Crete has my attention, I'd like to ask a few questions:

There hasn't been a thread about this company in quite a while - hopefully it's because you guys and gals are staying busy! I'm looking to go back to OTR but only with a company that isn't catered to the lease purchase scam (I refer you to my thread when I drove company for KLLM, was a total nightmare) - so naturally Crete landed on my radar. So far my recruiter seems like an honest fella so I put in my app and got a prehire at the max starting rate because I have nearly 5 years experience (4 local and the ~1 year with KLLM), but I want to get the opinion of the current & former drivers. And for the trolls here, yes I know it's not the best and a big governed carrier and blah blah blah, so please spare us the drivel.

1) Honest, what can I expect for miles here? My expectation is approximately 2300, which is above what I had at KLLM.
2) I got behind a Crete driver the other day on I-12 through Baton Rouge, was driving 62 so I'm assuming thats the governed speed? My local gig I have runs 65 so it won't be that drastic of a change.
3) Cameras - as I passed the CCC truck I took a quick glimpse in his windshield and didn't see any cameras. Are these standard in the trucks now or still just a handful of trucks as was stated in another thread? I have them in my local truck and don't really mind it because it's saved a couple of my coworkers necks in court already. Louisiana has a slew of sue-happy anti-trucker lawyers looking for a quick $.
4) Hometime - I'm not expecting much nor do I want much aside from holidays. I'm kind of in a pickle financially and need to work. My question is how good are they at getting drivers home for holidays? I don't have a wife or kids, but I do have mom/dad/sister/niece that I would love to see on Thanks/Christmas.
5) Who are their frequent customers? I'm assuming with having dry and reefer that there's a wide variety, especially since I see Crete trucks with Shaffer trailers through here rather frequently.
6) Dispatching - how good are they at preplanning to keep you rolling? One thing that really irked my nerves with KLLM was that I rarely got a preplan because they were new to the elogs while I was a company driver and they had no idea how to work the preplans due to the shippers and receivers taking 5 or 6 hours to unload, causing the driver to burn up the clock.
7) Courtesy - I've seen a few comments that some people are rude to the drivers, but I honestly just want to know how dispatch treats drivers. I hated the night dispatchers at KLLM (misserable bungholes) and I don't take kindly to people talking down to me like dirt. One of the reasons why I love my current job is that I'm treated with respect by everyone in the company. And yes, I know the logo on the sides of the trailers. Spare me, trollls.
8- Terminals - I've seen the map of their terminals all over the country, my question is this - if you show up with a load and are just looking for a place to rest for the evening, do you have to surrender the paperwork to dispatch with the likelihood that they'll give that load to someone else? That was KLLM policy and it SUCKED, mostly because company drivers were treated like stepchildren in comparison to the lease op and trainers.
9) Load planning - are drivers allowed to refuse loads? I know its rude to do so and will piss off your dispatcher and customer service reps, but sometimes it's necessary. There's a couple of places I remember from my former OTR days that I would likely refuse to go to (US Foods - Atlanta being one).

That's all for now, if I have any others I'll pop in and ask.

 

Really the only 2 I care about are Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'll use my vacation time if need be or I'll stay out for weeks and request hometime on the 22nd. Those are the two big ones for me and my family.