CRETE - A Year in Review

Crete is number 1. Top pay, low scores so we dont get pulled in for inspections much. Imo nice trucks. They are not fancy but have non idle climate controls so you sleep well. Ssb has been here longer time to help you more. I was company driver for 15 years and owner op last 7 yrs. I did my homework and pick crete.

 

Glad that it has worked out for you. Me? Different story. Increasing incompetence in Lincoln is the main, and really only issue I have, but it's a big one. Seven months I've been here. Stay out anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks at a stretch. Have yet to hit 10K miles in a month. Now, I'm sitting waiting for a load to be ready later today that delivers in NJ Wednesday morning at 0500. Got a nice 700-mile start to this week, then 600 in the next 2+ days. My biggest problem is that the people in Lincoln that we drivers have to deal with directly seem to have zero clue into the rules we have to follow, or the consequences of their actions (such as 'go here and see if they have an empty'). They don't seem to realize that things we do on a whim cost us time and earnings potential.

I went up 4 cents a mile to come here. After 7 months, I'm actually a little behind my earnings pace compared to my last position at Schneider. That just should not be.

Think long and hard about the choice you make. And good luck to you.

 

They do have a huge lack of organization here. Something as simple as preplanning BEFORE your current delivery is a tough task to do on a regular basis. I mean, we put in a PTA so they know when we're going to be available... Why is it so tough when there is available freight. Communication is improved when your A/M is in, but since they are only there from 7am to 5 pm...that leaves a bunch of time for absolutely horrific communications with the operations and/or breakdown any other time. Both of which could be resolved if they invested a few more bucks in additional personnel.

Equipment...budget, cookie cutter, generic are three descriptions that come to mind. I have driven cheaper, I have driven more expensively equipped...basically Crete is on par with the quest for mediocrity that has been one thing that goes on here daily.

 

Crete is a decent stepping stone company...not the greatest thing since sliced bread like they claim...but there are far worse companies you can start with

 

+1.........

 

SS, You have been with Crete for how long? Just curious when you say a "decent stepping stone".....what is the next step? Local/regional...O/O. Can't think of another megahauler to work for except the Orange Pumkin. You know of others?

 

Who says that a megahauler should be your next step? You will never get to the top of trucking at a mediocre company. That's the best any mega will ever be, mediocre.

 

So true. They sent me to pick up a truck that had been left at a repair shop. I've been stuck 3 days now and literally spent hours on the phone (mostly on hold) already. I used to work for Crete around 9 years ago and things seem to have changed drastically.

 

As a student, particularly one from the hiring area closest to New Kingstown, they will sell you Crete, but give you Shaffer. Then they tell you that you can go with Shaffer for anywhere from 45 days to 6 months solo (depending on who you ask), then quit and be re-hired on the Crete side. If you don't mind 2am live loads/unloads and driving in Missouri caves then you'll be ok.

Crete is a stickler for having a good background. If you got your license suspended or had an accident 25 years ago they want all the details about it, right down to the name of the little podunk town it happened in.

 

I will be here 9 years on Thanksgiving. My next company will have a head on their shoulders. In my almost 20 years, I have NEVER worked for a company so uncoordinated and disorganized than this one. Their equipment is constantly having issues (defects, issues from being under spec'd and/or under maintained) but next time they order trucks...they get the same thing. They often act as though they are flying by the seat of their pants most of the time when it comes to planning and problem resolution. Their after hours dispatch is under staffed and over worked (like most companies). Their breakdown is likewise under staffed and over worked...(like most companies). But when you talk to them about the problems most of us are having, they look at you like you are an idiot, or a boat rocker. They constantly make most of us feel like we have someone looking over our shoulder waiting on you to do something that doesn't comply with company policy, or isn't how the non-driving departments of this company feel it should have been done, and are anxious to tell you (the driver) how you screwed up. The driver isn't trusted to do their job w/o adult supervision. If there is an accident or incident, the driver is presumed guilty until proven innocent, not only by lawyers, law enforcement and the general public, but by our own company. The only things keeping me here, the above average cpm, and the fact that they have a firm financial base to keep them in business.

The advertisements and public relations here portray this company as the pinnacle of the trucking world...while the operation and overall way things are handled here day after day, week after week, are more in line with the 'just like everyone else' frame of mind.

My next company will be something like Poly. Or if my neighbor has another opportunity to work for him (4 truck operation, seafood from FL to the west coast, then produce/fruit from the west coast back to the southeast) 25-3000 miles a week, home every other weekend and un-governed, apu equipped trucks, non forced fueling locations and similar cpm to what I am getting here.

As for others next move, some would prefer local/regional or being an O/O. I have been all of the above and prefer long haul...but it all depends on the person and what type of freight and what length of haul that driver is looking for to make them happy.