Central Refrigerated
With 55 years of experience, initially Central Refrigerated seems like a good place to start your driving career. Their training program is around three weeks long, which is the preferred time to get the proper training. They give financial assistance (although there’s $200 upfront costs) and guarantee a job, but only if you stay with them for 8 months. If you find you don’t like this company before your contract ends, you still have to fulfill your contract or chances are you won’t be able to get hired anywhere else.
Yet, this company seems to promise many offers to new, inexperienced drivers that they don’t deliver. They promise $500 sign-on bonus and $400 initial check, but often neither is ever received by graduates. Although they cover lodging and transportation when you commute to their training program, they often don’t hire you if you live outside their preferred area. In fact, there have been many stories of people who attended orientation, passed the skills test, told they were hired, but then a few hours later were told that they weren’t hirable and must return home (paid out of their own pocket). This horror story was part of an 8 year scam by instructors and others within the company. If you can get past the orientation, you may enjoy working for Central Refrigerated for a few years as an entry-level truck driver.