Central Time Zone. The Central Time Zone subtracts six hours from UTC during standard time (UTC-6) and five hours during daylight saving time (UTC-5). This time zone is called Central Standard Time (CST) during standard time (Winter). It is called Central Daylight Time (CDT) during daylight saving time (Summer). In the United States and Canada, this time zone is often just called Central Time (CT). The zone is one hour ahead of the Mountain Time Zone and one hour behind the Eastern Time Zone.