Central Refrigerated Truck Stop III

I have a buggy auto correct that I can't turn off on my phone so I apoligize mr grammer nazi if their are occasional spelling or grammer errors that I don't catch.

 

The biggest pitfall I've come to realise from leasing a large carriers truck is that the part about managing your own buisiness is a joke really. Your helping the company that you leased from though. I've been wondering latly how much better could I do if I could pick and choose my freight and if I wasn't paying 2400 a month on this truck.

 

Hey lady k how well did you guys do after the takeover. If i recall you where on the kraft dedicated account right. You guys where able to buy your truck through a lease purchase correct? Since the takeover in february ive barely scatched 13k. I ended up assuming this lease because my buddy who I teamed with bailed in februaury. The 2 months I teamed with him otr where great we both where making 2k a week.

 

theres a lot more involved in managing your business than picking your own freight. The way the freight lanes are in this country you'll have to take the good with the bad. It's like taking a load from the Midwest into NY city, that load may pay a great deal then you have to get out of NYC. Freight coming out of that dump about don't even pay the fuel. This is why a lot of real OO's do trihauls this way they can keep their average revenue up inspite of the cheap NYC loads. And yes you can manage your own business with a lease situation, the freight you haul is only 1 variable of many. About the high lease payment,yes it's a bit high but you're driving new equipment with a warranty in most cases and that's worth something. You may be able to get a loan on a new truck as a newbie to the industry but I highly doubt it. Most lending institutions want you to supply a business plan and a projection of revenue not to mention the down payment. Buying or leasing a used truck can be a good option for some but for most of the people that are coming into the industry today, it's not an option. It's been my experience over the last 5 or so years that a lot of the newbies are coming into trucking as a last resort to feed their families and their credit won't allow a purchase as big as a tractor. I've said it several times already and I'll say it again, succeeding as a lease op with a co like swift or central requires excellent discipline and very good time and money management skills. If you lack any of these three, it's going to be a long row to hoe buddy and you'll more than likely be one of the failures that blames the company for their failure. The company knows that it's in their best interest to keep good lease ops so I can about promise you they're not going to intentionally try to screw you. It cost them much less for a LO to move a load than a company driver. You as a lease op absolutely must grow a pair and stand up for yourself and keep moving in the company till you find the best environment for your professional and financial growth. I did really well as a coors dedicated driver and my DM was great but I still had to set him straight every now and then and this is something that only you can do. As a general rule the OO's dept will about bend over backwards for you but you have got to communicate with them, they are not mind readers or psychics and can only fix what they know is broken. All this being said, give it a try. I'll bet you'll like the results..

 

Should I give mentoring a try. Alot of the lease ops that mentor say they make good money. Well the few that ive talked to latly where telling me i should train and yes my truck is under warranty. Whats puzzles me is how swift keeps thinking im apart of their dry van o/o fleet. Marshall just gave me a call earlier today asking why i was in the swift o/o fleet. I have no idea what is going with my truck number in swifts system. I had this problem in may where central had me in their system as a north east regional driver. Its been kinda wonky ever since swift had me change my truck number in february. Another thing that just came up is over the road just let me know a few days ago that this truck has never had its def filters baked like it was supposed too.

 

Baking the DEF filters is routine maintenance. Knowing about it, scheduling and paying for it is your responsibility.

 

I personally don't believe someone with a years experience should train. You need a vast amount of knowledge that only comes with experience. Most people train to simply use that student as a night driver and money tool. You should train to spread a solid foundation to the new drivers entering the industry.. Teach them how to act with kindness, professionalism and common sense. Teach the tricks of the trade, you may say.
My trainer used me for a body in his truck and that's it. I could barely back, didn't know how to survive on my own once I was out on my own.. I was lost but he sure bragged about those hefty paychecks I kept making him. I felt stupid when I tried to upgrade and couldn't hardly straight back. It took a solid 8 hours with a older hand that had been a driver for longer than I was alive.. He KNEW how to teach and to this day, im thankful for his courtesy and way of teaching.
What im trying to say and you may correct me if im wrong.. Is don't just train for the money.. Train because you want to make the industry a better place.. We have enough fools not doing their jobs and causing a mess for those of us that are proud to do what we do.

 

Mentors can and do make good money and only you can make that decision. I personally don't think anybody with less than minimum of 3 years experience should train but hey, some people grasp things quicker than others. You have to ask yourself, am I doing this for the money or because I enjoy helping people? If you're doing it for the money only, it could be bad. Before you take someone in for upgrade ask yourself, do I feel safe passing this guy or driving on 287 in Colorado at night with this dude driving? I never upgraded my students until they were road ready and relatively compitant drivers, well at least as ready as they can be after 4-6 weeks of driving with me as there "partner". I always treated my students with respect and tried to make their time spent with me pleasant but constructive. I never raise my voice and generally tried to keep a calm and positive atmosphere in the truck which is a better learning environment and far less stressful for the student and the trainer. You can be stern but fair and get a point across without being an A-hole. You have to know when to leave the trainer hat in the bunk and when to pull it down tight and git-r-done. I always spent as much time as the student ask for or I seen as nessisary on skills such as backing or down shifting. I spent 4 hrs going from 2nd through 13th gear up and back down with my last student on us-50 in NV to try and help his shifting, needless to say after that he was pretty good and could nail the gears about perfect. It's the stupid stuff like that or just taking a break day in the middle of training that makes a good mentor. Remember this...

 

All...just wanted to post and say HI and to be safe and 'cool' out there. I don't drive anymore - left Central almost exactly 1 year ago for a DBA job at a University. Drove for Central for almost a year. I still 'sometimes' long for the open road as my experience with Central was good - but that was also before the Swift takeover which I read up on every now and then. However, your attitude towards things does make a difference...though I agree...things can get pretty sucky (is that even a real word...) when you do everything right and you still get screwed. Anyway, I love what I do now, am home every eve, no weekend work - no, not bragging, just better than driving and also better than the software companies I had worked for. I still look for Central trucks though so still a soft spot in my heart for all you guys.

Be safe and I wish you all the best. By the way...I still have a few items I had when driving - coleman 40qt electric cooler (works great and much much much better than dealing with ice all the time - kept my milk and drinks plenty cold!!), XM radio (wouldn't travel any other way...), and a few other odds and ends - anyone in need of anything like that for cheap? I live in Utah and am only 30min South of WVC terminal. Anyway, as someone noted earlier, many of those that were around 1-2 years ago have moved on as I have, but all the same, good karma to all of you!!

 

i agree i only got a year and i never even think of training another driver. never will either. but just saying