crete not for experienced drivers

If carriers like Crete didn't push drivers until they killed somebody trial lawyers wouldn't have any cases , would they ? I don't care how legal Crete is now . It isn't by choice . It's still run by the same people that should be sitting in a cell with the driver they knowingly allowed to violate HOS the way he did .

 

This has been interesting to read all the back-and-forth comments about Crete and that infamous accident back in 2006.

I just left them last week after being with them since August 2006. I had two weeks recently that were well under 1000 miles, and they had a propensity to send me to NJ & Philly, which are horrible freight markets right now. On top of that, their benefits package is absolutely pathetic (and that's putting it mildly). So, if you enjoy paying 100% of your medical bills until you hit, say $750 per annum to where Nebrasks BCBS pays 80/20, then they're not such a bad outfit. However, I have a mortgage payment to make and I can't afford consistent <1000 weeks.

Furthermore, I have a very bad feeling about the company's solvency once the case goes to trial. IMO, they should have been completely 100% compliant before this accident happened instead of going into a reactive draconian compliant mode once they were thoroughly reviewed.

Sorry if this post offends some of my former fellow Crete drivers, but I am giving you my two cents on this.

 

Man, I've been biting my tounge for days on here reading certain posts...

I know not everyone was able to get a college education, and God knows I'm not all knowing and perfect when it comes to spelling and puncuation, etc...

BUT HOLY CRAP PEOPLE, I've been flabbergasted reading some of these posts with the way there are composed and written...

HOW THE HECK DID THESE PEOPLE EVEN READ AND PASS THEIR CDL TESTS???

 

If the shoe fits...

(tounge) - correct spelling is tongue.
(puncuation) - correct spelling is punctuation or pronunciation, depending on what exactly you're trying to articulate.

"some of these posts with the way there are composed and written" should read, "some of these posts in which they're composed and written"

Have a great day!

 

Well after driving trucks for over 37 yrs. I thought I had seen my share of good & bad companies? I have driven overseas in Australia, Mexico, England & Scotland, & thru out Europe plus I've been in all 50 states and drove in 49 of them, plus driving above the Aritic Circle so I will be the 1st one to admit I don't know it all but I do think I've driven enough to make the following statement!! I drove for 6 months with Crete & in that time I have never seen such a screwed up company that says they treat thier driver's better than anyone else & pay more than anyone else!! Oh they do live up to thier word about "Safety" - the Safety Dept. runs the company!! Everyone you talk to always has the same answer - "we'll have to check with the Safety Dept about that" or "before we do anything we'll have to check with the Safety Dept." They also have some one (I was told it's the Co. Pres.'s wife ) who is a MD & thinks that they can make thier own rules or feels that they are better than the DOT so they make thier own medical standards in regards to the DOT Medical Physicals. Since when did Carriers become Dr.'s??????? It's bad enough having Insurance Companies that play Dr. we don't need Truck Companies playing Dr.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All Carriers lie to thier driver's, anyone who has been out here more than 6 months should know that but I think Crete is right up there at the top of the list, at least the top 5???
I stayed out from Dec. 1st till Friday before the Super Bowl & gave them 3 weeks+ notice when I wanted to be home for the Super Bowl & I walked in thru my front door 5 min. after the kickoff, & I had to threaten them with quitting to even get that!!!!!! In those two months I never turned a load down or was I late & I never had a month over 9900 miles & before I came to Crete I was runing 11,000 - 12,000 miles/month. OK the 1st question you just asked was why didn't I stay were I was at? Well if I could have I would have but I was off work for 12 months for medical reasons & as soon as I could pass the DOT Physical I was ready to go back to work & I was talked into going with Crete by someone I trusted!! Big Mistake!!!!
My last load I started having some medical problems & was in contact with my family Dr. who wanted me to go to the nearest Emergency Room but I knew that if I did that Crete would leave me where ever or what ever little town I stopped in because I know I was going to be shut down & they would have some one come & get my truck & take it to a term. & unload my stuff which half of it would come up missing & when I got out of the Hospital I'd have to wait for a ride or a bus to get home, so againist my Dr.'s orders I finished del. my load which was near my home & drove home & went in the Hospital that afternoon. The was & is my last time I'll be driving a truck as my DR.'s have told me to retire & apply for SS Disability. Now most of the major Carrier's provide or offer short term Disab. for thier driver's - some start when you get hired & others offer it at 3 or 6 months. Crete who says they take the better care of thier driver's doesn't even offer short term. Disab. till you have been working there 1 year. So God help you if you get injured or sick while off duty in your first year because you're screwed!!!!!!!!! My house is in forecloseure & they even tried to screw me over on my Ins, and they did screw me out of my Flex Spending Dollars that I should have been able to use before my last day with Crete!!!!!!!!!
They also tried to screw me out of benifits from my state saying my last day was 5/21/09 but thank goodness I keep copies & paper work because right on the Fax that I had to sign & send back to them was a date & time it was sent, so I made my case to the state & am getting some money.

I know there are driver's out there that will say this is all BS & Crete wouldn't ever do something like this!! For everyone of those driver's I'll bett you can find at least 10 driver's that have their own horror stories how Crete screwed them so don't say you were not warned!!!

If the Dr.'s had said I could go back on the road I would go hungry & sleep in my car before working for Crete again!!!!!

WORK AT CRETE CARRIERS CORP. AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!!!!

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!!

 

l.o.l.!
Knew that was coming!

peace out!

 

Aladdin Sane...was it really necessary to be sarcastic to this individual who already is having problems...as truckers we should all stick together and be supportive. You never know what type of life this person has had and you never know when the tables could turn. You know the old saying...If you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all!

 

I drove for Crete for many years until early last year and was there before that accident and long after and saw the changes. Crete did pressure drivers to run illegal before but you were allowed to refuse it and not be fired. They did give you crap loads afterwards but they did not fire you. After the accident they went ultra legal and were very observant but of course since DOT was sitting in the headquarters doing audits they had no choice.

I remember that accident well and always will. That driver did come off of a reset but it was pushing being legal. Crete was very good at giving loads that on paper could be done legally and sometimes couldn't for many reasons that experienced drivers would know.

About a year after the accident the same old started again where they wefre offering loads that couldn't be ran legally and when you turned it down they would usually just offer legal ones but now and again they would use the old standard before the accident by saying, "help us out on this will you?" I hope some here can read what that meant. I did a couple of times but usually said no and a couple of those times I noticed the infamous lack of miles for a bit. The last year I was at Crete though it was starting to be run 100 percent legal and log it as you run it was the norm. I will give Crete that much. I found out that my pay was as much if not more than when I ran it legal always.

Also against Crete though. Their corporate atmosphere is very anti truck driver. They seem to be very oriented against the driver and found this strange as it was a trucking company. Their miantenance never was good and still was horrid when I left. Hopefully they have gotten better at that. A well maintained truck is a valuable asset and a drivers best friend on the road.

 

Caution about Crete/Shaffer, I have 7 yrs exp and went to them, let me tell you a few things to watch out for. I was told I would receive a sign on bonus that never came. I wasn’t told about unpaid layover and I averaged 3 days a week unpaid layover (not home time). I was told I would get detention pay but wasn’t told it’s up to the company’s discretion. I’m still due about $4,000 in back detention pay and the paperwork is right. Many other drivers don’t even fill out papers because most of the time it’s not paid. Home time is not important to them and it doesn’t mater if you’ve been out 4 months because they “can’t get you home, no loads” you still only get a max of 4 days off. Parts reimbursements are also optional. If you get a truck from New Kingston, PA make sure it’s in perfect condition. When you turn it back in there, they charge you for everything they can like a scratch on the bumper. I got a filthy truck and they wanted to charge me a detail fee ($105) so I passed. When I turned it back in it was clean but had some road dust on it, I “was” charged a cleaning fee ($105) for turning in a “dirty” truck. I was with them about a year and couldn’t afford to stay. Miles are promised but real paycheck was 1700 miles per week (minus the things they won’t pay for). For such a good company, they have a lot of non-pay issues you don’t learn about until you get hooked in. I can prove with my paystubs all of what I said here.

 

Yea ok some of them thing you are saying sounds like a big fat *** lie I have been with shaffer for 5years a sign on b come on