Central Refrigerated Truck Stop II

As a team you should have no problems with idle if you are teaming right. The truck won't be sitting long enough to go over. When I was a company driver I never got charged for over idle and I started just before summer so ran the whole summer as company driver. For those who are solo drivers don't have an APU and want to keep idle time low here are a few tips.

1. When at a shipper, ask if they have a break room for drivers. If they do and you don't need to sleep, shut the truck off and go sit in the break room. This is where having portable entertainment comes in handy(i.e. PSP, laptop, Ipad, Iphone, kindle, good old fashion paper book, etc.) If they don't go outside and take a walk for a bit, it will be cooler outside the truck then inside and you will get some exercise. You may even find a store near by that you can go into to cool down before you head back to your truck.

2. When you are on your 10 and not sleeping while at either a truck stop or company terminal go inside till you are ready to sleep. Again portable entertainment helps with this plus if your using the truck stop wifi it is always better inside then in your truck.

3. Make smart choices where you park. For example, you are on I-5 headed north out of Southern california. You have enough hours left in your 11/14 to make it to Wheeler Ridge and park at either the T/A or Petro. If it's the summer time don't be stupid, park at the Flying J at the Frazier Park exit. That's a 2000+ foot elevation difference and once it gets dark it will be 10-20 degrees cooler at the top.

4. Know your equipment and how to use it. As a company driver I had a Cascadia. It had to windows in the sleeper berth by the top bunk. 3hrs before I shut down I close the sleeper curtain turn the AC in the sleeper on and have a 12volt fan they sell at trukstops set up to help pull air out of windows and circulate the air. By the time I stop my sleepers usually comfortable. Use the cab curtains if they have them, if they don't buy the road king set at a truck stop, and close the sleeper curtain. This isolates you from the hottest parts of the truck, and will keep the cool in longer. If you can put in a inverter buy a plug in fan at Walmart they will work better then any 12volt fans. I also used some of those window inserts with screens for the cab and they helped pull air out great.

5. If you take a 34 on the road, treat yourself to a hotel room or use idle air. Most hotels by truckstops will give you a discount and you will save money and be more rested.

 

Looks a lot like what I said in the new driver forum.

 

3000 miles a week is not hard if you do your job right, two words move and communicate. This last check I had 3623 miles on before that 3145, 2864, 2900, and 3315. I'm a solo driver and don't train. Like Chompi says the miles are there if you want them. How do you get them keep moving and communicate. Never take a 34 on the road unless it's absolutely necessary. Run the recap. This last check I had two loads under 400 miles but I took them because I only had 6 and 7 hrs on my 70 to work with before I was back to a full 11. Then I got a 2000 mile run from WI to WA. I could have sat for those two days and got my restart but I kept moving so I would make money. Don't be afraid of the small runs they come in handy at times to get you the longer loads.

Communicate with your DM and with the shippers/consignees. If you have a 1100 mile run and 4 days to do it in let your DM know as soon as you Mac 11 it that you can do it in 2. Drive for 10 hrs then take your 10 hr break. When you wake up before you leave let you DM know again that you will be at 99 in 10 hrs. It is then the DM's job to get with the planner and find you a drop, and if you keep letting them know you will be there early they will find you a drop. Also if you run into any problems and won't make it let your DM know as soon as you know. This gives them time to find a repower without being rushed and they usually can find you a repower where you just swap loads (hmmmm, now your still moving and the customers are happy, go figure).

Also communicate with the shippers and consignees. If you are on a pre-loaded load call the shipper and see if they need your trailer to load and if your load is ready. If load is not ready don't start your 14 till it is ready, this will give you a full amount of hours to run. The preload sites don't care if you show up late unless they have no empties and need your trailer to load. Call the consignees and find out if there is any parking onsite or nearby. If there is head straight there and forget about the truck stop. If you are going to be early head straight to Consignee first and check it out. Some will let you arrive early others won't. If they don't you can usually find a spot close by to park. If you arrive 6 hrs early park sleep for 5 hrs, check in and take a nap for 2 hrs while they unload, now you are only 3 hrs away from the next load and you keep the truck moving. Use your 10 hr break wisely even if you have the hours to go to a truck stop and wait don't. You wait for 5 hrs go back and check in, they take 2 hrs to unload, your drive 30 min back to truck stop after they unload and then you take your 10 hr break you just wasted 17 hrs of drive time. One last thing is to try and plan your fuel stops at the end or beginning of your 10 hr break. We all know how it is to go in and get fuel and have to spend 45 mins to fuel because they are busy. If you pull in to fuel stop just before your 10 hr break and it's busy then go park and get up in the morning and fuel. If it's still busy in the morning then you can stay in sleeper until you actually pull up to fuel pump.

Just my $.02 worth. And yeah I haven't posted in a long time been busy as a O/O. Yes I'm making more as O/O and it's working great for me but that's another post for another time.

 

Wow your right it must work. So for all you rookies listen to RizenPhoenix he knows what he is talking about.

 

When I was co I never got an over idle charge, but there was one. I have heard the 30% a lot so I would guess that is right. I think they increasse it during the summer. Also the bunk heaters help a lot in the winter and if you get a freightliner they run off diesel so the truck never has to kick on to charg the batteries. As far as fees go I was talking to a couple central drivers who said their idle was near 50% and they were charged about $100. I cant verfy but thats what I do. As an owner op I have to pay full price for every gallon of fuel I idle and at 1gal/hr I try to keep my idle to a minimum. When I can I drive during the day and sleep at night. I have screens for my windows and a small fan that keep it cool enough for me. If I stop at a truck stop I sit in the drivers lounge or whatever seating I can find and use their ac over ideling my truck. Now if I'm at a customers and it's 90+ outside I'll idle.

 

now heres a trick for you guys in the volvos. i say this cause i ran a volvo and it WORKED FOR ME. when stoping for a 10 hr break shut the truck off and let the quallcom go into sleep mode. when the qc shuts off pull out the #13 fuse under the dash where the c.b. sits this kills the power to the qc and now central is not getting any readings from the truck they think the truck is shut off. now start the truck up and idle away. do not do this every time you stop every 4 days or so let the truck idle like you should so the idle percentage will show up you should be around 15% for the month even if you idle at shippers and receivers. central will be none the wiser cause you are showing a precentage of over idle. now this may work in other trucks you just gotta find out which fuse is for the qc's main power. but like i said in the volvo its the #13 fuse a red 10 amp if i remember correctly.

 

This is whats wrong with trucking today. Want to know where all the new regs come from it's not the government it's from idiots like this. Back in the days there were no hours of service, hell you didn't even have to have a cdl. Then some idiots like this got into trucking to try to make some money quickly and ran coast to coast in two days. Some made it the ones who didn't not only killed themselves but killed others and the industry. Regs started coming down and once the government got involved there is no stopping them. Sure he wasn't breaking any laws just company policies but with that mentality I guarantee he was breaking laws too.

Want to know why all the so called "starter" companies have such a bad rep? It's from idiots like this. Sure there are some companies that only care about the bottom dollar. However Central is not one of them. Sure they are out to make a profit and sure they will do all they can to keep there cost down, it only makes sense to do that. However, Central realizes that in order for them to make money it needs good drivers, drivers that care. Am I just a number at Central, perhaps, it's the easiest way for them to keep track of me. However, if you mess up on one stupid mistake but the rest of your time is good they will bend over backwards to keep you working for them. They know if you are making money then they are too. You can take the advice of this idiot if you want to, but if you do then you will never make money at Central. Do your job right there is money to be made. I'm not saying Central is perfect but for starting out they are one of the best out there. They realize they have alot of new drivers and that they are going to make mistakes. You learn as you go. As long as you are doing your job to standard or even better they will help you learn that's what they are about. Want to get the most miles then do your job to company standard or exceeded it nad the miles and pay will be there. 1badz28 may be a badz but he will be a badz that is always looking for a job.

 

Well said Bigrigg. To all drivers thinking about taking badz28's advice may I point your attention to all the fuss going on about fule theft and the new fuel tracker. If you read the msgs (noncentral drivers you did not get these) they are tracking your fule purchases and fule usage. If your fuel purchased is greater than the fule usage they will prosecute you for theft. To them ideling your truck with the qualcomm off will not report the fule usage and you will be prosecuted just as if you were selling the fuel. I know badz did not know this because he has not been at cenntral for 2 years. So don't follow his advise, if you do you will not only loose your job but find yourself tied up in a lawsuit. Do you think yiu an unemployed truck driver will have half a chance against centrals legal team, I think not.

 

i think they would have a hard time make a fuel charge stick in court. you could very easily have it turned into a wrongful termination lawsuit.

you need actual physical evidence that your stealing fuel.

ecm problems happen ALL the time. and can very easily lower your fuel readings.

my truck has mileages all over the chart. regardless wether i idle or not. i've lots of purchases that showed worse when there's been no idling. but i know i've got problems with the fuel system. just need the money to diagnose and fix.

 

an idiot who will always be looking for a job huh????? seems to me like i got it pretty good running 500 to 600 a day and home everynight where you guys wonder around the country like a lost band of gypseys living in piss soaked parking lots. ive been on this thread for a long time and have always give good advise if you dont like it oh well. so i guess no one wants to know how to get around that 62 mph govenor by using a dime then. oh and by the way what laws was i breaking? since you know how i run. where i run, and when i run i'd like to hear it. COME ON GIMMIE SOME OF THAT GOOD OLE COMPANY KOOL AID.......