CRETE - A Year in Review

Too bad you quit JChors, you get your own truck and you can idle all you want, Opti idle ain't bad if you get the good black mattress.
I've been running relatively hard the last week or so, I'll get a reset this weekend. I spent last Sunday at the Mall of America. I parked the truck at Stockmen's Truck Plaza (a secret Crete fuelstop) and took a cab to and from the mall. It would have been cheaper to get a motel with a free shuttle to the mall.
I'm at Effingham, IL now at the TA. Spent the afternoon at TGIF to cut down on idle time. There's a Nike shoe store next door that sells the Air Jordan Retro. I got a pair! The greatest shoe ever made. I grew up on a farm and had good work boots and the worst tennis shoes. My first paycheck in 1986 I bought a pair of Air Jordans and these feel the same.
The only time I get a multiple load offer is after I run a shag.
8-5 is my 1 year hire date, no way I'll get my 121,000 miles in. I hardly ever go home either. I probably turned down 4 loads in the last year, they were short loads given to me late in my 14 that I couldn't squeeze in a 10 hour break and deliver on time. I hate those short loads unless I can play with my logs,but then at 61.4 MPH I won't.
How did Jchors pass 3 trucks in 1 day? Were they pulling off the shoulder?

 

Nice truck Redbeard.

 

Don't know for sure on the mileage - I filled up in Foristell, MO and got to Chattanooga with about 5/8 tanks left (200 gallon total capacity, just like Crete's Freightshakers). Of course, I don't know how accurate that gauge is, so I'll have to wait til the next fillup to find out for sure. The ergonomics are GREAT! The steering wheel adjustment on those Freightliners was always a little uncomfortable to me, but the one on this ProStar is juuuuust right.

 

WoW...i like the closet doors....looks like there might be room for my wide screen also...my truck has 557k guess i'll be waiting longer then i thought... i thought they took them off the road at 500k...ok now im depressed...LOL

 

Having it set on recirculate doesn't help either. I have never put a truck or car on recirculate. While recirculating the same stale air and stink it cruds up the ducts. It's especially bad when a smoker has an affinity to running in recirculate - the stench will not go away.

 

My ac blows noticeably cooler when i set it on recirculate. The freightliner owners manual notes that the truck still pulls in a small amount of air from outside when set to recirculate.

 

So what is Crete's current idle "policy"?? They expect you to burn up, get no sleep and still be safe the next day??

I wouldn't drive for ANY company that wouldn't let me be comfortable. What they have to pay for fuel ain't my problem. I NEVER idled when out of the truck, but when I was in it (except for when the temperature was perfect) I idled the d**n truck 24/7.

Boo

 

wow

 

Does the new prostars come with opti idle? or another for idle reduction

 

It's called ICON, but it's pretty much the same as Opti-Idle. There's just more steps to turning it on. Set parking brake, start engine, turn on cruise control, put transmission in high range, push clutch, put truck in any gear then back to neutral. Then go to bunk and set thermostat.

Some of the ProStars come with the battery-powered heat/ac. The rest, including mine, have the Espar bunk heater but ICON is still necessary for cooling.