Follow me through Central Refrigerated training

Day 5 (first day in the yard)

Today we started out going over log books. What they wanted from us and how to fill out your log book for training. The main thing that I liked was that it was not all on duty non-driving. Once you got to the point where you were going out on the road for skills and test it would be on duty driving time. Most schools from companies have the entire school as on duty non-driving so you don't get used to going from line 3 to line 4 in your logs. Here they showed us what was meant for drive time and then you are expected to keep up you log each and every day. From what I heard from the other students they let you go for 4-5 days and then all of a sudden and instructor ask to see your log book. Close to the real world your driving along then all of a sudden a roadiside inspection and the want to see your log book, is it up to date is filled out proberly nice skill to have.

The rest of the day was spent on pre-trip which is easy and simple. They usually do the air brakes test first but they were short on trucks for our class so they did the pre-trip and we will do air brakes test tomorrow. On Monday we are suppose to do the pre-trip with a qualified DMV tester and the air brakes test. If you pass those on Monday then you move on to the rest of the training. If you fail you wait for the next class to come up and try again. If you fail the second time then you are not listening and you no longer have training or a job. This is the cut off point for the contratct. Once you go past this point you are responsible for paying back the money for the training. If you don't go on then you don't have to pay anything they just let you go.

What I like the most about the pre-trip here compared to other schools I have checked out is that it is simple and you check what you need too. I have been doing pre-trips for 15 some years. Other schools want you to check all kinds of stuff that you don't need to. Pre-trips are simple, if it will put you out of service and if it will kill you or others on the road then you need to check it and make sure it is safe. If your licsence plate light is out who cares the truck is still safe. You might get a ticket for it but you just change the bulb and show them it works and move on. Don't make it harder then it is. They give you a guideline to go by for pre trip but let you come up with how you say things and how to check them. I have been to some schools that they want you to remember the way they wrote the pre trip down word for word and if you didn't quote them then you were wrong. You don't have to do that DMV requires you to check certian things that will cause hazzards on the road if you check all of them then you are good to go.

Like I said before every day I go to the training I like it more and more. They don't make you memorize the Central way they give you guidlines of how Central operates and how the DMV and FMC operate and let you come up with a way that makes sense to you and that you can remember and you will do it.

 

Look at all his other post on the forum. My guess is he has an attitude and wants to do everything his way. According to him he tried trucking and every company sucked so he got out and now is driving for the government and has a high paying job more money less hours. What that tells me is that he has an attitude will not listen so no company wants him and they let him go and now he is collecting unemployment and will do so until it runs out then try to figure out another way for him to work a short amount of time then quit and collect unemployment. He doesn't want to work he just wants us to pay for all his bills.

He has 39 post and all of them are negative post so that should tell you something. When they say on this forum do your research part of that research should be looking up the person posting (me included) and see what other post they have. If everything is negative you will not get an objective opinion on what you need. They only see the bad because they had one bad experience and now everything is bad. Balance your research between the good and the bad and you will make an informed decision on what you need to do for you and your family.

 

Day 6

Today they went over air brakes test. How to test the brake system and make sure you are safe. It is not hard if you do it systematically and slow down and think about what you are doing. The rest of the day was divided up between us doing pre-trip, air brakes test and in cab inspection. On Monday we will be tested on all of these. If you pass you move on if you fail you get 2 more chances to pass. If you can’t do it in 3 attempts you are gone. That is the way it should be if you are out on the road and you can’t keep you truck safe then I don’t want you driving beside me. If your systems fail because you can’t check things right an oops I’m sorry is not going to bring back a dead family member. I t may sound harsh but it is reality your truck and trailer are much more deadly than a car because they are heavier. You should be able to recognize the problem before hand and have it fixed. None of the tests are hard to perform but are essential for everyone. Yes they take up some of your time but if you are dead you still won’t be making any money so do them.

 

Day 7

In the morning did the air brakes test, in cab inspection and pre-trip test. This was not practice but the actual test to be able to get our CDL license. I breezed right through them and didn’t miss any on them. Most of the class passed there were 3 who didn’t and they will be able to take it again tomorrow. You have 3 chances to pass the test. Once you passed the test you went in a truck with an instructor and started practicing straight line backing right hand turn and parallel parking. There were 4 students in a truck and each took turns around the course. We did this for the rest of the day. Once the testing was done more trucks freed up and we all took turns in 3 different trucks. This was great as each truck was just a bit different and you quickly learned that if the set up was right then you could compensate for the fifth wheel of one truck being all the way up and the other all the way back. One trailer had the tandems all the way up one in the middle and one all the way back. The first time in a different truck you could easily see the difference and make minor adjustments to be able to parallel park. Tomorrow we are supposed to continue on with these skills and those who have them down well will start on the alley docking. By Wednesday or Thursday we will take the skills test for the CDL. Some of us may go out on the road tomorrow afternoon if the instructor thinks we are ready and learn shifting and double clutching. So we are all moving right along and if all goes well will have our CDL license by Friday.