Central Refrigerated Truck Stop

Ask Mikely he is an L/O, granted everyone's experiences are different. When I looked at doing their "fleece" I would have only made about $200 a week more, to me that wasn't worth the headaches.

Plus think of it like this, you are driving their truck, running their loads, and only their loads. You are paying for the fuel and maintnance of their truck, sure you can make more money, but unless you are "paying the truck" a salary ie: maint account any extra money you would make will get eaten up, have a breakdown, and sit for a few days, that truck note is still due.

To me this made no sense , as I would have been a glorified company driver

But everyone has to decide for themselves if it is right for them, your milage may vary.

 

Hey I got to take the scenic route from Lewiston. ME to Lowville, NY. 13 hours .. I followed my GPS 7 hours. But I would have missed my first fuel stop and incurred tolls deadheading..

Cool thing was I got to see Mt. Washington

 

I took 16 down from Gorham down in the middle of last winter.
I will never do that again.
Pretty area though.

 

Jeez Chrome, that's hardcore!

As for Central's lease program. I think it's pretty straight forward. It's 3rd party leasing and there really isn't any hidden tricks, fees, lies etc... The problem with leasing is for a single driver it is so tough. You have to have a nice chunk of money in the bank too because there is little margin for error. Yes Central will help you but then you will just be getting negative pay checks until you have paid them off. A lot of single drivers train because its like running team and it helps to make money having two logs instead of one. My wife and I did it team and it was tough. I always felt for the solo drivers and didn't know how they did it. I think (and I am sure others will back me) that the absolute best way to do it would be to drive company until you can afford to buy your own truck. This way you aren't tied to anyone and your payments are slightly lower. Central's lease runs about $1000 a week. That doesn't include a lot of stuff!

 

Centrals lease is $867 a week and includes EVERYTHING except fuel. That is even $50 a week going into your maintenance account. Dont get me wrong if the mile arent there you wont make much but a month into my hubby's lease, and he is solo right now, he has been making about $1000 per week take home. He plans on training eventually. You definatly have to be willing to run the miles and not take home time in order for it to work solo.

 

I run lease and do good. I was solo and did great. I agree a dm will make u good money or not. Only reason i train now is because i love teaching but hate the classroom. I dont recomend my students go lease but if they do i tell them to call me and i will help them to hopefully b a sucess. Imho it depends on the person and how much work you want to put in.

 

Dont forget to put aside for quarterly tax from that 1000. I have seen l/o forget and have trouble makin it.

 

Yup, Quarterlies are about 16% of your gross. Before fuel.

The thing with that whole thing is the amount you pay.
Sure it is "only 867 per week", but I can buy a good truck that I will own in 3 years. And "only" pay 1300 per month.
Yes, this is a used truck and not new. But it should last me 5 years before it will need major work.
So that will be 2 years where it will cost me "only" 300 per month.
All are plus fuel of course.
And I can lease on with a company that will pay me .95 cpm and not .85 cpm.
And that is just sticking with leasing to a large carrier. Or I can lease to an owner OP company and get paid a good percentage. Which as rates go up would be even better.

 

my favorite 3 words the last 4 days are.... "I have onions"

probably 5 or 6 times a day for the last 4 days I hear on the CB "hey Central, you know you have your little inspection door open?" I reply, "I have onions" then they say "oh! 10-4"

 

I had a load of onions.. told everyone I was carrying HazMat. Hahahaha

So now I am going to give the Kraft Dedicated a try.. pays more and I'll be somewhat regional. If it does't work for me I'll go back to hauling everything..

Got to get my Icon fixed first. It won't shut off after the 2nd time regardless of the outside temp.. don't need to get charged for excessive fuel.. off to the dealer tomorrow..