CRETE - A Year in Review

Just finished reading week 37 on Evertruckers adventures (oct 08) with crete. Now on to week 38. Ive learned a few things. Very interesting reading. Im impressed with how Evertrucker makes the most of restarts, like taking the bus to go see the sights, or seeing a cubs baseball game,or sitting around a campfire behind the mall. Also enjoy reading supersnack. Hope both you guys keep on sharing your stories. I dont drive for crete, I pull refrs trailers that have a big blue bird on the side.

 

Agreed, but with a few reservations...

I don't know how long you've been with Crete, so please forgive me if I seem to be repeating history - let's say it's for the benefit of those who haven't been here more than five years.

We used to max out at .42/cpm - top scale. We got an across-the-board raise to .44/cpm max, but... the first .01 was paid on your anniversary, and the second .01 was paid after you ran 75,000 miles - thus insuring that it would be at least five to six months before any driver got the entire .02 raise (Figure an anniversary the day after the raise, and probably 5 months minimum to run 75K.)

But, to fund this raise, the quarterly bonus we used to get of .20/mile for every mile after 28,500 per quarter was changed, and changed immediately! The minimum mileage was raised to 30,000, and the bonus was cut to .10/mile - you then had to run an extra 1,500 miles per quarter to get half as much bonus!

Then, effective October 1st, 2005, they began paying drivers based on practical miles instead of short route miles - and claimed this would be equal to a .015-.02/cpm raise due to the difference in the way the miles are calculated.

Finally, on September 1st, 2006, Crete raised the ceiling to .47/cpm - a .03/cpm increase! But, at the same time, the quarterly bonus program was eliminated effective at the end of the 3rd quarter.

I don't have access to the books, I don't know the numbers, but I'd be interested to know what the offsets are on the above - how much money did the .02 raise cost Crete, and how much did they save by cutting the quarterly bonus in half? How much did the .03 raise cost Crete, and how much did they save by eliminating the quarterly bonus? In other words - Did I fund my raise by giving up my bonus? For if I did, that really isn't a raise, it's just a reshuffling of money.

Insofar as turning the trucks down from 65mph to 62... here's how I view it --

I understand that when #2 diesel fuel is $4.00/gallon and climbing, that drastic measures have to be taken in order to save fuel - you cannot run a fleet of trucks WFO and expect to make any money! But when the cost of #2 begins to drop back to a more reasonable level, let's turn the trucks back up to where they were - not pass off some namby-pamby excuse about how the customers appreciate us embracing "green technology"!

As I see it, if I make .47/mile, and the trucks runs 65mph, I make the equivalent of $30.55/hour. If the truck is turned down 3mph, I lose $1.41/hour (3 X .47). Slowing down the truck essentially cuts my pay!

Here's another way of looking at it --

If I run 120,000 miles/year - it will take me a smidge over 1,846 hours at 65mph. Slow me down to 62mph, and it's a tad bit over 1,935 hours. Slowing me up by only 3mph means I spend 89 hours more to drive the same distance. 89 hours at 65 mph is 5,785 miles I could have run, but didn't. 5,785 miles # .47/mile is a mere $2,718.95!

If I've got to give up over $2,700 in potential income per year to make this company viable... I'll do it, but I expect something in return - I expect the ability to make as much money as possible, not sitting around waiting to run 500 miles in two days!

I love this company, they've been very good to me over the years, but they need to remember who does the work that generates the revenue...

 

With respect, you are being paid by the mile. When i hired on with Crete,at my terminal, just before I was given a truck and told to go make some money before I got to orientation in Lincoln, I distinctly remember signing a paper which had ,among other things,the fact that I was going to be a national driver, and that I would be starting at a rate of $.xx per mile.There was no mention of any hourly compensation.

How much our actual net pay works out to on a hourly basis is moot , since we agreed that we would get paid by the mile. At least I agreed, by signing the above mentioned paper, and by actually accepting the job. We might as well look at how much crete charges a customer per mile to haul their freight ,and then calculate what percentage of that we get as our pay per mile. With the fall in freight and the resulting fall in the rate per mile paid by the customers to crete ,and with my rate per mile remaining the same, then I could say that I actually got a raise in pay since mathematically , I am getting a larger percentage of the revenue the company earns on each load I haul. Except I am not paid a percentage, neither am I paid by the hour. I am paid by the mile, and I have not seen a reduction in the rate we (the company and I ) agreed that I should be paid.

Since going slower means an effective pay cut ,presumably, a faster truck would effectively be a pay rise. If you ,as a driver being paid by the mile asked your employer for a raise and you were given a choice of truck which went a mere 5% faster (as is the case here),or a 1 or 2 cent per mile increase what would you chose?

Also, remember that with traffic,hilly terrain,weather conditions it is unlikely that one is going to end up averaging the top speed of the truck.

Riverotter, please don't take this the wrong way. I am not trying to be confrontational , just giving you my take on the points you made. In the end we will still disagree on this point,but its all good.

Crete has been good to me too. They pay a higher per mile rate than I think I could get at any other trucking company,except for maybe some specialized carriers or some heavy haulers, the truck does all I want it to do,which is basically move with the load safely and stop safely(that it is a bare bones truck and not some fancy O/O spec truck doesn't make a difference to me.I am not paying for it), they pretty much give me my load information and leave me alone , I am a number and not a name (and I would have it no other way. I have enough friends. I have no need to be all chummy with my employer) and most importantly, I do it all legally , not only by my choice, but by proven company policy.

I wouldn't mind a faster truck though,if only to be able to overtake some of these trucks that I run up behind when I'm cruising at 62mph,only to have them take off just as I am going to pass them. I think a lot off drivers have a problem being passed by a red truck. Any blue truck drivers have the same experience? Anyway, as soon as Crete starts hiring owner operators again, I think I will be in a faster truck . I probably won't end up going faster,but at least I will be able to go faster than 62mph.

 

If by bounce you mean deadheading, then bouncing a driver 500 miles would not be economical,whether the company overhires or not.

You must really have been sitting a lot if you were in Marietta every Monday. And did you actually do a head count every monday?

 

We did all agree to be paid per mile instead of per hour - my calculation is a way I have of trying to compare apples to oranges, so to speak. I look at it like this -- if I am to quit the road and work locally, in order to continue to make about $1300 gross weekly at a 40-hour/week job, then I'll need to make about $33.00 hour.

Now we all know we work waaaaaaaaaay more than 40 hours per week, and we don't make anywhere near $30+ per hour - but in order to me to continue making yearly what I make driving OTR, then I need a high-paying hourly job.

I was thinking about becoming a terminal manager, but I didn't want to spend the $10,000 to have the partial lobotomy necessary to qualify for the job. Plus, I figured if I was going to spend $10K, I might as well spend another $5,000, have the full lobotomy, and start a career in Operations!

A faster truck is effectively a pay raise, and in theory given a choice between a .02 raise and a 5% faster truck (say 3mph), I'd take the faster truck.

Let's look at the numbers --

If I run 120,000 miles at .50/mile, I make $60,000. 120,000 miles at 60mph = 2,000 hours. $60,000 divided by 2,000 hours = $30.00/hour.

If I run 120,000 miles at .52/mile, I make $62,400. 120,000 miles at 60mph = 2,000 hours. $62,400 divided by 2,000 hours = $31.20/hour.

If I run 120,000 miles at .50/mile, I make $60,000. 120,000 miles at 63mph = 1,904.76 hours. $60,000 divided by 1,904.76 = $31.50/hour.

Although you'd gross more than I would by taking the .02 raise, I'd be done about 95.25 hours sooner. So, if I keep running... 63mph for 95.25 hours = 6,000.75 additional miles I can run. 6,000 miles at .50/mile is another $3,000 I could make.

So, as above, in theory if you and I were on the same route, 24/7 drop and hook at both ends, with everything else being equal - given a choice between a .02 raise or a 5% faster truck, the smart move would be a faster truck.

However, in the real world, the raise is better. There's no sense in having a faster truck so I can get empty sooner and wait longer for the next load - the availabillity of freight is the key unpredictable variable in the real world equation.

Anyway... this is just a method I have of trying to compare apples and oranges in this industry, trying to keep track of what the changes in the pay structure and governed speed mean to my bottom line.

After all, the idea is to either do the same amount of work for more money, or do less work for the same amount of money, right?

 

RiverOtter, you bring up some good points and I would hope that someone in Lincoln would consider them seriously. I always looked at the raise we got in 9/06 as just an easier way to get the bonus we had just lost. If I remember it correctly we were allowed a maximum of a $500 bonus per quarter or $2000 per year. That bonus was not easy to get and I consider myself one of the harder running drivers in the company. With the new setup a driver who averages 121,000 miles a year is going to make $3630 extra with that raise without having to worry about meeting the criteria for a bonus. Somebody like me who averages nearer to 140,000 a year would get $4200 more. I actually prefer the new way w/o the bonus.

When they announced the new pay scale in 06' I knew that there was no way that we were going to get something for nothing. That's just not the way the world works. Something was bound to come along that we wouldn't like. Actually it ended up being three things. Turning down the rpm's on 9th gear (a move I still cannot understand), turning the speed down to 62 and radically changing the pet policy (a move that they had to change again otherwise lose a ton of drivers). In the end I believe there was no net gain to the driver at all. It was a wash.

 

Since you are already a company driver, you can become an O/O. I think you have to be with the company atleast six months to qualify.

 

Under Crete's plan you are not an Owner Operator, you are a sharecropper. An Owner Operator goes to a BANK and gets a loan (if he doesn't have cash) and buys a truck. He leases on or gets his own authority. His truck runs as fast as HE wants it to run. He runs how he wants to run (as long as he turns in legal looking logs). He refuses load that do not make economic sense. And he does all of the above without any repercussions. Crete's program is just a glorified truck rental.

Riverotter, congrats, you get it. You understand that turning the truck down is either less pay or more work for free. Besides 62 MPH is ABSURD. I know there was a move in some western states about 7 years ago to try an require trucks do be able to do the speed limit. That would have been sweet. As Ostergaard gained more control, so came more and more ###### decisions. He will ruin that company in the long run. Anyone that thinks the company gives a #### about the drivers, they are delusional.

I could blather on about en endless list of things. But one of my top 5 is Shaffer going to that ridiculous regional dispatch system. A decision made by someone who is clearly completely clueless about how trucking works.
The old saying goes, if it ain't broke don't fix it. I talked to my terminal manager about it. I told her it was stupid. You should have a dispatcher that knows you, that is accountable to you and vice versa. She said they went to this system to eliminate favoritism. I already knew from previous conversations that she had never worked in trucking before. That answer confirmed it. I explained to her that favoritism is part of what makes trucking work. Dispatchers know who they can count on in a bind and good drivers know that if they come through in a bind it will be rewarded in the long run. She looked like a deer in the headlights. The regional system takes that away. There were regional dispatchers that I would gladly help out because they were good guys and worked with you. And some of them I wouldn't do a thing for because they were jerk offs.

labagiamf my point was not that they should be deadheading. If they hired the appropriate amount of drivers they wouldn't need to, My point was that THEY should have to suffer the consequences of their actions NOT the drivers. But they are selfish, they do what they want and don't care if they screw their drivers. If they had to pay or bounce they wouldn't over hire.

 

Is that a wish or a prediction?

 

I have received a pay increase . My rate per mile has not gone down, but I'm almost certain that the rate Crete is able to charge their customers for hauling freight has fallen somewhat, so technically I am getting a higher percentage of the revenue my truck generates,and technically I have gotten a pay increase and technically I am getting more pay for same work.

I don't expect Crete or any other free enterprise capitalist entity to 'give a #### about me'. They should be about running a profitable business first and foremost. When i want to be given a #### about, I seek out freinds and family.I don't give a #### about crete either,although they have been good to me. I am an oppurtunist.I am always looking out for myself. As I sit here typing this,if I could get a better deal than I have with crete now, I would be gone. So I couldn't care less if they care for me and love me and know me by my name and i know my dispatcher personally and all that tender loving gushy stuff. Frankly if I owned a trucking,or any other company, I'd try to do right by my workers, but I would let it be known that my business was about profit, the capitalist that I am, and that all decisions would be in the interest of the companies profitability. Decisions would not be taken for the convenience of workers,if company profitability and survival would be compromised as a result. And since I would not be running a slavery outfit any worker who does not like how my business is run would be free to leave. Sounds cold? It sure is,but it is what it is and its nobody else's problem if you can't handle it.

It's a pet peeve of mine, truckers who think they are entitled to do what they want,how they want when they want with some one elses truck and investment and on somebody elses dime. If a truck driver knows so much about how things should be or can be done, don't stick around at a company that doesn't meet your expectations.Get your own truck and prove that it can be done how you say it can be done. Simple.