CRETE - A Year in Review

Do they have intentions of bringing it back? Sounded like a great way to run.

 

I finally had a choice between 2 loads. One was shorter and sooner delivery, but ran into a heat wave. The other farther and later delivery, but also in the cooler climate and routed near family I could visit with on short overnight and even do laundry
Not holding breath for that to recur, but enjoyed it when it happened.

 

This guy nailed it 100%. Compared to what it once was, this company is a pile of steaming ----. That's what happens when you put a bean counter in charge. Great post OTTER!

 

Thanks, I appreciate that!

I used to like Crete - it was a great place to work, the pay and benefits were good, and I actually enjoyed the job. But, too many changes took place - the little things that made this company such a great place to work were eliminated, and it became more and more of a "job".

I was looking through a stack of old memos that I had, and I found one from July of 2006 announcing the raise to .47/mile effective Sept. 1st, 2006. Almost five years later, and the pay cap is still .47/mile - and therein lies the biggest problem with Crete -- they'll do anything and everything possible to bring in new drivers, but little to nothing for the existing drivers. The primary focus is on recruiting, not retention.

In my lowly opinion, until such time as they correct that way of thinking, they'll continue to have problems keeping the drivers that they work so hard to recruit.

 

I don't care for the shorter freight miles either, but this is something the entire industry is dealing with, and those companies that are hauling the longer runs aren't paying very well. Face it, that's why your still here.

 

Ah, the goodness that was "Load Select"! I remember emptying out in Salina, KS and being offered a load to either Jacksonville, Fontana, CA or Bremerton, WA. Those were the days! That was one of the primary reasons I decided to go to Crete in the 1st place, sad to see it's no longer there except in rare instances.

 

Shazam! Today had another choice. One delayed pick up but more miles. Second pick up sooner and deliver, but shorter miles. Hopefully get another load to make up the difference. Also, trying to stay east of the Mississippi.

 

Hopefully thats a sign its coming back. I was looking forward to working with that system.. and was disappointed to find out it was discontinued! I found out yesterday when I took my former DM out to lunch yesterday he used to be a DM at crete for over 7 years and was surprised they took the system away.

 

Honestly, in regards to the load select, I wouldn't get your hopes up...As fast as they are hiring, and with us going to elogs, I think it is more likely that we will go the other way instead -but that's just my opinion-...but honestly, I would prefer them to change like most other companies are doing things...pplan me on my next load, or at least offer it before I arrive at the final stop of my current load. That makes planning for tomorrow so much easier, this fly by the seat of your pants - run everything as hard as you can, then sit and wait - stuff makes things seem so uncoordinated here. They know how many hours you have been using, and know your eta/pta...why does preplanning the next load not make sense to these people. The last company I worked for preplanned you on your next load as soon as you sent in your load call for your current load...in fact, that's the only thing they did right there, everything else was bass-ackwards. It made planning on my part easier, it made it easier for the operations people to plan, and made customer service more streamlined, because the only time you had a problem with scheduling is if they took extra time unloading you...but much of their freight was Proctor and Gamble, and when P&G's customers see those bills, the normally put a priority on unloading them because they get a break on cost if they don't delay the driver.

As for my latest, I had a whopping 1750 mile week last week, and I am on a 2 week vacation. I had planned on getting my dental work done on Monday (the 16th) but they got me home on Thursday the 12th,(a day early) so I went under the knife on Friday the 13th....eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek. Now I'm sitting here typing with a swollen face and time on my hands. It's sad to say, but counting the paychecks I'm going to be getting for my vacation weeks, my vacation paychecks will be the best money I've made in the last 2 months...Like I told them before I went home...Glad were hiring like crazy...that way everybody will be getting crappy paychecks pretty soon, instead of us few lucky souls.

 

I always enjoy your posts SS! Your like a grumpy old man that all the ladies love! HA HA enjoy your vacation man.