Central Refrigerated Truck Stop

They pull in and out of Allentown/ Bethlehem all the time. On I-70 and 80 allot. So getting by should not be too hard for Pittsburgh.

 

Is anybody familiar with Central Refrigerated Equipment. Ive looked on there website but cant find much info on it. What kinda trucks do they have? Which would you recommend as far as sleeper birth room, mpg, and most of all reliability?

 

WHOA, long day.

Woke up 7/29 at the shipper in swedesboro, NJ no lo load so went drove over to TA in Paulsboro, NJ took a shower at 0600 when I came back to the truck had a load.

Deadheaded 112 miles to Bridgeton, NJ got loaded, went back to TA scaled out, headed to Shelbyville, In (Kroger) for 1600 delivery today 7/30
Had to stop and fuel in Carlise, PA (531 miles from shelbyville)
stopped a couple times to take a power nap
Got here to shelbyville at 1330. Took till 1830 to get a door.
Just drove 786 miles including deadhead
I'm beat
oh forgot to mention had an hour and 20 min left on my 14, when I got here (how did that happen????)

So here I sit waiting to get unloaded

 

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Peterbilt 386. Freightliner cascadia. International prostars. Some Volvo, and kenworth. Size they're all similar. Peterbilt is narrow in cab area. They are all close on depth. The mpg is all in how you drive. But if you choose the classic square nose type of Trk then it will be harder to get good mpg. As for reliable, they all have there down falls.

 

Hey guys I am currently in school and set to drive for Central Ref in Aug. My initial interest is in the lease program, and am open for suggestions as to how I should approach it. There is so much good info on here and wanted to hear from recent experience pertaining to leasing with Central. I know that I will receive various responses depending on your experience, but as is the case with everyone else I am looking for the brutal honest truth whether good bad or ugly.
Thanks in advance guys!

 

As I have said many times. The lease is really not a good deal. Remember, you are only renting the truck. You will never own it. If you did decide to buy it out at the end of the lease, you will be paying the full retail value of that truck at that time.

The mileage rate for most company's, including central, is too low for owner OP's or lease Ops.
Even if it was 1.00 per mile plus FSC, that is very low. At first the lease guys make ok money. If they are getting the miles.
But the costs come back to bite you as soon as you need to have the truck worked on. Even if it is a repair under warranty, you will still be sitting and still have costs.
Tires have gone up over 30% in the past year. Truck costs have gone up close to 20%. But Centrals pay has not, nor have most other company's. At least not to a proper percentage.

The first year, with proper dispatch, you should do ok. Making maybe 10% more money than a company driver.
After that, unless you train or get a partner it will go down. Due to normal maintenance.

Whatever you do. Drive for at least a year, if not several, before you even consider a lease. Most people decide that trucking is not for them within the first year. You do not want to figure this out with a truck payment.
Also, remember.
Any load issues that are your fault. Like late at Walmart delivery, breaking a seal at the wrong time on a meat load, etc. Will all cost you 100% of the cost. This can be from a couple hundred bucks to tens of thousands of dollars.
You put out all this risk for an average of maybe 60k per year (if you get really good miles) After costs. Or you can get on a good fleet in a dedicated spot, after 6 months, and make 50k as a company driver. Yes, this is at Central.

 

How long does it usually take to get on a dedicated route with Central Refrigerated? Im in NC what kinda dedicated routes do they have in my area?

 

You would have to talk to them and see. I know that Kraft runs in the region. May be others as well. When I was there I went after 6 months. Was an automatic boost to 40 cpm.
Time needed may have changed, and I know that pay was lowered for a while. Not sure how it is now.

 

hey guys im starting with central in the morning for their school. actually im sittin in a luxurious hotel right now outside on conley, ga...ive really appreciated all the info yall have posted and have weighed the pros and cons and the scale is tipped in pros favor right now...does anyone know if they do any dedicated runs or any runs through south ga