Central Refrigeration Service, Inc. - West Valley, Ut.

Yes they did run hard but only after John had proved he was up for it, and yes John has driven otr before so he knew what to expect.
His trainer who is a nice guy has a new student now and they are running at a solo pace 900 miles in two days.
It wasn't John his trainer has a White W900.
John will be home on Wednesday and he will post then.

 

Ok. I feel better then.
I allways worry when I hear about trainers that are trying to run trainees too hard. Too many fall asleep driving in that first month. You have no idea how many stories I have heard about trainers trucks being wrecked in that time frame.
I will be back out on Monday morning, just got a weekend here. I may be home next friday night again, so I will look for updates.

 

Quick update: Well John was due for home time Wednesday 4/2/08 so he was expecting to be home late tonight butttttttt his truck is red tagged and sitting outside the shop as of a couple of hrs ago. His truck was in the shop on the weekend and was supposed to be fixed, dare I suggest weekend night staff in shop are a little slack. He was in Boise yesterday to pick up a load to take back to Salt Lake so a team could take it to Pennsylvania, So I at least got to see him for a quick Coffee.
I hope when I go out with him for 5 weeks that we get to keep moving and no long stops at the terminals (would be bored outta my mind sitting for days at a terminal) You guys must have more patience then me.
If you hear an Aussie Accent giving cheek on the CB that would be me dun worry I can give as good as I take LOL.

 

I should be starting Centrals Ref. school in Riverside, Ca on the 14th, hope they work out for me.

Wish me luck... cause I'm going to need it.

 

Good luck, Brickman81. I have some advice for you:

This sounds too simple to work, but it does and any of the other old timers will agree with me, I'm sure.

1. Move your load from point A to point B with a minumum of fuss.

2. Develop the reputation that your DM can give you a load and then he can go home and not even think about you because he knows that when he comes in the next day, you will be where you are supposed to be.

3. Communicate early and often.

4. When things go wrong, and they will-- refer to rule number one.

Following these rules will eliminate 99% of the problems other Central drivers seem to have.

--Lastkidpicked, truck number 1357 (that shows how old I am)

 

Good Luck with School Brickman, I hope it all goes well for you.

 

OK. I am finally finished with all the training and i am a solo driver. to date i have delivered 5 loads. I will start out by saying that thru the whole process everyone at Central has been nice, professional and courteous. I will start from the beginning.

I went thru their School because of financial issues. I had a cdl but have not driven for 6 yrs. The accommodations are OK and keep in mind i am used to sleeping in a tent in Iraq. The training is first rate and if you think for one minute their school is a CDL mill think again. it is fast paced and if you fail they will send you home. they are strict in their training and are professional. they are even stricter during the hiring process. Keep in mind this is at the Salt Lake terminal i cannot say much about the others. I had to go thru the same testing as the others except i didn't have to take the written tests. I did have to be road tested and i was tested during my otr training and again during the Upgrade process so what does that tell you.
I have a good piece of advice you will run across trainers while you are going thru training. talk to them feel them out if you like them, then when it is time to get a trainer ask and see if they are available. That's what i did and i got a really good trainer and in my opinion he is the best.
his name is Paul Barth and has truck 50207 well at least until the end of June when his lease is up. he took really good care of me and when i was sick helped me get medical attention out on the road. when i finished with my training he even bought me a Coleman power chill cooler for my truck. I say this because you will have good trainers and bad ones, like one of the others students went thru 3 before is training was done. With my trainer we took showers every day and still ran hard. i myself ran 9095 mi in 24 days legal with out a 34 hr restart. Another trainer i can recommend is John and for female students try and get Kitty She mentioned becoming a trainer a few weeks ago. for those of you who drive i have truck 24714 Volvo. the only complaint i have is with the shops. by the way this is my second truck, and Kurt AKA Mad Dog is the best. Another piece of advice is be patient and work with them because in the end you will come out on top. I have a really good fleet manager Lynette she is the best but you got to run hard. She definitely gets her drivers the miles. in seven days with down time in both Conley and salt lake for maintenance i still got 2600 mi. well that's it for now if anyone has any questions feel free to post up. i can only tell you my experience. John.

 

Ok. I got my first load off of home time and it is to PA. a 2300 mi run. I have my rider policy completed and jess will be going out on the road with me on monday. I will keep everyone updated as to how we are doing and how Central is treating me. We have a wireless card so it will be easier to keep the posting going out on the road. John.

 

Excellent info JJRanch...keep the updates coming and stay safe our there!

 

Another thing to remember.
Allways check to make sure you can legally deliver a load ontime. Dont just mac 11 it and try to make it work.