The Decline Of Crete Carrier

Of course the rails are improving. They are tax payer subsidized. Do you think the rails could compete if they had to pay tax on the diesel fuel or had to abide by the current air quality standards imposed on trucks?

Now for the comments about taking trucks off the road that is silly. Think about it. While the otr trucks may not be going cross country as much the companies will have to employ 2 drivers AND 2 trucks to service the rail. 1 driver to pick it up at the shipper and run it to the rail yard, and another driver to pick it up at the other end and deliver it to the receiver. Of course these will be lower paying jobs overall because the drivers will be home each day and will accept less money for the job with a smile.

 

Warren did invest that wad of other folks' mulla in the rails, but the return on investment won't be as cherry as he thinks it will be. Trains do move it cheaper, but we're talking about dealing with a UNION here. Screw with people who work for the rails today, and they'll shut down tonight. Loco drivers won't work for chicken feed like a truck driver will or put up with any BS you see in trucking.

 

WOW! I offically am stunned. I never thought I'd see the day where Warren Buffet made a bad investment.
By the way Union or not...if the government tells them they are running, guess what? Kind of similar to the piolot's in my neck of the woods. Delta piolots"we're striking" Bush:heh, heh...sure you are.

 

Yes, rail will expand and intermodal trucking will grow as a result. But there is still plenty of freight that simply cannot go by rail because of its urgency, fragility, etc.

I think the best thing that drivers could do is to start looking into what it would take to drive a tractor only (and maybe have a trailer on the side) for those local/regional intermodal opportunities. The unfortunate part about this, of course, is that you're going to be in a highly competitive market with people lowballing each other down to under $10/hour. But isn't that pretty much happening with the big companies and OTR?

Find a niche, stick with it, and keep your eyes open for other niches.

 

I started driving in the San Bernardino CA BNSF intermodal yard taking trailers and containers both off then back onto the trains, this was back in 2004-05. We set a BNSF record out there of 833 lifts ( on or off ) the train in an 8hr shift and that place runs 24/7/365, when I was working there it was about 60% JB Hunt, 15% Schnieder, 15% Yellow frt, and 10% all the rest ... but they would be backed up waiting to be unloaded/reloaded I was working 16hr days 6 days a week, was backing 70-80 trailers a day , made taking my CDL test easy , but that looks like where longhaul is heading....

 

Anyway, what is the consensus on Crete? Rails are pressing them, absolutely. Hopefully they won't decline to the barrel's bottom anytime soon. Hopefully, we won't start seeing their name become a fixture on ripoffreport like some outfits.

 

They had a special on modern RR's on History channel. Yards like Bailey et all are computerized, cars & engines are auto routed for maintenance and inspections, splits the train and reassembles all using computers!!

That and advantages like the Alameda corridor going from Port of L.A. out east with no stops or crossings thru the L.A. area makes it rally nice for trains. Am seeing more and more trailers on well-cars/wheeled mounts these days that havnt seen in the past: used to be pretty much J.B. Hunt, Schneider, some Swift; but now see Crete, Stevens, Werner, and so forth.

If JIT goes away, then trains may rule with $10/Gal diesel in the future. $$$ will be everything, not just delivery times. Also hear about 35K miles more track to be laid in the near future..!!

 

I'm telling you, HAVE been telling you, trains are coming back. I wouldn't be sitting around debating the issue. The world will spin away from you under your feet and you'll barefoot, homeless, and in a bread line. Lay your plans now to hop on another career train very soon.

You have been warned.

 

give us a break already

 

As someone who was in supply chain management for over ten years, I can tell you right now that JIT will NEVER go away. If anything, it will actually increase in the face of $10/gal fuel because they'll feel that JIT is the only way that they can keep their inventory turning fast enough to keep up with the increases in shipping costs.

It seems a bit backwards because, well, it is. And it's one of the reasons I got out of that particular career. You can only lowball your suppliers so far before they give you the bird and tell you where to shove your rolling 5% year-over-year cost DECREASES. The major corporations are sacrificing quality for quantity and price, and it's really beginning to show, isn't it?