Central Refrigerated Truck Stop

I do lease a truck but I honestly wouldn't suggest it especially without any experience in the industry or with the company You have to know your limits and how to work your hours how to trip plan to a T know How to fuel correctly what kind of maintenance is needed and when and you need to make sure you aren't taking all your money instead of putting some towards the truck you pay for tires (set of drives 2800 set of steers 900) you have grease jobs 15000 miles oil change 30000 miles (250-300) air filters, coolant, oil, coolant filters, etc. And unfortunately when you lease it is highly doubtful you will ever own the truck you pay a truck payment of at least 565 a week with permits, overmileage, road taxes, etc the payments escalate in upwards of 900-1100 a WEEK and at The end you will have to at least have the truck a year you will have to find your own finance company to finance around 50000 for a truck with at least 400000 miles without a warranty it is not beneficial for central to have a truck where the payments do not go to them they charge you for taking all the risk so they make it very difficult to own your own. The only way out of a lease is to die or get real close or find someone to take it over. Keep in mind out of all this about there are certain cases where not all this has to be true to succeed and by no means am I knocking the lease program but I Just want people to understand the seriousness of this if you default on a lease they will send you to collections for the balance owed while the truck is unseated there are ways around it but they involve people with 300 an hour desk jobs so by all means consider it but go through the trial and error process on their dime for the first year and after you build a relationship with your dispatcher your payroll your terminal manager then look into it then if things go wrong you know who to deal with to get it fixed quickly before you are down for a month for repairs because an elk walks out in front of you it happens! I know the figures look good on paper but just remember the lease operator department will send you a message every couple weeks saying i.e. you ran 3000 miles you made 584 dollars as an owner op You could have made 1100 dollars after all fixed costs and fuel just remember taxes are for an average person 30% which leaves you with around 850 your putting some of that back to maintenance so xout can pay the truck payment while your at home for hometime which leaves you with maybe an extra 100-150 but is it really worth all the responsibility if you can answer yes then go for it. And before all of that make sure you ask yourself these questions and answer yes honestly to all of them do I feel comfortable with my driving abilities? Do I feel comfortable with the miles I am getting? And do I enjoy my job? Enough on that as for teaming another touchy subject unless you are the persons close family and grew up with them around all the time or its your significant other from personal experience I would say steer clear especially with two of the Same personalities i.e. alpha personalities clash and people argue especially when it gets stressful your in really close quarters for long amounts of time especially if you have some slow weeks money gets tight or somebody gets stuck driving the all nights all the time shift stuff like that. I would say keep the idea open maybe try it the worste that can happen it doesn't work and you guys go solo as for the miles depending on the dispatcher they are here you will get more than a solo usually and should get the longer runs you can work hard for dedicated fleets like kraft or dole which depending on where you live might not be a fitting idea as well as being one of the most sought after fleets and the hardest to get on I would really suggest you stay away from walmart and be cautious of coors I have heard mostly bad about that fleet lately. As for teaming on a lease truck only one signs the lease the other is The employee and you now have more responsibility to make sure they get their pay and its fair other than that hope I helped and remember I was not meaning anything in a negative way just stressing the most important parts to you to make sure you understand and can make sure you cover the right things to be successful we need good drivers here it would be in my best interest to give you my driver code and tell you to lease its cake you make millions I get a bonus you go broke and I don't lose sleep but I wish everyone the best.
Just remember there are exceptions to everything I have written here some people have had a fairy tale time leasing but I chose to go the safe route and I have been nothing but successful mostly because of the pay you make training.
Any other questions feel free to ask hopefully I covered everything and I wish you the best.

 

Good info for the guys thinking about it, but it is really hard to read that wall of text.

 

So what's all the newbies leaving training with? Trucks I mean... Taking wife out this weekend and looking at the different trucks.... Gotta see what she's enjoy the most..... Just as long as its not pink or purple I told her....lol

 

Like most places you likewly get whats available

 

Ok newbies, so what's been avail?

 

@ chromedome yea I kinda rambled on a little harder on my phone to do any punctuation.

@trucking couple it really depends they might have you go recover a truck or they might give you a brand new freightshaker depends whatever they have

 

Wow Skully, you said a mouthful! That is good info, but, "Mr. Skully. Tear down this wall!"

 

Hi I am a 29 year old female looking into trucking. I found a great schoool that is not far from me and they told me that central refer will cover the cost of my schooling if i work for them afterwards. It seems to me that central is the company to go for. I am having to go to VR to get the money for the licence fees and board(if I decide to stay in that town), or maybe they will give me gas money, I dunno yet, I have an app with them on monday. Trucking has been in my family for years. My aunt and uncle drove trucks whenever I was growing up and my aunt is retired from trucking with Carrol this year. My uncle is still driving with Harris Tetter. I used yo get cards from them whenever they were driving OTR whenever they got to a new state. That was 20 years ago and i still have the cards. Then my grandmother had a boyfriend before she passed a couple of years ago that trucked. I still keep in contact with him and ask him questions about trucking. There were two things I always wanted to be: a nurse or a trucker. Big difference i know. But I am a nurse now, but I have found that it is not what makes me happy. Big hassle and you cant trust the people you work with. I love caring for people but sometimes its hard to deal with. I know trucking is something not to take lightly. I know that it can be hard and dangerous, but so can messing up a medication that is ordered. I want to do this and have been for years now. I look forward to going to this school and becoming a trucker. I know people have a big deal with clutching and backing and I hope that I will have a good trainer to help me with all this. Is there anything that central does that i need to look for? Any tips anyone can give me? I hope all of u are doing good and stayin safe.

 

So your already jaded, you will fit right in as a trucker. Honestly if it's what you want to do nothing is going to change your mind. However, are you prepared for "life on the road?" Right now you go home everyday, sleep in your own bed. It's not a vacation out here. did you realize there will be weeks you get paid less than minimum wage? If you even get a paycheck at all. Are you prepared to miss important things in your life, or seeing family and friends when you want to?

I'm just saying seeing the country is cool and all, but it sounds like you have a limited vision of your family sending you post cards, this is like any job not for everyone, and if you want to trade a job with a skill liike being a nurse, for this, that's up to you, but I advise against it, maybe you can get a different nursing job with less BS to deal with. this job isn't peaches and honey all the time, just different ########, BS at the company, BS regulations, BS from DOT, BS from shippers and receivers, BS from your DM/Planners, bs of finding healthy food, to finding a parking place. Fact is Truck drivers are treated like 3rd class citizens in our own country, everybody is trying to make money on our backs, and the general public doesn't want to see us, or deal with us.

So think long and hard before making any decision.