Crete Carrier - A Year In Review - Fall 2013 Going Forward

and another whopping 210 miles today.
Gee thanx!
I see myself cleaning out my truck next time they demand I “help” at a DC

 

I spoke with one of your hands that runs out of the DC at Pauls Valley recently. He wasn't real pleased with it either.

 

Careful.. you're starting to sound a little like me

 

It used to be you were on a list,and when your truck came up that’s what you’d get.Whether it’s 150 mile,or a 800 mile run.
Now you wait until there’s nothing left but the short runs.

 

One of my last duties as a Crete driver was a Pauls Valley turn of duty for a week, forced…not as a volunteer. That made my mind up. I hated it.

 

I have heard of non smokers liking the smell of a pipe, or even a cigar, but I think you’re the first non smoker I’ve heard that likes the smell of cigarettes!

 

Yeah... those videos did sound a little staged...
There was a question if company would ever consider using APUs in their trucks...
The short answer Winston Ostergard gave was "no"... at least not in the near future...
Said APUs would be an extra piece of equipment to be maintained, another service to be provided, extra cost, potential downtime, blah, blah, blah...
Even though the company recognizes that APUs provide more comfort and benefits to the driver, for them as a company they must consider and evaluate the best fit for them...
They said that idling is more effective than APUs... Really?
I have heard and read drivers saying that opti idle system malfunctions or doesn't work from time to time and they have to get it fixed and in the meantime they have to idle the truck.
Besides that, some states and some customers don't allow idling for more than a few mins... And more and more companies small, medium and big have been using APUs in their trucks now not only for compliance but also for driver comfort.
My former company was very small, between 20 and 30 trucks and they all had ThermoKing APUs... All were PM regularly during maintenance and we never had to spend much extra time having them fixed. The company did save money and drivers were happy.
The opti-idle is one of the reasons I am still reluctant about applying for Crete.

Another question was about the trailer side faring... if company would consider reducing its length so to make it easier for driver to reach the tandem pull....
The answer was also "no"... because the size of the side faring is mandated by CARB.

My question is, don't Crete trailers have the air release valve for trailer tandems? It makes it much easier to release the locking pins.

 

When I was driving for a mega, I was in a WM dedicated account... but it was different than what you guys are describing...
All I had to do was to get an mpt at WM DC and go to shipper... get loaded and bring it back to DC for drop and hook.
All WM trailers were in great condition, and if there were any problem with trailer I could either ask WM dispatcher for another trailer or take it to WM shop right there and get it fixed immediately... I really liked that account...

Only problem was, when my company didn't have WM loads to give us... we had to check in with WM dispatchers...
All runs were very short, picking up loaded trailers at WM DC and delivering at WM stores and back for another loaded trailer until we didn't have more hrs... Sounds more like what Crete drivers do "helping" at WM...

 

Crete trailers are all spring ride with manual handles. The farings don't interfere with reaching the handle.

I asked the #2 in the Deland office, he said APU's, especially for Shaffer (since the trucks are interchangeable between Crete and Shaffer)add too much weight since not all of the lower 48 have APU weight exemptions, plus, on the trucks, they stretch out the oil change mileage to the maximum they can and keep the warranty in force, and you can't treat APU's like that and expect them to be reliable. When I tried to suggest an alternate reason for having APU's, I got, "when your name is on the door and you own the company, you can add them"...another words, we don't care, this is our equipment, take it or leave it.

 

Has Crete fuel solution been running drivers too low on fuel lately?