CRETE - A Year in Review

I also have a pro-star; i really like this truck a lot!

 

Hey to all..I am going to be starting with Crete on monday!..Just whanted to say hello..and ask for the most part how is it with Crete???..All that i have talked to say it is good...So do all the centry have apu????or is it justa a handfull ...

 

Welcome beerhauler, only certain centuries have the apus, mostly 2007s i think. Most older than that are being traded out though, so maybe you'll get lucky enough to get one.

 

That's one thing about the Century class trucks...even us APU'd ones. We're still light enough to haul the water and beer.

->speaking of beer, welcome to Crete Beer...

The load from Davenport to Greenfield ended up screwing me up on my 14. 4 hrs after my p/u time they finally got it loaded. But by then I was within an hour and a half of my 14 but not enough time to finish off a 10 at the customer and still make the del appt. So they had to reschedule for Thursday nite instead of Thursday morning, then enroute they beeped me telling me to get my truck and APU in for service once M/T. Which means Friday morning before the shop opens, and Friday ??? when I'm back, so looks like I have my 1st crapola week of 2010. I've been having some weird chugging issues that use to only happen above 3500 ft, but lately it's been getting lower and lower when it happens... So as long as I'm going to have a bad week, may as well get the truck right, instead of screwing up another week w/a breakdown... Just hope they can find the problem w/o it being totally broke and throwing a code.

Plus since the forum's upgrade, it stopped beeping my e-mail when a new post gets added to this thread, and w/my Blackberry, it's a pain to go in to my user settings and update stuff... Man I miss my aircard!!!

 

Was just looking at Crete's website. No wonder they are advertising so much for drivers!

KD1 Fleet: Company Driver: $.32 - $.35 per mile
National Solo: Company Driver: $.36 - $.39 per mile
Northeast Regional: Company Driver: $.39 - $.42 per mile

The Northeast Regional looks like a lot of I95 corridor - a slow aggravating slog from NC to Beantown. I know Heartland has a bit of bad rep, but they're paying a nickel to dime more per mile for the Northeast.

I hear Crete and Shaffer ads all day on SiriusXM. I was thinking their business picked up. But apparently, they are looking for fresh meat to replace the higher priced soon to be dead meat.

What an industry!

 

You sure that's not an International?

 

I looked up this site and it is pretty cool The videos from the European drivers are really good. I like AID2003 (??) ones the best. He drives a tanker throughout Europe.

The site has a new promo video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlBGCDIcSCc&feature=sub

 

Ever since Crete took over Shaffer... Shaffer has taken a turn for the worse. In 2008 my truck broke down with electrical problems. It was towed to a shop and as everyone knows, they take the driveshaft out before they tow it. About 50 feet after leaving the shop the driveshaft drops out and breake in two. Back to the shop it goes and I get a call to lean out my truck and go home because according to safety, I had popped the clutch and abused their equipement. One week later I get a call from my fleet manager who informs me that after a full inspection they had determined that it was installed wrong after it came out of the shop. I had tried telling them that the driveshaft had been taken out and reinstalled but instead of listening they chose to send me home. I shouldn't had gone back to drive with Shaffer but I did anyway. Almost a year to date I was making a turn and a van came up from behind me and hit me from behind. I was stopped when the other driver hit me. Once again, Shaffer twisted all the information around to benefit them and once again I was sent home because safety labeled this as a preventable accident. The lady who hit me told the officer she couldn't remember who's fault it was but did admit that she had hit me. No tickets were issued and even the insurance claims adjuster explained to safety that the lady who hit me did not have complete control over her van when she came through the intersection. After a few weeks I was once again proven that this was not my fault and I was able to collect unemployment and continue recieving health insurance from COBRA. When I started with Shaffer it was a descent company but there's something about Crete's safety department that doesn't smell just right. I was at the top of the pay scale... go figure.

 

Well, I got my Pro Star today. ET, I don't know where you heard that about idling but it is not true. These trucks have the ability to do what you are saying but it requires a software update and Crete will not authorize it. My truck is completely dead. Can't watch TV, charge my laptop or even listen to my XM. The shop says I have to drive it for 3 hours to charge up the battery.

As far as the Cascadia's are concerned, it's true. There are about 20 here in Lincoln but they are not going to be giving them out for a while yet. Apparantly there is some sort of squable with Freightliner over the warranty and Crete won't move them till that issue is solved. They may even send them back.