crete assessment

for those drivers considering coming to work for crete carrier this is my assessment of the company.

Pros:

financially stable company

good pay per mile (37-41 cents starting, up to 47 cents top pay)

blue cross/blue shield health insurance

newer equipment

$100 a day breakdown pay after 12 hours (must be approved by home terminal)

$100 a day layover pay, not caused by freight shortage (again with home terminal approval)

trans-flo trip documents

$125 cash advance twice weekly for company incurred expenses

ez pass

reimbursement for tolls (if included in routing)

reimbursement for scale tickets

arrangement with petro and t/a for oil changes, trailer inspections, minor repairs, etc.

e-logs (both good and bad)

safety conscious

do not micro-manage once you're on a load




Cons:


very strict rules!

mostly short freight east of the mississippi river, including the northeast

1800-2000 miles weekly ($40,000 probably average yearly income)

trucks governed at 62 mph

no using cell phone while operating the vehicle, even hands free (no exceptions)

no additional riders except spouse or younger children

no pets

no inverters over 400 watts (i.e. no refrigerators, micro-waves, tv's, etc.)

paid on practical miles (typically on average 7% less than actually hub miles)

must pass rigid physical agility/endurance test (lift and carry 70 lbs. over a distance several times while on a heart monitor, treadmill, pushing, bending, etc.) not hard if you're in good shape but many applicants fail at this stage

sleep apnea testing for some applicants (body mass/weight index) and night-time oxygen machine required

some rude and bullying dispatchers (although crete is instituting a new asset (driver) manager program to help increase driver productivity and satisfaction)

must follow routing and fuel stops

operations personal ignore or don't read messages fully. will wait sometimes hours (or forever) for a response to questions sent to operations or breakdown (this is one of the biggest complaints drivers have with crete. they have an issue that needs to be addressed, whether it's out of hours at a customer and they are told they must leave and they cannot drive legally, or they are broken down and need assistance). Often you will answer a question on the qualcom from operations and have to pull over an hour later and do it all again, as if you never sent the 1st response.

very impersonal (must qualcom everything, calling in discouraged)

often there seems to be no common sense involved in the running of the company (probably typical of most large carriers)


5 years ago crete used to be the premier company to work for, but with the recession and other factors (accidents, lawsuits, etc.) it lost it's standing. I think they are trying to put in place policies that will make it the number 1 company again. only time will tell. i hope this helps those considering coming to crete.