Central Refrigerated Truck Stop II

Sorry about the last part there... It did kinda seem like a rant when I went back and re-read it.

Does anybody know what their physical agility test consists of? I don't recall seeing any information in the other thread about it and would like to know what I'm up against.

Also, when you're riding with the trainer before you upgrade, is it sort of a team driving deal? One sleeps while the other drives and vice versa? Or does the trainee only drive while the trainer is awake and alert to observe? What kind of things should I expect from OTR training and my trainer? As in what sort of things are you asked to do and is there some sort of check-list that the trainer has to keep and edit from time to time?

 

the kw thing is becuase they aren't producing the w900 anymore. doeosn't mean central won't buy kw's. they just won't be buying w9's. it's not aerodynamic for fuel standards.

most regional jobs get you home on the weekend. and usually have more miles.

i've stayed out two weeks twice. only becuase of breakdowns. i average close to 4k miles per week.

and smoking doesn't effect any part of your body for druge testing. it's a nicotine, not a drug.

 

snowy i was talking about grass not cigs. thx everyone for the info. im callin recruiting tomorrow so maybe ill get in fast.

-jeff

 

Man that breaks my heart about the W900 That's been my favorite truck since before I can remember. I guess I'll have to secure me one in the coming years before they all disappear. I don't know for sure what year model it is but I want the style that had the double rows of top clearance lamps. Those trucks look meaner than any Pete on the road, at least to me...

I don't really plan on making it home once a month. I'm thinking four days every 2 months and just using the rest of my off-time out on the road if I'm getting close to family or somewhere I find interesting and let my DM know in advance before they throw me a load. I talked that over with Christian as well and he said that would be fine. ( I made him check that one twice ) The way everyone talks on here make it sound like every time you take home-time it turns your pay screwy for a week or two. Plus, staying out so long lets the money build up and since I won't have anything except my cell phone, storage unit, car insurance, and food & expenses on the road, I'll be able to put a good bit of money back into savings.

 

Well if you get on and leave for the class starting on Feb 6th, I'll be seeing you there! My name is Alex, I'll be looking for you. Good luck!!

 

I didn't. My email notifications show up sporadically, so it wasn't until today that I found the new thread.

Would have been easier to just move it to a neutral forum and keep going, but eh, some people are possessive about their 0's and 1's.

 

I don't advise teaming with someone that you haven't had a lot of driving experience with, or don't know that well. You're in for a lot of surprises, and a lot of headaches if that new co-driver isn't like you.

The pay may or may not be more. You'll split $0.34 a mile, which is $0.17 each, per truck mile. That's $680 gross if you average 4000 miles a week. To gross the same amount as a solo driver, you'd need about 2450 in milage.

2450 in milage is generally more doable than 4000 as a team. I teamed for 4.5 years with Central, and I can say we never averaged that much, even on the Walmart fleet. the only time we might have, we had a planner and not a dm, and that made the difference.

Again, I don't advise teaming with someone you don't know. Can you trust your life in the hands of a near complete stranger?

 

The work well is the physical test. It consists of a few parts: pushing and pulling with 100 lbs of force, lifting a crate filled with weight from 10-50 pounds from the floor to your waist, and waist to head level, and then walking 53 feet with the crate. The weights change, going from light to heavy. They monitor pulse and all that. I passed, and I'm overweight and out of shape. Most people will pass.

For training, expect to be driving the bulk of the time. Central's rules on training change, but last I heard it was 200 hours of drive time. Someone who trains can answer the current training requirements.

In theory, you'll be driving 75% of the time. For the first days, the trainer usually stays up with you, monitors your driving, shifting, etc, and explains things. You'll be riding up front for a while when you're done driving if your trainer wants to explain things to you. You're limited when you can drive, no night driving for the first part of training.

At some point your trainer will leave you to do the driving while they sleep, I don't know if they're required to stay up a certain period of time, or if they do it when they feel safe enough with you. Mine stopped sitting up with me a few days in, but I know trainers who sat up almost all the time.

You're not supposed to sleep in the top bunk while the truck is moving. So if your trainer is driving, expect to be in your sleeping bag on their bunk. When you're stopped, the top bunk will probably be yours.

There's a list of things trainers have to cover, and some cover it, some don't. You'll be backing a lot for practice. One thing your trainer may not show you, but you need to know, is how to chain up. Some trainers won't chain, some won't pull the chains out of the bags. That's fine, when you get your truck, practice putting the chains on at least once. There's going to be a time when you're going to have to chain, and standing in the dark, with the snow blowing and ice running down the back of your neck is not the time to learn.

 

I COMPLETELY agree with your feelings on the team driving. The ONLY way I would do it was if it was with my significant other. No family, no friends, and sure as hell, no random person I meet at the main terminal.

Moving on, the Work Well test seems to be reasonably easy from how you describe it. I'm 6'4" and 265lbs so I'm not such a small guy either. I wasn't really worried about passing or failing, just curious as to what was involved. One thing I was worried about was the blood pressure regulations by the D.O.T. I was originally told that the limit was 160/90 but only recently found out that it was 180/110. I went to the local pharmacy and had mine tested yesterday and immediately after smoking a cigarette and a lot of horse $h!t at my current job it was 146/72 with pulse @ 84 at rest. After a little bit of exercise it was 158/81 with pulse @ 96. I don't know what their limit on pulse is but I'm sure I'm well below it.

That's good to know about the trainers. I hope to get my driving done as fast as possible and unless its absolutely necessary, I don't want to be sleeping on that top bunk 1" mattress lol (I know I will have to at some point, just saying, I don't want to). So, I'm going to try my best to not be stopped. As you probably understand from the first paragraph I'm not quite fond of the idea of being stuck in a closet with someone I barely know for a month but if you gotta do it to get the job, then you gotta do it. It's a shame that they won't let you drive at night during the first part; that's when I do my best driving but hey.. I'll get there. Backing isn't going to be that big of a deal.. I will probably be a bit rusty when I get there but if they don't take us out during the refresher then I'll see if I can borrow one from training for a little practice in the lot. And if that can't happen I guess the rust will be knocked off anyway with the trainer. Either way works for me.

Chaining was something I was wondering about.. I figured being up by the mountains, it would be something commonly covered by the teachers and trainers. If they don't cover it, I'll be sure to ask someone and get shown how to chain up. I imagine its not very difficult but its something I've never done before, at all. I know that some mountain passes up that way won't even let you go through them if you don't have chains on your truck. Does Central issue chains to every driver and if so, where do you keep them? I don't think all of them would fit in the side-box and I haven't seen any Central trucks with storage back by the cat-walks. Just wondering.

 

I trained in the summer my trainer asked me if I knew how to chain. I told him yes we did it all the time in Alaska where I moved from. He asked me to tell him how I would chain up and I told him and he was satisfied so we never covered it. In the beginning of September I was out on my own pulled into a TA around 0800. Parked and another Central truck came in and parked across from me. before they backed in they got out and switched drivers. I though must be a trainer. Once he got parked they sat there for a bit then they got out and started pulling out chains from the side and they chained up the truck. It was still 75 out and no snow in sight but they did it twice. So this trainer was thinking ahead and showed the new driver how to chain. Central has some good trainers and they have some bad. If you are worried about chaining then ask your trainer to show you how. if they don't I know the maintenance dept at any terminal will take the time to do so .