Central Refrigerated Truck Stop II

Yes from many stand points they do pay well when I did multiple stops it was $50 for each and $75 for your 99 $20.00 for each ontime and $500.00 for a safety bonus plus $250.00 if you worked tru Xmas. As for the new surcharge program I have friends on Coors 1 tryed it says it sucks the other stayed with the old way. I was for the most part happy with Central but getting home became hard when we stopped hauling beer to San Diego.

There are meny ways to save money plus I saw my share of lazy people leasing, when they came out with the scanner for us that was the best thing Central ever did still have mine no more tri packs life was good.

I hope thing stay well with your lease drive safe and enjoy the view.

 

Ok here is the thing with Central to make money as a L/O. Fuel Milage, You have to get good fuel milage in order to make any real money.

The thing we as truckers will have to face is the reality that DOT, FMCSA is not going away as much as we would really like them to piss off. They are here to stay and it is only going to get worst.

So with them cutting hours back, Limiting what we can do in a day, Central governing the trucks, Q-comm, ext ext. It is starting to become more then just how many miles can I get? Factor in the rising cost of fuel and you can watch your profit go down in the tank in a hurry.

So what do we do? We cut back on how much fuel we use.

The fuel surcharge is based off an driver getting 6 mpg and only having to pay $1.20 per gallon at the pumps. No matter how high fuel goes.
Right now surcharge is around .48 cents based off $4.08 a gallon.
Now, At $1.20 a gallon you will pay .20 cents out of your .89 cents per mile. Your surcharge covers $2.88 of the price.

Now, Lets say we get 7 mpg, Your .48 cent surcharge will pay $3.36 leaving you having to pay .72 cents or .10 cents per mile.

Now, Lets do this lets say we get 8.5 mpg, If you can get 8.5 mpg your .48 cent surcharge will cover 100% of your fuel price of 4.08
That is making some large money.

Ok then you factor in Centrals buying power, Get on the mailing list and get the fuel prices everyday, Find the prices around $3.89 ext. And
you are getting 8.5 mpg you are making money off the surcharge.

When you factor this in you will find you don't have to run so hard to make money.

How do you get this 8.5 mpg? Cut back the speed of your truck, Trip-plan, progressive shifting, less stops.
Central bases all their loads on 48 mph. So running 57 mph is easily done.

Here is what I did today,


That is my trip economy from my truck,
Here is my avarage from the q-comm.. 8.6 mpg!


Now I just came off a 34 and I ran the engine some to keep batteries up, and was down to round 3.2 mpg when I started out yesterday.
I have seen as high as 9.5 average sometimes at the end of week.

Anyone that thinks this is not doable, I run around 2800 to 3300 miles a week solo at 57 mph, If a load is hot I will pick up to 61 or 62
and progressive over hills and not loose a lot.

I hope someone can understand my ramblings and it is helpful to some.. I run a Pete 386 with super singles.

 

The last message I saw about surcharges said something like .28 per mile... Kind of forces your plan into effect with no real benefit. Was my thinkin anyway. Anybody care to explain the reasoning on those old plan/new plan messages?

 

And a more important question... It's 41 degrees this morning by Wisconsin. What are the most important things new drivers need to have and/or pay more attention to this winter?

 

Snow boots hate wet feet.
A rain suit for the times you need to chain up.
A good light bigger then a flashlight fits into a ziplock bag helps to see what your doing at night again when chaining up.
Fuel adatives keep your fuel from gelling up.
Stay on top of the states weather conditions your running in.
Plan your trips and have multapul places to stop in case of a road closure.
Drive as much daytime as you can you have more visabilty road conditions are better.
Food and water it's not uncommon to see a highway like the 80 in WY shut down for hrs.
Maintain to right gear to high a gear means lack of compression witch can help slow you down as long as your speed equals the gear.
Try not to down shift up hill that loss of power could cause your drives to spin once in the right gear.
Drive more towards the center of the road when possible and slow down when being passed snow flies up and can cause a momentary white out mostly at night again the 80 in is bad.
This winter is said to be a bad one if your bunk heater is not working get it fixed when its in the low 20tys you'll need it. Always remember trucks don't stop they slid and keep the CB on.
Best of luck

 

I should mention get chains and plenty of bunges you need at least 2 on the inside of the tire and 4 on the outside never have to much tension on the out side it can pull the chain right over the tire and remember the hook goes up or the flat part down.

 

I should mention on snowy packed roads always keep weight on your steers lighter loads take weight off them need be move your 5th wheel up you need to be able to turn at slo speeds.

 

This reminds me of something funny I heard in recruiting... You never have to mess with the 5th wheel or adjusting tandems! Hahaha... Oh and Central runs mostly automatics. Thank God that one isn't true.

 

How do you sign up for the mailing list... I've tried calling fuel and permits, they say we have to go through them for prices... Please share!!

 

the 'new' plan raises the cost per gal, but you get FSC for both loaded and empty, plus a higher flat rate per mile... If you have >10 +/- % dead head it might work out better for you... However if you choose the new plan, find out you are now loosing money, you can't go back!! Our dead head was less than 10% so we stuck with the 'old' plan.