Central Refrigerated Truck Stop II

Ive been out here for 3yrs just wanted to see what Central's deal is. heard they dont like to have a company driver for more then a year they try to push lease real hard on them. I like company driving no worries just pick up & deliver 0n time get in for PM. Just wanted to find out average lenth of haul, equpiment, benifits, home time. talked to a recruter and was fact checking

 

As long as it lights up that's all you need. To be legal there is no brightness scale that they go by.

 

As you will find with a lot of big companies they make more off of owner opps than they do with company drivers. If you want to stay company that is fine. I have talked to multiple 10+ year company drivers, and central takes good care of them. One guy even got them to install an apu on his truck, because he drives a lot in CA and they have those funny idle laws.
All the equipment is 3 years or younger as central leases them for 3 years and then leases new trucks. I think I heard that the trailers are on a 5 year lease, so none of the equipment is too old. Now that is no guarantee that the guy who had the truck before you took care of it. I had one student who got put in a volvo and someone took out all the cabinets and cut a hole in the dashboard. But the shop quickly put cabinets in and "fixed" the hole.
So basicly if you work hard and communicate central will take fairly good care of you. The lease department are a bunch of used truck salesmen and they make commission when you sign on the line. So yes they will push the lease, until they realize you are a dead lead. Then they may send you a qc every now and again but those are easy to delete.

 

What is a text? Is that someone from texas?

 

Sounds like you're a good trainer because you actually care if your trainee knows anything or not, or if they are paying attention. I have a question and a concern .... If a guy like this .. doesn't speak English, doesn't know East from West, doesn't pay attention to SAFETY stuff ... How the hell do you pass him?!?! I mean doesn't the trainer have an obligation to report the incompetence to the company?? I mean you have to PASS the training period, right???? Man, that scares me to think that there's people out there driving these behemoths without knowing what they are doing ... or at least NOT CARING to even learn.

With regard to some of the stories about trainees ... Wow, I must really be OLD FASHIONED .... I'm respectful, polite, conscientious, clean, neat, willing to learn, have a good work ethic ... and I even say "please" and "thank you" ... I must be a freak of nature.

I'm really getting a lot out of these posts .... It's good to hear first hand from all the guys/gals with experience .... and also to hear from the newer folks, how their training is going, how they are adjusting, etc.

Thanks to all....

 

They dont push the lease on you, they bug you with messages on the qualcomm every so often when your sleeping. I have been with central for almost 3 years now, i do not lease. If you say your interested the messages come more often and phone calls but they dont push it

 

Thank you gypseewind. I like to think I am a good trainer and have received positive feedback from all of my students, even had a couple who wrote me later to thank me for training them so well after they teamed jp and saw how poor their partners training was. I tell all my students on the first day that they are responsible for the quality of their training. The key to a good training experience is to ask a lot of questions and make sure you understand. Do not accept poor training, even a poor trainer can teach you a lot you just have to ask. Also a little psychology people love to talk about themselves if your trainer is having a hard time explaining something and is getting frustrated ask them to tell you an example from their experience. This will give you some valuable real world insight and will help take them out of "teacher mode"
As far as our responsibility to train I have had 2 students who I did not feel were ready to upgrade but central said they complected their time and to bring them in. Both passed their upgrade tests and both got into accidents in their first month. I keep central informed on the progression of the students on a weekly email and point out any problems we are having, cya if you know what I mean. So yes central does take our input into account, but if they have trucks sitting at a terminal and your student in around 190hrs you can bet you will be routed there very quickly.

 

I'm about to start my second week of training in SLC and I hope that after that I get a trainer that cares as much as you do. But, I agree, my training is in my hands both now and on my trainer's truck. My first priority in all this, more important than money or company issues is to be safe. Not just for the sake of my own career either, but for the sake of those whom I might otherwise harm. So, you'll bet I make sure I not only learn the business and the company particulars but I'll be evaluating myself closely and if I need help with something I'll make sure I get it.

My biggest worry with my trainer is whether I brought too much stuff. In addition to 2 weeks of clothes and other suggested items I brought my coveralls and other severe winter gear (I hate to be really cold and if I have to throw chains on a cold winter's night I want to be prepared) I have a small DC powered cooler (I'm diabetic and one of my medications needs to be refrigerated) and a laptop and carry case. I don't mind keeping most of my stuff on my bunk if necessary. My travel pillow works well on top of my laptop bag and I can sleep on top of my coveralls.

Things have gone great so far I just pray that this continues both in school and on my trainer's truck.

 

Thanks for the post Moose, I laughed so hard I almost cried...

 

You'll be home, but how often and how long depends on a lot of things. How long you're out, where you live, if you're dedicated or not, who your dm is, etc. Too many things to be able to tell you exactly. My co-driver and I often did a 3 week out, 3 day off thing. I don't recommend going out for anything less than 3 weeks. 4-5 is better, if you can manage it, although Central won't give you more than 4 days off without warning you that you may have to turn in the truck. At the 4 week mark, we were ready to kill each other. 3 weeks meant less money, but it made the truck a much better place to live.

Go out with your friend, see how it goes. Keep in mind that you'll be doing a similar thing, for a month, with a complete stranger, when you get your truck. See if you enjoy it, just remember going out as a passenger isn't like going out as a driver. You get to watch the countryside If you go out, see if she'll let you help fuel the truck, do pre trips, watch her back, etc etc. That sort of stuff, even though it's little, can be very helpful even before you go to school.