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

4th trip in a row on the I5 loop for some reason. Irvine CA to Vancouver WA, back down to Industry CA and up to Woodburn OR... Now heading south again for LA. I never realized we actually have a good amount of freight out west. On the bright side I haven't had to mess with the 80 feet of snow in the northeast! Of course there's weird weather out here too... I spent the last 2 days running through high winds and driving rain. Go figure.

 

I just left California and drove through all that wind and rain too. I was there twice
This summer and couldn't believe how green it was compared to his dry it was just 4 months ago. Didn't have to shag any loads this time. 2200 miles in, then 2100 miles out. But I think my fortune will change and I'll start seeing snow again soon.

 

My issue as a new employee is the tone of this thread most of the time. The best way to hurt company moral and pride is to continually complain about everything to each other but not find solutions. Crete gave another raise recently and that was even complained about. How horrible of Crete to give its employees more money. I like hearing from the guys who have been driving for years and tell where they have been, where the good places to eat are, or how the save money but doing something different, or what they buy with their hard work like some hunting land. There is some of that here. I guess I'm just gonna overlook negativity.

 

tone of the thread is from the people who have worked and are sharing their experience. Telling it like it is. And many of them worked for crete when only EXPERIENCED driver could work for crete. Crete was a cream of the crop driving job years ago, then they started hiring students and rookies, stated micro managing the drivers, and governing the trucks, becoming just another mega carrier, who does NOT care about their drivers, only how much profit they can squeeze out of each load.

The negative is a fact of life as a truck driver. It is new to you, and with nothing to compare it too, it is great for you. Keep this in mind, truck drivers are making less today than they did 10 years ago, have more government regulations to deal with, and the trucks are rolling warehouses, as companies don't want to build large warehouses to store their needed supplies.

And then you have the general public's hatred of trucks, causing no truck allowed, no truck parking....

 

Got a solid run picked up in wilmer, TX at ace hard ware
Heading to colorado springs, CO
I should hit around 3,000 this week

 

B-I-N-G-O!!! You hit the nail right on the head. Who wants a forum thread where we are all sitting around a digital camp fire singing kumbaya...making smores and toasting one another with tucker's favorite adult beverage. People come here to see what is going on, good or bad. Like I use to post in the previous Crete thread (which was near the top of the 'most viewed' threads on the forum), I always told it like it was...good or bad...it gives an interested driver a comparison to what he/she has now to see if Crete would be an improvement or just sosdd. Sometimes it was just a vent, other times a positive experience...but, like I explained to management when they called me out on my posting...it's was what was going on, and they had the power to change at least their end of it.

Murphy, you also hit it on the head about why you're doing good here when you stated 'as a new employee..."...I loved it there when I 1st started...but as time went on, I got to see more of the darker side of the company.

Now before 48 chimes in about what I just said(he seems to bring it up more than most when I have comments like I just made)...not all my experiences were bad there. Even towards the end, I had some good times there, but it got so the light at the end of the tunnel kept moving, and the reality that I would never catch up to it set in...so moving on became my goal, but I wanted to move to a better environment, at least from a management-to-driver situation. Moving to a similar situation with another company wouldn't do. So I chose to be more selective as to the selection of my next employer.

Don't get me wrong...Crete isn't all bad. There are far worse places to work. It just having been there when things were run better PT (pre-Tonn, or at least closer to the beginning of his reign)...it gave a perspective that most of the newer drivers have never experienced.

 

Oh. So I'm supposed to be upset that things aren't as they used to be. And the public now hates me too. I guess you didn't have enthusiasm as a new driver when you started. I understand so much better now.

 

Why are you so butt hurt that we're not happier? This is a crap job, get over it.

 

nope, but you are the one who does not like the tone of the thread. And yes the public hates trucks. This and many other threads tell the story of being a truck driver, from many perspectives. Just from the enthusiasm, one can tell if the person posting is new to truck driving, as the reality of the grind, the disrespect from shippers, receivers, dispatchers, management, the public has not set in. 90% of all new drivers are not driving at the 1 year mark, industry wide.

 

Actually I learned something from you and SSB today. I understand what the veteran perspective is and I can see your point, as you stay longer doing this you will have more of the new wear off and some of the crap stick. I also believe the stat about 90% of 1year people not cutting it. In my last career it was 65% of all the people that pass police academy and enter the field would be gone in less than 5 years. I made it 2. I obtained the rank of Sergeant and really enjoyed my career. But the reason why I left wasn't because I couldn't hack it, but was because my county paid $26,000 per year. Oh yeah, I could get overtime to and I did but I was never home and on call 24/7. So I took a van and drove up to North Dakota and did security for a site with explosives and a lot of expensive drill bits and worked my end off for 10 months. Since the housing was so expensive and I was there to save I stayed in my van. I saw -32 degrees in that van and all I had was a futon, a good sleeping bag, and a small propane heater. This Pro star I am in right now is pure luxury compared to what I had in ND. I would shower at the loves in Will piston every other night and that's when I started thinking about truck driving. I don't have anyone in my family or friends who ever drove a truck so it was all new to me. Believe it or not, truck driving pays better than the criminal justice system. So that's why I switched. Also instead of seeing my family once every 6 months, I get to see them every 3-4 weeks. So yea, I do like driving, and I do like Crete. Usually when I meet Crete drivers on the road they are happy and I tell them I am too. So I guess if this is a forum for the good and the bad and for others to make a comparison then my perspective is OK too.