CRETE - A Year in Review

thanks for the feedback jimbob...i heard there were some decent folks at the gboro terminal, which is only 20 minutes from me so that might help. also the fact that i wont be otr, just that out for 6 days then home for 1.5 to 2. Anything is better than where im at now (put in two week notice a week ago) it was a flatbed job hauling lumber but i was home everyday and off weekends, BUT i was only getting 25 to 30 hours per week at 14.85 per hour..do the math lol...i would rather be home everyday, but i gotta young family and you gotta do what ya gotta do....shaffer will be good to me im sure, if i carry my load so to speak

 

I've noticed something new in the new showers at Peelots. Aux plugs and a speaker in the ceiling so you can plug an mp3 or streaming audio smartphone. Now, not only can people blast the chrome off your truck with their over-bassed music as they sit in the parking lot, they can blast it while they shower...or maybe I shouldn't complain. Perhaps it will encourage some of these stinky ######## to shower more often...

 

And ya'll won't believe this...I passed a Poly truck, not once, not twice but 3 times...well 2 times by myself, and once when he was getting off the interstate. My mighty Maxxfarce blew him off the road. (maybe because he was heavy, and I had a whopping 15,000 lbs). But it did make me feel like a big truck on the uphill side at least. Poly truck 3570...how ya doin?

 

I wish you all the success possible...although jimbob's experience was only a couple years, my 1st few years were enjoyable (except when they refused to pay an on the job injury that cost me 2 months off w/o pay, or payment of the medical bills, plus the pain of learning how to walk with 1 less muscle in my left leg). It wasn't until I max'd out on the per mile when the spit hit the fan. But even at their worst, it still beats what you showed for your last job. Although the Crete side's miles are better, I'm not sure they would have the same 6 day out(rdo6) shift available.

 

yeah im not looking to be with them forever, i would like to put my hazmat and tanker endorsement to use lol ( i got it back in may ) i had a interview with kenan a month ago and ive called them back like 6 times asking for the latest info...aparently they research the heck out of every driver. but like you said, what im making at my job now is a joke, im sure shaffer will do me alot better. let me ask you a question....on cretes website, they are showing the same fleet ( 6 on 1.5 to 2 off) should i call crete monday and switch over from shaffer? my orientation isnt even till the 28th...if there all the same company so to speak, would they even care?

 

They are kinda the same company, but your primary freight base is with the company you hire with...only hauling the other's freight occasionally. I'm a Crete driver, the last Shaffer load I hauled was right after Christmas in 2012. You might call Crete's recruiting and ask which would be best. But on the national fleet, right now the Crete's miles are better, I'm not sure what the rdo6 fleets are averaging.

 

Similar situation for me as well. I was home nightly and off weekends as well, but for the past two and half months I was only getting one to two of my scheduled four loads of the day, and sometimes getting cancelled outright for the whole day. It was like having a part time instead of full time position. I'm not going to Crete/Shaffer, but a small carrier near my house that runs NE regional with an out one to two nights, home one type of schedule. Still, I'm going to miss my normal day shift schedule, and am going through a bit of "buyer remorse" at the moment.

 

the buyers remorse is to be expected....like you, sometimes i would be cancelled outright for the whole day...im like wtf? I am however, waiting on a background check to come through with another company, other than shaffer/crete....its a mon thru fri job, home every day position. there hiring 4 guys total, two of which will leave at 2 am and the other two guys will leave at 8 am. we will leave winston salem with a preloaded trailer, drive to lebanon tn, switch the trailers out with other drivers (kind of a relay) take their trailer empty and head back to winston. so ill be getting almost 50 hours a week and overtime after 40 hrs. AND they are bringing in 2013 Mack trucks...so im pretty pumped. the only diff. is i havent had a 53 foot dry van behind me since early 2006, ive been used to 48' flatbeds, so ill be to be a little careful on my roadtest watching my turns a little more..shouldnt be too bad...

 

The world has officially turned on it's side. Southern Cali(San Diego) is below freezing, I'm in Austintown, OH...and I woke up to 62 degrees at 6 a.m.

 

It's just like falling off a bike...once you've learned how, it comes back to you quick. I started out 20 years ago pulling 42' chicken trailers and flatbed or 60 ton walking beam gooseneck trailers. Then I started w/Silver Eagle/Arnold pulling 53's....took me all of 5 minutes. It took me longer to get use to the 9 speed in the road test truck than pulling a bigger trailer. At the chicken plant I learned to drive a macksadyne 5 speed, and once in a while a 9 speed in an L9000 Ford.