CRETE - A Year in Review

This statement is something I definitly agree with. Just remember who you were dealing with. Probably a fill-in dispatcher due to the holiday. Therefore it becomes a layover due to operations inability/unwillingness to move you to an empty or another load. A layover of this nature should qualify you for layover pay. An issue you must address with your FM. If you get no satisfaction from your FM, go to the operations VP.

 

I believe it was said that this is ET's thread ... um ... not website. See, we do read your posts. Good luck, and should you want to tell you're story ... that's welcome here ... just start your own thread. People will read it and respond, but you have to expect that some people will not respond as you think they should.

Good Luck.

 

I never said it was his website, I said it was his thread, which it is. And no, I don't have a problem with anybody giving their opinion about anything. But when you post something here or on any thread, you better be able to debate what you say in a grownup manner, without having to resort to childish name calling. Grow up and Truck it Up!

 

Cybil, this is not ET's thread. It is a thread that we all can express our opinons on, assuming we use the appropriate language and tact. Which i have.

ET holds no title from the State of Arizona that states all contents of this thread are transferrable to SuperSnackBar upon his termination from Crete Carrier Corp whether voluntary or otherwise. There is no "Thread Perpituity Clause" from the Mariciopa County Clerk of Court stating that this thread or any thread which would have to be identified as an actual internet "thread" not made of yarn or cloth - would be subject to and only permissible be ET and or his appointed heirs or should he lapse into an "altered mental state" due to an extended delay at a consignee, a court appointed Power of Attorney.

Where i was going with that, i haven't a clue.

"Truck it up". I'm curious, did you see that on the bathroom wall at T/A Ontario, CA East or West. Surely that wasn't original...

 

You really need to check yourself. This thread was started by ET a long time ago. It's a thread that numerous people, drivers and non-drivers alike, have found useful and entertaining to say the least. If you check the listing of threads you will find ET's name listed below the title as the thread originator. Thus it IS ET's thread that you're hijacking.

As an aside, no one here has poked fun at your name, nor have we intentionally insulted you. Here we try to help each other through the bad times and celebrate the good times ... kindly move on if you're not able to join in.

 

ET: Briefly: No sitting at a shipper doesn't alter our public perception. The sentence before that one pertaining to self worth is where i was going and the value we put on our time. Which is why we are often berated by shippers and consignees. They know we'll take it cause we have to and they do not care either way.

On Doctors: Yes of course they have alot of out of pocket, and yes it takes quite a bit of time and work to see the return on investment. They definetly earn their money. That wasn't my point. My point was (and i think you knew this) that assuming you go to a regular MD who is in practice, he probably would not see patients for 3 days at no charge.

Bobtail: Was only 75-80 miles to shipper of load offered, then voided. The consignee that I was at did not provide MT trailers, only re-loaded the loaded one you brought in for a new load to be taken out.

Training: I can only speak from knowing the situation from the trainer that i know personally. He is not occasional. He always keeps a student or a driver who needs freshening up on his truck...and he deserves any perks he gets. I mentioned that.

Yes. I realize I'm just one of you. I had no illusion otherwise.

And lastly: I do not know what an ops person wage level is, but a Google search produced a wage of approximately 28-35,000 dollars annually. I don't know what you meant by it wasn't a good way to make my point. Their wages are their business. And if they work for a living, they wouldn't enjoy being at Command Central for 3 days at no charge. That would be my guess.

I know every job has it's pitfalls. I have no illusions of grandeur when it comes to truck driving. If it was so opulent, then they probably would not have billboards attempting to recruit new employees.

Thanks for your response and your excellent work in reporting your daily schedule.

 

Hijacking? Sounds like serious stuff. And here i thought i was providing thought provoking material for the viewership. Off with my head.

 

Woohoo! A controversy!

I'm posting this one for those who may have been curious as to my newly-acquired status as the proud owner of a former Crete company truck.

A couple weeks ago, my transmission started doing something unexpected. This is, of course, never a good thing.

What it started doing is this: When I would shift from, say, 6th to 5th, it would of course necessitate a switch from high range to low range. This is accomplished by flipping the range selector switch from the high position to the low position, then proceeding with my shift from the bottom left of the H pattern to the bottom right. When I would attempt to do this with low transmission coolant temperature (say, before driving about 50-100 miles), the transmission would produce a most disconcerting grinding sound for a moment or two immediately upon moving the shifter from 6th gear, before it would then go into 5th.

This is a problem of fairly major import for someone who owns the truck and therefore must pay the bills. My thoughts on the matter were, "Thank God it's under warranty!"

My last load picked up on Saturday, September 4 in Jackson, TN and was to deliver near Atlanta on Tuesday, September 7. The load offer was immediately followed by instructions to T-Call it in Marietta. This is good!

I got to Marietta Saturday afternoon. There were no empty trailers on the lot that weren't attached to trucks, and the driver's lounge was full of drivers, most of whom were bemoaning a lack of freight on the holiday weekend. My suspicions regarding freight in the area were confirmed by dispatch. I asked them if that would be a good time to bobtail the 84 miles to the dealer near my home for a warranty repair, and they agreed it would be most convenient.

I arrived at Freightliner of Chattanooga on Saturday, just after they closed. Just my luck. They were closed on Sunday and on Labor Day, so I went home and on Tuesday morning I took my truck over there.

They had it apart by Wednesday evening, and spent Thursday taking pictures and communicating with Meritor. On Friday, they notified me that Meritor had declined to cover the repair under warranty, as the nature of the damage was such that it had to have been caused by either a driver shifting to low range at too high a speed, or by a driver shifting into neutral and then selecting the range, with the truck in motion. In either case, the damage doesn't occur all at once - it is caused by repeatedly shifting wrong over a long period of time. Let this be a lesson to all newbies, that low range must be selected only at speeds below 15mph, and always *before* moving the shift lever. The repair estimate was $2,229.10 including all taxes and fees.

I authorized the repair, and a while later realized I had not asked about a time of completion. So, I called back and asked for this information. They informed me they had just put in the parts order (remember, this was on Friday - they'd had the truck for almost 4 days at this point) and they should arrive Tuesday, with repairs completed by Wednesday evening or Thursday morning.

This upset me greatly, as they should have ordered the parts when they found out what was needed. After all, the truck is going nowhere disassembled, and I'm not about to pay for it to be disassembled and reassembled without the needed new pieces.

Just to see what would happen, I called the man who sold me the truck. He runs the used equipment sales program for Crete. He said to keep my phone nearby, that he would need to make a couple of phone calls and call me back. He called me back, then another fellow named Randy, who is just under the Director of Maintenance in the organizational chart, called me, then the sales guy called me back again.

I was told that the parts are now being expedited to the dealer for Monday arrival, and instructed to call this Randy immediately upon finding out the total bill for the repair. I was further told that Crete will be picking up the tab for this, and that I should call Crete first should anything else major go wrong with the truck in the next 30 days, before going to a dealer. As it turns out, they said had I called first, I would have been told to take the truck to a company terminal for repair, free of charge.

So, I've got a week and a half of downtime, about which nothing can be done. However, it is a comfort to know I'm not going to be the one to write such a large check, especially for something that had to have been on the edge of malfunction when I bought the truck.

 

I have been folowing this thread for some time only because i have been thinking about going back to otr,but reading some of these threads i cant help but thank god for my job.
to see a driver sit for 3 days and then see other drivers on this post just say that is the way it is is ridiculus!, you all have a choice like me to find somthing else,they will tell you that this is the way it is but there is no need to put up with this nonsense,i barely work 40 hrs a week and make 50,000 a yr and im what they consider at my job to be lazy!i take a lot of 3 day wknd,sun,mon tues is my wknd, when loads cancel but still make around 50,000,other drivers where i work easily make 60,000plus and are still home,any driver reading this who has been taught to believe that "that is just the way it is" look up a company by the name of Ruan and tell me how many bad reviews you find.and no i dont unload or kill myself,all drop and hook,paid if i sit,paid for breakdowns etc,if you would like more details you can ask and i will respond with nothin but the truth.