Central Refrigeration.

I have to say thanks to Brett for this website, it has helped me immensely as I study for my CDL. I start my training with central on 6th of jan. I have a question for those of you that have worked or work for Central Refrigerated, and have done the training. Is there any words of wisdom you guys can pass on to me. Is there any pit falls you see now, but you did not see when you started, that would make training go better? Daniel I have read your training diary, extremely informative, that thing should be a stickey somewhere. Any one else that has anything else to say chime on in, and thanks you all.

1. The harder you work the more you'll make.

2. Never complain about anything to your DM.

3. Your DM is your life. Treat him with respect and kindness.

4. They will try to convince you aggressively to lease, do not lease!!!

5. You will not make six-figures if you lease a truck, do not lease!!!

6. Do not lease!!! Financial disasters will follow.

7. Buy a nice broom when you go solo to sweep out trailers. Saves lots of time.

8. Weekends are strong for freight, plan your hometime during the weekdays.

9. Prepare for a very fast-paced training program. Come prepared.

10. Send lots of specific questions my way. Been here for a year.

Welcome aboard!

Daniel nailed it, as always.

The biggest thing when you're new is to be patient, keep your cool, have a great attitude, speak to everyone with kindness and respect, and obey the golden rule - don't hit anything.

You're going to find yourself in a lot of stressful situations once you go solo and there won't be anyone to lean on. You're on your own. Just keep your cool, relax, and work through the situation. As long as you don't hit anything the situation will be over soon enough and it will make for an awesome story to tell for years to come. Getting nervous or getting in a hurry is where mistakes happen.

Lastly, during training you're going to come across people, policies, and decisions that you are not too fond of. Either the decisions make no sense or the people have terrible personalities or whatever. Just keep a great attitude, be patient, and stay the course. So many new drivers come into the industry with rather rigid expectations of what to expect and how things should be done. When invariably those expectations prove to be wrong it throws them for a loop. They start getting in fights with their instructors and bad-mouthing dispatch and before you know it they're sitting home without a job and a career that's at a standstill before it ever really got going.

Expect a lot of ups and downs. You'll be challenged constantly. You'll have sleep deprivation, home sickness, and stress at times. You'll also have a ton of fun if you keep that great attitude, treat people with kindness and respect, and listen & learn.

Just roll with it that first year. Take it as it comes and deal with whatever is in front of you at the moment. It takes time to figure out this job and this industry. Expect that.

1. The harder you work the more you'll make.

2. Never complain about anything to your DM.

One caveat to that: Don't be afraid to pipe up if something's wrong. For instance, if you're sent a load and you know you can't make one or more of the scheduled appointments on time. Don't take that as an excuse to be slaggardly, but if you're given a load that's 200 miles away and the pickup appointment is in 2 hours, or you're assigned a load that doesn't pick up until the next day, don't be afraid to get on the Qualcomm and ask for a different load. Always communicate firmly, but respectfully, and make sure your concerns are heard. If they don't know about them, they can't address them.

3. Your DM is your life. Treat him with respect and kindness.

4. They will try to convince you aggressively to lease, do not lease!!!

5. You will not make six-figures if you lease a truck, do not lease!!!

6. Do not lease!!! Financial disasters will follow.

7. Buy a nice broom when you go solo to sweep out trailers. Saves lots of time.

8. Weekends are strong for freight, plan your hometime during the weekdays.

9. Prepare for a very fast-paced training program. Come prepared.

10. Send lots of specific questions my way. Been here for a year.

Only one other thing to add to that. Watch out for the herd of malcontents outside Building 2 in WVC. All you'll hear is how they never get any miles, they're not making any money, Central is a scam, etc. 99% of them were foolish enough to leap into the O/O office as soon as they were eligible, and now they're in over their heads on $900 a week truck payments, and they're being doubly foolish by refusing loads with less than 1000 miles on them. That's a good way to guarantee you don't get miles. The only reason you should ever refuse a load is if you can't service the load, whether it's because you don't have enough hours, or you can't make the appointments on time, or your truck is broken/in the shop. As a company driver those are the only reasons you are allowed to refuse a load (unless they're trying to call out off of home time early, in which case you can refuse at will), but the lease-ops have the ability to refuse loads, and they tend to abuse it. Rambling aside, just steer clear of the Whining Brigade and do your job safely and efficiently. You'll get good miles, you'll make money, and you'll set a good reputation for yourself.

P.s. For what it's worth, I've been with Central a little over 2 years now.

Danial Thanks for the list can you explain more of what you mean by this please I don't get it, maybe I am just over thinking it, or it could be because I am an FNG.

3. Your DM is your life.

I would have never thought of a broom, is this a push broom or one I would use around my house?

Brett thanks for the thoughts I have been the trainer at my company for about the last 3 years. I know how new guys can get it in there head that something dose not make sense or they think it should be different. It can make their life and the trainers life overly complicated. I will do my best not to be that guy. I love challenges I am looking forward to this new adventure immensely. Awesome site by the way, Glad I found it.

Fatsquatch whats WVC? I hope we can meet up sometime.

WVC is Central's main terminal in West Valley City. It's the primary training facility (although there are others in other parts of the country), and it's where you'll do orientation, be paired up with a trainer, and eventually be upgraded and assigned a truck. You'll find yourself taking quite a few loads in and out of there as well.

Thanks fatsquatch, I guess there sending me to Fontana, thats what my itinerary says at least for now.

Just Wanted to give you guys an update, well if it had not been for the High Road Training Program I would have been really far behind, but all the pre-studding paid off I got 100% on all my permit test. The only real problem I have had is that there are to many students and not enough trucks or trainers. Makes it hard to get any real training in when it comes to driving or skills. Other wise everything else has been going good. I test on Monday for my class A, the only thing I am really worried about is the driving test, so wish me luck please.

Best of luck to ya!

Hey, just try and relax and be confident. They aren't looking for perfection, they just want to see that you have a beginners skills and understanding of how to operate a commercial vehicle. You've made it this far, you can do it. Even if you were to fail, you're gonna know what you need to work on and believe me there's lots of drivers out there on the road that failed their driving test the first time.

Stop stressing, and take a deep breath - you're gonna be just fine!