I think you hit the nail on the head with your thoughts about how a driver just sits on things and has time to let them stew. Sometimes the more you think about something the madder you get!

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No Carb Diet! No Cheney. No Ashcroft. No Rumsfeld. No Bush.
January 20, 2009 End of an Error!!
I think...therefore I'm a...Libertarian!

^ That's why I try not to stay out more than eighteen days. I've found I start getting crotchety after about sixteen, so I have to watch myself and keep my reminder memos polite if dispatch is having a hard time finding me a direct route home.

[quote=evertruckerr;323973]OK, My first full calender year with Crete (Jan-Dec) 2007 has passed and I thought I would show the actual numbers.



Did you happen to count your hours in the company truck to see what your houly pay would be?

STOP IT WITH THE TIME CLOCK POSTS!!!! OTR driving is a lifestyle and not a regular 9-5 job. People who enter this industry need to understand that.

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Thank you Christ & Veterans for the blood you shed for my freedom! Hope is knowing that Christ will not let failure be your final resutl.

A few days ago, I was sat for a day in Pinesville, LA and that morning after I sent my MT call in(9am), they said the same thing. "Nothing right now, check back in 3 hrs". Maybe its a nationwide epidemic! Maybe they were just making me wait for a load coming out of Pinesville. IDK
As for the pay...I havent got my first full paycheck since being solo. Should be a good one though. Take care!

[quote=johnnylightning;357197]
Old argument that has been beat to death on this and every other board. Just because I'm in the truck doesn't mean I'm working. As a matter of fact, when I'm working I don't feel like its work (because it's not, I've worked for a living and driving a truck as far from "work") We all have different ways of looking at things and different things make us happy. I'm not going to judge your life style and have no interest in your judgment of mine.

I'm in this truck because it pleases me. I would rather spend 24hrs in a truck over 8hrs in an office any day. I've done both.

For the sake of argument, I log everything I do as I do it. My average hourly pay runs between $19-$25 hour.

But I don't work by the hour, I work for my happiness and a paycheck at the end of the week.

Have you ever asked one of the millions of small business owners of the country how many hours they work and condemn them for their effort. Your argument is week and narrow minded.

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"I REJECT YOUR REALITY AND SUBSTITUTE MY OWN" Mythbusters

I see you have been introduced to P&G in Pineville, LA. This is what I mean when I talk about the learning curve at Crete. Over time you will find what customers can hang you up and which areas of the country will keep you moving. Crete usually tries to backload you out of there after dropping a trailer, but P&G is notorious for not having preloaded trailers done when scheduled. It is not uncommon to have to wait. One time I had to wait 12 hours for a trailer, but at least I was paid $100 detention.

I'm currently sitting outside of Houston for the day because there were no loads available this weekend after I delivered my load. Couldn't get anything until Monday morning. Houston is another notoriously difficult part of the country to get loaded out of, especially on a weekend.

I don't like sitting anymore than the next driver, but I've been talking to as many drivers around here that I can and it seems they all have similar stories about the difficulties of getting loads recently. The truckstop is packed and it's the middle of the day. It should be half empty by now.

I've also deadheaded out of Pineville on a number of occasions. Crete won't leave you hanging there if freight is available within a 200+mi radius. As a matter of fact, the last time I dropped a load there they sent me to the New Orleans area to get a load.

The "Nothing right now, check back in 3 hrs" line is getting to be more common that it once was. I'm afraid it's getting to be an industry wide thing. I can only hope things pickup next month. Wait and see I guess.

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"I REJECT YOUR REALITY AND SUBSTITUTE MY OWN" Mythbusters

dont have it broken down quite as well as everr but my first day with crete was august 8, 07. total income for the year with crete (from w-2) was $12,998 highest paycheck was $1,157, lowest was $158 (for my final 2 days with trainer) the 158 dollar check seriously hurt as it was rent week, after explaining this to the training manager, he got me a comchek for the remainder of my rent, to be paid back out of my first mileage check.

good weeks and bad weeks, good decisions, bad decisions, starting to get the hang of it though. been more than a month since ive had a service failure, my first month solo i had 7. have had some log book violations, trying to get those points under control. have 17 trailer inspections ready just in case. january sucked hard, but im still on track to get my raise.

sitting at home now for my bday, and an oral surgeon appt. they got me home a day late, and okayed me to stay home til weds if needed to make sure i get in to see the surgeon. PULL EM ALL DAMMIT!

the rest of you crete guys if you see a crete driver wearing a chicago wrigleyville fire dept t-shirt let them know theyre a lowlife p.o.s. and get me there tractor number so i can report them. someone stole about half of my clothes while i was doing laundry in columbus. they also stole my detergent... shame because i was allergic to it, i hope they are as well

I have been with crete now for just over 2 months and my first 6 weeks I stayed out and everything was fantastic!!
But things seemed to change when I came back from HT. Nothing was going right, dispatcher was giving me attitude,Sending me east when I wanted to go west and so on.
So about 12 days into this drama, I took some time to reflect on what went wrong and it was clearly a change of attitude....Mine!
When I first started I was grateful for any miles and where and when to deliver was never even a consideration. I had no personal agenda, just rolled with the flow.
Somehow when I was on HT, I guess I decided that I only wanted long runs going west.
So, I changed my attitude and stopped sending in destination request and giving dispatch grief over sending me east.
My miles are still good, there is no drama or stress and I am back to loving crete. They give you what they have available in whatever direction it needs to go...it is not personal.
I also stopped listening to the whinners in the terminal lounges and on the CB.
Things are good with crete. One thing is for sure, no matter how good things are...someone will always whine.
But not me! Attitude does make a difference.
best wishes to all
Jdogg

O I wasn't talking about regular hours. I was wondering how many no paid hours he may have gave the company over a one year period. But I do admire anybody that works for free it makes the economy strong.