The Decline Of Crete Carrier

I can honestly say that I have worked in the transportation industry longer than a lot of the people posting on this site have probably been alive. So, yes, I am really old LOL. I'll try to keep it short. I started out as a file clerk and have done every job in the industry except be a professional truck driver. I've been a sales person, terminal manager, brokerage employee, and been in operations both LTL and TL. I have been in management, been a capacity manager and a carrier advocate. I've worked in union and non-union enviornments. When I was in operations, my drivers respected me because I tried to be fair with everyone. Every posistion that I ever had I tried to do the best job possible.
This is a VERY brief summary of my experience in the industry. This being said, it certainly does NOT make me an expert nor have I ever implied that I am.
Lastly, I can drive a truck, but I am not a professional driver. I am going to a local community college to sharpen old skills. And, no, I can not back LOL.
Again, NOT an expert, just a concerned person who still has a passion for this industry.
My husband was a city and otr driver for almost 30yrs. No tickets (luck) and no accidents. Again, probably some luck, but also skill is involved. Don't know how many million miles he drove and without an accident. He doesn't profess to be any kind of an expert either..
So, here we are, two people with regard and respect for an industry that provided us and millions of others with the ability to have a good lifestyle for ourselves and our families.
PS Did I mention that we weren't experts??? LOL

For those of you who took the time to read this, thank you. I am always open to debate. Keep up the excellent posts.

Stay safe...

 

I have been a driver with Crete for 3 1/2 years now and this thread was brought to my attention by a friend so I registered here.

I will start off by saying that I have worked for several of the major trucking outfits over the years (like U.S. Xpress, Paschall Truck Lines, and Schneider National to name a few) and about the only thing different about any of them is the color their trucks are painted and the decals that go on them. Crete eventually proved to be just like all of the rest.

As a driver who didn't request to go home very often I was able to make myself available to run hard, make some serious money, and surpass financial goals that I had. I found myself to be very happy working for Crete not long after I started.

In the early summer of 2008 when fuel prices were spiking upward the Acklie Companies began cutting the governed speed of their fleet trucks down from 65 to 62 MPH. While that didn't bother me at first, I then thought about the fact that our per-mile pay compensation wasn't adjusted. For someone like myself- a veteran driver being paid $.44/mile and running down the highway that would translate into a $1.32/hour pay cut. Ever since, fuel prices have dropped and our trucks are still set at 62 MPH.

Since August of 2008 I saw a rapid decrease in the available freight the company had- but meanwhile the company STILL kept hiring drivers and filling up Orientation Classes at every terminal week after week. I used to road test new hires whenever I stopped in at a terminal and had time to kill but out of protest I flat-out refuse to do that any more.

The freight levels progressively got worse into the fall months. After a while many of us would find ourselves waiting for as long as 2-3 days after delivering a load before our Qualcomm units would beep with a load offer. then, we would maybe go about 500- 700 miles before sitting for another 2-3 days. This has been a very bad problem in the southeast and east coast regions lately.

With all of us sitting around and waiting for loads for long periods, we're often forced to idle our trucks for climate control and to keep the batteries charged. Then, our Fleet Managers began to whine about idle time, especially when many of us saw it as high as 50- 70% every week. I quickly reminded them that if the company had been wise and temporarily ceased hiring to balance out its driver pool with its current existing freight volume so their existing drivers could stay busy then the high idle times would NOT be an issue.

I pointed out the problem and offered a viable solution from this letter to Tonn Ostegard in which I outlined it but as expected, I got no response:

I know in my own mind that I tried to be patient and attempted to make a difference. Now I strongly believe it's time to move on.

 

Hi Capt.,
Your name is familiar from another site. Welcome to this one neighbor (I live in NW SA. You may have seen my trk, maroon Internationl # 3**5).

I went to a meeting in Wilmer last month, and many of the issues you raised in your letter were addressed.

There has been a hiring freeze of O/O's in affect since the first of the year. Company drivers are hired only to fill those seats that have been vacated due to health, safety, and turnover issues. They are not growing the fleet.

I realize that continuing to hire drivers for the above reasons does not meet your expectations, however, managments reasoning is that keeping the fleet at current level will allow Crete to be in a position to capitalize when freight turns around. Be that through an increase in volume or a decrease in the number of companies hauling freight. As a businessman myself, this is a logical stratagy to take.

Crete is a financialy solid company, and will be around long after financialy leveraged companies bite the dust.

Here's a tip. The refridgered side of the industry has already seen a turnaround. However, one big company is about to close it's door, which should generate even more miles for the refrigerated segment. So, maybe you should consider the Shaffer side of the company, or another reffer carrier. As for me, I like dry van and will stay put for now.

 

Please give us some hints on who this is. No names just what they drive, and a poosible location.

Pretty certain it won't be my company, since we posted a profit, in the last qtr of 2008

 

Experienced, yes, but an expert, no... No matter how up to date you may think you are, you can never be an expert. There is always someone out there who knows more than you do.

 

So your saying that I could go outside and grab someone with life experience off the street and plop them behind the wheel, and they would be able to do the job?

Well heck, lets close all the schools down and fire all the driver trainers if thats the case.

I have watched enough episodes of ER to know about doctors, but I ain't gonna go put on some scrubs and pretend I know what it is like to have someones life in my hands.

So no, I would say that a opinion derived from life's experiences does not count as much as a opinion derived from actually doing the day to day job. But one is still entitled to their opinion.

 

Before I say anything else, have you read this thread from the very beginning? Because if you had you would know where and why all this started and why that quote was made and why I was asked about my experience and my husband's. The statement was not intended to be interpeted the way you did. If you want more detail about this I will be only too glad to provide it.

 

Also, if you had bothered to read or even look at my profile, you would see that I am a former driver and have also spent time in other aspects of the industry.