Crete Carrier - A Year In Review - Fall 2013 Going Forward

I have a family at home too. I choose the RDO 21 day fleet because I will get my 48-72 at home when I get there. 24 hours at home is way to short. By the time you get in, sleep, hang out for a bit, you are already watching the clock thinking about when you have to leave. And if it is a school day, or your wife had to work, what good was that one day home? I will be out for 3 to 4 weeks, but will get a solid couple days to get to see them. This ain't for everybody that's for sure.

 

My normal out is 24-30 days with 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 days home depending on how long I stay out.

I spend 45-50 days out twice a year to maximize my miles during peak freight times.

I'm rdo21 and like my mini vacations each month.. I take the same vacation days off each year and run pretty close to the same schedule each year for days I'm on the road, I'm a numbers guy and I compare each year to the last and look for trends.

Iv'e done resets at the house when freight allows time and 34 just isn't enough time for me..I have projects (cars) at the house that I like to work on and I need time to do that. Building a fox body 85 capri atm

Kids are all grown up and I stay out all holidays.

 

I don't wanna go on the bashing crete thing more than necessary, but recruiters in general, everywhere, can't be trusted. I mean no offense, but you sound like you know just as much about these big companies as a guy outta school. Anything you ask a recruiter that isn't a straight, can be proven by fact, question, is gonna be tailored to what you wanna hear. I'm not saying never ask recruiters questions, because that's a big mistake too. If you wanna know about orientation, or policies, that's straight answer stuff. Expected salary, how often you get home, etc. Those answers are just going to be what you wanna hear.

Like the other guys said, the problem with regional is that it's hard to get good miles AND get home in a few days. Depending on how far away from home you get, the last few days of your time out are going to be doing, or waiting for, loads to get you home, instead of loads with miles on them. I'd suggest looking into a dedicated account where they have routes that can get you home regularly

 

I don't mind the fresh out of school comment. Ill be the first to admit, after having daily home time jobs since ive had my CDL, I do feel like a rookie. Ive never really had to trip plan, slide tandems, scale, etc.....so im not so hard headed to feel the need to get all the info I can. I also have that offer from JB Hunt....its the PPG account, hazmat, no touch, and just one customer deliveries, out 11 and home for a FULL three days every other Friday, sat, and sun...im really leaning towards that now...

 

That was the biggest issue when I was with them. Getting home was great but then the next paycheck put me farther in the hole. I currently work for JB locally but they also have a program that I think if it does well other companies should look into. They call it " 4 weeks paid vacation" you go out for 11 weeks and the 12th week is your hometime but it is paid so you do not miss a paycheck. It sounds great if you don't mind staying out that long.

 

If you stay out 3-4 weeks you should be getting a minimum of 4 and maybe 5 days at home.

 

That is going to be awesome. Perfect for what we need. Thanks Longbow.

 

I would go with JB in a minute. They get a lot of abuse in the forums but they are a pretty decent company particularly if you are going to stick with them long term.

 

Crete is not so stupid as to lose a good driver over an extra day or 2 at home. When I was there I stayed out 28-30 days and got 6-7 days off. But I was always in the top 5% of the company in terms of productivity and one of the top 2-3 drivers out of the Columbus terminal. Whenever they said anything about my home time I would simply reply with a request to get to my terminal so I could clean out my truck and turn in my keys. No yelling and shouting and name calling. No drama at all. Just a quiet request. You'd be amazed at their attitude change.

 

Who ya callin' "level headed"??

Yeah, it's been a little frustrating. The miles still seem to come out OK most of the time, and the stupidity from Lincoln tends to run in streaks. I will say that at least for the moment, my AM is the reason I'm still here. Almost flawless when it comes time to get me home. Headed to the greater Indy area now, then probably bound for SC and home by Thursday. Youngest daughter gets married Saturday.

But my ears are open....