The Truth About Crete Carrier

Bet its a great feeling finally getting home for the holiday is'nt it?Many companies are like Crete,won't get you home unless its Christmas and even that can be iffy if you just come off of hometime a couple weeks prior to xmas.Staying out for a full month is pretty much standard for most companies if you choose the OTR division.It's not for everyone,especially ppl with a family.I don't have a family so staying out a month or longer never has been a problem for me.Crete like every other company says you can get home in so many days b ut what the website/ads say and what they do are 2 different things.

 

I was with Crete for 18 years , but the last 14 as an owner/op. . I agree with much of what medina58 says. Fortunately, I wasn't driving their truck so I went home for most holidays and stayed as long as I wanted. Holidays usually reduce my miles anyway , so I go home. And I am single so I would usually stay out 4 weeks and then go home for a week or so. Averaged about 2700 miles / week .. Crete always says they gotta have drivers on road during holidays to service custimers, but once you go drop a load and there's nothing already loaded to go get, you're done til people go back to work. No layover for it either. One of my friends sat in Green Bay 3 days over Christmas. No pay. And I agree that compared to other mega fleets, Crete would be a good one for new drivers. Crete pays practical miles and a better pay rate than the others. Get a year in and u might even stay a few more. I am home not working due elderly parent issues. Been looking around for next company. Considering what other companies are like, I will consider going back to Crete. And they pay owner ops better than the other big fleets too. Hey medina 58. One Crete driver I know went to Robert Bearden Inc in Cairo, Ga. So he could run the southeast region and be home weekends. Pays $.34/ mile practical. He says he is staying busy. Don't know if might work for u.

 

Very well said!
Everything that you wrote also applies to ANY large carrier ( Conway, Swift, Knight, Werner, etc.).
The fact that 98% new drivers VOLUNTARILY leave within a year says it all.
Thanks for spreading the truth!

 

other than Thanksgiving I make it home for most holidays. I do stay out at least 21 days most months though. I'm sure that a lot depends on where you live, but in nearly 5 years Crete gets me home when I ask every time. I was 1 day late one time since I started here. as far as the pay, the $62k figure isn't just the trainers, as most of the trainers I've talkedtomake way more than that. I paid taxes on just under$58k last year and I'm 3 cents below top pay, so $62 is possible. just my experiences with Crete, I know others have different ones, but mine has been very positive.

 

you miss (gordon,heartland,on the list.)

 

I understand what medina58 is saying . I was with Crete, but had my own truck so I didn't have the time off restrictions.I think Crete should pay extra compensation for staying out on a holiday . One Crete driver I know spent 3 days in Green Bay WI. She lives in GA. It was Christmas. Crete used not to be that way. And she got no layover pay. I would go home for holidays partly because I didn't want to waste time sitting in a truckstop. But u can make money at Crete. I am single and would stay out a month and then take a week off. And one week for Thanksgiving a 2weeks for Christmas. I started in 1994. That Christmas I went home with their truck and stayed home for 9 days. If u were a good runner I think they appreciated it and didn't mind u taking time off. Things have changed. It's not the Crete it used to be. Most people I knew moved on along time ago.

 

I knew a Crete driver who lived in Kilgore, TX. He went home for a hernia operation. I think he was off 6 weeks. He told me his new Crete company truck sat in the back yard the whole time. That was in the '90 's. That guy used to run 150k miles a year. I was a slacker. I would run about 138k. I wish the old Crete was still around.