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

Employer pulls that with me I give them back their truck.

 

When responding to and quoting different posts I prefer to keep them seperate.

 

I've heard the horror stories about him. Not running the NE much, I never have had a lot of interaction with him. But at least this time, intentional or not (I'm betting the latter, BTW), it worked out well for me.

 

Well, I had the pleasure of breaking down in Mass only to be towed to albany ny, Fl shop can't look at it til monday afternoon the soonest (this was friday) so LC came thru with another truck to p/u at a IH dealer but drivers things are in it and it needs to go back to new kingston to have said stuff removed.I was in for a shocker as I'm sure no one knew what this truck was like.
All I have to say is WTF !!!!





To fully understand how bad it was you need smellavision (smelled like puke)
I took 1 for the team and drove this fine gem almost 200 miles.

I took a shower as soon as I got there and threw away the sheet I brought with me (i used it on the drivers seat) as well as cleaning the steering wheel/drivers door and natures miracle the area around me.
Swapped to another truck in new kingston and heading back to get my stuff.

 

That's the thing scaring me with this company so far. I've had my own truck 2 months here. Broken down twice this month. First time, my Assistant FM asked if I wanted a new truck the day after I went on BD status. "I'd rather not" was quickly followed by "Thanks, your breakdown pay is done, bye.". 4 days breakdown, 50 bucks. Not 2 weeks later the HVAC stops working, so they swap me to another truck at the dealer I brought it to instead of waiting on mine. This company is better than USX that I just left, but if I have to lose BD pay or swap trucks once a month, I'm not lasting any longer than necessary as an OTR driver. I'm sitting in SLC now because I refused to sleep in the filthy thing (why don't dealerships have a cleaning service..?) and it needs to be wired for my god ###### cpap machine that makes me wish I just stuck with USX... It's hard to remember the good things here sometimes here when they pull just as much BS or more than the other OTR guys...

 

20 months here and I'm on truck #4. I've recovered 2 trucks (both of which were relatively clean) and gotten the other 2 from terminals. Only one I had any complaints about is my current one (see my post from a couple of days ago) and I didn't have to work too hard to get it right. Crap like the truck pictured in livininabox's post isn't the norm... frankly I wouldn't have stepped foot in that truck. But they give you the option to switch for a reason. The company is losing money worse than the drivers are when we're not productive. Ask any owner-op or lease-op how much it costs them to be down for a few days of breakdown time. 50 bucks a day is just the tip of the iceberg. They want us moving so they can make money off of us which is understandable. They just need to make every effort to give us clean and (relatively) well maintained equipment in return.

 

No, the condition of that truck is not the norm. I have had 4 breakdowns in 8 months and 3 different trucks ( 4 if you count the pigpen ). Truck assignments did not pressure me to take that truck, I was given a ride by a fellow driver to pick it up, last driver broke down with it and left it there with his belongings (it was there about 2 weeks looking thru the old messages) I made the choice to bring it to new kingston as planned but I made it clear after I saw the condition I was not gonna be assigned to that truck. This trucks condition clearly falls on the driver, how in the frankenstein do you live in those conditions,where did he sleep,the floor was the trashcan, there was a small spot near his cpap that he may have been able to sleep sitting up but no way you could lay across even if you were vertically challenged.
There were no less than 6 piss bottles and air fresheners everywhere.
The front had just as much crap as the back, I had to stop for fresh air on the way as with the windows open and the back curtains closed the circulation and sun shining in was making an aromatic breeze. There is no way I could have driven it with the windows closed.
Got all my stuff in the new truck and ready to get back in the groove.

 

I'm with ya Livininabox. Some people are just filthy maggots and live accordingly. Years ago when I drove for Schneider, one of the terminals would post pics on a wall of some of the deplorable conditions they ran across. One of them that I remember had garbage, nasty distgusting refuse of rotting food and packaging and no telling what else, piled up on the passenger seat clear up to the window. People who live like this and are okay living in filth are mentally ill in a severe way.

 

I got a run from addison, TX to cedar rapids, IA
Then pick up in cedar rapids heading for my home
Time in fort wayne, IN

 

After 47 hrs at Farmer Boys in Ontario I was Finally able to deliver. Sitting at Nestle in Mira Loma getting loaded. Delivery appt in Denver wasn't til 15:00 Wednesday. Finally they moved up a delivery appt for me. Deliver 17:00 Tomorrow.