CRETE - A Year in Review

Time to bust out the gift cards and flowers!

 

ET said several pages back that he's out of the Spartanburg terminal. So am I. I checked with them to make sure he's for real and isn't some schmo in recruiting with an active imagination, access to the load board and pics from Safety as I'd suspected for a long time. According to them, he's real though they rarely hear from him.

You're not alone except for me it's been three months. I finished the second quarter of my year from my anniversary date well ahead of goal and now that my third quarter is coming to a close, I'll need to run around 34,000 miles during the slow season to make goal/pay raise. Yeah, right ...

I was stuck running north/south in the Eastern time zone on overscheduled loads that couldn't deliver early with an occasional coffee break in Chicagoland from which I'd be run straight back east. It's the second year in a row this has happened and there's no convincing me it wasn't intentional. I've heard other drivers who like to run hard relate similar experiences. They can program the "optimized loading" system any way they want and it only makes sense that "optimal" would include not allowing drivers on the old pay scale to make raise if they have cheaper options available.

ET is an exception who clearly has someone in Lincoln looking out for him to keep his miles this outrageous. It's not like days gone by when it was fairly easy to engineer a big week with the three load selection system. Now you have to get lucky and the statistical probability of consistently rolling high like ET is negligible. Most of my loads are now being preplanned off my PTAs though they don't let me know what's coming ahead of time. I run the loads I'm offered the same as ET and, sure, I get lucky and have a big week every once in awhile, but it's nothing close to regular and usually comes about from delivering a couple of loads early that I was told couldn't deliver early ...

I had stopped reading here for awhile because I quite frankly found it demoralizing. I also found ETs insinuations that anyone who doesn't get top miles is being lazy more than slightly insulting. Sure, "those guys" exist, but I'm not one of them.

Now, I just try to keep in mind that I could be doing a lot worse at most of the other big dry van haulers and also keep it in mind that greener pastures will become available once I hit the five year mark ...

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again Lincoln knows who ET is and they realize that he is the best recruiting tool they could have and it doesn't cost them one red cent. ET knows this as well. As long as he continues to paint a rosy picture of conditions here at Crete they will continue to give him all the miles he can handle. Any assertions to the contrary are nothing but lies.

 

So what is the average miles per week,if a driver stays out 2 months or longer.Thanks Crete offered me .39 cpm to start,I drove 48 states and Canada 89 to 98 which doesn,t count. And 03 to july 2010,but I have 5 employers since 07.They say that,s the reason I have to start at .39,I,m greatful to have the job offer,but .39 cpm stings a little bit. I stayed out 60 to 90 days at a time for my other companies and pulled everything but cattle and cars,clean record,hazmat,twic,doubles,tanker,endorsement. At .39 cpm I hope to get at least 2,800 miles per week, do any Cretens think that is possible. Thanks

 

Who else will hire you at .39, or more, to start? Staying out that long at a stretch you should have no problem averaging 2800+ p/w. Just remember, with this economy and lack of financial direction from the current Federal Administration, there are no guarantees.

 

Yeah your right Jdrentzjr the starting wage that I see at companys is lower now than 2 years ago. In 08 I started at .42 plus 1.5 cpm for turning the truck down to 65,I knew they would lower the speed from 68 to 65mph as soon as the fuel price spiked.That same company now is 38 cpm and there,s no fuel bonus,that was pulling a reefer,loose leaf log=out law. I,m looking at the positives at Crete also,like the 3 year 401k vested with a match and the profit sharing. Stay safe out there.

 

I loved working for Crete when I was there back in 08. I left because of low miles but knew several drivers making well over 3,000 miles/wk to my 2200. I'd have a 3100 mile week, then they'd send me to PA/NJ and my next check would be for 1800 miles. I was staying out 5 or 6 weeks at a time hoping they would send me west. I swear that as soon as I crossed the missippi a warning would go off in Lincoln and they would send me a load back to PA. After 13 months I got a local job.

 

Beyond 3 weeks or so staying out longer than that will have no appreciable impact on your miles.

 

Greetings...
As it was earlier posted, I have been a bit busy...was out 7.5 weeks, and turned just under 22000 mi's.(not ET like miles, but plenty busy for me) Then I took 4 days off, and started running again. I have had much less spare time than usual. The times I usually spend typing my fingers off here, are now spent trying to get some much needed exercise. I try to do between 30 and 45 minutes of heart pumping activities twice a day...which between exercising, eating, sleeping and driving, leaves little time to type. But, now I'm sitting in Romeoville, IL at a customer I have never been to before, but appears to usually be a drop and hook, but due to a shortage of empty trailers, is now a live unload. It's been 2.5 hours since my appointment time, and they haven't even opened the door.

And to anyone who thinks ET is a fake person planted here by the recruiting department(and would probably think I'm a plant by another trucking company)...I assure you he isn't(and neither am I). I have met him on a couple of occasions, but just like his post's claim...he likes to keep moving, and didn't have much time to shoot the bull. As for posting his truck number to prove it, that is something I will leave up to him to post...after all, he trusted me with it and if he wants it public, I'll let him decide to do it. But he has in the past posted less than positive things that happen, but honestly, I think he's the 'glass half full' kind of person that tends to see things leaning toward the positive side. Instead of the 'who left this 1/2 full *bleeping* glass just sitting here...doesn't anyone but me know how to do dishes?' kind of person I tend to be, who see's most situations in a negative light.

Things were so busy, that over the last 5 weeks, I had regularly beeped op's for a load that got me thru a shop for a 'B' service, only to get another overnight, 'get it there asap' load. By the time I got to a shop, I was 19k+ overdue for a service. On top of that my chugity-chugity problem had gotten bad enough that it was giving me problems pulling an empty trailer. So, they got me to the dreaded Marietta shop....but after 3450 miles in the 7 days after leaving home, I needed a 34 anyway. Turns out my turbo was going...plus my front drive axle was almost 1/4" out of alignment, and my steer axle needed shimmed to bring the truck up to level.(this sucker has had a bad lean since new...and I've been asking for an alignment for the last 2 'B's only to get new may-pop's and new steer's and sent on my way) At least for now, it's running better, and less jumpy on uneven pavement. So I guess that means I'm headed to the N/E to knock it out of alignment again.

While sitting there in Marietta, the majority of drivers having mileage issues were from the Shaffer side of things. Most of us Cretins were rolling along. In fact, I received one of the few 'multi-load' offers once I got out of the shop.

 

I have to on occasion...I mean all negative...runs folks away from this thread...or at least derails the direction of the conversation away from it's intended purpose. Don't worry, I'll be back to my abnormal self soon...I mean, me being positive...just creeps people out.:smt120