Central Refrigerated Truck Stop II

So piss your pants right in front of them, it will make the point.

 

Just dropped my truck off today at a drop yard. I was a company driver, not O/O. Took pictures of where the keys were placed, where the truck was located, showing the truck number, and the condition of the truck. I sent them to security who said they appreciated that I dropped the truck in a secure location (Milwaukee, OR). About 3 hours later, I get a call from safety saying that I parked the truck blocking other vehicles/trailers, and they the person picking the truck up could not find the keys. I told safety that I parked the truck in the lines where the trailers are parked, right next to another driver who was taking his 10. I also told him that I sent security pictures of where the keys were placed. The guy from safety seemed kinda shocked and sounded dumbfounded that I covered my ###. Seriously, I felt there was a HUGE lack of communication internally and to their drivers. Central wasn't the company for me, doesn't mean it's not the right company for somebody else. Best of luck to all you other drivers out there. Drive safe.

 

From the stories I've been hearing from the wife they do seem to be more then a little disorganized at times. Probably did us a favor by not hiring me. We'll find a better place to land. No more big companies, we are gonna find a smaller outfit that wants a H/W team.

 

Honestly, smaller trucking companies will know you by name, not as a number.

 

I got put on the Kraft Northwest desicated fleet. Lets see how this works. I'm kinda excited.

 

I ran Kraft out of Stockton, CA in training. Avg load was 650-700, and we almost always dh right back, so 1300-1400 total. Rodger never kept us sitting. He really knows how to run a fleet.

 

Be careful when Roger has a day off, dm covering might get you a load over to the east. Roger was awesome when I was with my second trainer

 

Well I got a call from Central today. Seems they are rethinking about bringing me on but said I'd have to go with a trainer for 5 weeks. Really? Seriously? Come on man!

I've got a couple of other companies interested, one small firm and one big one that I used to work for. The trainer thing definitely puts Central in 3rd in the race to obtain my services.

 

It's a minimum of 4 weeks and 200 hours. That's how a lot of these CDL mills work now. If they are going to hand you the keys to a $80k+ vehicle, they gotta make sure you know what you are doing.

 

There are some companies that are mandatory 3 months of driving with a trainer. Trust me, you appreciate the companionship and having somebody to talk to. You'll be happy when you get your own truck, but slowly you get lonely. I was HONESTLY thinking about buying a blow up doll for the passenger seat...