Central Refrigerated Truck Stop II

Classic. Love it.

 

I can honestly say that I still think Central is a decent large carrier. I just don't want to be full OTR anymore. If I was single and not worried about home time I would go back.
I have worked for 2 company's in the 5 years since I left Central.

1 was for a year. Really good small flatbed fleet hauling steel. Nice owners, you ran your ship. Nobody at all looking over your shoulder at that company. Everyone home every weekend. Paper logs. Run how you want 100% legal or whatever. But it better look good. No pressure. If you need time off just let them know and you were off. Truck parked. Only issue was laid off due to lack of freight. Equipment was older, but that was not really an issue, it was maintained very well. Never failed an inspection.

Second one was Heartland where I am now. I am not system, I have been running Ohio regional. Dedicated (kind of) the past 2 years. Salary minimum of 800 per week, but at .43 cpm, so normally get mileage pay. When on regional was home most weekends by Sat morning, left out Monday morning.
Not a bad company in my opinion.

The thing is... I made more money at Central than I have in the 5 years sense. Mostly due to being home weekends. Yea, the pay was lower at Central per mile, but they ran my ### off. And once on Kraft at that time it was .40 cpm on that fleet. And I was still running over 3000 miles per week. Even once I got on a dedicated run.
Trucking company's are what you and your dispatch make of them. You can make really good money at Central, or many other OTR company's. It is just deciding that you want to stay out and run. I am happy now with 40-45k per year and home every weekend. If I was single I would stay out a month at a time for 50+.
Newer drivers swap around allot due to not knowing. They listen to the terminal rats and believe that the company is the worst around. You need to make up your own mind.

 

Definitely not the worst company around. It's a company that offers a newbie a great opportunity, I don't care what the super truckers say.

Good day!

 

Clyde, when you said, "Good Day" in my mind I could hear Paul Harvey signing off his show, with the voice reflection... Good Day!"

And your frustrations could easily be addressed, so easily that I'm suprised Central doesn't do this:

How about allowing new drivers to come into the war room for an hour and shadow the DMs and the load planners. That way your DM could work much better with you because you know what he's facing.

For example, "Here's why its easy to get hometime for these three guys who live along I-80. Here's why its very difficult to get home time for the person who lives in Florida." And "Here's a case where a phone call is much more efficient, and here's a time when we prefer qualcamm so that the load planner (or maintanance, or night dispatch) can follow the thread."

And just to add to that line of thought, maybe a new DM should be required to ride in a truck for a week to see what we deal with on a daily basis. Just seems like we could all work better together that way.

 

LOL, I hoped everyone would pick up on that. I can still hear him in my head, finishing his news, then pausing 2 or 3 seconds before saying "Good day", in that unmistakable tone.

Oh, you are so right about everything you said. You know there are some companies that do that as part of training? I know a couple that require new DM's to go out with a driver for a week before they are assigned a board.

Good day...thanks LadyK for reminding us of arguably the best news anchor of all time.

 

Im bored as of now, sitting in waterloo, IA waiting over 24 hours in between loads. Somethings gotta give here. But my dm said he'll hook me up with some layover pay. Hopefully I can run strong the rest of the pay week to get some more miles in. Good news is, got parked at the mcds here, so that means free internet. Got caught up on all my shows. lol.

After watching that YT video of that rear end accident. Im considering getting a dash cam now. I figure, what can it hurt? 100 bucks now or at worse, my license later. Any suggestions? It doesnt seem like you can really purchase them in person, besides at the truck stops, unless im mistaken.

 

I'm sure this has been answered before and I'm sure I could go back and look but for the sake of not having to dig through pages on my phone, could someone tell me what the facilities are like at the SLC terminal. Like how sleeping arrangements work, do they have things like wifi there? Just curious what my stay will be like there. Thanks all!!

 

The first week is an experience of its own. Take a sleeping bag so you do not have to sleep on the dirty mattress. You will be bunked in a small cell with someone for the first week. Its not terrible if you think of it, youll be in class for 10 hours, then I studied in the conference room for a few hours, then just back in the cell to sleep. the less time I spent in there the better. They do have wifi, but its iffy. I kept getting kicked off of it. But one other guy witha tablet had no problems.

Your second and third week will be in a hotel. Its a decent hotel, Country inn?. Youll have breakfast, indoor pool and hot tub. And are within walking distance to lots of restaurants. Also, on sunday, and days waiting for the trainer, its close to the train and bus station, so me and a few other people made our way to the mall and down town to check things out. Just when you get to the hotel, inspect your bed every day. When I was there (2 months ago?) they had problems with bed bugs. Check check check.

Basically, once you get past that first week in the jail house. Youre good to go. Just remember, youre not there for vacation, youre there to get your CDL and a job.

 

This is something I have had to explain to people when I tell them where I am going and what I will have to do. It's a very good thing to remember and it keeps you focused on the task at hand. I appreciate the info. Thank you!

 

No problem, it really is one of the better training companies out there. Also, noticed youre in washington. They may still be looking for locals in Pasco by the time youre done. Ask around.