Crete Carrier Corporation - Lincoln, Ne.

Would not be surprised if they showed up again, if they do bet we'll do better.
I'm getting log audits about twice a month based on Q-Com ping info.

 

If they got an unsatisfactory they will be back. Did they get an unsatisfactory? I haven't looked up their profile.

 

We have satisfactory rating.

 

Hey, The Old Man,

I tried doing this using your quotes, but windows would not allow it. Here are my comments.

"Ok, can we agree, this is not a good start?"

Yes, this was not a good start! There was an accident report filled out stating that vehicle was a Ford Expedition, when in reality it was a Nissan Pathfinder, point of confusion number 1. Since this was a small town and everybody knew each other, the local police told me there was something fishy about this alleged accident, as it could clearly be shown that the only thing that could have been hit was the front bumper (I clearly could see that I did not hit the vehicle throughout the turn) but that there was no way I could have hit their side mirror or rear quarter panel due to the angle of the trailer to the vehicle. I still believe that they (the car) saw an oportunity to get a previous accident damage fixed and went for it. Point of interest - I had accident review last week and they state that I hit the vehicle, even though I clearly demonstrated to them that I could hat have hit the vehicle, especially given that the paint on the car was creme color, not the red or white which is on all Crete trailers.

The private property damage there was a report filled out by Sheriff's dept., but I had refused to enter property because it was very dark, no lights and a semi-circle that would not accomodate the 75 ft. to turn around. I was then ordered by the 6-8 Sheriff's dept. personnel to enter the property, and as a new driver, I was afraid that they would put me in jail for refusing to enter property, so I did enter and my rear tandems ran over a small tree. The one sheriff later told me that they should not have ordered me onto the property as there was another road back to town about a 1/2 mile down the road. I took multiple pictures of truck, car and property. However, the property pics Crete say did not turn out. I was never provided a copy of pics until after the review board.

"Based upon pictures from their customer (a) there was an accident and (b) it was not reported."

To my knowledge, I have no idea how Crete or customer seems to have determined that it was me. There is nothing on the BOL regarding this, my Q/C messages clearly indicate that I was there on the day after I am accused of damaging their dock, and I got permission to be on there property until I got my next dispatch. This took about 1 1/2 hours to get. At no time have they stated or mentioned my truck number or name. My discussions with a person in accident dept. were mostly that I had damaged their (customer) dock and customer manager states that their employees came to me and told me I had damaged their dock (during my entire time at customer no one came to me and said that I had damaged their dock). I asked accident dept. to check out my trailer for damage and they have not done this to date. I did post-trip and pre-trip inspections of trailer and there was no damage, I had the trailer for another 3 days. At my ininsistance, I have finally received copies of pics they (customer) provided and based upon the show damage, neither I or any other driver could have done the damage shown, with a trailer. On the aluminum skirting around the rain guard, near the topit shows a reverse "V" notch in the aluminum, if a trailer hit it, it would have bent the aluminum all the way down, not with a "V", and the slag iron bumper sticking out in front of the aluminum would have been damaged (along with the trailer) as well, it was not. I was originally informed that I would be assessed 3 safety points, then I got letters stating 5 for preventable and 5 for not reporting an accident. How can one get these 10 points if they were not even there that day (logs support it)? I do not have a feeling that anyone at Crete heard a word that I have said regarding not hitting anything at this customer and that I was not there the date acussed. They might as well have called me a "LIAR!" I have never felt that the accident dept. has even come close to being an advocate for me as a driver, they believe, without question anything that they are told by a customer. By the way, they have not indicated that the customer ever had the police out to fill out an accident report for their insurance claim.

Assuming Crete did believe you did damage the dock, you have two accidents in what sounds like a short period of time."

I asked if they talked to driver or police and they said "NO" they had not, everything that they needed was on the accident report.

BUT LET ME SAY: If this had happened to me and I was not guilty, I WOULD BE MADDER THAN HELL!

Well, I am extremely disappointed in the professional manner in which Crete has handled these matters. I felt from the accident dept. personnel that I was guilty throughout the limited discussions I had with them. They issued "PREVENTABLE" on all accidents within 2 days, post-alleged accidents, in each case, they could not have even seen accident report at that time. They (accident dept.) told me they usually take 4-6 weeks to get a copy of accident reports. You decide if that is resonable?

As you know, when you are "FIRED/DISCHARGED" from a job as I was, and your DAC shows three (3) alleged accidents, you cannot get another job. However, I find it interesting that when I filed for unemployment (you cannot get unemployment if you were discharged), Crete sent a whole bunch of written stuff to my State Unemployment dept. essentially stting that I was a no good, lousy driver. After the State case worker talked with me for my side of the story, they went back to Crete and asked them to prove the alleged accidents. Well guess what, I received a letter from the State Unemployment dept. awarding me unemployment benefits because Crete could not substantiate their accusations. This was great, but my DAC report is another matter, and Crete will not remove that. I guess that I will have to seek other means to get this accomplished.

"I am really sorry things did not work out for you with Crete."

I had several conversations with my terminal manager and she was very supportive, but she is in WY and I am in TN. She did all that she could do, the problem is that the VP of Safety is the one who made this happen, he alone is responsible for my dimise at Crete and she wants to keep her job. She knows! The VP of Safety stated to me that "He was not interested in the Facts!" Now what do you think of this when it comes to driver loyalty, when someone of that position makes a statement like that? I am still shaking my head!

Thanks, Old Man for your great comments, it's appreciated!

Best of luck to you, Short Stack.

 

Tell me something--is Crete being fined for any of these problems it's having?

It sounds like maybe the DOT is coming to Crete's rescue more than anything. The inspectors arrive, inspect, and discover, while Crete weeds out the bad apples the DOT discovers. It's almost a tag-team effort. If this is indeed what's going on, it'd be pretty smart. Crete gets rid of its bad drivers to satisfy the witch hunters, and the witch hunters are kept at bay and don't have to shut down ol' CCC.

 

Gentlemen,

I have been doing extensive research, and came to figure out, most drivers are willing to give a honest days/weeks worth of work if treated with dignity and respect..not to mention get paid! I have been thinking a very long time of starting a very small (one truck) first year trucking company. What should I look for in a driver? I'm thinking 53' reefer, running strictly GA to FLA and back 2-3 times a week. After crunching numbers the driver would make 50-70k a year. What should i look for when out there interviewing drivers that I can count on? Or is this all just not worthit, and just stick to my day job?

Ken

 

For you, Ken, and I hope you don't take this personally, I don't think it'd be worth it. It sounds like you don't know enough about what you're getting into, really. I worked for a guy like that once. His rig of choice was an International flat top with an ironing-board sleeper. The cab on this thing didn't even have shocks--it was attached to the frame via those rubber bumpers. Talk about a jackhammering rattletrap.

I worked for him for about two days before I called it quits. He wanted me to load a 4-pickup load around Stockton and take it to Brooklyn (not the one in Iowa) on a five-drop. I did run a delivery to California, but when he dropped this New York City run on me, I dead-headed it back to Salt Lake and handed him the keys. Also, the rate was low (I think he paid like 22) and so were the miles. I believe I calculated his per-week offering at about 2,000.

The guy just didn't know enough about the trucking industry to be able to keep drivers happy. To him, driving a flat-top that would rattle one's teeth out of his head wasn't a problem. But is is because he himself didn't have to drive one and had no idea what it was like to have to drive one.

There was a lot this guy didn't know about the industry, not to mention a lot of people he didn't know inside the industry, and I wasn't going to pay for his ignorance. I imagine the drivers you hire on will figure out pretty quick this is true for your company as well, and your truck will be sitting a lot waiting on its next wheel-holder.

Unfortunately, in today's trucking industry, we all get paid according to the "back haul" rate. Most companies want to run cherry deliveries out of their home areas that pay a good rate while accepting low rates on back hauls that get their rigs back to square one. Unfortunately, one company's front yard is another's back yard. One company's cherry runs become another company's cheap back hauls, thanks to those companies competing with each other. In other words, you won't be able to pay your driver(s) what you want. The market will decide for you what you're going to pay, unless you want to go broke in a hurry. And most, if not ALL, of those great drivers you are talking about hiring won't work for you at the rate you are going to be forced to pay. Nope. You are going to be forced to hire from on down the hiring que, meaning your drivers'll be the kind of guys you don't want in your cab, no matter if your rig is a 9800 International Cab-Over or a 379 Pete. Money talks. ######## walks.

Trucking companies compete with each other based on price in this day and age. And labor costs are by far the easiest to control (and maniuplate). So....trucking companies really compete based on the wages they pay. This is why lies, liars, rip-offs, and scams are so common in the trucking industry. Ripping off drivers is sometimes the only way to make a profit.

You say you want to run down into Florida. Get ready to pay a lot of dead-head miles. It can be tough getting a good load out of there, especially deep down. Many times you'll be deadheading your driver to Georgia to get a good load.

Good luck at your endeavor. You'll need it. You just won't be big enough to command any market power. Economies of scale won't exist, and you'll be carried along with the tides powerless and always running on the edge. You mean well, but I predict you're about to lose your arse, unless you want drivers to drive for you for nothing. And you don't want those kinds of drivers within 10 feet of your truck's cab.

 

Fined 103,200.00

Sorry, would give you a link, but I'm too new on Board. It will not let me.

I'm sure most know, but You can Google "safestat" and see info. SafeStat is a little funkey to use like goverment sites, just takes a while to learn.

Find Crete then click "Safety Tab", you can see enforcement actions.

 

Mr. Man, I'll check out their ratings. I want to know if CCC isn't the cream company it was when I worked there.

Well, relatively speaking it was cream. Remember--I'm a guy who worked for Swift, so a company that may not be as good as I claim will still look pretty good to me.

 

Shows how long you'v been driving. al trucks were like that not too long ago my friend. Air ride cab is a fairly recent invention. I didn't drive one untill the VERY late 90's


Ken for every person that tell you that you will go broke ten more will tell you that you can make a good living. If you get the right driver and are willing to ave decent equipment and keep it up doing as much as you can yourself then you can make it work and do good.

If you do it let me know. My dad lives right next to the atlanta speedway and may be interested in somehting like that if you have a source for loads already. personally I don't see much call for refer from fl to ga but if you have the work he'd do it. 20 some years driving, owned his own fleet and is a top notch mechanic too.