Central Refrigerated Truck Stop II

Does Central have a rider policy and do they allow very small dogs on company trucks?

 

Rider policy..$137 a year for the policy. .no dogs..miss mine more than the wife..LOL

 

Used to have a dog policy, too many abused it! Course some don't need pets to be pigs!

 

Guys, Central is a very good company! Drove them for quite some time. You need to reconsider your career path though if home time is an issue. Central is an over the road company and although they "offer" good home time, you are looking at 4-6 weeks out as a minimum. I can tell you now you aren't going to make any amount of money if you are coming home every three weeks or so. The guys that want to stay out and make money get the good miles. The guys who are pain in neck and have to be home all the time are given the crap, short runs and are utilized to pick up and deliver everyone else's loads! Do the math, 1000 miles a week x .32 a mile = $320. This is going to be a good week!

So Central will use to go to the drop yard pick up a loaded trailer and deliver it 50 miles a way. Oh yeah, and its walmart, so you are going to be there for 10 hours. Once you are empty you will bring that trailer another 50 miles and get it loaded, another 6 hours, now you will bring that trailer back to the drop yard and the driver that wants to stay out will bring it to its destination 2200 miles away!

Not trying to be negative, just trying to give you new guys a prospective of how it works.

Like I said Central is a very good company and went above and beyond to help my wife and I succeed in the business! However, if you aren't willing to stay out for long periods of time then its not worth it. This is the way it is with most over the road carriers. That is why I urge you to look into another career. Especially to those with a spouse and kids. If you just have a spouse I strongly urge you to get her license and team. You will make gobs of money teaming together!

There is the opportunity to run dedicated or regional but you must first put in your time and gain some seniority. Sometimes dedicated can be worse than regular over the road in that you rarely get home.

 

hi all, been a while. upgraded into a Volvo (trained in a Cascadia, GOD how I miss that truck) developmental fleet out of Conley. lots of 400ml runs adverage of 1500-1700 miles a wk. Got my upgrade off the DF now with my "regular DM" will have to see how the miles are in a few weeks.

 

Good post and so true!! Just snuck in some home time (load delivered near the house, so pushed out our available time). Our next scheduled home time is over two months from now... Makes seeing the Grandbaby hard... Really glad we have the Internet with Skype and Facetime!!

 

well said. I am really thinking long and hard about this. My wife said it will be fine. I just really dont want it to affect my daughters. We can always skype, but one is 9mos and the other is 3yrs so I dont know if that will be enough for them. could someone send me a message and let me know whats really out there? I know the miles my recruiter is telling me that i'll be doing minimum, but thats why they are called recruiters. I would be driving solo and am unsure of all the downtime rules yet. What kind of mileage is really out there....? also you guys are all awesome for contributing to this post! I really appreciate it and I know others do as well.

 

SoCal, since you live in UT even though you 4+ hrs from West Vallley if you can arrange or afford to relocate closer to the terminal it may be easier for you to get some home time. Especially one you establish yourself as a good driver then try to get on a dedicated route in that area beer, Kraft, Fred Myers will help you get home more often even if just for your 10 hr break. Realistically a good DM will do their best to get you 2500+ once you've proven you can run hard be ontime and no accidents. In reality starting off you can look at 1500-2500 until your feet are wet. This week after I deliver on Monday I'll have 2900 with a few more days to try and break 3k (running low on my 70). I average 2500+ a week but my DM knows if I have the time I'll deliver ontime so I run hard. Like with any company there are times in areas freight is slow so you may have to sit a bit longer then you'd like but a good DM will try to get you moving ASAP even if it's a short 2-300 mile load then back you up with a longer load. Like all companies not all DM's are good and easy to get along with but neither are some drivers.

 

the miles all depend on how hard you want to run and a lot has to do with who your dispatcher is. a lot of these dispatchers have their favorites who get the miles. why is this you ask its because they stay out for looooong periods of time and dont go home often. they are always on time to pick ups and deleveries. you as a new driver have to prove yourself so the miles generaly are slow out the gate. now there are exceptions to the rule and some may luck into 2500 plus miles a week starting off. now for the record truck drivers espicially the ones that you see over and over hanging out at the terminal claiming to be doing 4000 miles a week and making $50000.00 a week are nothing but a bunch of LIARS. DO NOT LISTEN TO THEM. starting out 1500 to 1800 a week is realistic if you can hang on and prove yourself the miles will increase with time. just remember you gotta stay out it WILL be rough on the family and i hope ya'll get thru it you gotta have a understanding spouse to make over the road trucking work good luck with your decision.

 

good post Chompi but i would like to add one more thing that i feel is important. you newbies need to relise one thing when you go otr trucking you will be supporting 2 households the one at home and the one in your truck because this is now your home. you will still have all the bills at home and now you will have food and all the necessities that go along with being on the road. you will be pying to get your laundry washed you will pay on average $ 10.00 to get a shower if you dont have a shower credit where you stop at for the night. you will need to keep stocked up on cleaning supplies for inside your truck unless your just a filthy pig and dont mind living in filth. a lot of you say ahhhh i can live off snack crackers and ramen noodles YEAH RIGHT. your gonna want real food and a buffet at the truckstop including a drink and tip is gonna run 10 to 14 bucks. remember theres 3 meals a day do the math guys espically if you like to eat. so if you can support 2 households on $320 a week i say go for it if not maybe you should really consider another career where your home everynight. not tring to scare anyone here just tring to give the cold hard truth about otr trucking.