Crete Carrier Corporation - Lincoln, Ne.?

Hey all,
So far I have recived some great information on good and bad companies,
Today I just signed on with crete, I have'nt heard anything that bad about them, so I am wondering if i made a good chocie.
Thanks for all the help.

 

I would be interested in your replies here and any experience you may have when you start. I could not find a way to pm you.

I have two prehires, the only two I wanted. I have not decided which company yet nor have I started school. I plan to do that in the next 2-4 weeks depending on which company I go with. Crete is one and I just visited their facility in Lincoln last week. Road my bike there from Az.

I will share what I have learned and heard if you get back with me.

 

Forever, if you check other threads on Crete I am sure you will find that they are considered one of good companies to work for.

 

Yes,I work there.You wont be sorry.Good pay.

 

JCN, that's some dedication.

I drove for Crete for nearly a year, and they were one of the best companies I drove for in my "career". They were definitely far and away the best company that had Q-Comm units installed. I had some issues with them, but they were worth working for. They were far above being simply "worth it", in fact.

One problem I had with CCC was lack of hometime. I was based out of the Salt Lake City terminal, and it seemed CCC's dispatch would forget that fact quite often. I can remember going out on tours and not returning for weeks. My record was 49 days straight, a tour that saw me east of Denver for about 44 of those days. After I pulled that 49 days, I signed on with their western fleet and started seeing my home about once a week. Sometimes I saw home as much as three times a week. But understand I took a pay cut of 3 cents per mile.

Another problem I had with CCC was with the map miles/hub miles discrepency. At the end of my time with those guys, I had driven probably three paychecks worth of free miles for them. Supposedly they've eliminated this problem, though. They pay "practical" miles instead of Rand McNally these days, at least that is what I hear.

Even though these issues were burning, I liked Crete a lot. This is because I had worked for Swift back when I first started and remembered that experience all too well. Yeah, it definitely takes a bad company to appreciate a good one. And Crete is a good one. Go with them. You'll find a home with those guys for years, which is the way it should be.

 

Forever, hope this helps you and I apologize for my questions on your thread. Hope we can both learn something.

Tip, I have read your post here and you seem to be honest and objective. I do not want to reinvent the wheel so have read many boards thoroughly for several months now. Crete and CFI are my two choices and which one I choose will determine which school I will attend. Can you give any good or bad points on CFI as well here. I have been accepted by both.

Forever and Tip, I have spoke to a few and read many posts on Crete's paid miles and it appears the practical miles has been good for drivers. In fact I seldom hear anything but positive statements about the actual and paid miles. I guess you know the practical miles started late last year I believe. I was told that Crete has some snobbery at the corp level and at the terminals. Arrogance is the word that was used. I have noticed it myself when calling the Phx terminal when instructed to do so by a Crete driver. I have heard some bad about the previous and current manager in Dallas also. I do not know how big a thing that would be for me though as I will work from the Phx terminal and I guess little time is spent in the terninals anyway. I did find the Crete corp office to be very friendly in Lincoln. My recruiter not only gave me a facility tour but gave me breakfast on the house as well as a ball cap. The cafeteria was nice and friendly also. I must temper that with she is a recruiter. The interesting thing though is when I was searching, many other companies recruiters were not friendly, would not return calls as stated and always full of bs. I did not find that with Crete recruiting. Tip, you also mention home time which I am also concerned about. I do not mind staying out longer, especially at first. But I have appointments that must be met every 6 months or so and I see little Crete traffic here in Tucson. I visit the TTT and there are always many CFI trucks there and the drivers very happy, lots of miles and some live here with no problems, I have yet to see a Crete truck there and I notice few on I-10. When coming back from my trip I noticed many more Crete trucks on I-40, even more than CFI. Can you give any experience or knowledge on Crete traffic through Tucson. The last I would like to know is the trainers with Crete, do you have any knowledge of that or expierence. With 8 weeks in a small area with another man is very concerning especially if the interest level is different. I believe Crete will allow a trainer change if you do not like the first one. I have read some real horror stories on trainers with other companies, but little with Crete. I expect they are generally more professional.

Thanks for the assistance in helping me with the best choice of two fine companies.

 

just my $.02 worth but I bet, although they have 48 state authority, Crete runs primarily east of the Rockies.

 

Thanks to all who gave good advice about this company, i know there is no perfect company you are going to put up with bs anywhere you go. When i worked for werner i talked with a crete driver and said it was a night and day diffrence, great people, lots of drp and hook, I guess we will see when i get there. At least its a step up from werner i was with them for almost 4 years what a joke that company is but at least i got good experiance. I will give a update soon as come back from my frist trip.
Thank you all for the time, and help.
Forever Free
AKA Justin

 

JCN, I'd still go with Crete. If you need to get home only infrequently, CCC won't be a problem for you. They WILL get you home when you need to, especially after you've been away from your home terminal for a few weeks.

Hard Rock is right in his post. Most Crete runs are east of the big hills. Denver is about as far west as you'll come unless you're with your trainer or on home-terminal run.

Speaking of trainers, I can't really make a call on those. I was with only one trainer for three weeks, and he was #### good. I think the other trainers there are fine, though, as CCC has strict requirements for trainers. If they were slack with their requirements like Swift and Werner are, inexperienced guys would be training.

CFI will be better for you to go with if you really need to get hometime, but you really should go with CCC if getting home is not an issue. Besides, you can always sign onto CCC's western regional fleet later if you need to. This fleet is the main reason Crete trucks mostly stay east of Denver--the western fleet guys handle most of the western runs. Just remember that if you sign onto the western fleet, you will take pay cut....and I think it's around 8-10%.

Let me know what you do.

 

Hey, you guys going to Crete save a spot over there for me. I've been telling everybody and everybody's uncle to go there, so I may not have a slot open for myself when I decide to make my move. I guess I'd better make it soon.

I wonder if CCC still has its newbie training in Lincoln? I may have to actually go back to a school. Insurance companies, insurance companies, insurance companies.