CRETE - A Year in Review

LOL, that made me laugh so hard because it's happened so many times to me. I would have gone insane a long time ago if it weren't for this thread and commiserating with you guys. I'm stuck in Ontario right now waiting for a Monday delivery. On the way down, I fantasized I would be able to squeeze in a trip to Disney, attend some concerts, and a myriad of other things. But after I got to the TA, I sadly found out it's too far out from the LA bus/metro system. I should have rented a car, but it's too late now.

 

It was finally decided to t'call my load in Columbus. So I went to Hebron, KY and picked it up. Very friendly customer. It was 40,000 lbs and I was going past 1 scale that has a tendency to red light my Prepass, so I went to the T/A to scale it out just in case. Before I went in to pick up my scale ticket, I messaged op's about the paid miles for this t'call...and was eventually greeted with a "t'call, what t'call? No one set up anything". (Typical shift change, the next shift was never informed about the plans of the previous shift) So I had to go through the whole scenerio because simply reading the previous messages would have been too difficult for them to figure out. So, now I'm in Columbus...at least it's cooler up here. Last night was 60 degrees. I managed to get up, get to Wally, a free shower, and then sit for 45 minutes waiting for a reply to whether I was going to need an empty or get a load off the yard. I eventually picked up a load off the yard going to Ft. Smith for Tuesday morning. Not much better a load than the one I t'called, but in a better area for someone who's patience is wearing mighty thin.

 

Ralph was that you I met at Stockton? The masterminds in dispatch deadheaded me 265 miles from my house south of Reno to p/u in Modesto. It was supposed to t-call in Stockton due to the excessive amount of time on it. Anybody want to guess what happened next? Yup, the load has 2 stops, 0900 Monday in Oakland and 2200 Tuesday night in Puyallup. They tcalled me only to give it right back to me the next morning. I had only used 7 1/2 hrs on my 70, since I had just come off hometime, only to sit for 2 1/2 more days waiting to del a ld that I was supposed to originally tcall. I guess I'll get ANOTHER restart in before the H.O.S. regs change on July 1st. As soon as I finish getting my new dentures in mid August, I'll be looking elsewhere. I've been back to work with Crete for almost 5 1/2 years now (drove for them back in 2003) and enough is enough! The only idiot working there is the one I see in the mirror, you know, the one who keeps doing the same thing expecting different results!

 

Sitting in Limon, CO. Man it has cooled down nicely here! Watching the rain delayed NASCAR race on my Tailgater/DISH with the windows open.

 

First chance I've had to pull out my laptop for a few days, so a quick update:

Got my truck out of the shop Thursday morning, complete with a new bunk AC unit, and I must say it really works well, better then my old one ever did, so the former unit must have been dying a slow death. Marietta, however, completely ignored the issues with my drivers seat. Surprise.

During my five days in the shop, I rented a car to go home. I came back Wednesday afternoon and stayed in the motel that evening so I'd be fresh to roll Thursday. I no sooner send a message that I'm ready to go that I get a message back: "Do you want to go home this weekend?" (I had originally been planned for home time this weekend).

"Uh, no....I was just home for four days. Thanks."

Get a little shorty of 258 miles, so that's the sum total of my week last week. Delivering in MN in the morning which will put me at just under 1500 to start this week. But there's more.

Friday, I went over my 14 for the first time since I've been here. Ran over 600 miles that day, and had planned a stop in KY. Unfortunately, the generous amounts of road construction and abundant traffic stopped me 8 miles from my planned break point with 30 minutes to go. Went over by 15 minutes.....not a biggie to me. Now...I send a freeform message letting them know of my plight, clearly stating that I would be going over my 14 by from 15 to 30 minutes and the reason for the criminal activity. I get nothing back for a few hours.

Later, I get a message asking me for my safe and legal ETA to del. Strange, I thought, but OK. "I should still make it by 1100 as planned", I answer.

Several hours later, I'm dozing off when I see the QC message light come one. It's a detention authorization number! WTH?? They obviously didn't read the part where I said I was in traffic, and didn't bother to check my screen for my loaded message and my position, which would have quickly indicated to them that I had been rolling my tush off that day.

Meanwhile, my plans to make a change are moving, albeit slowly. My goal is now the first of March, 2014. Distant, for sure, but this allows time for everything to be done that I need to do to insure my success to the best of my ability. I'm buying my own truck, BTW, if I haven't stated this before. No, I'm not leasing on to Crete. The rest of it I'm keeping close to the vest until I get right up to the time I make the switch.

 

Yeah, it was great talking to you! Sorry I was swearing so much but I've been pretty frustrated recently with low miles and sitting so much. First time I've ever met someone from this forum. I just sent you a private message through here right now.

I'm in the same situation down here in Ontario. I don't really need it as my miles have been so low. But like you were saying it's always best to get one in when you have a chance. I wonder if mine will be legit because it won't complete until after midnight July 1 and I think my previous one was less than a week ago. My off-duty started at 3pm California time Saturday, so ends 0100 July 1st. I wonder if the new reg only looks forward or would go retroactive to my previous 34 reset. Also, I guess it's all based on Lincoln time and not local time here.

 

Those Tailgaters look so cool. Do you put it on the ground, mount it on the window, or what? Also, where do you store it when driving down the road? I've toyed with getting one but always decided not to because I thought I wouldn't have enough time. Now that I've been sitting so much I'm thinking again of getting one. Also, does it use much battery power? Thanks

 

Sorry for so many posts but I forgot to ask: if you leave Crete and have a week vacation still available, do they pay you for it? Or do you have to use it before you move on? Thanks

 

If you can wait until 0500 central time on Monday to leave the TA, I'd think it wouldn't matter even with the new regs.

 

I've heard they won't pay it, but that was from another driver, so who knows how accurate that is. You could always just cash it out, I've done that before. The nice thing about their vacation policy is that even if you cash it out, you're still allowed to take the time off later, although you won't rec pay at that point.