Follow me through Central Refrigerated training

Congratulations!

 

Well I just finished my first day of training. I had quite the experience, thanks to greyhound I did not arrive at Central until 3:30am and I had to be at class at 6:30am so I did not get much sleep.
Central has a shuttle that will pick you up at the bus stop 24hrs a day, so all you have to do is call and they will be there in 20-30min to get you. On my bus there were 6 drivers, 3 (including me) were students, and the other 3 had just finished school at the federal way, WA school. They said they liked it and I am trying to get one of them to post here about it.
On the way to central the shuttle driver mentioned to us that there were over 40 new drivers and students that arrived this weekend. He also said not to worry because half of them would be gone by Wed.
When we got to central they paired us off and assigned us rooms. We were staying in what they call the VIP lounge, and I can assure you it is a joke. It is a cinderblock building with nice showers. It has a laundry, a store where you can buy almost anything you can want, a rec room with a few videogames, pool table, and some vending machines. The rooms work for sleeping. There are two outlets; one is occupied by the ac unit. The room is about 8X10 has twin bunk beds a plastic chair and two hooks for hanging. Also a note about your belongings, there is a sign that says to put all your stuff on the bunks so the rooms can get cleaned, do it. My roomie left his bag open on the floor and when we got back to the room it looked like the cleaning person just threw it up on his bunk and it being open flung his stuff out all over his bunk.
The first half of the day was very boring. You fill out a 27 page application (hint you want to bring references with you, addresses, phone numbers and all that stuff, a lot of people spent the day trying to get a hold of people to get their info. Like BiggRigg said you have a test where you push pull, carry weights, step up on blocks ect. One tip here, even if you are tired do not drink an energy drink, they will raise your pulse and blood pressure, I almost got DQed for high BP then the tester saw my monster and said he would come back around and for me to drink a lot of water. 2hrs later my bp was fine. We also did the pee test and background check.
The afternoon was our first class and it was taught by a guy who seems like he hates his job, but after you get to know you realize that is just how he is. We went over the contract and all the financing stuff for tuition. We also watched a video of a truck flipping over and got to try to figure out why he flipped. We also talked about HOS and got our books to study for the permit test on Wed.
About 4:30 all 23 of us left (down 7 from the start of the day) got our DOT physical it consisted of bp, eye test, and hearing test. We had two more sent home.
The rest of the day was spent studying and chewing the fat with the drivers. I think biggrigg was lucky to go home and study, it is hard to find a quiet place around here, all the drivers are friendly and want to help, but end up just telling you stories.
Over all it has been great and I am looking forward to climbing in my cell in to that twin bed, which is surprisingly comfortable.

 

Slight question altogether (knowing you may not be able to ask/know this at said time)

How does Central feel about sponsoring an overseas driver, potential, im asking this as im looking at spending a few years (around 5) driving around the small country of the US.
Ive spoken to the US consulate guy's down here, and they had advised me to get sponsored, and get an American CDL. (Yes I do have an HR, can drive semi's; but is australian)
The reason for the american CDL, they said is to get me out of the habbits of driving the rigs down here; ie... keeping left, hook turns, gear changes (you use super 10's; Ive mainly used 18speed gearboxes), and power to weight ratios. (We have alot more power, and haul alot heavier freight)...

It would be a great adventure, and I would like to be able one day to do it, and post my travels on youtube (great advertisement is all goes well)

 

Thats a joke right? Because I laughed.

 

XD; glad you liked it.

 

They could care less if you are married or single.. The only license they want to see if a valid US drivers license..

 

Today we, like big rig, took 3 practice tests and worked on log book. We would review a section (general knowledge, combination, or air) then take the full test, grade it and go on a break. We would log in our log book in class as on-duty not driving, then go on a break as off-duty. A note on being tardy, I was 1 minute late and got a mark. If you get two marks you get sent home, so get to class early.
The instructor, Jeff, did a great job of giving you ways of remembering different terms and answers to questions. Unlike big rigg I felt like I learned a lot, but I could see how someone with 15 years CDL B could not think they learned a lot, because the students who had a CDL did say it was borning and they knew this already, but it was good for me.
At the end of the day the instructor went over your logs and made you redo them if they were wrong. Most people got sent back because under location they wrote "WVC" or "West Valley, UT" when they should have put "West Valley City, UT" The rest of the day was spent studying. There is a study room here and about 10 of us got together and went over the material, and a few of the 2nd week students came in and asked us questions that they had on their test, which were not covered in class. So far so good. We have our Permit test in the morning. CR England is just down the road and will also be getting their students permitted in the morning, so that should be fun.

 

We went in to the classroom and had a quick review, and then they shuttled us over to the DMV. Most of us passed the test (I did it on the first try J) there were only 3 in the class who failed the test. They will get another chance in the morning, so hopefully the 3rd time will be the charmed for them. You are given 4 chances to pass, two on day 3, and if needed two on day 4. Once we got back to the class (about 1:30 once everyone finished) we went over training and the head of the training department came in and told us what to expect, and how they match students with trainers. It sounds like a lot of fun.
After that we watched a few movies on crime prevention, backing, hooking up, and driving on grades. We have also been running a logbook and get it inspected before we can leave. This was the first night I was able relax, watch some TV, and play a few games. I am starting to settle in, I can hardly believe that I have been here less than 36 hrs and so much has happened. I can't wait to get in the truck.

Also, while we were at the dmv, we spoke with a few of the students, and they all said they wished they had come to CRS. That speaks well for us.
Big rig, glad to hear things are working so well with your trainer, too bad you will still be training in a week and a half, when I am ready to go out with a trainer, otherwise I would have liked to learn from him. If you guys run 84 from Portland you will be able to swing by HQ on the way to LV. It is a neat place. I'll be here.