CRETE - A Year in Review

I have officially sent my brass monkeys home via fed-ups. I pick up a load out of Middletown, OH, going to......drum roll please.... Elk Grove Village, IL...(Chicagoland) this makes it at least 1 time per week since I left the day after Christmas that I have been around Chicago.. Sundays high temp, 21, low 5...Mondays high 12, low will be 0, zip, zero, nada, goose egg...or as Ron White would say...''there doesn't seem to be one". So much for global warming Mr. Gore! At least it isn't the northeast under a foot of snow....maybe I should keep my big yap shut before Karma shows up...

 

Last time I was up there after delivering a pre-sealed load, I noticed a 1' wide open tear in roof of the trailer. Crete sent me to a trailer repair shop that blew my mind. When I looked at it on Google satellite, it looked like a 7-11 parking lot with over 50 trailers (and some hooked to tractors too) jammed in. I called and the guy (it was run by guys with heavy accents, I think Russians) was very belittling about my concerns and literally said "no problem, a little old lady could drive around in here". Sure enough the minute I turned the corner of the driveway, I was in solid gridlock with other drivers honking, yelling, and trying to maneuver. I wish I remembered the name of it because it was totally unbelievable. They had me just drop the trailer, but I guarantee by the time it got out of there it most definite acquired new dents and scratches.

 

Ralph, There you go caring about the condition of the equipment! Just bang and clang. If they are what you suspected...it will just be music.

 

Kaaaaaaaaathud. That is the sound of the freight at Crete. I emptied out in Elk Grove Village, IL. The only thing they offer. Pu by Kenosha tomorrow, then deliver it Monday in Lima. 350 miles in 2.5 days. I would advise anyone thinking about coming here to hold off, unless you're unemployed...freight in this area should be good most of the year...this is the 2nd weekend in a row that crap loads or long deadheads were the only choice they had...last week I got the long deadhead, this week(so far) I've only gotten the crap load.

 

Is it just Crete, or is it a sign of things to come with the economy? I run a dedicated bulk spring water deal with a contract carrier, and for 5 years leading up to this winter it was a 24/7, 364 day operation. The only time things got funky was when they would have a mechanical breakdown in the bottling process. This year, things are much different. Night shift was removed from one of our trucks, we are only running 2 of the scheduled four loads per shift, and many days and runs are cancelled outright. We can't figure out (and no one will tell us) if they lost some big accounts, are phasing out spring water, or if there just aren't orders. All we can do is scratch our heads in bewilderment.

 

I am at home. Unexpectedly.

Did my DOT physical yesterday. Passed just fine. However, since I have a CPAP unit that I brought along with me at hiring, they need to get the information on my usage. Unfortunately, they didn't tell me this beforehand. I, however, should have figured that on my own and taken appropriate steps to provide this. So....since I couldn't get to a place yesterday after my DOT, my wife drove over from SC to pick me up. I've got a place lined up a mile from our new-home-to-be, so I'll take it down there Monday. Hopefully, after all the faxing and follow-up phone calls, I'll be able to go back to Marietta Monday afternoon and get back out Tuesday. But the clinic has to sign off on the thing, then fax it to Crete, then....well, you know....we'll see how long it takes.

I'll be driving my personal vehicle back to Marietta, which I needed to do anyway after Spartanburg closed up. I'll need it when I depart from Crete. I've got the Poly app all filled out and ready to go, but I've got to get into the new house on the 11th of February before I submit it.

 

Crete........ what a joke. Wouldn't work for them if they paid 5 bucks a mile..... I feel your frustration ... I lasted about 2 weeks. Was out of there and onto Jr schugel. Schugel is great company. Miles miles miles and treated with respect and my hard work appreciated... I'm sure some drivers think highly of Crete but my experience with them was a big let down...

 

Two whole weeks? Why so long? And what made you jump ship so quickly?

 

So, Indy fixed my bunk heater. No more router under the truck. So nice!

So now I'm sitting in Romeoville, under dispatch to the Bronx. Fun times. (Actually it looks easy enough, all interstate and all of about 1/4 mile of city street. Can't be too bad.

 

Truck broke down rite out of orientation. 2nd load believe it was....... had maybe 1200 miles in two weeks.... people in office in Nebraska were rude....... all that drama in two weeks gave me the feeling it wasn't a place I would stay long term so I wasted no time making the move and sure glad I did when I did...