Central Refrigerated Truck Stop II

I'm a trainer and I don't push the lease. I don't believe the DM's do either. It's only the salesmen in the leasing department that do that.
I don't get anything if yoh lease, my only measurement of success attached to you is if you upgrade from student to company driver. Also the DM's will run you the same regardless of if your co or % in my experience.
The only people who benifit from you signing the lease is (hopefully) you, and the leasing department gets a commission.

 

ok thanks I might have the companies wrong I was reading somewhere that the trainer got a bonus for a trainee to sign up when tey were able. I have read so many different company sites trying to find the right one that I probably have them all confussed in my head now LOL

 

I too am trying to gather as much information as I can before deciding which company to go with. I don't want to be pressured into the lease until I do have mileage under my tires so I know if it'd be my cup-o tea. I owned my own auto repair ship for some years and I know what hard work and dedication to run your own business takes. I actually had C.R.E. picked as a top 3 starter company, but have read more horrible things about them than good. I'm kinda stuck now between Central Ref., Schneider and Prime. The only thing I have found I do not like about Schneider is they want me to go to a 16 week Driver Training class at a college here in Idaho and then apply. Kinda don't have that $4k to just pull out of my @** for schooling. I like the fact that Prime is very through about their training making you train for a minimum of 4 months with a trainer AFTER the 4 weeks to get your CDL, but I really do like driving by myself and thinking of having to ride for 5-7 months with a trainer has me wanting to pull what little hair I have out of my head. I have another month to figure out which company I want to go with as I'm still Dr. restricted from shoulder surgery and still gotta attend PT three times a week . I just wanna get out there and get going! I've got a plan in place, but the first company I start with to get my experience still hasn't fallen into place. Lol

 

Wow 5-7 months of training? I think I would have been locked up if I had to put up with some of these students for 5-7 months. I agree Central is a little on the low side of training, and I have had a student that I did not feel was ready to upgrade, but Central told me he had been out long enough and routed me to a terminal. He passed (barely) and got in a preventable 2 days out on his own.
But what do I know I'm just a truck driver. All my other students upgraded in 30 days and are doing fine. 1 is running co and the other quit to get a local job. Both keep in contact with me. The 3rd called me last week to tell me he clipped a trailer at a truck stop. Lets see if he keeps his job, he also got a speeding ticket in OR (70mph at the end of cabbage ).
I think 8 weeks should be more than enough with a good DM used to all the quirks new drivers have, like needing to sleep and what not.

 

80% of new drivers are not driving at the end of the first year OTR. They give up or decide it is not for them. It takes 2-3 years to be a proficient driver for most people. It is not something that you can pick up in a few days or master in a few months. It is an ongoing learning process. If it is not in your blood you will find it very hard to last in the industry for more than a year.

 

So you are EXPRESSing your HEART must be in it to drove across this LAND. Sorry. Couldn't help it. Been reading your other posts.

 

I understand and agree ChromeDome. I understand that even though this may not be the same as OTR, but I drive for spud, beet and wheat harvest every year and I really enjoy doing it and every year I look forward to when it starts and am sad when it's over. I drove cross country quite a few times years ago in a pickup hauling a 32' goose-neck and I loved it. Being at a different location every day and seeing our beautiful country. I know that driving a four wheeler compared to an 18-wheeler is a HUGE difference then what my experiences are, but I have wanted to do it for years but have always made decent money turning wrenches. But, after so many years of heavy line wrenching, I tore up my right shoulder requiring surgery and if I keep going at it, my left one will be next. As my ortho told me, it'll never be as good as it was from the factory, but it'll work just fine.

My family supports me in my decision to try this career change. I figure if it doesn't work out, at least I could still fall back on turning wrenches if I have to. Yes, I hear the horror stories and I hear the success stories. But, it's like everyone always says. You have to go into this KNOWING what to expect, which is nothing. If you go into it expecting to get along with every DM, driver, receiver or shipper then you will fail. If you go into this treating people the way you would like to be treated and not getting your v@g so full of sand you can barely walk when someone is rude to you and just brush it off, then you can succeed. Everyone has good and bad days, no one is ever above that. There will be good weeks and there will be bad weeks and you HAVE to take the good with the bad. When I had my shop, I never counted the weeks, it was always by the month. When I did that, it wasn't as nerve racking as looking at it per week. Some weeks were $500 gross, some weeks were $20k+ NET. Bad weeks were few and far between until close to the end but when I had a chance to get out without running myself or my company into the dirt, I did. I held my head high when I closed my doors for the final time. I kept my shop open in the evenings and weekends for a year after the decision to close just to make sure my customers warranty that I provided would be taken care of and did not bring on any new customers. After all, I did promise that much to them. Sometimes I would get a regular customer that would beg me to work on their vehicle without giving them a warranty while charging them a VERY reduced labor rate and I would finally break down and help them out.

I think I will go with Central to train as I haven't heard horror stories about being pushed to lease with them as with other companies. Get my year under my belt and then continue my plan of attack from there. Yes, I have heard the horror stories about company sponsored leasing, but if there's a chance to make good money running it as a business then I will give it thought and crunch a lot of numbers to make sure it would be for me. I would also consider a third party lease. Then I can take MY leased truck anywhere I want to go without being tied down to a specific company for the entire time of the lease.

Sorry I got off track on my post, just had to finally put in my two cents out here in cyber space and my decision to go with Central. Maybe I can get PSUMoose to be my trainer . Seems like you know what you're doing. Another question I do have for you PSU, how often are you on I84 through Idaho?

 

Moose, what's "sleep"? Do I have to buy it at a pilot or something?

 

Run wild. Thank you for the kind words, but I am no one to be bowed to. I'm just a man in a truck doing what I can for my family, and through this site my fellow drivers and driver wannabes.
Who ever you get as a trainer make sure they train you. A lot of guys are great divers but do not know how to teach. The key point to making them train yoh is to ask questions. Go througb your workbook and any thing you do not understand, ask them about it, and don't settle for "the answer is c" ask them why and ask them about any personal experiences they have had on that topic. People like to talk about themselves.

As far as I84 I used to drive that a lot. I live near Yakima and whenever I would go home it would usally end in a load from SLC to Seattle or Grandview which wil take you along 84 in ID.
I just started on a new fleet and drive out of Stockton, CA to OR, WA, ID, and UT. So far with this fleet the farthest east they have sent me is Boise.

 

P4p send in a mac 53, for a comcheck and then pick some up at a loves or sapbros. Their coffee yum.