CRETE - A Year in Review

Hey...I'm a Super snackbar, what would I do with a burger...just kidding.

I've been steady, not 'killing the logbook' busy, but very little wait after empty. I emptied out in Harrisonville Wally Monday morning, was the 2nd Crete there, the 1st to leave. Not sure what was up with that, but.... maybe it was his hometime and he was waiting for the home bound load to appear. Went up to Lee's Summit, MO and picked up a load going to Jackson, TN for anytime before midnite Tuesday. Got there 1st thing in the 1st shifts morning, then they send me to the Owens fiberglass plant across town headed for Fort Smith, AR for Wednesday. While I was sitting there waiting to get loaded, there was another Crete driver there that had just came from Ft. Smith delivering back to Jackson...I was baffled by it as well...I learned long ago to not try and figure out the customers reason for doing something...they're the customer. If they want us to take their stuff for a joy ride around the country...then so be it. At Arnold Transportation, every year we got to move a warehouse full of P&G's products 70 miles to another warehouse, then 2 weeks later, bring it back. Something about doing inventory for taxes...and they were only taxed on the inventory that was present at the time. Then by the time it was moved back, they would go count the other warehouses inventory.

While we were there the subject of chaining up came up...this 37yr veteran of the highway said that he has never, and will never chain. The old 'if it is bad enough to chain it is too bad to drive' comment was heard. Now, I'm not a big fan of throwing iron, but if duty calls, do it. His reasoning was ''that load isn't worth my life"...but honestly, I have seen more horrific accidents during rain storms or wind storms or sunny day storms than I have seen in snow storms in states that have chain laws. I wonder if he refuses to drive when he has to turn on his wipers and put on a raincoat to splash across the truck stop parking lot for his cup of coffee in the morning. I use to feel that way about chaining until I did it once and found out how easy it was...I still don't like doing it that much, but I don't like going to the N/E, or being on the night shift...but it is part of the joy of being a professional tourist.

 

You better not let Lincoln catch you thinking....we are not allowed to do that here!

 

Well, found out today I now have an asset manager,hopefully she can keep me rolling as well as area dispatch has. 2 years in the books and so far no major complaints other than this POS maxxforce junk. Currently running at just over 11k average per month,if miles start falling I will have to have a friendly chat with her.

 

I'd kill for an 11k month. Hoping that the mechanical issues are largely behind me and I can hit those numbers. After making theoretical adjustments for what "might have been" without the breakdowns, I shouldn't really have any trouble making it. If I don't leave this industry first, which is still at the forefront of my mind....

 

48pac..You have had an unusually large amount of breakdowns and that will surely kill the monthly average,I don't know about these new maxxforce prostars either. I have tried getting this onguard fixed 3 times at 2 different shops to no avail,I don't know if they think I'm FOS or they just don't know whats wrong with it but I am tired of it not working as it did the 1st month I got this truck.I'd rather have my century back.
Good to see SS is having better luck lately !
I don't post much but read the boards regularly to stay in the loop.
I see majestyk got an asset manager Monday as well, hopefully (fingers crossed) nothing changes or maybe more preplans than I was getting before although it has been picking up the last few months.
On a side note since I started taking what dispatch gives instead of asking for something better if available seems to be working out,I've been doing this for about 2 1/2 months and the 1st 2 months were May 12482 and June 12588 July was soft at 10070 but I had extended hometime due to lack of freight (6 days home).I could get something better when asked but seemed as though after that it wasn't backed up with anything decent,I wonder if they actually do PP ahead of time but do not release it to us until MT as I have asked what was if the works next before I was MT and had a PP sent to me on many occasions.
I tend to analyze things too much so maybe I'm giving them too much credit.
Keep a positive outlook as I still think Crete is a solid company and I too have yet to find anything on the dry van side than will bring in the $$ by comparison as I am always looking to keep options open. Poly looks like a solid company but time will tell and I don't like perdiem as I know how to keep Uncle Sam outta my pocket every week and don't need my employers help.
Good Luck to my fellow Cretans !!

 

I have an asset manager...but I will go days w/o getting a message from him. It almost feels like I don't. I mean, there are times I think he has moved on to something else and I'm back on zone dispatch. Just yesterday, around noon I sent a message asking about freight in western Arkansas. When I shut down at the little dirt lot truckstop 2 miles from my delivery I messaged again only to get a 'he is gone for the day, can I help you' so I asked responder the same question ....and got the typical Crete response...nothing. Now this wasn't in the evening, it was 1630... So, he wasn't there at noon, wasn't there at 1630...when I asked questions the day before, I didn't hear a peep out of him then either...when does he work? I mean, it hasn't hurt my miles, but I had hopes of having a little better communication with op's once I got assigned an A/M, but it's only better when he happens to be in the office.

 

I've been in the shop for my OnGuard many times as well...even International. None of them have gotten it to work right, although it hasn't been break-checking me as bad as it use to. Now if I could get it to quit messing around with the cruise control when it shouldn't, and the volume to stay low...I could live with it. I have found out, some days when I start the truck, even though the volume is at 2, it beeps like it's at 10...if i go through all the 'mode' options, it goes back to 2. The error messages, and the occasional failure to allow me to set the cruise until I apply the brakes once I could live with if they could work out the glitches.

As for average miles, this is starting to be one of my better months, but I am still below 10k for a monthly average. It'll take several 11k months to get that up over 10k I'm affraid.

 

Don't think I'll be around long enough to worry about it. Crete failed to get me home in time to take my son to college, so I've had to enlist someone else to do it (my son does not have a car). This should have been a joy for me....my only son going to college. But, no. The best they can do is get me a delivery in SC for tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, my boy has to be there today.

So let's just say my distain for this organization just went up a hundred fold. My AM called me on the phone and I basically cut her off, saying I didn't wish to speak about it for fear of saying something I would REALLY regret and to just get me home. I also made it clear I would call her on Friday to let her know if I still wished to work for the Acklie Companies.

Been a long time since I've been this angry. I know most companies really don't give a rat's patootie as to whether you get home or not, but some companies do a better job than others on at least attempting to fulfill a drivers' needs, especially when a driver has already been out six weeks.

This will probably be the straw that made Packard tell Crete to go to hell.

...and a quick update: NOW they call me and tell me I can just head home....too little, too late. Should have done that when I was in East Tennessee yesterday! I might as well stay on this load to Greenville for the morning....doesn't matter any more....#### these people....

 

You were more patient with them than I would've been...after the messin' around they did with your t'called load, I would've said get me home or I'm going home with or without a load. Sometimes stepping on more than just toes snaps them back to reality. They tried something similar at the end of my 1st year here...I had scheduled my vacation months in advance, then they couldn't get me home. when I told them I was going to FL from the DFW area, loaded or empty...they didn't take me seriously until I was almost to Wilmer...then the q/comm lit up w/a bunch of names I had never seen before telling me not to pass Wilmer...as I passed the exit to take me to Wilmer, a load appeared. It delivered later than I wanted, but it had enough time on it for me to pickup a close family friend from the airport that was coming down on a 2 week vacation just to see us. But took me being an SOB to get it through their thick heads that I wasn't going to miss picking him up...job or no job. That set my whole outlook for this place down the road we're on today. If it would've more important like my son going to college...I woulda been sitting at home yesterday with enough time to cool down before we headed to school, so I could have enjoyed the trip.

 

sure, mc doubles for everyone!!!!.... you just need to wait a week so i can get my first pay check. LOL