need more advice

when i was drafted into the army the first thing i heard in basic training was( you will be sorry)

 

have you checked with Roehl since you already have your CDL? Conley has dorms as I recall and they are NASTY. Not saying Roehl is perfect but I know I hear less negativity about them and they accept rookies within a certain amount of time of graduation. Do some serious digging on Central before you jump on that plane. As a trainee you drive during the day not at night. My husband liked his trainer but my husband was out of the Salt Lake terminal. He hated having to stop in Conley he wouldn't even leave his truck to go into their facilities for anything. DIG DIG DIG if we had truly dug up info on Central he never would have went and we wouldn't have gotten into a hole because of them

 

If you really want to go tell them you want to train in Salt Lake City they keep that facility decent because it's the corporate office. If you already have your license then you should fight to not have to take the classes they take money out for the school otherwise and you already went to school. They will try to make you do their school as well but you don't have to. My husband fought it and they road tested him and sent him out with a trainer right away so he never had to pay for their school. If you go out with a trainer right away laundry and showers are at truck stops when you have a chance. If your trainer is nice he or she will give you one of their showers because they earn free showers every time they fuel otherwise most truck stops charge 10.00 for a shower and I would invest in some of those laundry detergent pods to take with you for the laundry room.

 

he or she has the fuel card and that means that they put the showers on their card. They don't have to share their showers. My husbands trainer was nice and he shared the showers on the card and thankfully he was a clean person as well but there were alot of not so clean ones to. Your not team driving when your with the trainer that's their truck and their rules. The truck stops have washers and dryers and if your trainer does his 10 hr at a truck stop you can do your laundry in their washers and dryers during the 10 hr but if he or she goes to a rest area or somewhere else then obviously no washer or dryer. Your trainer may be great or may be nasty horrible it's kinda like playing russian roulette lol. Your trainer may also be a rookie as they only need to have been there for either 3 months or 6 months, can't remember at the moment, before they can become a trainer for the company. My husband did meet some great people working there and a whole lot more bad ones. I do think Central was better then CR England and CRST but not by much. As soon as your training is done then they will start the pressure to sign a lease and they will make it all sound so wonderful and great but whatever you do DO NOT sign it. Your just buying them a truck and you will end up bankrupt in the end. The only time we made any money out of that company was as a company driver and part of that was because he got lucky and one of the DM's liked his driving abilities and put him on a dedicated run but newbies usually can't get dedicated and they usually only take the lease operators on dedicated runs. A lot of people got mad on that one but he did bring home a check at least. Leasing turned his weekly settlements into weekly debts. Ever seen a negative paycheck? Central gives them out regularly still got the check stubs to prove it. I can laugh about it all now because we made it out before we lost everything and found a company that actually pays him every payday instead of us owing them. If you go make sure you always have a plan B and expect the unexpected. Do all the research you can until then though. I always say some job is better then no job but in this one we would of been better off with no job. There's drivers that love it there or at least that's what they will say to you but you will find more unhappy drivers then happy drivers. Don't get attached to anyone in orientation because majority of them will be sent home or quit the one's who make it to the OTR portion only a few will make it out of that part. The only thing I can think to compare it to is the puppy mills. This is a puppy mill for truck drivers.

 

For some people they are good but very few. I'm just saying do your research and be prepared with a plan B in case you find out that your friend is one of the exceptions and that there is a very valid reason there's alot of negativity out there about Central. We loved it at first and after a few months it all started going down hill really fast. Some of their drivers are only still there because they don't have a choice they already lost everything and if they quit they are homeless and so far in debt they don't know how to get out.

 

Most long term drivers are there because they have a 3-5 year lease. They have financial obligations. What happens is when you first start they give you great mileage .....They entice you into leasing. If you dont lease you see your miles go down after about 6 months. The priority is to give new drivers alot of miles and sell them on leasing. They dont force you to lease. They dont hard sell it, however if you want higher miles in the long term you must Lease or team drive.

Its a very simple strategy they use to get more lease operators. Central is not a bad company but you have to understand the realities of the business. Most of my class mates have found jobs elsewhere.... Only two remain and they team drive.

I had a horrible experience with my trainer. He was arrogant and showered ONCE !! I repeat ONCE during my 5 week training. I took the fuel card whenever we had down time and took showers. Some facilities have washing machines. Not all trainers are horrible or dirty but in talking with my classmates about half the trainers were very unproffesional. It's really the luck of the draw.

You must understand that with any training company they have a constant flow of new recruits and very high turnover. You can make good money if you make the right moves and are good at communicating. Even my trainer advised against leasing. I was amazed at how many trainers are in debt to central via the lease. Most of this is due to bad decisions and people who are not business ready. I met a lease op who was very efficient and proffesional. He worked 8 Months out of the year and raked in over 60K...... So it's really about how you use what the company offers to your advantage.

 

So you're saying if you're teaming you aren't hassled about leasing and still get good miles? Won't type it all again, just go here and you'll understand why I ask? http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...truck/198251-usa-or-central-refrigerated.html

Thanks a lot and God bless.

Be safe first!!! Hometime doesn't matter to dead men.