Central Refrigerated Truck Stop III

Most of the people I've dealt with with the company have been okay to work with. My dispatcher has been alright to me, nothing outstanding, my load planners have kept in contact with me so that's been a plus, payroll, over the road maintenance, and hr have all been professional and respectful, but there's just no money in this gig with them, and you really can't hope to see anything much better for about 5 years as long as you don't get a little scratch on your company record. I mean if you don't mind working for pennies on the dollar and deciding to eat off the dollar menu rather then forking over an extra 40 cents for a burger just so it looks like you made a profit for the week even if it's only a dollar or two, then by all means. But I'd like to be making more than a McDonald burger flipper especially doing the job I'm doing, it's just pathetic doing the math and on a good week I may be making a dollar an hour more than a McDonald's employee.

Anything under 40 cents a mile in this trade is just pathetic. I could make more money standing on a street corner with my hat turned over on the ground in front of me. I'll give this trade a few years to see if there's any better pay out there, but to do this kind of job for such low wages... It's for the birds.

 

wow that came out bad. i meant to say everyone has their own unique situation. also your time at central can be horrible, ok, or great. i hated regional but lots changed when i went local. and now i love it. so you cannot listen to other peoples opinions. go for it and try to be the best at it. if it doesnt work try to change it or change yourself before you decide central sucks and quit. the person right across your dm can be a better dm for you and change your attitude in a heart beat. trust me I KNOW from experience. otr, regional, and local can also change you. good luck buddy

 

Welcome, Andrew!

I have some insight for you, as I'm also in Colorado:

Our Denver (Henderson) yard is a drop yard with a few maintenance bays. It will be a convenient place for you to drop your truck on hometime, but really you will be based out of Salt Lake City (West Valley City). The best part of the Henderson yard is that you can drop your truck off there so that the maintenance is taken care of while you're on hometime.

Living in Colorado, most of your loads coming off hometime will be Coors loads. Once you know your way around that place it's pretty easy.

Here's a tip for you ***Sometimes coming off hometime you will pick up ice cream from that cold storage next to Sapp Brothers. Be very careful about that because if you are coming off hometime, your trailer won't be pre-cooled for the ice cream so you'll have to wait for it to pre-cool.***

Any other questions, just go ahead and ask. You'll find the folks on this board to be a good resource.

 

Andrew (and the 2 or 3 others that have posted who are starting recently), welcome! Your experience will be what you make of it. Frustrations? Yes. Inconveniences? Yes. Opportunity? Yes. I had a similar mindset to yours. I was only going to stay here until my commitment had been met. That was over 2 yrs ago. I know I have a lot of options now, but I've worked my way up to a good rate per mile and if I run less than 2500, well it's because I chose to. You have a lot of control over where you'll be in a year, two years, three years, and beyond. If I could offer some advice... Set your goal to fulfill your obligation and learn all you can. Then you can consider all options.

 

its all about money.

 

FYI. Henderson is closed... Has been for 2 or 3 months now.

 

Thanks for the tips and that's a shame about the Henderson yard, but oh well. I'll be heading out to Salt Lake City on Sunday to start Monday morning. I'm excited to get this done and over with.

 

Team Klingon, does that mean that we are now using the Denver Swift terminal instead of Henderson?

My favorite memory of the Henderson yard was after Central took us over, I would dig through the dumpsters for anything with the Simon logo on it. I have a wall in my garage that has a set of Simon mudflaps, the Simon thermometers, and of course, the famous Simon poster from the Utah monument.

I guess now I'll have to run over to the swift yard and go through the dumpsters looking for things with the Central logo.

 

Andrew, I know you young guys do everything digitally, but I PROMISE you that if you do this, you will be glad you did:

Keep a notebook close at hand for jotting down directions and phone numbers. Start using it at orientation to write down the contact people such as the OS and D people, payroll people, and trainers who will be speaking at your orientation. Use it as a diary to keep track of your loads and your payroll so you can double check your pay.

An added benefit: Once in a while when I'm going through things, I'll thumb through my old notebook and it brings back great memories--

"Hey, I remember being lost in that town."
"I remember arguing with payroll over those pallets!"
"I remember actually finding a parking place at a Pilot" I laminated that page!

And if you need anything, look at the Central truck in my avatar. You can usually find it parked 20 minutes north of Denver at Johnson's corner, in the front row by the buffet line!