CRETE - A Year in Review

It depends on the terminal manager, or maybe the area your home terminal is in I think. I have heard that Wilmer makes you bring your truck in if you live in the DFW area...I'm not sure of the mileage radius that they have, but I'm out of FL, and I'm 120ish miles from either Deland or Tifton, and I have a safe place to park truck and trailer on my property, so I'm allowed to take mine home w/me.

 

Yep, that's the way FL does it. Well, most of the DMV offices at least. I tried Gainesville...bigger town than Lake City...but every thing in Gainesville is screwed up...their DMV office is a small hole it the wall, 2 of their 3 Wally's are the old strip mall, non-supercenter dumps... I stood in line for over an hour, outside the office, and was turned away because anyone not in the building by 4 pm wasn't going to have enough time to complete the process. Next time I went to Lake City...Huge office, was in, passed Hazmat test, was fingerprinted (on an electronic touch pad) and was out of there in under 30 minutes.. I was 1 of 5 people there that day.

 

Just my experience. Out of the Wilmer terminal I live south of Fort Worth. About 81 miles to the terminal from the house they told me it would be ok to take the equipment home with me for hometime.

 

A few questions. What kind of benefits does Crete have? Any bonuses? Are thet on the drivers about fuel mileage?

How is the Marietta terminal? I live about 2 miles from it.

 

hey guys, figured i'd check in and say hey, i haven't been on due to no internet out on the road and believe it or not shaffer has kept me busy enough since i started. i've been on my own for 2 or 3 months now. i'll be getting an iphone in a couple weeks so i'll throw my 2cents in more. so far so good though. i've seen enough snow to last me a lifetime. my first month or so i was on the great lake regional part of shaffer or it seemed like it anyway. on a nice 1700 mile run now from jersey to colorado. i haven't seen one like that til now. been a great couple days and good weather too. anyway, i bought some internet time to check some accounts. i'll have to go back and read the 70 some pages i've missed in the last two months another day. later

 

For company drivers:

Health Insurance - Blue Cross/Blue Shield PPO. Pretty decent insurance, IMHO.

Dental Insurance - Ameritas Dental PPO. Really good if you don't need major work done. Definitely take advantage of their coverage of preventative care.

Vision Insurance - EyeMed Select Network discount plan. Pretty nice.

Prescription Coverage - Walgreen's discount card. Eh, I usually get my scripts filled at WalMart, as their prices are still cheaper than Walgreen's with the discount.

401(k) - I can't remember how much they'll match, but they do offer a 401(k).

Profit-Sharing - I haven't participated in this, but I hear it's pretty nice.

Bonuses - None. But you get a penny raise if you get 121,000 miles or more in a given year (anniversary date to anniversary date).

The Marietta terminal, well, I've had mixed experiences with them.

As far as the shop goes, I think they've definitely improved lately. 2 years ago, I'd plan on a minimum of 10 hours there to get a trailer tire changed. Tractor service was always "we might can get to you tomorrow".

Driver amenities are pretty standard. Driver's lounge with satellite TV, vending machines, showers, laundry (though that may still be down from the dryer fire they had a while back).

They will get onto you about idle time if you let it get too high. Apart from that, they won't get onto you about fuel mileage unless you're way below fleet average fuel economy.

 

Do you know how much the insurance is? Will be my wife and being covered. Also, when they bring you in for orientation, what chance do you have of NOT getting hired? I'd hate to leave a job with no assurance that I'll be driving for Crete. My current company will bring you in for orientation before all of the background stuff is finished. If they find something they didn't like, they would send you home. Any chance of that at Crete?

 

They're not gonna jerk you around. They'll bring you in and you'll do some training and then orientation. Backgrounds are done before they bring you in. You still have physicals and the like to pass.

My insurance for me, wife and 2 kids is 70 ish per week.

 

I'll still have to go into training even with three straight years of driving? I'm driving now with another company.

Also, I'm on a cpap with my current company. Will I need a other sleep study at Crete even though I'm already diagnosed with sleep apnea?

 

Just heard that my file was sent to safety today. What is the process that safety does? Recruiter said we should know something tomorrow. What does safety actually do with the file??