CRETE - A Year in Review

Be not mistaken....there are places that get a rise out of such things. Never had a problem at the Lowe's, though.

 

I always had pretty good luck in there. I usually loaded right back out of there. Went there several times to get a load home. I saw they built a new Walmart Supercenter right next door. We deliver to that Lowes here at Poly as well.

 

Just got home from very first time out after my "8 weeks" of training. Liked it so much I stayed out an extra week. Huh.

First week: 1800 miles. Was a six day week and got to visit three different shops before all the problems with my newly assigned truck were taken care of. Got an hour of detention pay to add to the total.

Week 2: 2800 plus miles and $100 layover pay due to an incorrectly entered delivery time made this my best week.

Week 3: Almost 2700 miles and four hours detention pay. Truck got called into the shop again for some qualcom work.

Week 4: Another 1800 mile week. It was suppose to only be a three day week and I was heading home but lo and behold there was no way to get me home so I got a load "heading east" towards home. Halfway through the load my dashboard lit up and I tcalled at Lincoln and put the truck in the shop again. Waited two days and truck was still in the shop so I got a rental car and headed home or I would have had to cancel a couple other appointments. I guess I am getting some breakdown pay.

I will say I am very pleased with the training I received from Crete. I felt prepared for everything I encountered. If I thought of a question I would just walk up to a Crete truck with my Crete hat on and was always given a hand or great advice. I am not at all happy with the miles, the time spent in the shop. Its great to get paid for layover, detention, and breakdown but the wheels arent turning and I was told I am already behind on my miles. Not sure how to get caught up on miles if the next go around is like the last four weeks.

 

1st of all...layover? What is that. I've been with Crete 9.5 years and have never gotten it offered let alone paid. As far as your truck issues, get use to it. Par for the course on Crete's equipment. 1 in a couple hundred are problem free...the rest are like yours and mine...spend as much time in the shop (or waiting to get into the shop)as they do on the road. Making up for lost miles...will never happen. I haven't had a month over 10k in almost 6 months...and it appears that it won't change any time soon. I wish you the best of luck. As for me, my opinion of the entire Crete Carrier Corporation is at the absolute lowest it has been in quite a while...and the worst part, I can't afford to leave, and I can't afford to stay...a true rock and hard place delima

 

My load to Texas was another whiz poor planning adventure on High Commands part. Driver is delivering at 7 am, lets give him a load at a slow loading customer that won't allow overnight parking and that picks up at 6 pm, 30 miles from the nearest truck stop...5 minutes before my 14 was up(which is 3 hours after I checked in and 2 hours after my appointment time) I walk in to the shipping office and inform them they will be babysitting my trailer over night because I was leaving. They signed me out, and I bobtailed to Joplin for the night. I informed op's of the situation and they about had a kitten...a reply to one of their questions about being allowed to do that was "don't know...don't care". On top of that, the Shaffer load that I had delivered was from a customer that must have the paper work returned within 12 hours of delivery...and the stupid computer is programmed to remind you every couple hours. This was a tough task to accomplish since the rocket surgeons we have in the planning department can't plan their way out of a wet paper bag. But I managed to get to Joplin just in time and scan it in. 2 hours later, it beeps me again reminding me to scan my paperwork in, so, I went back in and scanned it again..10 times. If they want to waste q'comm time with useless reminders, I'll waste more on transflow charges. This company has truly changed into the company that outside drivers believe it to be...a bottom feeding, student driver training ground...I have about had my fill of being reminded by a computer that was programmed by a no-driving college educated bean counter, that doesn't know the 1st thing about driving a truck, how to do my job. I wonder if their bathroom stall has a methane detector on it so when they are dropping a deuce, it reminds them to wipe...then when the door opens an automated message reminds them to flush, and a 2nd message that reminds them to wash their hands...then a message as they approach the exit reminding them to return to their cubicle asap and return to work...then a message when they plop their fanny down of their duties they were hired to perform.

Sorry, I just had to vent a bit...it's been a long time since the snackbar campground has been in such an unhappy place...but....

 

Astoh, in my opinion you are getting very good miles considering those days off too. You seem to have a very good attitude Also. I have got ok miles, but only because I almost never go home and also constant battles I've had with dispatch. I will be leaving Crete for only one reason: dispatch. It used to be that while you were on a run, they would let you do your job. But they are constantly badgering me with baby talk messages: what is your eta, when do you want home time, will you make onetime delivery, etc. even though this is all contained in canned messages. I rarely even use the restroom or transflo w when I stop to fuel. Yet my AM pesters me daily with juvenile time wasting. The common sense professional default should be that the driver will qualcomm if there are any problems. Not have to be prompted like a child.

 

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Sorry, that was weird. I wrote a new post, but my previous one doubled. Snack, I was wondering if you found the source to that air loss? My tractor has started losing all the air overnight. I cut off the trailer so I know it's the tractor. I can't hear where it's exhausting, but my hearing is pretty shot, lol.

 

Here's a bit of a strange one regarding air loss. Several times during my last few weeks out, I would either wake up in the morning or just return to the truck after being away from it for an hour or so to find the secondary air down below 60 and sometimes lower. Could not figure it out for the life of me, until I got out of the driver's seat one afternoon just a few days ago to sweep out the floorboard. Apparently, there are times when I will come in contact with the large button that elevates and lowers the seat, and it sometimes sticks open just a bit, but not enough to hear. And since the truck isn't running, it isn't getting resupplied. So now I'm just more aware of it. I've already sprayed the entire under-workings of the seat with every lubricant known to exist as I have a very annoying creaking sound that originates from there if I don't keep it oiled. Guess I may have to give the switches just a quick squirt too....

SB....I've had that issue too several times over the last month, that being pushing pick up times to the outer end of my 14 and knowing there is no parking within a certain distance. I can say with all sincerity that it is the only thing that I've had to really complain about of late, and most of the time I've lucked out with the load either being ready early or the customer being very helpful in terms of accommodations. But I too have made clear the problems of scheduling a pick up some 10 hours after I empty out.

Overall, things went very well this last 4-week stretch. I even remarked to my AM that I was almost afraid to come back out Tuesday for fear of things going in the opposite direction!

 

Sounds like some of my days at Crete Supersnackbar! Sounds like you flexed a boundary yet again. I hear your vents. Tough state of mind to be in out here. I used the Phone Transflo system quite often when Truck Stops weren't available. If you care to know, there is a Walmart Supercenter in Neosho you can park at anytime. Has a few eating choices around it as well. Anyways, sounds like you made it all work for you. That is just what you got to do out there sometimes. Hang in there. Hope better days come back around for you.