CRETE - A Year in Review

NOW you tell me this. I accepted a TX load yesterday (like I really had a choice) and just dropped my trailer at Gen Mills today (Fri) around noon in north Forth Worth. I didn't need to have it there until tomorrow, but you know how that goes. I was going to hold up in Joplin on the way down and put in a reset (getting tight on hours) so that I would have a fresh 70hrs and wouldn't have to buck the hours for the next couple of days. But knowing how TX freight has been of late I figured it would be best to get my butt down here ASAP and put in the MT call.

I assumed there would be plenty of time to pickup a few hours once empty and I wasn't disappointed. MT call was followed my the "extreme shortage" message along with a "check back after 3pm", TOMORROW! Ugh!!

Déjà vu, I seem to recall just such a circumstance a mere two weeks ago in this very same state. I'm once again sitting at rather large Pilot (I'll get around to counting spaces when I'm really board). This place was jam packed when I pulled in at 1pm. There are a number of Crete trucks sitting here with me, but we are by no means short of company. There were no more than 5-6 spots available and this place is big, I'm guessing in the 200 parking space range.

I would like to complain about this, but I've been moving right along this week and have had virtually no down time along the way, until now that is. Sitting at 2600 miles and if I can get something either tomorrow or Sunday I should be able to hit the 3000 mark. Dare I wish for 3300.

 

Skunkmonkey wrote:

Luvtheroad wrote:

I didn't start this thread as a recruitment tool, although I am aware that it has had that effect on some people. When I came to Crete it was a direct result of the things I read on this board and others. But at that time I could only find general information about them and other companies with no real solid figures to base my decision on. I also noticed that there wasn't much information that conveyed what life was like on the road for those that were thinking about making truck driving their new carrier.

This often resulted in a newbie jumping into what they thought would be an exciting "paid vacation" while they drive around the country, sight seeing and making easy money. I hoped this thread would enlighten some of these fine folks as to what it was like living in a truck for weeks at a time while trying to support themselves and their families at home. I've read so many threads that detail their discontent and ultimate failures and wanted to show what it is really like out here.

This definitely isn't the perfect life, but it is one that suits me very well. To succeed out here you need to drive for a company that makes it possible. There are so many companies out here that truly abuse their drivers, especially in this current freight market. This thread simply shows that if you make the right choices and apply yourself you can still make a respectable living out here as long as you don't come into this line of work with unrealistic expectations. Your success ultimately relies on you and I have found that Crete supplies me with the tools to make it work for me.


I honesty think that Crete is the best OTR company as far as the big trucking companies go. Some fail here, many do not. This is the first and only company I have ever driven for that I am willing to recommend and I put my numbers on this thread to back it up. Even in these bad times I continue to cash a good paycheck and I know that I will never have to worry about this company's financial future.

Drive safe all