CRETE - A Year in Review

Maybe I need to learn to trust dispatch a little more. I'm still fighting them on occasion but when I let them run the show they seem to do all right most of the time. I was in Baltimore with 4 days left until home time. They sent me to Mobile and then Chicago and they still got me home on time.

 

Can anyone tell me about orientation with Crete? Do they do the "wellness" test like Schneider does?

 

how you guys doin i may only be 14 but my grandfather has been driving for crete for 12 years i wanted to be a truck driver sence i was 2 and im still going for that dream and sence you need experience to drive for crete can you guys suggest a trucking company that will hire inexperienced driver? and I dont if it is true but as i get money i want my own truck but i dont want to be a owner operator because i know about fuel surcharge and such but i just dont want to pay that I'd rather stay a company driver would I be able to buy my own truck and lease the truck to the company and be able to have logos and everything but drive my own truck custom or not and not have to pay the fees o&o's have to pay?

 

I too had the desire to drive BIG TRUCKS since I was very young. I count myself very blessed to be doing what I desired as a youth. Not many people get to do that.

However, the industry has changed. Many of the freedoms that use to come with being an OTR driver have disapeared, and changed this occupation into more of a regular job. Having said that, I still enjoy what freedoms we do have left. i.e. No immediate boss/suporvisor looking over my shoulder, no confining office, and the ability to adjust my work schedule and time off.

I will not discourage you from following your dream; for it was mine too. What I will suggest is that you apply yourself in school and give yourself a good education. From the way you wrote your post it was very hard to deciffer exactly what you wanted to accomplish as a company driver or owner operator. You don't need to be the smartest in your class, but if you want to be successfull in this, or any other industry/job, you WILL NEED TO COMMUNICATE properly.

I'm not one to toot my own horn unless it will benifit someone else, but I've done better than most as an O/O ( http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...erator/64679-my-numbers-o-o-leased-crete.html ) leased to Crete. The reasons is because I have good people skills, decent communication skills, and I have good business skills ( DON'T SPEND MORE THAN YOU MAKE & BUDGET YOUR MONEY! It really is that simple.) Plus, for the most part, I still enjoy what I do for a living.

Also, start reading all industry publications you can subscribe to,or get for free. Free ones are LandLine Magizine (OOIDA Association), Overdrive, and Roadstar. A subscriber magazine would be Transport Topics, there are a few others I don't recall. This will begin familiarizing you with some of the changing issues this industry is facing and help you make an educated decision later. You could also use the information to write school reports. When you write about something of interest to you it much easier and you will usually get a better grade.

Right now don't worry about training to be a truck driver. Train to be a better educated you. The truck driving will come much easier that way.

I wish you the best, God Bless.

 

Kinda' what I thought too...but it can't hurt to dream a little...like they really like me after all

 

Don't do it!!!! They're lulling you into a false sense of security, that's when they pull out the industrial strength KY and stick it to you! You have to jab them in the ribs once in a while, just to remind them that you still can. It keeps them on their toes.

Last week for me was a ho-hum week...I still got some longer runs, but they're giving me 2 days to do a 750 mile run, and a lot of live unload/loads. Which, all in all wasn't that bad, but it only added up to a 2545 mile week. Not a great week, but in the acceptable range. This week has started out a little better, an 845 mile run from the K/C area to Covington, GA w/an asap delivery time...but coming around Nashville, the sidewall blew out of one of the newer 'may-pops' on the recently serviced dog-tracking trailer. And since I'd been under this trailer for a couple days, I know the air pressure was right. Maybe pulling it sideways down the road had something to do with it blowing... anyway, I had to get it changed, which delayed me some, then I was off to the delivery. Once I dropped the trailer, it was late in the day on Saturday, and all they offered was a load that picked up Sunday afternoon headed back outside Chicago-land that has an all day delivery window for Tuesday, and no restriction on delivering early...so I'll give it all I can to deliver within 24 hours, and get that 787 mile load up there lickity-split. I am not going to complain about all the trips into, around, and out of Chicago-land lately...sure beats the stuffing out of the northeast...and there is usually a decent amount of freight to get you out of there to keep you rolling. Plus, the traffic hasn't been as bad as it once was in the Chicago area...still not great, but a whole lot better then it was years ago.

And I won't say anything about how quiet it's been here for me, I don't want to tip off karma about my location!

This has been another good month (11466mi by the 27/28th), and one of the better quarters in a while (33978 by the 27/28th). Not record setting or even ET-like miles, but a major improvement over last year's numbers. In fact, I am only 16,000 miles away from last year's ending mile total already. This year I have had only 3 sub-10,000 mile months, where as I only had 3 10,000+ months last year. Last year, I never had a quarter over 31,400. I could easily be back up to the kind of numbers I was seeing before the great-recession (I don't know why they call it that...it wasn't all that great...if you asked me, it sucked...but the suckey-recession wouldn't sound right...)

 

I agree. Like you, I spent much of my childhood wanting to do this...most kids use to, but I had ambitions about it... My family always took a road vacation every year. Dad worked 70 hrs a week, 50 weeks a year, but insisted on 2 weeks vacation. And this was in the good old days when it was acceptable to follow a truck driver down the road because they were the safest drivers on the road, and I wanted to be one of them.

Unfortunately, high school lead me down a different path, and I almost got myself stuck in one of those cubicle office-purgatory jobs. But I moved to FL, was offered an opportunity to get my CDL, and haven't looked back since...well, maybe once in a while, just to see what might'a been had I not taken the plunge. I mean, I could have been a middle-age pudgy unhappy individual constantly complaining about life from his little bathroom size cubby-hole...OH wait....ummmmmm - - - - - - All kidding aside... as for me, most of the time, this is the job I wanted, and couldn't see myself doing anything else... Like you said, not having a boss looking over your shoulder at any given moment to make sure you're doing you job is a plus.(even though they can do that via-satellite if they want to now) But again, like you said, education is key...especially if owning a truck is an eventual goal. Being an O/O isn't just 1 job, you're the driver, business owner, office manager, accounting clerk(even if you have an accountant crunch the numbers), route planner, time management supervisor and even sometimes a mechanic...to be successful you must be good at all of them. The day's of just flying by the seat of your pants are over. A quote that sums it up....Success is where preparation meets opportunity. To succeed in anything, you must first prepare.

 

Yes they do. I did my orientation in Marietta, Ga and they sent us to a facility that did the "Wellness test" as well. Sorry

 

Cool and i know i wont be the smartest and i dont care as a boy growing up on a farm i got a taste of this job legal or not "benefits of only having 3 police officers in the county" but in my eyes a job is a job a career is hard to find, ok but ive been looking at crete as a job or career and it sounded good to me but i needed otr experience website said 2 years so company wise how is central refrigerated transport or C.R. England as companies quality wise because i dont want company training but i do want a company that will hire me with little or no experience. and if crete or shaffer or hunt dont work out whats work and quality like on Knight or hill bros

 

o and how much do you have to find the area of a square in your job or use algebra?