The Decline Of Crete Carrier

That would put your pay at about 45 1/2 cents per mile. Not bad.

58, 000 ÷ 127, 000 = .456

 

I was at $.44/mile, but there is the extras(detention, breakdown, short pay etc.) that made a little more. And I can't remember exactly, but I also rec'd a profit sharing of around $1500 into my retirement fund.

 

Here is the deal I worked there 5 years and yes if you never go home you can make decent money. However as for those claiming to average 2500-3000 miles per week I don't believe them. While you can get 3000 miles some weeks but the week you go home you are going to be lucky to hit 2,000 miles. Also to get 2500-3000 miles every week means you never got stuck with a short haul of under 200 miles. It was my experience that your first load after coming off home time was usually a short haul that had been left at a drop yard.
Do the math if you are out 28 days on an elog and get the 11,000 miles some claim that means you averaged 400 miles per day. If you had even 3 short hauls of 200 miles during that time you would have to have 3,000 mpw the rest of the time in order to hit that number.
In order to hit the 125,000 miles per year some claim on an elog your truck never broke down all your PM's were done in less than a day and you never burned a bunch of hours sitting in traffic.Plus you averaged 57mph on an elog in a 62mph truck.

 

Now they are busy installing Drivecams in the trucks. I don't mind the drivecam, I don't trust CRETE to deal with the information the drivecam provides fairly, or rationally.

'You were picking your nose while you were driving and that meteor hit your trailer. You should have had both hands on the wheel. You're fired!'

 

I was under the impression the cam only activates in the event of a high G situation.

its not just sitting there watching you.

 

If it's going to be any use at all, it needs to be activated before the point of impact in order to get a more accurate record of the cause of the crash.

 

The Drivecam is set up like most normal dashcams, meaning it constantly records segments of video and audio, then re-records over them unless something triggers it to be saved, and sent into the drivecam office for review.
I forget the exact figure, but every time the drivecam is triggered to save/send, it sends the ten seconds before the event, and the ten seconds after. (may be 8)
There is also a button you can push to manually save/send a video.
The video goes to some BS office staffed by 'experts' who are employed by Drivecam, they review the video an audio, make some evaluation, then forward it to Crete, where we have more geniuses looking at it.

The drivecam works 24/7. Even when the truck is parked.

One lens is facing the driver. You better have your seatbelt on not be doing something else other than acting alert and paying attention if the drivecam gets triggered.

It's not likely they will spy on you in your sleeper, but there are all sorts of perves and idiots in this world. Crete makes a big fuss about it not intruding on our privacy. Don't make that 400 pound lot lizard break dance inside of your cab while you are parked at the truck stop! I don't know how sensitive the gsensor thing is, but I'll guess it's about as reliable as the stupid onguard system.

They claim all Crete trucks will have them eventually.

Hey, why not switch to Automatics? You could then go around the truck driving schools, hand out fingerless gloves, ballcaps, hi-vis vests, and tell the future truckers 'Come work for CRETE, we will make you a STAR! You don't even need to know how to shift a manual transmission! CRETE There is no shortcut to success! (Our roads don't even go there)'

 

And the wonder why no one wants to work for them anymore

 

I'll tolerate a camera that activates in certain high-g situations. If it's on constantly, I'll be gone as well. Feb. 7th is my two-year mark, and I've been rolling good with a truck that has had minimal issues. But the constantly activated camera would be the death knell for my stay at Crete.

 

We had one when our daughter was learning to drive. Technically it is always on in a less than 60 second loop, constantly recording over itself. When there is an event it saves the loop at 30 seconds before and 30 seconds after the event. (Whatever timeframes it is programmed for 20/10, 30/30). The saved loop, triggered by an event is sent via a cellular modem sometime in the next 24 hr
There is no access to monitor you except by the 60 second or less sent to the company after an event.
We experienced some false triggers on ours. There was a driveover curb we frequented that would send a short video loop of nothing happening.
It is these false triggers that most likely are allowing the company to see when a driver has blocked the interior cameras view.
The company can't checkup on you,,,there has to be an event even if it is a pothole you couldn't avoid.