CRETE - A Year in Review

I'm with ya. Call a broker and ask about a short term policy. Three, six, or nine month plans are offered by a few carriers, depending on the state.

More than one way to skin that cat!

 

Wow. A first for me, 2 consecutive preplans at once. Never had 2 loads at a time before. Is this an anomaly, or portent of good news? Any one else had this pleasant experience?

 

That's cool...where are ya picking up from? I'm delivering a Menards load now in Gurnee I'll and hope I can get something in the morning.

 

I've gotten preplans lately instead of offers. Will be empty and waiting on a load offer and up pops a preplan. Not sure if it has something to do w/the asset manager system or just so many new people in the office.

I am still having major delay issues w/this stupid cell-based q/comm. I found out that it is using the Sprint cell network. I have found that if I haven't received a message from Lincoln in a reasonable time after I ask a question or do empty call and I just send something (fuel level or mileage msg) that it makes the stupid thing reconnect to the network and receive any messages that are in the que. I have been using msg 0 and just hitting the space bar 1 time, then sending. The fewer number of characters, the cheaper it is to send. But, my asset manager gets a blank msg and gets confused. I have explained it to him why I am doing it, but he doesn't seem to understand what I am talking about.

I did get real grumpy with Lincoln about the many issues I'm having with both my, as Jdzr called it in Poly's thread, my cornfield Caddy and this p.o.s. q/comm. My jake is almost useless....when it feels like working, it slows me great. However keeping it working is another story, decending a hill, I will get it to work....then it'll cut in and out, in and out all the way to the bottom. Then other times, it works w/o a problem. My stutter has almost caused it to stall on takeoff now, and this A.D.D. issue with the OnGuard and cruise control the latest ecm upgrade caused had made this truck's cruise control almost unusable when there is moderate traffic around. Add in the q/comm zoning out and it has caused me to offer to take my 2 million mile butt to a company that can put a decent piece of equipment on the road. Crete's solution..........................inform an op's manager as to my equipment problems....errr excuse me? I had a VP try to fix it...what is a lowly op's manager gona do that a VP can't do.

The other day, I got a piddly load from Breinigsville to Suitland, MD (one of the last exits in MD going around D/C, inside the beltway). After empty, and with no place to park except in the customers tiny driveway, I get the dreaded 'no freight' msg. After a while, I get a preplan, that I can't do because of the pu time is at the end of my 14 and there wasn't enough time to even split a break...so I give it a no, and tell them why. And my asset manager asks if I refused pplan on purpose, if so have to say why...so I re-tell him why and the pplan is pulled. Then the customer gets busy, and I have to move. 30 miles up I95 to the next rest area. Once stopped, I get another message about short freight. I told them that I had to move, and that I hope any freight that appears is from north of town otherwise I just wasted a 60 mile oor round trip in a 6 mpg truck w/4.09 a gallon fuel for nothing. 2 minutes later, the same pplan is sent, w/the same pu time....duhhhh. I msg back that the pu time was still at my 14, traveling north didn't alter the space/time continum... And that the same 'nagbook'(exactly what I called it) would still show me over hours before I could even get loaded. So I couldn't pu unless they will let me park there. Now, this is happening at noon, the load pu at 2000, 130 miles away, and my asset manager asked if I could put in a break and still make the pu on time....do they even teach people how to tell time in Nebraska schools?

I did have an unusual situation happen last week. With all the "don't go in early" loads we've had lately, I've not been showing excessively early to even live unload deliverys. When I delivered into Super Valu in Hopkins, MN (Minn/St.Paul area) last week, I was 20 min early. Plenty of time to wait my turn and get checked in by my scheduled appointment time. I had the receiving office guy grump at me because I wasn't early enough.... Which goes to prove....in trucking you could crap the world a solid gold turd....and get grumped at because you didn't wipe it off!!!

 

First leg, Armadillo to Lafayette. Second, Lafayette to Atlanta. The cool thing was I delivered to Armadillo and picked up at same customer.

 

Yeah, I've noticed all the pplan loads on the blue side too.. my asset manager has been here a while, so maybe its a new system we are switching too. I dropped a nice Florida load in greensboro yesterday, so an o/o could go home.. only to be teased. I got a 998 miles, 5 stop load with 248 dh miles on it.. that finaled in Michigan Tuesday morning.... I was given this load with 2 hours on my crappy recap left for the day... Instead.. I'm taking a 34 and doing a 130 mile shag.. with no pplan. Overall, I've been seeing better miles but i have a chance to run a regional position at home with 5 out, 2 home... So I believe I will be saying goodbye to crete as it will take care of my family plus the one on the way... Plus who doesn't wanna be home two days a week but still make 45-50 a year?

 

Hey jman!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

DM disregard my PM. Just read this.

 

Hey, if any blue sided people are on here, I just checked Facebook and now we not only allow our asset manager to do home time but vacation as well.. it seems each day we are phasing out the terminal manager and replacing them with the asset managers. Miles are staying good and i gotta give Mike mimic a big thanks.. he is watching my miles and helping to make me more productive... Something someone has forgot to do for a while now.. so i might end up staying.. I think if I left, I would miss my cpm, my cascadia, my vacation and insurance....

 

When do you get the 2nd week?