Central Refrigerated Truck Stop

I used to have direct deposit but changed it awhile back to keep the money in comdata and then I just write myself a check. It actually makes it easier for my wife to count on having the money on Wednesday morning. It would sometimes take till Friday to get access to $$'s. The bank we use has the wife of a trucker wording there and understands about calling for an authorization number and doesn't get worked up wondering what a comcheck is.

 

Trainer time used to be 5 weeks or 15,000 miles but may have changed. I think I saw an earlier post in here saying that they wanted more driving miles for the students, which wouldn't be a bad thing imo. The upgrade is a simple thing. They have you sit down in front of a computer screen and make sure you have all of your safety videos up to date then take you out for another driving test. I took my upgrade with Dave in Fontana and it is a pretty easy thing. Kinda like driving around with your buddy going to the grocery store. Then he has you back into a parking spot in the yard and you are done. I have met 2 people that didn't pass the driving part of the test. One was a guy that took 20 min to back the trailer into the spot, the other one ran into something.

The insurance is a once per year thing that you pay $126.00 for and each year you have to pay it again.

 

Klingon noticed that even with the engine not running - if the ignition key was turned on (so you can listen to the radio) it registered on the QC as idling... he watched it click over. Not sure if that is what might be happening or not - just a thought.

 

DO NOT sign a lease right away. When you first get out on your own you are still learning a lot about what the whole trucking thing is about. To be learning about the business end of things at the same time can be overwhelming. I waited almost a year before signing. The money is better but I am glad I waited. I finally got a dm I liked and kept me rollin around 3,000 per week. If had signed a lease right away I would have gone under during the first 3 months when I had lousy dm's and was only running 800-1,500 per week. Most leases are based somewhere between 900-1,200 miles per week just to break even. After you get those miles that is when you start to make money. If you are under that mileage, you will owe the company money and get a negative paycheck. If you have a good dm that is running you hard, DO NOT change dm's. They will tell you that they are changing you to someone that is special for new o/o guys and will run you hard. Don't believe it. If you are running hard with the guy you have, why do you want to change 2 things at the same time?

I met a guy at Walmart 6075 in Olney, Il the other day that got one of the "special" dm's and he was ready to quit. He wasn't getting enough miles to get any money in his pocket.

Think about it awhile and don't get sucked in right away. If you decide to change companies you don't want to be tied down by a lease contract that you signed in haste and without enough experience to totally understand what you are getting into.

There are ways to break the lease but then you are getting into lawyers and stuff like that and who needs to make lawyers rich. The whole idea behind driving the truck is to make money for you and not a lawyer.

 

I previously posted the figures for leasing. Our payment is $565 per week, but because of how many miles we run, our overmileage is another $300 per week. The rider policy is $126 per year, but any person who was a previous trainee or employee of Central is not eligible to be a rider (we have the policy and read it, and discovered that). I had previously posted all of our figures except fuel, since that is something you control. You can be successful as a lease operator, but you have to be serious about it, and honestly do all the research. Everyone must make their own decision. We would not be where we are without central.

 

I went a little past the 1 year mark. Yep all the reefers pretty much hit the same targets. I would take Central over CRE, unless you like the forced team, extended training program. I suppose they have a cooler logo.

 

thaks for the info,cw...we filled out the paperwork for direct deposit ...is that all you did to set yours up? just wanting to make sure our money goes straight to our bank...thanks

 

Okay, so I totally earned the "Dumb as a Box of Rocks" title this month. Randy,the mechanic in WVC pushed the button on the bunk heater and about cooked me inside of ten minutes. Now,I know how to work it....right? Wrong! Last night I figured I would finally sleep in a warm truck. Nope. I have absolutely no idea what I did wrong but,I woke up feeling like the all too familiar popcicle. I decided "excess idle be ######"! Tried to start the truck...dead battery. Waited until 0600 then informed the shop,they came out & jump started it for me & told me to let it run for a couple hours. Found out I need to explain to my dm so I don't get charged.
Now,can someone please instruct me on how to properly operate the bunk heater in a Kenworth T2000??? I have got to get this thing figured out...

 

i have had issues with messages on my qualcomm going off and haveing to have them resent countless time load info , fuel routing i would to the mac 17 to have it resent many times in the last 5 months and never had a complinace issue what ever it might be i have alway got fuel at places i was told to get it at never at a place other than instucted the fuel dept told me not to have the fuel sent to me again as it would put me out of compliance explined to her i had in the past and nothing had happened to me she instructed me to call in to the fuel dept and ask for them to tell me where to go and then they would send me a new message on the qualcom and it would nt count against me have no idea what would happen put i just fuel where it would work for me most often make sure i get it arranged with fuel and have not had any issues. also i normally dont do the 50 gal now and then 160 three hours later its a real pain when i am trying to get down the road i make sure i have enough for my current delivery and go with that also if i have to scale after my 1 stop i just ask if i can fill up there and avoid the next stop for fuel never been a problem if i have to go in for maintance i do the same it saves me haveing to make an extra stop.

 

There are 3 little buttons next to the big one - one will turn on a blue light (cool) one a red light (warm) and the other (in the middle) turns it off... the big button is a dial to turn how warm/cool you want it to be - CAREFUL when you turn it all the way up to hot, it will melt things right next to the vent!! Not sure how 'cool' it gets - I think it just moves outside air to inside... hope that helps