Follow me through Central Refrigerated training

Very good advice here from the seasoned drivers. I'd follow it. The reason everyone washes out is they think they're the ones who can take shortcuts and make it. I'm guilty of the same assumptions! Leasing is ridiculously expensive starting out and maintaining. Just when you get ahead, a slow season, month, or region will slap you upside the head. Then as soon as you think you're through the worst of it, boom goes your $600 drive tire (yeah, $560 for one tire and that's with a network discount and I limped to the shop!) somewhere between 150-180K miles (if you drive right) you've got to start considering how to replace all ten tires if you're running duals... Family emergencies will still happen, there is no vacation (running or not you're still making all of your payments, and you can plan on maintenance at least once a quarter (more for a team). On top of that learnin to run smart so you're not just getting enough for food and the privilege to rent your truck, it's easy to fall on your tail. Get in, learn the business and find the best way to run profitably, communicate with your DM, and still enjoy yourself out here. Then, maybe, think about leasing. A lot of company drivers make close to what I do on average weeks. Above average weeks, yeahh not so much. But it's taken me every bit of 8 months to figure out how to do this right (still learning too). Good luck all, my hat's off to every pro out here.

 

thank you so much for the feedback. it answered a lot of unanswered questions i had and didnt know. central's recruiter told me that starting out as a team company driver we should get 3k miles a week. and the lease payments were going to be $619/week. i wasnt planning on doing the L/O option until we had a good amount saved up and we were efficiently running on the road with a good system in place. i figure with her dispatch experience and dealing with OTR truckers, and my military experience with truck driving plus heavy wheel maintenance we should have a good start up foundation.

i know that there are going to be a lot of trucker secrets and ins and outs to learn in that first year, and honestly i dont think i would feel comfortable doing a lease until 2-3 years into it.

 

so the money for your paychecks gets loaded on the comdata card until direct deposit kicks in? sorry if im slow, just trying to understand that first pay check. i know that there will basically be 3 weeks without pay since i have 2 in training, and a 3rd waiting week like with any job. after direct deposit starts, does the comdata go away or does a certain amount get loaded on for fuel? or can you use your bank debit for fuel?

 

Yup you got it. Your pay gets put on the comdata card until your DD kicks in. You can set it up to put some money each week on the card, but why? If you have debit card from your bank your better off depositing it all in your bank then just using your debit card for personal stuff.

As a company driver central pays for the fuel.
As an opp you do but central covers the fuel and charges you when you get paid for the load.
Total pay for load ($1000) - fuel costs ($300)=pay to you ($700 before additional costs) but you don't have to come out of pocket to pay for the fuel

 

Also you get the $100 for Orientation the day you get on your trainers truck. You don't have to wait until payday

 

arata, the payment for the truck itself maybe $619 but you still have all the insurance, qualcomm rental, mile overage, permits etc... that are also added to that. It works out to about $1000 a week. Like I said before, that also doesn't include health insurance, fuel, scales, tolls, taxes, food, maintenance, and a lot of other things!

It the recruiter is telling you that as a team you are going to run 3000 miles then I would check around to some different companies. A solo driver should be running 3000 miles not a team! Speak to some other teams at Central and maybe see exactly what they are getting for miles. Like I said if its not over 5500 - 6000 a week then its not worth it. You are going to end up sitting and not making a dime! The company I am with now I team drive and we run 9 day runs. In those 9 days I usually run about 9300 miles. You really want to find a company that is going to get you around 1000 a day. Just because they are a mega-carrier doesn't mean they have team freight either. Reefer companies are usually pretty good about keeping teams busy but you may want to also check into expedite and air freight companies.

Husband/wife teams are the cream of the crop and you shouldn't settle for less just because you guys are new. You can make very good money if you go about this the right way. If you choose the wrong company it could end up costing you money due to constantly sitting around. You don't always want to pick a company that offers the most per mile either. This is a good indication that they don't run a lot of miles which is why they pay more. Doesn't matter how much they pay per mile if you aren't running you aren't making a dime!

 

@chompi, that was 3,000 miles each. so yes 6000 team. sorry if that wasnt clear.
@psumoose, AH ok. lol that clarified everything. thanks so much.

 

Trainees & Pros: How much are you spending on food & misc. while on the road? How much just eating at truck stops vs. cooking in your truck? Trying to be healthy & cheap!

 

I was spending quite a bit eating at truck stops. I didn't add it up out of fear of crapping my pants. I just recently got a little roadpro food heater. Pretty much just good for heating up canned food. Cost me $30. I went to Walmart the other day and spent $20. Bought 19 20oz sodas and 7 cans of food. If those 7 cans of food were $6 dinners and those sodas were $1.75 each at a truck stop, it'd have cost me $75. So Walmart and cooking in your truck is definitely worth it.

 

does centrals company trucks have apus.