CRETE - A Year in Review

Folks, I'm just curious....

Dont take this the wrong way, and this is not in any way directed at anyone here, but ..... What company DOES "care about their employees"?

I worked umpteen years in corporate He11, I spent umteen years in the Marine Corps (still in, back in Okinawa right now), I've worked for little companies here and there..... Every company I've ever worked for, even at the executive level, I have not found ONE who put their employees feelings and needs over the need for the company to stay solvent. The Marine Corps doesnt give a rats ### about individual Marines, New Century Mortgage didnt really care about their employees, including me, MindSpring (which turned into EarthLink), as fun as it was working there, especially pre-merge with EarthLink, still had a it's priorities directed at the customer and the company bottom line, which I would expect. Even my own Health Insurance Brokerage has a priority of staying solvent and covering it's expenses before I get to put money in my pocket during bad sales weeks...

So, whenever people tell me that "Company A doesnt care about their drivers", I personally take it with a grain of salt, because I would rather them worry about keeping the business afloat so that I have a job tomorrow, rather than really "caring" about me. Obviously, they aren't going to make any money if freight is not moving. If freight is moving, drivers are moving it, and drivers make some money by moving it.

I'm willing to bet you that not only are DRIVERS sweating about the lack of freight, but I'd be willing to bet my left family jewel, that those folks in the office are sweating also. No freight, no company. Wouldnt you agree with that?

Just my .02 I'll shut up now and go back to lurking.



Oh yeah, and to be clear, I cannot claim that I care about the folks in the company's office either. I'm not there for altruistic reasons, I'm there to get a paycheck to support my family.

 

Jarhed you nailed it. You should post a little more instead of lurking.

I'm not here to be appreciated or congratulated just to earn a living. The ways that I feel appreciated are by officiant dispatch and good quality and frequent home time. I get all of that and I could probably get it at almost anywhere I worked because I run the truck like a business minus the going broke part and buying fuel part.

 

I'll say this: Without sayin much at all.

If you are a Crete driver and are one of those kind who likes to talk to terminal management, DO NOT transfer or work out of Salt Lake City.

Those women up front are firewall's for the office folk, and you have to try to get thru them before anyone in "the back offices" will even consider picking up the phone.

Crete doesn't care about their drivers? I'm not sure about that. They seem fair enough considering the job.

But don't call the SLC terminal with your problems. Hell, mine was CUSTOMER related. Had nothing to do with me. SLC had me "call Lincoln" to figure it out.

WHAT DO YOU PE0PLE IN SALT LAKE CITY DO ALL DAY LONG THAT IS SO IMPORTANT, YOU CAN'T PICK UP THE PHONE AND TALK TO A DRIVER WHEN HE CALLS IN WITH A LEGITIMATE PROBLEM.

I THOUGHT THAT WAS YOUR JOB DESCRIPTION.

sorry fellas (and ladies), enuf of my rant...

 

HDkindaguy I would say more people than not just know how to talk to people that haven't a clue how this industry works. But of course like you said, if you can't get ahold of them in the first place, what good are they ?

 

Caring = Compensation. Compensation is directly related to the job. We are truck drivers. Mildly retarded people can do our job. Don't expect to be treated like some whiz kid at google. We are truck drivers, basically unskilled labor. The Home Office doesn't wants to hear your problems, their concern is limited to the delivery.

 

That attitude is why we are treated so poorly.

 

As far as the definition of being treated like they care, what does that mean to you???? To me it means treating me like an adult who is a professional. Allowing me to make the decisions I need to make in regards to the safe and legal transport and on time pickup and/or delivery of our customers freight, or communicate in a timely manner with operations any problems that arise concerning the pickup or delivery of said freight.(I call it our customer, because I treat every customer as if Crete were my company, and my company's success depends on my customer service) To pay me an acceptable pay rate on time and accurately. To give it their best effort to get me home as close to my requested date - as freight availability allows. Should a personal emergency arise, make every effort possible to help me get to, provide me ample time off for, or help me resolve the situation. In the event of a breakdown of company equipment, compensate me for my lost time and provide me with suitable lodging or reimburse my lodging expenses while repairs are being completed if it's beyond an acceptable amount of time. Compensate me for shipper/receiver related detention after an acceptable amount of load/unload time. Compensate me for extra stops on the same trip. Compensate me for picking up or delivering in the 5 boroughs of NY. Pay me extra for having to shag short mileage runs.

Now what part of these conditions doesn't Crete do, and what company does anything above and beyond???? Other than compensating you for short freight related layover time, what else could this company do that would fall under any definition of caring? Wipe your nose when you call in to operations crying? (and I'm not criticizing the post from HDkindaguy about the SLC terminal - Janel - if that's how you spell her name- and I have had many disagreeable conversations in person, and it's not even my home terminal. So I agree with those comments he made about SLC) Should they have to pat you on the back when you do your job right the first time without them having to hold your hand the whole time? What else does it take? I have had my issues with Crete in the past, but all in all, I have been treated much better here than many other drivers that work for the similar sized or larger companies. And paid better than most, regardless of the company size.

I've worked for only 5 companies in my almost 15 years as a driver. I haven't had any better treatment from any of them, and some treated their drivers much worse. Crete did have a brief period when the drivers weren't treated as good, but things are starting to return to the old days when Mr. Acklie was running the show. Will it ever get back to those days, who knows...it would be nice, but it aint that bad now.

 

SSB, where in the world are you getting any indication whatsoever that things are starting to return to the way they were when the old man was running things? Seriously? There hasn't been one positive development at Crete since Sep of 07 when we got the 3 cent pay raise. Since that time it hasall been downhill. Ninth gear being turned back, max speed being lowered, a near across the board refusal to pay detention. Where in the he11 is there anything positive?!?!

 

While I do not drive yet, I tend to think SSB is making the best out of everything. Sure everything is not going to be perfect; however, Crete treats its drivers good.

KH

 

bduke, RickG, and others, since when is the fact that Crete is not a perfect company a NEWS FLASH? Could you please tell the rest of us who is!? I'm sure we would want to work there too, then again, maybe not. I know this next comment is not original, BUT, if you don't have a possible solution, don't tell me your problem.

I agree with SSB, that when compared to other otr companies, Crete works for me. Like SSB, I too have had occations on which I needed to get home pronto, or on a certain time frame, and they've made it happen.

My pay as an O/O, combined with many discounts (especially on fuel) that are passed on to me, allow me to maintain a profitable business. Although in this slow economy my profits aren't very high right now, I am able to keep my head above water. Which is more than I can say for most of my counter-parts on the O/O forum.

Just sayin'.