Crete/Shaffer Trucking

We all know the economy is bad, and we have all seen our miles drop. But I have a friend who drives for Crete who told me during a conversation a few weeks ago that his miles were down a bit but he was still getting around 2800/week. I know a lot of drivers who'd kill for those miles.

So, my question for the Crete drivers here is, just what is your weekly average for, say, the past couple of months?

 

On a good week I'm lucky to see 1800 miles and a bad week would be around 1500 miles.

 

When you work for a company that changes it's pay scale for new hires they are telling you that is what they want pay from now on. They can't change the old drivers pay so they just starve you out and let attrition take care of rest. This frees up freight for the new hires who are the drivers they want in the future because they cost less.

If you are getting above industry average cents per mile you have got to know that sooner or later the discount carriers of the world are going to price you out of the freight. And when the company needs to cut costs to get the freight back they will give you several hints hopefully that your time on the gravy train is up.

 

I think it's the combination of their inability to plan ahead far enough, and the quality of drivers they are hiring. Their dispatch system is a zone type, 1st one empty - 1st one offered a load...but it doesn't make sense when I drive 150 miles to pick up a load, and have to wait for a Crete who's leaving with an empty, so I can take my empty in to have it loaded. I've had that happen more than once. They need to switch to a dedicated one-on-one dispatch system and preplanning of loads. They still could 'offer' loads, based on your PTA(that they insist you keep updated, but never seen to utilize effectively) The last company I worked for did it, and it was nice to know what you were doing once you were empty with your current load. If you know what you're doing tomorrow, it makes planning your today easier. It also makes servicing the customer much easier, and if a problems comes up, you have extra time for OPs to get an alternate plan in the works.

 

I was with a carrier a long time ago that worked that way. My last carrier who I was with 10 years till they sold, and my present one does not work that way. I am usually preplanned for any freight long before I get the one I am pulling done. Dispatch waiting for a truck to get empty before assigning a load to it is really dumb. Of course, if drivers are unreliable for getting where they need to be on time, that would mean having to do it the inefficient way. Having empty trucks passing each other going to where the other was to get a load is really idiotic, but it happens more than we would like to admit.

It seems the larger carriers do it this way most of the time. Not sure if due to unreliable drivers or just can't seem to juggle more than one ball at a time. It does take good "travel agents" in dispatch to stay on top of things and know the drivers they are responsible for.

 

I'm very curious to know what account that was, altho I know you won't name the account.
Don't all the Crete drivers get info about their "on time" service and any service problems within the company? And hasn't Crete consistantly been in the high 90's on the on time service? From what I've been told by a Crete driver with almost 20yrs service, they haven't lost anything due to bad service to the customer. The business that they have lost is due to the freight ###### out there who will drop the rates low enough that the customer makes a change. So, maybe it wasn't service after all, maybe it was a question of rates...

 

The reason they do it this way, they say, is so the driver that is empty earliest gets the first choice. I have heard (from another driver, so put as much stock in that as you will) that there is a new system either installed, or in the works, that takes in to account your available hours and proximity to the customer. It may only be something that planners can see, and that helps them choose which load or loads get sent out to the driver to pick from.

But pickup appts have been one area that needs work. Many times I sit and wait, and wait, and wait. Then 10 minutes before the pickup appointment, they offer me a load and say 'get there as soon as you can'.

 

Here's something to consider about getting loads. It's happening a lot these days, due to the economy. A LOT of shippers arent getting calls from their customers until late in the day or later than it ever used to be. The shipper wants to satisfy that customer so they try to push it out same day. You know trucking companies are warehouses on wheels so people don't keep the inventory like they used to. Then the shipper calls the carrier for a pickup. When times were good, that load wouldnt have been picked up same day it would have been next day. It's hard for operations to really plan unless they are giving a driver a preloaded trailer. So, it's not always that the dispatchers, load planners etc are messing with you, it's just a sign of the times. Everyone wants to keep that customer. No one wants to loose business, so everyone, carrier and shipper alike jumps thru hoops to satisfy Mr. Customer. One other thing, when you go into a warehouse facility and the load either isn't ready or they are still pulling the inventory, take into the fact that they might not have a lot of room to stage the freight. I know this doesnt help your hours or sometimes sense of humor but it's what sometimes happens.

 

You don't like unions and you you don't like big companies. Is there anything you like? Your sig says you have been a trucker for 18 years. What company do you work for? Are you a company driver or an O/O?

 

Where did you see that in his post???