I work for Crete and have had no issues with being forced to run illegal. Quite the opposite, I have been told more than once by my fm to log it as i do it. When I have had a hos issue i have told the dispatcher that i could not do that load and have usually gotten a different load. That's pretty good considering the freight issues we have right now. I'm sure there are drivers that push the limits, but I doubt that they were forced to, or threatened with their job. As far as pay, I've never had an issue. I'm thinking that paperwork wasn't turned in on time and he was paid on the next check.

Thanks for your post, it re-enforces what I've been saying about being forced to run when you don't have the hours to do it. Everything that you've said is what I've heard from other drivers at Crete. I, also, think that its SOP to turn paperwork in for your pay, especially if a driver is leaving the company. Many people don't realize this but a lot of customers will not pay their freight charges unless they have the original bill of lading. The longer a driver keeps paperwork that has to be with the billing, the longer it takes the company to get paid for the work you have done.

Luvtheroad, if you don't want people to know your level of experience might I suggest deleting your blog post on your recent time at driving school?

Why should I? It's humorous. I don't consider the fact that I can't back and I am going back to school a deep dark secret. As much as it frustrates me, I've never backed well, my husband always did the backing. It seems as though you are interested in my transportation history for some odd reason. What does my experience or lack of it as you seem to think I have, have to do with you? Did you go down through the posts and not like my screen name or what? You've decided to make me a target for some strange reason. If you don't like my posts, just don't read them. Do you think that you know me, because if you do, you know why my husband isn't able to teach me what I need to be adept at the backing skills. And if you know me, you'll know the urgency of me going back into the work force fulltime.
If the other people on here don't like what I have to say, they need to say so and I'll drop off, but it sure won't be due to you.

I FOLLOW THIS AND SEVERAL OTHER THREADS, EVERYDAY , AND YOU HAVE AS MUCH RIGHT TO YOUR OPPINION AS "LONGBOW" AND ANY OTHERS ON HERE ITS LIKE THE CB IF YOU DONT ENJOY IT TURN IT OFF AND BE QUIET,,I HAVE BEEN TRUCKING FOR WAY TOO MANY YEARS NOW AND CAN STILL REMEMBER TRYING TO GET THE TRAILER TO GO WHERE I WANTED AND THAT WAS WITH 45*, AND SINGLE AXLE TRACTOR , SO LEARN WHAT YOU NEED TO AND DONT WORRY ABOUT THE POST I WILL PROBABLY GET SOME FLACK FOR THIS ONE,, OH WELL,,, STAY SAFE STICKHAULER

The moral to this story (as I see it) is to just say no. The NTSB report stated that:
"In total, the accident driver made three and a half round trips between Jacksonville and High Springs, Florida, from January 24–25. Had he not been involved in the accident, he would have completed four round trips. Even with only three round trips between the two locations, it would have been very difficult to remain in compliance with the hours-of-service regulations. Qualcomm communication data show that the driver was asked to make three round trips on this route or at least two and a half runs, thus pressuring the driver to the outer limits of the State regulation. Furthermore, the Qualcomm data show the location of the truck and should have alerted Crete that the driver was making more trips than would have been allowable."

Why the driver was attempting a forth run we may never know, but a picture of that van should be on every dispatcher's desk and truck driver's visor.

If one feels threated/forced/compelled into taking a load they cannot legally run, have that dispatcher send on the Qualcom or fax you a paper as to the consequence of your actions of refusing the load. There is more than one hungry attorney out there that will work for food!

I have run legal and I have run outlaw-I'm no angel by no means-but I have told more than one shipper/receiver/dispatcher on more than one occasion that I went to bed and have been thanked by the same, more than once, for doing so.

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I'm not as good as I once was,

but, I'm as good once as I ever was!

Here are the pictures and here is the link again for the full report: [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link.

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I'm not as good as I once was,

but, I'm as good once as I ever was!

This doesn't happen. Crete has never and will never withhold payment on a load based on whether or not they have been compensated.

The only situation that might come up is with regards to detention pay. We are paid detention when the customer pays Crete. Sometimes I am paid the next week, and sometimes it takes a month or more. But I so rarely need to put in for detention and it is usually only for 30mins to an hour that it really is of no concern to me.

The driver that posted this is simply disgruntled and flat out lying about his experience to justify why he was fired. As far as being forced to deliver a load when he was out of hours. Another lie. On the few occasions that I have been sent load offers that could not be delivered within my log restraints, one simple message stating that fact was all that was needed to void the load without a single question from dispatch.

Safety has absolute authority in these situations and no dispatcher would ever require a driver to run illegally. No Crete driver runs illegal at any time. Our logs are audited on a regular basis to enforce 100% compliance and our trucks are tracked by qualcom at all times. We can't even fudge our logs by 15mins without getting called on it. As a matter of fact, I was just talking to a driver in our Columbus yard who was charge safety points for driving 15mins past his 14th hour. He logged it legal, but was caught by the logging department for something as little as that.

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"I REJECT YOUR REALITY AND SUBSTITUTE MY OWN" Mythbusters

Luvtheroad, my point was that for somebody who can't even be called a newbie yet you talk an awful lot of trash. You come off in a lot of your posts as some seasoned veteran full of hard won wisdom but in truth the reality is far different. Remember that next time before you start trashing another driver like you did to the OP.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again . . . You don't have to be in the seat of a rig to know a lot about the industry.

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Dynamite comes in small packages, Nitro comes in smaller ones, take your pick!