CRETE - A Year in Review

To quote singer/song writer Paul Thorne..."did you ever have one of those days when nothin' went right"? When I delivered to my customer in Hattiesburg, MS it was one of those customers that had too many trailers and too few parking spots. Turning around was a PITA. The guy said I could grab one of the trailers in either door 11 or 12, then started to ask me to put my loaded trailer in it's place, then said never mind, that's too much trouble. Being the Professional that I try to be when it comes to customer service, I offered to do it without hesitation. Just about the time I pulled around to pick up the empty, lightening crashed, thunder rolled, and the sky opened up. I swapped trailers as quickly as I could, sent in my empty call, and got my next load. 96 miles away, and 90 minutes before my appt time. Op's said get there asap, it's a drop/hook but they need our empty. Now, not that I trust Crete's directions all that much, I was coming in from the totally opposite direction and had for the most part found this customers directions totally useless except for the part where the last bit of info that matched the way I was coming in from...which was wrong, and I blew right past the customer before I figured it out. Now the fun part...I was in rural MS, in narrow, winding 2 lane country roads looking for a safe place to turn around. 15 miles later, I find an abandoned (or at least it looked abandoned) warehouse with a lot big enough to turn a 53' trailer around. I get to the shipper, drop my trailer at the door he wanted, go to hook up to my loaded trailer...and notice an almost flat tire and my load is 44,700 lbs. So in the driving rain I air it up(ignoring my screw 'em and call road service policy) and get rolling. I get to Pearl, MS, fuel up and head towards Springfield MO for my delivery for tomorrow. As I'm passing the MS scale over by the LA line kaaaaplooie. The tire in front of the one I aired up blows. I figured if any of the ones to go it would be the one next to it since the previous driver probably ran the other tire that low for a while, it tends to over heat it's partner and damages it....but noooooo. As I was easing it to a safe place to call for road service, a MS DOT bear rolls past me...ignoring my tire(I guess 1 thing went right after all). I limp to the LA welcome center and message breakdown. They're sending road service, don't push it any further. So I call the wife while I have time...and I discover this phone is a piece of crap... Sitting still, w/4 bars of 4g service and it keeps dropping calls and over heats. Hey Verizon, can you hear me now?(picture me with both middle fingers raised in a double salute)...if I had a back door to my sleeper, I would have went to bed, and gotten up on the other side and tried again.

 

Ok Supersnackbar, I was at Crete up until about August of last year. Less than a year ago. I saw many changes with my years at Crete. I'm sure many more changes have taken place since my time there. However, I don't believe it to be as dark of a picture as you're trying to paint. Go back and read several of your own Posts. You said you would run that load on out west with their blessing or without. What is that if it's not some of what I posted on here? I'll never tell another driver how to truck at Crete or anywhere else. However, many things can be bounced off one another to maybe help out. I didn't say you could pick and choose your own loads. Very rare to get any load choices over there anymore. I just know you can flex a few things here and there and make some things happen. Sure it's take some things or leave. It's that way everywhere out here. Every place has it's Pros and Cons. It's how you handle them that makes the difference. You make it work so you have to relate to what I'm saying. At the end of the day if I needed to be out west for a wedding on the 12th of May, I would be there. I wouldn't have to quit Crete to make that happen. He's got time so with some effort it shouldn't be impossible to get done. My comments are intended to be as positive as possible. I did laugh at your I don't know Crete comment a little. I won't say "I Know" Crete yet, I get it. Maybe give me some credit there Snackbar...I do enjoy a lot of your Posts. Thanks for sharing your experiences and so on. Take care out there!

 

I know...I know, your short stay at Poly has spoiled ya', right?(he says in a joking tone and with a grin on his face)
I was kinda thinking of when he mentioned that he was considering putting in apps when he got home and they jumped to the "we accept your resignation" level. They've gotten so anal retentive here that it's getting scary..even for a stick in the mud, PITA like me.

 

Well, the 3 ring circus continues at the snackbar campground. I manage to get to Springfield, MO to deliver. My q/comm said drop, and even had a drop number. Op's thought it was a live unload. The receiver had the final word...drop it and good luck finding an empty. They were suppose to be unloading two, but I only saw one at a door, and no sign of it being unloaded. Op's asked me to help, a driver ran out of hours (just as he had warned them he would) and they needed my help covering the load. P/u in Springfield, MO, deliver in Springfield, MO. But the request came with an instruction that didn't sound right. "when empty, you will bring the trailer back to the driver, unless they'll allow you to leave it at the delivery". At 1st, I was a bit confused, but it occurred to me why they said that... It might be a Shaffer load. Sure enough, get to where the guy is parked...a -10 load of chicken. But hey, at least they planned far enough ahead to tell me to return the trailer. And since I wasn't likely to get anything else by Friday night anyway...a big shag pay will help on this short home time week.

 

I must say the Day to Day has changed quite a bit for me. I read the Posts here and feel amazed at how someone else could type out some of my experiences almost word for word. Reminds me that a few things haven't changed there. I feel blessed to have found Poly and thank the fella in the mirror everyday for making the change. However, one never forgets the ups and downs of their driving jobs out here. I'm proud to have been a Crete driver. I respect the Company and really enjoy reading these Posts from you Crete drivers. I was also worried when I read the comments about how they were accepting his resignation. One never needs to hear those words unless that is truly what they want in a good way. Crete can write the book on Micro Management at times. Big company and to many trying to be something that's not necessary. There really is a "Crete Way" just like there is a "Poly Way". It takes learning the ropes and being willing to learn them the way they want it done. You can't buck the system. Many more have and will fail trying. You adapt and move on. Most is Black and White but when a grey area exists grab hold of it and use it to your advantage. Over time you become High Speed and Low Drag at doing the day in and day out grind of the company. You know what you can get away with and what you can't and so on. I've dealt with my share of frustration out here as have many of you. One day it's the best company and then next day let's quit. That's the norm at Crete. I honestly believe many things can be swayed in one's favor if he knows just how to handle it. Some things can't and I understand that as well. Anyways, I look forward to hearing how it works out for him. I've had my days where nothing went wright for me as well. I related to your Post quite well. Too many of those days out here. Good Luck to you for better days out there. Now I'm going to get back to my spoiled job at Poly(HeHe) Got some driving to knock out now that traffic is clearing out a little more. Take care Snackbar!

 

The whole reason I like to read this site is for the tips from other drivers. You didn't offer any specific solutions because there are too many? The run was 680 miles. I'm on e-logs, so i couldn't finish it in a single 11 hour shift. That was the whole problem since the shipper detained me for so long.

 

It's good you read this site for tips. I see you add tips for us from time to time as well. Thanks for sharing some tips. I wasn't trying to say there were too many ways for you to handle that load. I was trying to say there are too many boundaries that can be pushed around with several being to much for me to try and explain on here. I didn't offer a solution to that load you had because I wasn't trying to go there with it. Not knowing all the details would've been silly on my part to suggest something. I trust you are able to make skilled decisions on what you have to work with. I wasn't digging in it that deep. Staying at a shipper for six hours can mess many things up. E-Logs makes matters even more challenging. Please understand that I wasn't suggesting anything you done wasn't correct. I do not know enough about both loads you were Pre-planned on to offer any other solutions. Maybe there weren't enough boundaries available in this case. Or there were and it's too late now. I will say this...the sooner you get out that way the greater your chances of being where you need to be. Getting out there is the challenge. Being a little early isn't a major problem. They have many things they can keep you busy on out there. Anyhow, keep us Posted on your progress. Maybe another time I can help you with some answers that may be of use to you. Be careful out there and may Good Luck fall your way!

 

And the torment continues. Get the Shaffer load of chicken to the receiver, with only one issue...it has a big bolt style seal on it and my little 'slightly bigger than wire cutter' bolt cutters aren't big enough. Check in, get a door assignment, ask for bolt cutters...stupid look is returned and a ''we don't have any" along with a heaping helping of the one thing I don't need any more of(because I have enough of my own)...an attitude and not a positive one at that. I walk back out to the truck, message Lincoln, and the only thing they suggest is go to Walmart and buy some. I walk back in and ask the guy to refuse the load since we can't get the doors open...and viola, big bolt cutters were magically delivered by the tool fairy. 2 hours later, 8 pallets were off my truck, and I returned the reefer trailer to it's rightful driver and head back to see if the other customer ever got around to unloading any of our many trailers...nope but we're working on one. Within about 30 minutes, I had one...and a load. Pick up in Neosho, MO going to Sealy TX for Sunday, but it doesn't pick up until 1800 today...

 

Home for the next four days. Coming off some very good running.

Closed out this period with around 3250 miles. Previous weeks were 3053, 2600, and 3043. Back out Tuesday morning.

Also got my boo-boo letter from Crete about my, well, boo-boo. One safety point, and no mention of having to attend a DDC. Classified as an incident.

 

It could just be paranoia on my part, but I could swear that some of these warehouse workers intentionally get off on this stuff. I was at Lowes Mt. Vernon where they give you a slot number to drop in and another that has your empty. I had to go back to the office three times because they gave me bogus info again and again. They seemed to get a kick out of it.