Crete Carrier Corporation - Lincoln, Ne.

Just got home from my first 3 of 8 weeks in CRETES training program, my trainer was great! very professional and with 21 years behind him, had a plethera of knowledge to give.

I am going to get another trainer however because of geographical differences of my other trainer but he was the only one available at the time. I am sure my next trainer will have just as much info to give and different experiences for me to learn from.

I saw a lot of country, from Utah to Texas to New York state and FLorida and every state in between. CCC has been great so far, has kept me posted on everything and got me home for my National Guard training before they said they would so I had plenty of time for the haircut and uniform prep.

I know I defineatly made the right decision with the company I chose.

Also, I got mooned by a very attractive buttocks in a "t back" my third day out

 

I like to think that but I start to wonder sometimes.

 

What's with these guys and processing an application? J C, it's been like 2-weeks. All I hear from them is they are waiting on "Safety's" review. Safety must be a bunch of meatheads, because there isn't anything to review (no tics, no crashes, no nothing!). These dimwits have lead Crete to 97 ISS Inspection Value.

 

I drove for Crete out of the Spartanburg, SC terminal for eight months. I don't really have much to compare it to, but it seems to be about as good a dry van hauler as you can hope to get on with coming straight out of CDL school. I would still be with them had I not unexpectedly been offered a job with a heavy hauler company for a lot more money.

As some other people have said, my experience with the company as a whole is that they are pretty straight shooters and most of my surprises were good ones. I feel like the eight weeks with the trainer might have been a bit excessive, but I definitely felt well prepared when they turned me loose. I was paid $500 per week during that period and started at 33 cents per mile averaging around 2,800 miles per week (goal is 2,700) which seems to be about as good as it gets for a newbie in dry van. I would recommend them if you want to run COMPLETELY LEGAL and can put up with some "right way/wrong way/Crete way" BS that I imagine is going to occur in different ways at just about any company.

As far as the downsides go, I think most of them have already been covered. Yes, the optimized idle takes some getting used to. You either learn to sleep through it or you don't. I'll admit it made me a little more open to change than I would have been otherwise and one of the shop guys did mention that they have been losing a lot of drivers because of it when I turned in my truck. The trucks are also underpowered which can be a bit frustrating when you're running mountains. Another thing that hasn't been mentioned is that they fuel you almost exclusively at Pilots and Loves which often leaves you with the unfortunate choice at the end of the day of whether you want to get a shower OR get a good meal. You'll rarely get both. I had no problems with home time since I don't have a wife or kids and didn't mind only getting there every three weeks or so. I also found it best to do my home time during the work week instead of the weekend because I would typically start with much better runs if I weren't checking back in on Monday with everyone else. Other than that, I did spend most of the winter running the Great Lakes to the Northeast and back, but all that changed when spring arrived and I started getting all kinds of great western runs. Can't say for sure that was because I was a newbie or not. They claimed it was luck of the draw, but I never quite believed them.

But ... Overall, I'd say my experience was positive and I would recommend this company to new drivers wanting to run dry van.

 

I have found out that those of us out in the SW will find ourselves out for 4 weeks home for 4 days. No hometime over 5 days except for approved vacations. And if you are approved for over 10 days expect to turn in your truck. (Don't know if that was tongue in cheek for "you're fired")

Runs out west are hard to come by apparently. But they pop up from time to time.

Talking with a crete driver who givin me some great advice.

Varmit

 

Hey Geargrinder
I'm not really sure what is taking so long.
Who have you talked to so far? If I was you I would call the Lincoln Terminal and ask them, they are very approachable and will answer any questions you have. I do not have the number right off hand but I am sure you could find it on the website or you can call the recuiter at your local terminal and ask them.

Good luck to you and keep the shiny side up

 

I got used to the Opt Idle quick, my first two nightts were very restless because of it but I finally got used to it and slept right through it.

As far as the loves and pilots go yes down side. I plan on taking a lot of my own food with me, the "good" meal thing is questionable at best and I found truck stops to be EXPENSIVE. I would rather have the shower than pay those highway robbers. Just my opinion and I apologize to those of you that enjoy a meal there. Most of the places I stopped for the night had nice theaters or TV rooms to help pass the time.

Well good luck to you all.

 

Nick, all I have heard is good things about them as well. I will be on the Wal-Mart dedicated account out of Bartesville, OK terminal. Everything looks good so far. I should be going to Lincoln in the next week or so... See you on the road! TP

 

Shaffer absorbed Sunflower, so you still see Sunflower trailers on the road. Much like Swift and M.S. Carriers..... TP