 

I had it explained to me by a guy who was training: the job's too valuable to risk your entire career on the chance of getting lucky a couple times.

 

Safety and Driver Managers, and Load Planners are three different animals.

If you don't feel it's safe, you can tell them that. Will you be labeled a cry baby? Maybe. I knew a guy who sat on a load coming out of Washington for 3 days because he saw a sign that said "high winds" in the Columbia Gorge, and felt that 35k in the box wasn't enough weight. There's always high wind in the Gorge. This is the same guy who told me I left my chains on a trailer with super singles.

I've been in some bad weather. Bad enough that the highway closed directly behind me, and I'm doing 12-15 mph in white out conditions, dodging trucks on the road. I don't recommend it. I will pull it off if the road is bad enough. Keep in mind, my idea of bad is probably a worse road than someone who's just started driving, because I've driven longer.

Here's a good rule of thumb: if the road is closed, don't try and skirt the barrier. If the road says "no travel advised" and you have time on the load, park your truck. If it's no travel advised, but time is starting to run short, and there's somewhere for you to pull off it it gets back, then you might try it out for a few miles, see how it goes. If it's just a chain law, unless you have the time to sit on the load, chain up and go. Usually it's only 5-25 miles, and then you can find yourself somewhere to park it.

That's my rule of thumb, if you follow it and land yourself in the ditch, don't hold me responsible. My opinion may be harmful or fatal if swallowed. This is how my co-driver and I handle the truck.

If you pull it off at the first sign of snow flurries and stay parked til you service fail the load, when you could have gone, dispatch will not like you. Especially if it's a meat load or other national account. Don't try and b.s. them by saying the road's closed when it's not; they don't have the greatest internet access, but they have enough, and the road report phone numbers, to be able to check for themselves.

When driving in crap weather, I advise turning the cb on. I leave mine off all the time, except in bad weather. In bad weather, we learn to sleep through it if we're not driving. You'll be able to find out how long a stretch of bad weather goes, and if there are any accident or problems blocking your way. Don't trust the cb for chain laws, road closures, or how to "properly" chain/drive in snow; truckers are an opinionated lot, and there's a lot of rumor and speculation, so you might find that the cb says the road is open, but calling 411 tells you it's closed. Use your head, and the resources at your disposal to make your judgment calls.