Central Refrigerated Truck Stop II

Lady K - glad y'all got your truck back I would hate to be with out mine. Got a question for you since we are in the same model truck. Recently I have been having problems with the opt idle. Sometimes when I park I flip the lever up push in the clutch and push the cruise button. When I do this it makes the check engine light come on I have to shut the truck off for 30 min then start it again. I have also woke up some mornings to be chilly and find the check engine light on and the sleeper at 60. Have y'all had any problems with your opti?

 

JJ's place.....correct? Don't want to make an issue out of it, but it's still alive and kicking. I was just there. Someone posted one minute ago. I know I haven't lost my mind.......yet. LOL!

 

JJ started the Central Refridgerated thread. He was running with the old gang, including 6pak4two (who bought me a nice lunch, by the way.) I was a Dick Simon driver who had been adopted by Central when you all bought us. The picture in my Avatar is my Dick Simon (later Central Refrigerated) truck, with me and my grandpa. As far as I know, Smadronia and I are the last two Simon drivers here on the boards.

There were some disagreements on the direction the thread was taking. I noticed there was a group who was concerned that Central was painting too bright a picture for newbies and was setting them up to fail. The lease program especially was a sore spot. The established group tried to warn the newbies about the company, and especially tried to warn them away from the lease program.

This split the thread as many of the newbies had the attutude of "I just want some unbiased information on how long is orientation and this negativity is not helping." Also many people (including me) enjoyed the thread as more of a chat room than a nuts and bolts "here's how the lease works" kind of thread. JJ decided to allow the thread to continue, but he started a new thread, JJ's Place for the established gang to continue to hang out. This is the gang that includes 1badZ28 who met me and my son when we needed his opinion on OUR Z28. Thank you again, 1Bad.

JJ and 1badZ28 are old school (even though 1bad is younger than me). We could tell when we were just joking around with each other. I used to try to take pics of 1bads or 6paks trucks so I could post them with the caption "Look what I found parked in the front row right by the buffet line!"

This kind of left the old gang in JJ's Place, and the Central Refridgerated thread kind of became a chat room for the newer folks, like Klingon, and LadyK. (Who are no longer Newbies, by the way).

After a while, JJ realized that Central Refrigerated really wasn't his thread anymore, and asked to have it locked so that the folks who were using the new version could just start fresh.

Does that summary seem like a fair history to everyone?

 

While the Central Refrigerated Truck-Stop 1 thread had a TON of great information, maybe it is better that another one start fresh, more of a neutral place to talk about the company's pros and cons. Everyone, especially the people that are completely new to the industry, need to know the good and the bad about a company before they sign up to work for them. Now that by all means DOES NOT mean trash talking. If you have something negative to say, post it once and move on with your life. It doesn't make anyone's life easier seeing it 12 times in a row. Same goes with the good stuff, post it once and move on. I personally enjoy chatting with everyone in the thread and believe Celtic (the person who started this thread) does as well but if anyone does have a problem with it and feels up to it; its easy enough to create a new thread, name it Central Refrigerated Squawk Box, and chat away with all your pals. I personally feel that the argument that caused the closing of Truck-Stop 1 was not proper grounds for killing the thread but, whatever was between smadronia and JJ Ranch is between smadronia and JJ Ranch and whats done is done. It was a great thread and we can only continue here. However, I do believe that the visitors to the web-site will have some trouble finding this thread after realizing the other one is closed. Before I found this thread and signed up, I had been reading through the last pages of of Truck-Stop 1 and decided that I would go to sleep, wake up the next morning, sign up, and post some of the questions I had to the thread. Well, I woke up the next morning, signed up, went to the thread, and what do ya know? It had been closed. So a few days went by waiting for the thread to re-open but it never happened. Sadly, I began the seeming endless task of Google-ing the remaining questions I had and I believe I was on Google results page 25 before I stumbled upon a link to this thread on the same forum site. I cannot express how happy I was when I found it. Three hours on Google is equivalent to however long it takes you to type out one post on here. That, I promise.
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LEASING:

Now, I've seen a lot of people talking about the leases. I'll start off by saying that leases work for some people but not for others. It depends on your level of experience driving a truck, the company or dealership you're leasing it from, your ability to manage money, and many other things. That said, if you are new to the industry, STAY THE F!@$ AWAY FROM LEASING. If you don't have enough experience to run your own trucking company then you don't have enough experience to lease a truck from a trucking company. Plain and simple. Also, odds are if you're new to the industry and you're offered the option to lease a truck then you are probably working for a large company such as C.R. England, Stevens Transport, Schneider, etc... Here is a run-down of how leasing works: You sign a lengthy contract with the company you are employed by in exchange for a truck you can call yours but really its not and a raise from $.30/mi to $.95, you pay for fuel (6-8MPG depending on how much you're hauling @ $4.00/gallon), maintenance (any mechanical breakdowns includes towing, parts, tires, and routing maintenance), "wear and tear" (not included in your maintenance, you generally get charged at the end of your lease term and the amount depends on the miles driven and idle time), insurance (you don't even want to know), plus YOU are responsible for nearly everything having to do with your truck.

I'll put it like this. Before I was considering Central Refrigerated, I was looking into C.R. England. They are probably THE MOST advertised trucking company on the internet probably one of the worst to work for. Not even ten minutes into my first conversation with a recruiter from there, the lease program was being thrust in my face. I literally felt like I was being raped. I kept saying that I wasn't interested but he kept pressing so I finally asked him for the details. He told me how great it was and that I would be making close to $50k a year doing it. How I would only make $.34/mi being a company driver but would make close to $1/mi leasing. How I would get 5000 miles per week and as much off-time as I would like. I can't remember the exact figures I came to but while he was telling me all this I was writing it all down and when he was done with his rant, I ran all the numbers back by him again for confirmation. By the way, your lease payment for one of their trucks could be anywhere between $580-$800/week.. BAHAHAHAHAHA. While he was still on the phone with me I did the math with the figures he provided me. Once I was finished I politely explained to him that I was not Jesus and me nor any other person driving solo could legally or physically drive 5000 miles per week and at the numbers he provided me, and the 5000 miles per week, after all expenses, a lease operator would actually make LESS than a company driver. He said that I couldn't be right so he broke out his calculator and after 5 minutes of mumbling and typing came to the same conclusion. We spent about 10 more minutes talking about it, mostly him expressing his regret for sending all the students toward the lease program, then moved back to the points of company driving.

The recruiters are told what to say, when to say it, and to say it with a smile on their face when it comes to leasing. They know nothing about what it takes to drive a truck or to manage a company. DO NOT trust anything they say about leases. If you want some answers and don't agree with my advice, just ask someone who drives for the company you're inquiring about. But, keep in mind, not all leases are bad. Mostly, its just the leases from large companies with their own school and training because THEY make more money from lease drivers, not the drivers. If you find a small company that's willing to lease you a truck and you have the experience and know-how, then run the numbers. If you like the final figure then go for the lease. Just don't dig yourself into a hole and not know how to use the ladder to get out. There are also dealerships and companies that only specialize in leasing. You can sometimes get a pretty decent deal from these places if leasing is the route you want to go. And finally, there is always the options to buy a truck and lease it on to a company or even start your own! There are many different options and paths you can take but the moral of the story here is GET THE EXPERIENCE, SAVE YOUR MONEY, WORK YOUR WAY UP, AND BE SMART ABOUT IT! You do all of this and you will be better than okay.

 

I know JJ and have met hin and Jess. I may not always agree with everything he does but, childish is NOT a word I would use about him!!!!!!!! Lastkidpicked, pretty well summed yp what was going on. Please make sure you KNOW what your talking about before making such comments. Thansk

 

Actually it was a good thing to be given a rental... 1) we have a lease payment that needs to get paid if we are rolling or not... And this way we were rolling. 2) they got their load delivered because they said there wasn't anyone else available (on the dedicated fleet). Breakdowns happen... We've just been lucky and we leased a new truck. So we're also not having to deal with the care others have done (or not done) to their trucks.

 

the original central ref truck stop thread started by jj is closed not jj place thats a different thread

 

buffet huh you aint calling me fat are ya.....lol.... hows things out in denver my friend?

 

No problems but we don't push in the clutch...

Our steps... With engine running and cruise off... Tractor brake set... Flip splitter to high range... Turn on cruise control... That will turn the idle on to cover a low battery. For temperature control you then have to play with the panel in the back by the head of the bottom bunk.

The only time we have had a problem is when one of our batteries was going bad, and it kept the truck running trying to charge it.

Hope that helps

 

OH NO!! I'm not a newbie any more?? does that mean I'm suppose to know what I'm doing?? Well I don't think THAT will ever happen - LOL

I like the 'chat room' feel... Sometimes I just come on to read to see what's happening with folks.

I do miss the original thread .. In a way.. It had history and a bit of prestige due to just how long it was. But threads start and stop, they wander and change, and even get highjacked so I will just enjoy the ride