Central Refrigerated Truck Stop II

I just noticed something Mr. Big Rig.
You have now been an OTR driver for close to 1 year solo with Central.
I was wondering if you could point out to some of the new guys some of the biggest things that you learned in your first year as an OTR driver, and not local class B truck driver.

 

Ok as a new driver what can I expect once I complete my training as far as mileage? How much time will I be sitting?

 

Let' see 70 hrs per week x 50 mph......

Just kidding. I posted this earlier in this thread. These were my actual numbers from when I started with Central. Just make sure you figure good eta's on your macs and update your Mac 6 daily

Good luck

10/4. 669 mi home time
10/11. 1932 mi
10/18. 1692 mi break down
10/25. 2452 mi.
11/1. 2747 mi.
11/8. O. Home time
11/15. 1995 mi
11/22. 3052 mi
11/30. 1931 mi
12/6. 1971 mi
12/13. Breakdown.
12/20. 3498 mi
12/27. 0. Home time
1/3. 3095
1/10. 2753 mi
1/17. 2423 mi
1/24. 1249mi. Break down
1/31. 2542 mi
2/7. 725 mi break down
2/14. 1301

 

The biggest thing I've learned that the time management is the way you make money. Everything you do is based on time, once your 14 hrs start you can't stop it. So make sure you are able to use all of your 11 in 14 hrs. Parking as close to shippers as you can helps. If you are parked 5-10 miles away at a truck stop you have to start your 14 to get there. Then if they take 3 or more hours to load you, you will have less hours to drive.

Also don't be afraid to drive as long as you can. Yes only driving 8.5 hrs a day you will never run out of hrs on your 70 but you are loosing miles that way. If you only drive 8.5 hrs a day you are only getting 500 miles a day or 3500 a week (yes I know your not actually driving 7 days a week straight I just using it as an example) If you drive 10hrs a day you get 600 miles a day or 4200 a week so that's 700 more miles a week. I never take a 34 restart on the road I run the recap all the time. Yes some days that leaves me with only 5-6 hrs of drive time because of my 70 but never more then a couple of days in a row then your back to a full 11. So I use those short days to do short hauls that way I'm still getting paid, I don't get paid if I sit for 34 hrs to get my 70 back.

The other big thing I've learned with Central is don't be afraid to call the places you are going if you have never been there before and ask them questions. Most of what they send you on the Qualcomm is outdated information. I have had loads that said they are live loads and you call them and they all ready have the trailer loaded. Now you can trip plan better cause you know you can just take 15-20 mins to drop and hook. Also always go directly to your 99 before you shut down. You maybe able to unload early and get moving again even if you can't you can see if there is parking nearby. If so then you start your 10hr break and get unloaded on your break. That way if they take 4-5 hrs to unload you it doesn't matter you have to rest for 10 anyway and if you get detention pay you just got paid to take some of your 10 hr break. I think that is the biggest thing I've learned about trucking today is that time is more important then miles. Without time you can't get the miles so make sure you have time and know how to use it right.

 

Thank you Big Rigg for the info, what is a 99? When I drove flat bed I sometimes ended my day at the shipper because it took so long to get loaded then I had to strap and tarp. reefer is going to be something new an since its been 4 years since I drove

 

Sorry about that 99 is your last stop. 01 is where you pick the load up from the shipper and then any other stops in between are numbered accordingly.

 

I just added my miles up for the first year. Was a company driver from 8/30/11 to 4/18/11 total miles was 79207. I was averaging from 2600 - 2800 miles a week. Only had 3 home times during that and each home time was only 2 days off. How much you sit depends on how well you communicate. Remember Central has a lot of drivers so the planners are handling hundreds of drivers at a time. Your DM is handling a lot of drivers at a time also. So you don't send in your macros they have no idea when you will be ready for your next load. If they don't hear from you they assume you are on a load or not ready for a load. If your truck number is constantly popping up on there screen then you are staying in front of their face. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, or in this case the miles.

 

Way too many weeks with less then 2k for my tastes.

 

Thanks.
That is exactly the type of information that newer drivers, and some older drivers need to hear.
Back when I posted on here all the time, time management was one of the big things I would stress. Along with communication. Which you also hit on.
When I was with Central they had not gone to e-logs yet. I was introduced to them at heartland. They took a little time for dispatch and planners to get use to. But over time they got good at using the system to make the most efficient use of drivers.

As a driver the big thing I had to get use to was actually doing exactly what I had been logging for years.
By that I mean that I use to log it to best use my time. I would never average out driving time. If I drove 11 hours and only made it 590 miles, then that was what I logged. I did this because it is way to easy for a lawyer to get an ecm report from a truck if there is an accident. So I did not want to lie on my driving time. I would at times say I was still at a truckstop near a shipper when I was in fact at the shipper waiting for hours. Grocery is one BIG reason I hated running reefer. You have more down time at shippers and receivers than any other type of trucking. So I had to save any hours I could.
I did have a great dispatcher when I was with Central though. Once she got to know me she knew that if I accepted a load it would get to the receiver when I said it would, she ran the crap out of me.
We had great communication, and trust.
I then swapped to Kraft. The miles were less. But the pay was 11 cpm more. And I had allot more drop and hook freight. So less time at shippers. More usable hours each week. Thus a more productive and happy me.

I look at training company's all the time. I look at their mileage rates, accessorial pay, and benefits.
I also look at non-training company's.
When it comes to looking at the overall pay package and possible miles for company drivers. A driver could be just as happy and making just as much money with Central as with any other company. This is as long as home time is not all that important to you. The freight volumes are good. The length of haul is good. The mileage rate on dedicated or with a few years experience is on par with most other company's in their sector. And accessorial pay is on par with the competition. Maybe martin is a little better. Due to practical mileage pay, APU's on all trucks, and some minor pay issues. But as a whole, Central is not as bad as many others. Not as bad as most other training company's.
They do not force teaming and allow solo company drivers. They normally get you home when you request. And have some good office staff mixed with the half trained ones.

 

ChromeDome,
Thanks for the info, if you had a choice out of two which would you run flat bed or reefer? The time spent at grocery is like the time spent waiting on load an unload for flat bed but flat bed pays better.