My time at Crete...

Discussion in 'Crete' started by chowick1966, Jan 4, 2010.

  1. chowick1966

    chowick1966 Medium Load Member

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    Sep 19, 2007
    Bloomington,IL
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    Decided to stick it out with Crete. Reasons are quite a few when I sat down and thought hard about it.
    1. 'Better the devil you know' - Speaks for itself really....I've been here over 3 years now the fact is I know the freight and a lot of the p/u and drops...makes things a touch easier! Plus do I REALLY want to go through another orientation again, a week or to with no pay,getting to know a whole bunch of new and different ways to do things?
    2. 0.42/mile currently,not sure I would get too close at too many other places.
    3. I've been in this truck over a year now.
    4. Two weeks vacation.
    5. My new Asset Manager is really easy to work with.
    6. Been getting good miles without too much sitting lately.
     
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  3. grusco

    grusco Light Load Member

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    Feb 25, 2012
    Rosemount, MN
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    Hello Cho!
    Been reading through the thread on your time at Crete from the beginning. Very informative thank you. I go to Lincoln Monday for orientation. Been driving tankers in the North Dakota oil fields for the past six months. Since I haven't a year otr they're putting me with a trainer for 3 weeks after orient. I spent a couple months otr/team with Schneider and like the otr. Your thread has been realistic and I haven't any thoughts of unicorns and rainbows as I start. I know the hours are long (I worked 12 to 14 in the oil fields) but if the miles are there I believe it will be good. Look forward to your continued posts here. BTW, how do you power your computer, small inverter or straight from dc in truck?
     
  4. chowick1966

    chowick1966 Medium Load Member

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    Sep 19, 2007
    Bloomington,IL
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    Thursday was my last day at Crete. This past week finally decided my future direction. I broke down at Battle Creek,MI. They had me towed from there to Jackson,MI (45 miles and on a race weekend) despite the fact that there is an International dealer in Kalamazoo,MI not more than 20 miles away. So that cost them over $700 in towing fees (around $350 more than it really should have done had they had me towed to Kalamazoo). Sat in a motel in Jackson for 3 days then on Friday they decided they were not going to pay the increased rates for race weekend (from $50 rising to $166). I suggested that they (or even myself) rent a car until the Friday so I can get my long past due hometime and save them a few $ into the bargain....simple,right? Evidently not. The departments who then got involved with this would make the federal government look on with frank admiration. I contacted breakdown,they then had me contact my Asset Manager who then had me contact my Terminal Manager who then contacted Tractor Assignments who decided that it was better to have take a CAB to Kalamazoo,MI (75 miles and $175) pick up another truck drive back to Jackson get my stuff out of my (old) truck (which as anyone who has driven OTR knows can take half a day!!) and transfer it to the new truck. Nuts!!! So they ended up spending $175 on a cab, lost another day of driving simply because????? who knows......

    So I finally decided enough was enough and handed my notice in,worked a full week and start at Gordon Trucking on Monday.
     
  5. izifaddag

    izifaddag Medium Load Member

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    Apr 26, 2010
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    I worked at Crete for 3 and a half years. I can define them in one single word,
    INFLEXIBLE.
    You are nothing to them. Very unimportant. Merely a cog in a big machine. I bought one of their trucks and they f'd me about with that too. I took it though and then left. I do not know how many times I told them I was going to pay cash and this idiot called Phillips was in shock when it finally sunk in. In other words everything I had said was ignored. Even objected to me taking the truck to Omaha to have an oil sample done. Really angry. Lied about a conversation that had taken place 4 months before. Just outright lied through his teeth. Refused to let me have the service record saying it was confidential. Unbelievable! You are standing there gripping $40,000 in cash and he wouldn't give the service record. Mental !!
    Crete then did me out of several thousand dollars. If that was not bad enough they then proceeded to write me a letter every week for over a year wanting a further $26 out of me. So that is 26c for the stamp for at least 52 weeks. Do the math. Laughable. I moved and for all I know they are still sending letters 4 years later.
    INFLEXIBLE.
    Bear all this in mind if you wish to work for them.
    On 2 occasions I had to say where do you want me to park the truck. Both times they had started a game of chicken and both times I won.
    Here is the sad thing though. I have come to the conclusion that if you are bound and determined to be a company driver Crete is probably the top of the tree. It isn't going to be better anywhere else. That really isn't saying much is it?
     
  6. rokue

    rokue Heavy Load Member

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    Nashville,TN
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    All trucking companies are alike they all suck its just some are better.
     
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  7. Bama Roadrunner

    Bama Roadrunner Light Load Member

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    Jul 19, 2015
    North Alabama
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    I see where they take students where was the training and orientation? How is the training program?
     
  8. izifaddag

    izifaddag Medium Load Member

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    Give 'em a call Bama Roadrunner.
    I started with them in November '08. At that time they only accepted trainee drivers out of 2 schools. One in Lincoln, NE and one in Marietta, GA.
    That changed.
    While I was waiting to take possession of my truck in January 2012 I got talking to a new guy. Turns out that they now accept (or at that time they did) trainees from any reputable school.
    So called Crete 'trainers' are or were not trainers in the traditional Swift / Werner / CRE mold.
    No.
    They were really there just to sit with guys like myself for a few weeks. I had been with CRE for 6 months, breaking back into the industry with zero intention of staying with them. Prior to CRE I already had my CDL and a years experience 12 years prior.
    So I had a babysitter for 4 weeks and then sailed off on my own. No problem. It was merely a formality.
    At the time I left in 2012, Crete seemed to be going through a change. They were morphing from a large but supposedly personal trucking company (or so they liked to kid everyone) into a more Swift like entity. Complete with so called training.
    Maybe they are training like crazy now. For what it is worth if they are I think they will probably make a much better job of it than say Werner or (god forbid) CR England.
    Good luck.
     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2017
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