CRETE - A Year in Review

I've upgraded (unfortunately) from an 8330 Curve to a 8530 Curve...and it's a bigger pile of steaming techie-poo. I'm in Wilmer, and have until the 27th to trade(w/$35 restock fee). This one fixed the problems of losing access to internet via EV(Verizon's 3g service) but, it drops calls like mad, and has a list of other problems...I could get a new 8530 free because of it's defect issues, but there's a bunch of other things I just don't like and want to trade out to a different(non-Blackberry) phone. I thought about the Droid, but there is still a few bugs that the Android OS has w/Verizon's system that haven't been worked out. The official release of the fixed OS was due out the 18 of March, but has been pushed back to TBA. I mean, the 8330 was durable...I tried to break it in half several times to no avail(maybe because I'm a big woosie), tossed, threw, everything except jump up and down on it, and it still worked...at least as a phone, but as a web-browser pda, it was glitch city. Verizon's CSR's explanation for the problems...''their asking this thing to do a lot of stuff for it's size, you can't expect it to work right all the time"... thank you Mr. Salesman...maybe you should be at Toyota. "hey, it starts and runs, so it runs 100mph by itself and won't shut off... it runs doesn't it"

I looked at tethering my Curve's...pdanet only has software for certain phones...and as usual, non of mine were on it...oh well, like the AT&T commercial points out, you can't talk and surf at the same time, and sometimes I'm on the phone with the wife, and surfing at the same time.

I did get out of the Wilmer shop in one day.(after three tries) Once done the first time, I left to go get dinner(a couple hours after 2nd shift found the A/C leak that the Backstabbers(columbus) couldn't), only to discover that the new headlight base that 1st shift installed, wasn't tight. My headlight just sorta' jiggled around...Back in the shop, 20 minutes later, as the mechanic was backing out, I noticed a tail light out...after 1st shift had done a thorough 'b' svc...When he tried to unplug the light, one of the plugs posts stayed in the light...back in the shop for some wiring...20 minutes later, again...I didn't find anything else wrong. Now it's late, been up all day, and theirs no empties to be found...bed time for Snackbar...

Oh well, gota go to Verizon in the morning anyway, I have until the 27th to trade phones, and there's a VZW store 15 min away, no better time than when you're bobtail. I was going to try to get home by the 27th to trade, if I do it now, I can run hard for a while more. But I noticed the weather, Saturday in Wilmer T'storms(100% chance of rain) Sat nite and Sunday, 50% and 30% chance of SNOW----it spring for pete's sake(officially). HEY GOD---ENOUGH WITH THE SNOW ALREADY- YOU'VE PROVED YOUR POINT ABOUT THIS GLOBAL WARMING HOAX.

 

As an O/O (i.e. businessman) I tend to see somethings a little differently than company drivers. The daily decisions on running a one man operation can at times be very difficult. I can only imagine the difficulties in trying to please 5,000 drivers. CAN'T BE DONE!!!!! No matter how hard the office personnel may try, someone is not going to be happy. This is OTR, get over it! Or get out.

 

jdrentzjr, I would agree with Big Al on one thing. Every time you have to stop for fuel it's another 15 minutes off of your 70. If you have to stop twice as often (or more) to fuel it really starts to add up. In five years with Crete my heaviest load ever barely reached 79,000. Since I got my Prostar 8 weeks ago I have had 5 loads over 79,500. It makes a difference.

 

My point was to address his statement that they don't care, and I continued from there. I think the weight issue with the ProStars is one that was probably OVERLOOKED, more than NOT CARING. I would agree that those in Lincoln who make the decision on what trucks to purchase, should have NOT OVERLOOKED this issue. They did drop the ball. That being said, maybe they were counting on all the states to pass the 400lbs exemption for trucks equipted with APUs. In which case, you're only looking at a negative increase in weight of just 100lbs, not a big deal.

 

It's a heck of a lot more than 500lbs. Try more like 1800? The APU accounts for less than half of the increased weight between the Century and the Prostar. And as far as "overlooked" vs. "not caring" is concerned, does it really make a difference at the driver level?

 

Yes it does make a difference in the way a driver views things, i.e. US vs THEM. As if Crete, or any company, intentionally sets out to make their drivers mad. The increase in weight due to added exhaust regulations, and APUs, is not singular to the ProStars, or Crete as a company.

 

We'll have to agree to disagree then.

 

We recently upgraded our T-Mobile acct and got two of those Motorola Cliqs, with internet access. I've been having issues with having to spend 60 per month for a wireless card for my laptop (which recently emulated Arrow Trucking and quit/died)

Thanks for the tip on Pdanet. I just downloaded this to my Cliq and when I get my new laptop I'll set it up like you suggested.

I start Monday at New Kingstown Pa...dang excited about it too.

 

Gee, isn't that nice of them. Fuel solutions is one of the problems to begin with. I ignored them when it wasn't convenient for me and fortunately I ran out of a terminal where they never said anything. It was only my last 6 months or so that they started nagging about it. The problem at most of the coolie carriers (Crete is now one) is that they think they have a right to control your time, even if they are not paying for it. If you want me to fuel at the Pilot in Knoxville where it might take me an hour to get in and out, pay me. If you want me to fuel four times a day because you don't have the cojones to tell customers that you can haul a 47,000 lb load in a reefer, then pay me. If you want me to sit all weekend in Marietta because you are too cheap to bounce me 500 miles, pay me.

I will admit that perspective plays a big part in how someone feels. I talked to a guy in Columbus once who said they would have to drag him out of a red truck dead. He loved Crete. I asked him where he drove before he came to Crete. He said, "Werner, CR England and Covenant." I drove for 3 OTR companies in 9 years. Never drove for garbage like Swift or JB Hunt. Shaffer was the worst of the three. It wasn't too bad at first, but as Crete style of management crept in, all the micromanaging (not to mention that retarded regional dispatch system) just destroyed everything. A lot of the oldtimers from Shaffer and Sunflower said they worst thing about Shaffer is Crete. The straw for me was when they lowered the trucks to 62 without properly compensating us. I knew it was never gonna get better.

I got off the road in July. Sure feel better about myself now that I don't have a bunch of pinheads screwing me at every turn.

 

Another problem with the 'coolie carriers' is that they seem to attract complainers,whiners and people with a sense of entitlement who don't seem to realize that no one is forcing them to remain in the employ of said coolie carriers. Either that or they enjoy the constant griping. These people seem to not know that slavery was abolished and that they have the right to resign from a job if it is not to their liking. Instead, they insist on continuing to work for these companies and complain at the same time,when the solution to their problem is simply to just quit. And yes, Crete has a bunch of them too,as any good 'coolie carrier' would.
Neither Crete nor any other 'coolie carrier' can control your time,even if you think that they think they have a right to. If you don't work for them they can't think they have a right to control your time , so don't work for them. It doesn't get any simpler than that.
I see you finally realize that you did not have to work for them and left. Just wish you took some others with you.