CRETE - A Year in Review

Sorry for double post

 

Wilmer sleep lab is alive and booming. I was routed in there last week for a sleep study. There were a few new hires and a few veteran Cretans there for the test. i asked the tech what percentage of subjects test positive for apnea and have to buy a machine it lose their career. He said it's running about 80% positive results at Wilmer for apnea. Thank God, I was one of the 20% that did not test positive. There was another older gentleman there for the test that said he had been at Crete for 10 years. He tested positive so safety yanked his clearance till he was on CPAP. He refused to buy a machine so he was forced to quit right there at Wilmer yard. Safety wouldn't let him drive the truck off the yard so he had to rent a car and clean out his truck and drive home to Alabama at his own expense. I wonder how many good veteran drivers are being forced out of trucking because of this?

 

I have only one thing to say....Ebay!
Take their machine, get cleared by safety, head home. Hock the thing on Ebay minus the mask...tell Crete where to shove their truck and their job, and move on to a company that still values an experienced driver, not one that claims they do, then micromanages them to the verge of insanity...then screws you over. When you get your profit sharing money, have a private sleep study done. If it comes out negative, sue the clinic for malpractice, and Crete for defimation....and make it VERY public if you can. If it's one thing this place hates, it's bad publicity.

 

Well, I at least had one good week this month. Delivered my 977 mile run to Odessa, TX...now empty 4 hours, and can't get anyone to acknowledge my existance....aaaaaah just like the good old days. I guess someone from management is still reading this forum and decided to give me something to complain about!

 

Problem is, you are now branded with the sleep apnea diagnosis and it will follow you to the next job. It's career ending if you refuse to submit to the machine. You also have to download data from the machine at regular intervals to ensure compliance with doctors prescription. A nightmare indeed.

 

Well, I finally got through to operations...my 977 mile weekend run turned into a 3 day(at least) run...so it looks like I'm going to only have 1 good week again this month for sure...boy I'm glad the recruiting department has worked so hard to over hire again right before the slow season!!!

 

Had a freaky moment last night. I'm on I80W in Ohio just prior to the rest area at mp 197...and WHACK! It sounded like a big rock shot to my windshield.

It was dark and raining and I look over to see a big blob on my windshield...someone shot my rig with a paintball gun.

I pull over, past the rest area by the time I got whoad up and call 911. Officer says they'll have someone out. A few moments later she calls back and said they have a bunch of cars and trucks shot. I talked with accidents and since there was no damage to the glass, and the rain was washing the paint off...I moved down the road after waiting a half an hour.

 

Just received notice that I am losing the Freight Shaker. At first, I said, "Darn." Then I thought......The passenger chair is loose, gutless wonder on hills because of the neutered 9nth, the 2 minute shut down causes a flooded restart, terrible off road vehicle....even with the lock,....so now I have home time to clean out the messes and then to Lincoln to what?

 

It use to be Lincoln...any more, they send you to any number of terminals that receive new trucks...unless you're gona get stuck with someone elses rejected defective junk like I normally get stuck with. You have a Century, or are they selling the Cascadia's already? How many miles you have on it?

When I was on Edwardsville IL the other day, there was a Shaffer(in a Crete International) getting routed to Lincoln because his truck was being sold out from under him...but the funny part...he was getting a jump start because the stupid thing wouldn't start. It ended up not being the batteries...but the starter going bad.

After sitting 8 hrs in Odessa TX, I finally got a load offer. Amarillo to north of Milwaukee...good miles, but it delivers Friday. 1450 miles, 5 days. Will end up with 2390ish miles for the week. When I beep my terminal manager about the overall crappy weeks lately(1 good week, 3 weeks in the 2100-2200 range) she tells me that my miles are above the company average, and if I think I can do better elsewhere, go for it. So, if anyone is reading this thinking about moving over here, if you can't live on 2200 miles per week, stay where you are until spring because it's all down hill from here. And she also said only parts of this company are going to a dedicated dispatch as far as she knows...not the entire company...so now I don't know what to believe....where did this company learn how to do things....the CIA's misinformation division....it's like talking to Sybil...you never know which personality you're dealing with.

 

Well got my prehire call yesterday. Although I have to wait til after Thanksgiving for orientation. I had open heart surgery back on Sept. 13th and the #### Dr. won't release me for work til then. I guess its for the best. Starting me at .38 a mile which sounded low with five years experience but I need a job and after sifting through all these posts, it sounded like Crete had a lot to offer. I wanted to ask anyone on here if they had had open heart surgery or knew any drivers that had the surgery. I have not hidden the fact that I am on doctor restriction until then. I just want to make sure I will get through the physical ok and what length of medical card they would issue me. I am only 33 and im in shape but family history and a birth defect has gotten me. I currently take blood thinner and blood pressure medication. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.