CRETE - A Year in Review

Sorry to hear you had another bad week, but was it really a bad week when you get home??? Just curious, what do you do with your trainee when you do hometime?

Hometime....uh what's that. I left home 10/17. I wanted to be home the w/e before Thanksgiving, but freight to FL is unusually slow and each empty call garnered the same 'nothing available to FL'. So instead of sitting and not making anything, I opted out of hometime and kept the wheels rolling. I won't see the house until my 12/20 vacation start(or as close as freight allows me to get home)

I was having the worst month of my career. As of the week of 11/21, I had 6371 mi for all of November. But with the delivery of this load I have now, as of 11/29 - it'll top out just short of 10200. I don't know if I was picking up a little extra because so many were off on the holiday, or if it took a little time to get things in motion after my pow-wow with Lincoln, or if I just stole(excuse me, borrowed) a little of ET's good luck... In any case, I will not complain, I'll take it while it lasts. This load delivers anytime Sat in Romeoville, IL. with 1061 mi. to start off a w/e. I have been doing things bass-akwards from the way I use to. (mostly because of the way the loads worked out, not by choice) Every load I did last week, I was using most of my hours to make the delivery and then finding a parking place for a break, or using what hours I had left to head towards my next p/u. Instead of my usual get as close a I can the night before, break, then deliver. What ever works I guess. It feels good to be tired from running for a change, instead of tired from sitting. I also have been getting weekly msg's thanking me for my 100% compliance to my fueling solutions(not that I deviate from them very often anyway), and for keeping my idle time down...(with an apu it isn't hard, I think I am at 5.2% now). It is nice to be noticed for something good, instead of only being noticed for doing something wrong.

I did hear on the ole' XM that USxpress is putting a hiring freeze in effect for 6 mos. And that anyone (management included) making over $70K will be taking a pay cut. I also heard on the Nemo show, that YRC (Yellow/Roadway) is in very bad shape. Analysts say if things don't improve soon, they may be out of business by spring. They just recapitalized some debt, so they can stay afloat a while longer.... man...Crete is looking better and better... glad they didn't give me the boot for my bad boy behavior... Will try to tread lightly and keep my hat in my hands... And be thankful I have a job with a company that has no debt. After all, even with things at their worst for me the past year, it still beats not having a job.

(what's this, another Snackbar post w/o a complaint?????? Weird!!!!)

OK, Creepy time is over...
C'yall

 

hmmm, well ET for ur safety lets hope he won't fall asleep at the wheel that quickly! ... and with more companies going under that should open up more freight 4u guys .. anyway that's the way it is when the economy turns sour, the big will get bigger or get a bailout!

 

ET I live in FL when a good time to put in for home time for dec?
is xmas time really slow?
should i put in at the start of the month,middle or end..
dosent really matter if im home or not for xmas (to me anyhow...lol) i just want to try to stay on when the freight is best and try not to take to much of a beating sitting around...any ideas?

 

I just spent my first Thankgiving week as a truckdriver up in the northeast. I had to go from Macon, GA to Foxboro, MA. The first route I chose went through (or near) NYC and Jersey. At the last minute I chose to go more north through Richmond, VA, Washington, DC and Baltimore and that was bad enough. On tuesday I witnessed a backup of at least 30 miles or so on the other side of just holiday traffic.

 

The majority of my trucking school class went there and seem to be happy.

 

Each terminal may be different, but the one I was out of(Tifton) asked for atleast a weeks notice before your requested hometime date. I always liked to give them 2 weeks early or more.

 

Does not matter where a driver lives. All home time request must follow same proceedure. That is a 5-7 day advance notice.

After your initial notice, I recommend you follow each empty call with a canned msg #15 as a reminder.

P.S. This last week I ran 3344 miles. Will leave home after church tomorrow heading to GA from SO TEX. Will deliver either late Monday pm or early am Tuesday. This will still give me 2069 miles for a Holiday week. During which I was home 3 days. My previous three weeks (before the 3344 week) were all at or above 3000 miles. I thank God daily! Especially after reading what others have endured. And as an o/o, I always keep my ears open for other, more profitable, opportunities. I'm still here!

 

Snackbar, I'm starting to think that when you were abducted a couple weeks ago you were either brainwashed or had a microchip implanted in your scull.

 

Snorelord,

Thanks for the feedback.

Take care and hope your are home for Christmas,

CaptK