Central Refrigerated Truck Stop II

Hello Everyone! I plan to Central next year once my DUI period has hit the 5 year mark, but as a WannaBe Driver my question may sound dumb, but I want to know what does the company truck have supplied with it once you get through all the training and your given your own truck? Does the company provide the navigation system, CB, etc... Would a new driver want to put in a new mattress (I know it sounds a bit anal, but when it comes to using a "used" mattress from someone else it kind of creeps me a bit) What stuff should I expect to need to buy once I get my own company truck? I'm assuming I would need to buy the fridge, TV, etc..

My other question is this.... If I attend Central's CDL school, they told me I don't get a hazmat endorsement b/c..well Central doesn't haul stuff that needs one, but what happens when I move to another company? Is it easy to get a Hazmat endorsement after I get my CDL later on? The other question I have is that I do have a felony from 12 years ago. Central told me it wouldn't be a problem due to its age, but will that felony ever be a problem in me getting a Hazmat endorsement if I ever choose to get it from somewhere? The felonly was for forgery (I wrote out a check from my Mom's account) She wanted to teach me a lesson. It sort of backfired with me getting a felony, but it's water under the bridge so I just deal with it. long story for this post.

In anycase, if anyone out there has any advice or answers to my questions, I would really appreciate it! I'm looking for solid answers! Not just the one liners please.

I have done much research on trucking so far and I'm still interested. I have worked in the corporate field most of my career and I don't want to be in an office anymore. Looking for a complete change. I have a good degree and I don't have family and so I think giving this career field a try is right up my ally at this point in my life.

Thank you in advance!

 

What you get is a truck plus a new mattress that's it you get to bye everything else. What you bring to school is all you will have untill they route back to your house to get the rest of your gear. As for the H/M it will cost you around $90.00 as far as a felony not sure how that will effect your getting it. As far as waiting and getting it later I believe you have up to 6 months after you get your license to get it after that you retest all tests. A H/M dose require a background check.

 

Thank you so much 6pak4-two. I really appreciate your comments! Do you know if "Big Rigg", "Diner Man" and "PSUmoose" are doing? I followed there posts through their training. It really helped me decided that I wanted to go with Central (At least for a starter company) I think the other company I would consider if I did not go Central would be Swift. I know these "CDL" companies are a matter of the lesser of evils, but Swift as a starter company seems like they are ok. I prefer Central though. The think I like about Swift though is that their school is PTDI certified and I can get my hazmat at the same time as I get my CDL with them.

 

Not sure if BigRigg's still with Central Diner Man just went out with his trainer Thursday PSUmoose is doing well. I ran for Swift back in the 90's but trucking was much different back then. Now that we have Elogs slower trucks all starter companies seem to be the same. Central dose work ok it's a good a choice as any. Swift on the other hand is dry freight go faster as a lease Opp and they may still have the Kenworth T 660's a clean looking truck. It dosent matter anymore where you start once you get past the first year your choices are much better.

H/M unless your gonna haul fuel and that dosent pay near enough it's not really worth the .3 a mile. There so many places you can't go bridges you need to avoid to me it's not worth it. But that's only me.

Good luck.

 

Thought I'd share a couple of stories with you today.

I had a student on my truck his is Peter we were west bound on the 70 in CO before the tunnel. He was doing fine didn't have chains on but the cars that's a different story. We had a trooper riding on are left he lost traction and started to slide under are trailer Peter kept moving to the right but he needed to stay on the throttle were climbing. The trooper managed to get it back under control but poor Peter well once we hit a flat spot we change drivers he didn't say a word for an hr. he went on to finish his year then moved over to Crete.

I remember when Mama Mia was on the truck with her husband training hit a big storm west of Limon CO she was driving it took everything she had to stay behind the wheel as I wouldn't let her stop. The off ramps are all up hill most uncared for you need speed to climb but once at the top you need to stop. From a dead standstill trying to make a turn you may find out you have no traction now ya gotta chain up or maybe you can just roll tru the turn but if the drives loose traction your trailer could cause a jackknife. She wasent happy when I told her to keep going but she did and she got us to a much safer place to swap.

In both these examples I wanted them to have a better understanding of what lies ahead of them the good and the bad. Both Peter and Mama Mia did a great job and have moved on and are doing well still driving with a few winters behind them.

There are times when you can stop and there are times you must move forward. It was a pleasure to have them on my truck. Don't let your limatations cause you to make the wrong choice stopping could be a biger problem then just moving forward.

 

Good stories and advice! I like the lesson learned from those.

 

Snowwy, it used to lock up my hubby's phone and mine. We will not install it now because of how it would lock things up.

Now, 6pack, please share how I was begging to pull off because a jeep and a truck pulling a trailer decided to go from the left lane to the off ramp right in front of me, leaving little room, and it was all I could do to keep it straight. This was also after a dumb Vitran double flew past me and ended up jackknifed. 6pack let Lex and I swap on the side of the road. No joke, they had closed 70 and we were still on it. Lex has made it out of several storms I can't. When I get to the point I can hardly control my own shaking, its time to stop.

When I share the dusting out story, Lex gets mad, so I will refrain. Yes, sometimes you meed to push just a little, but sometimes you have to stop. I have learned to stop on a flat, and do that now. Don't care who gets mad about how slow I am going, I know myself well enough now to really know when to stop.

 

there are lotsa reasons your phone locks up. it is after all not a dump phone. and i'm betting you haven't tried it lately to see if there were any patches added to your phone or updates to the app itself to see if it's working yet.

it's a smart phone. and you gots to be smarter then the smart phone.

the app itself is just fine. you couldhave another app causing problems. OR a software glitch in your phones operating system

 

I understand ice cream sandwich fixed a lot, but now that the RAZRs lock up enough on their own (and we just found out what the reset combo is) I don't want to push it.

 

My first major seat cushion sucking episode was last year, west bound on 70... Just heading into CO... Really light load, icy roads and a brisk cross wind with occasional gusts. I was doing a comfortable (to me) 35mph... It was about 4am ish... I had woken Klingon up and had him seatbelt in (as a safety precaution)... A gust of wind broke the trailer tires loose and I could feel the tractor rear end start to slide... I remember saying loudly to myself... Don't touch the break!! Over and over... And steering slowly and carefully the direction my back end was headed. Once we were rolling straight again i slowly applied power and we then headed CAREFULLY to the next exit and parked it until the sun came up and melted some of the ice on the road... Just like when I was learning to ride my motorcycle... I refuse to go faster than I feel comfortable going... Ride my own ride is the way it was told to me... If the weather is severe enough that I feel un safe I WILL stop... No load is worth my, or my husband's life!!