Central Refrigerated Truck Stop II

Well that sure pegs the BS meter. I'm sure you do okay. But throwing up vague BS numbers doesn't help anyone. I'm mean really 70 HRs @ 50 mph = 3500 miles. Unbelievable.

Statements like that remind me of the trainers standing around WVC wearing gym shorts, flip flops, and their "Certified Instructor" shirts talking to all the newbies about how great they are.

I hope the company guy trying to decide about leasing doesn't read your post and make decisions based on that BS.

 

I am starting with Central in the 16th. I already have my CDL with 5 months experience 4 years ago. What can I expect once I get to orientation? What can I expect from my trainer?

 

I'm done trying to prove this to you. How is multiplication unbelieavable? I did not say I drive 50mph for 70hrs I just said the math makes since. I dont know how but if someone would tell me I'll post a settlement. Maybe biggrig I know you did it once.
Yes I do ware my trainer shirt to the terminal (we are required too)
I do not talk about how great I am. I'm actually a bit of a neard and hate talking to people in group settings, so talking to a group of people about anything, especially about how great I am, is not appealing to me in the least. When I go to a terminal I wash my truck find my student and go. If I am asked a question by a tda student I will give them an honest answer, just like I did here.
Call it bs if you want, but cow #### smells like money to a dary farmer and apparently it does to me too.

 

Welcome to the central family. Just like any group of people there are oddballs jerks and cool people. I've heard about some bad trainers, and hopefully you wont get one. This is what I do with my students:
We drive about 4000 mi and I sit in the front the whole time. We go over the workbook and you should have it done by the end of week 1. Week 2-3 we see 4000-5000 mi and I sit up front during city driving and in close quarters. Week 4+ your the boss. You tell me when to drive, you drive as much as you feel you can and I'll point out mistakes if they are big and will cause damage or a late load, otherwise I let you learn, I'm always ready with an answer to your problem but will be quiet because I want to see if you can work it out on your own. I will never let you do something dangerous.
I hope that helps if you have any other points I missed let us know and someone on the forum can help.

 

Some how I missed this part last night, silly phone. I can honstly say that after my 3rd month solo I only got under 3000 when I went on home time. I run for 6 weeks and only take 3 days off. That sucks, but I do what I have to to support my family.
I agree with you 100% that a new driver is not going to see these numbers. I tell my students and anyone who asks not to expect much the first 2-3months but stick in and it will pay off. I also never recomend anyone with a family or who would want to go home frequently lease.
Home time has been ruined for me since I signed the lease because every day I sit at home I know I have $150ish in fixed cost. At least when you are a company driver you are only missing out on the income, which as others have said is not much at 28cpm.

 

If you get with a trainer that you can not get along with are they willing to let you change trainers? During the 5 weeks of training is there any hometime? I need to prepare my wife in case there is not.

 

Hometime during training HAHAHAHAHA Not unless you get a load going through your hometown and then only if the trainer is willing to stop!

 

I had two trainers when I was in training. First one used me as a log book and didn't really train me. Second one was great and had to cram 4 weeks of training into 2 weeks.

First trainer had home time 3 hours from where I lived my second week out with him. That's when I got to go home and send Central a long email about how I felt and let them know that I was NOT getting back on his truck. I wasn't going to risk my future by learning from him. A day later I had a message on my phone letting me know that I was getting a new trainer and he was picking me up from my home town.

Some trainers try to get there students home one day out of the training, some don't. All depends on who you get and the runs they get.

My biggest suggestion is to ask a lot of questions that pertain to driving. Don't be afraid to ask the trainer what you are doing wrong and/or how to do something better. Not all trainers are the same, so do what you can to learn your best.

Good luck!

 

Anyone have an idea of what is the average miles per week for a team at Central?

 

It used to be that you or the trainer could kick you off the truck, or jump off if it were your choice. Now they say they will only let a trainer get rid of a student if they can not communicate with the student. The student can always request a new trainer if the trainer is abusive, unsanitary, or something like that. If you call up and say "My trainer is not nice" they'll probable tell you to take a big boygirl pill and try to get along with them.
There are some people whom have posted about going through 3+ trainers (years ago) Do you think it was the trainers or the student that was the problem.
As far as home time goes, don't plan on it. If I see we will run through home (mine or the students) we will drive harde to get there and then spend the extra time there. But again do not plan on any home time.