Crete's Asset Manager program

I'm on my second or third, in maybe 4-5 months. The process makes no sense to me. My miles suck. Overall working for crete sucks. Trying to get anything done over the phone sucks.

 

I can only compare it to my previous experience with Crete (2002-03). I remember their dispatch system as pretty seamless then. I had very little contact with those in the office (because it was unnecessary) and only spoke to my terminal manager once or twice in 1.5 years. I have been back only about four months now and honestly I still have no idea what the asset manager does. If the loads are computer dispatched with some oversight by the load planners, then what the h@ll is the AM doing? To me, it seems like some kind of intentionally planned chaos (for what purpose I don't know). I don't have a cell phone, yet the AM and also my terminal manager(s) are also frequently trying to get me to phone them instead of using the qcom. That also creates a huge hassle for me as most truck stops don't have working courtesy phones any more. Sometimes I wonder if they are doing it all to try and make it as hard as possible out here.

 

I am not having a problem with it. The AM I have is the one who was my dispatcher prior to the switch to area dispatch a few years ago. My miles have remained virtually the same for years. Yes they dipped a few years back when things got real rough, but I never went below 2100 a week average. (My terminal mgr said then the average Shaffer driver was getting 1700 wk.)

My AM told me she gets frustrated alot because she has little to do with actual dispatch, but it seems they are there to be a complaint fielder more than anything else...to provide a buffer so you can't talk to the planner. Once a pre-plan is sent, it is very difficult to get the planner to change it.

 

First AM, no. She was simply overwhelmed with the position, for which I do not fault her.

My second (and current) AM? If she ever leaves, gets promoted, or I am otherwise no longer on her board, I'll probably leave Crete. She has done everything she has promised to try to do, including getting me home for T'giving (turns out it was a must as we had a sudden and tragic death in my wife's family Monday morning). My miles went up probably close to 10% from one AM to the next.

 

I really like mine. He helps me out when I ask and has done a good job. Plus he has never yelled at me (like others ) when i call him needing a quick answer.

 

Do you know why that is? In other words, what can we as drivers do to 'coach' our AM on how to get more/better trips? I don't know if it's true, but I get the feeling my AM is someone very new, so getting whatever scraps are left over for his drivers.

 

S/S I've seen in other posts that you made the point about "preplans" actually being "postplans" ...after the delivery as it were. I don't now if my asset mgr just has no control what-so-ever over what the load planners send or if he is just overwhelmed and doesn't stay on top of things. I do know that when I had a dedicated western regional dispatcher that my miles were 3000+ every week. Once Lincoln eliminated that dispatch position however mine, and most every other western regional drivers miles went down at least 500 miles a week. There are some weeks we do better but they are few and far between. I see absolutely no improvement since the asset mgr program started. The ONLY difference I've seen is that now I deal with only one person for "admin" type stuff as opposed to talking with a different person each time at my terminal. In my opinion things were much better back when we had "load select". But what do I know?!

 

The pattern under 5 years.Like babysitter over 5 years not so much.Sounds like alot of super fleets create jobs for office workers.That hamper productive.

 

It has worked well for me. I like having a go to person rather than just whoever is there. I do wish there was more actual preplanning, but overall I do well (average around 2700/week) some better, some worse. I think that there has not been a big difference in miles, but like having a specific person to communicate with. Hope this helps.