CRETE - A Year in Review

Wow. Every now and then I check out this thread, and it makes me so glad I did what I did.

After 3 straight months of running a net loss (that's less than zero taxable income) due to a combination of incredibly low miles and repeated, relatively minor, but expensive and time-consuming breakdowns, I left Crete in October.

I completed orientation at Landstar on Halloween and have been pulling their trailers since. I drive about the same number of miles as I did in those horrible months at Crete - around 8,000/month average so far, but steadily increasing as I find my niche and lanes). However, after Landstar gets their cut, my average revenue per mile is about 25% more. So I actually make more money on 8,000 miles here than I did on 10,000 miles at Crete, because my total revenue per month is about the same but my expenses are much lower (8,000 miles takes a lot less fuel to drive than 10,000).

I've found a nice mix of freight types I never had the opportunity to haul before. Much of it involves more work on my part, but I could use the exercise anyway and the driver-assist stuff and multiple-stop stuff both pay quite a bit more than regular 1 pick/1 drop warehouse to warehouse stuff. I've had a load of tires, driver-unload, with a total of 8 stops. I've had a load of doors from Denver to Houston with a total of 11 extra stops along the way, all deliveries done in 2 days. I've hauled drilling fluid in totes from a suburb of Pittsburgh to Williston, ND in the dead of winter and I hauled about half of the Nissan booth from a big automaker exposition in Cleveland, OH to Atlanta, GA.

Right now I'm at our St. Augustine, FL orientation center using their wi-fi, doing laundry, getting a shower and spending the night, then heading over to Monticello, FL for a load of nursery plants going to 8 different Home Depot stores around Atlanta. Then home until next Tuesday. I'm already getting load alerts for decent freight out of that area, now to decide where I want to go and how much I need to get paid to leave home Tuesday.

Oh, and apart from one trip to Baltimore in my first 2 weeks with Landstar, I haven't been northeast of Charleston, WV yet. I've been north of there, but only when west of I-79. And I've been east of there, but only south of I-64.

I'm soooo glad I left Crete when I did...

 

I had heard that the new system for loads was a major improvement. I wish they'da had it when I was there. If they had, I probably would still be there...

 

"please hold, we will be with you shortly, you're call is important to us"...remember us T? The most valuable resources....the people you, the so called fleet manager, depend on to make a paycheck. Without us, you'd be back walking the streets or knocking on doors at the truck stop.(this was just in reference to T, not all the fleet managers in general)..Oh, you're not a street walking lot lizard? Coulda fooled me the way you dress for a professional office person. Sorry, I let my personal feelings do the typing...

As for my terminal folks, if I didn't get a call back by the evening, I would most likely at least get a message of apology from someone. But I work out of a terminal who still actually make you feel like you belong...not like I'm the necessary evil that keeps pestering them with my petty issues that other terminals act like.

 

I got out of Houston w/o any issues, and w/o any delay. I went south of Baytown and picked up 7' high super sacks of what the loader said was pulverized corn cobs. It was headed for Brookhaven, MS for a Tuesday delivery, then they deadheaded me 209 miles to a small town between Shreveport and Monroe LA for a load going to the western burbs of our most beloved city of Chicago for Thursday morning. It'll put me in the 2300's plus I'll be in a normally decent place for freight once empty. There were a couple other drivers they sent on a long deadhead from Brookhaven, 1 picked up the same place I did, the other picked up in Monroe. And the best part of having this new AM....I haven't heard a peep from him/her since I was in KS last Friday (or anyone else for that matter, except the idle message lady at my terminal thanking me for keeping my idle under 12% as usual)

 

Well the black cloud continues to follow me. After my 4 days off at the wedding, I get a great 2200 mile load (from CA to MI). My total miles this month are under 2000 so I was hoping to race over there to catch up. I run 640 miles yesterday and then another 500 by 5pm today when I fueled up in Cheyenne. I still had enough hours for another 150 to get to Big Springs. I'm pretty stoked and finish topping off my tanks. Get back in the truck and it cranks fine but won't start. 50 minutes on hold until I get breakdown. Another 1 1/2 hours and the TA service truck pulls into the Pilot. After 2 hours of trying all kinds of stuff, he gives up. 2 hours later the tow truck arrives and takes me to the INt'l dealer. Oh joy!

 

geez ralph I really feel for you man.

 

###### man, it appears that you've taken over for me as karma's favorite target for bad luck. Have faith brother! As one who's life has been a major pile of misfortune, trust me, it will change. Think of it as exercise for your tolerance. Just as with physical exercise, while your doing exercise your body doesn't feel too great, and your mind tries to tell you to stop...but after it's done....you're stronger from it. It's the same with luck and tolerance...you'll get through this bad stretch, then look back and tell yourself "I made it, if I survived that, I can handle anything life throws at me!". Like the old saying, whatever doesn't kill us makes us stronger. Just don't fall for the temptation of uttering those 5 magic words - "what else can go wrong"....karma will be more than happy to show you if you ask.

 

Thanks that is great advice that I really need to take to heart. I might as well add what more happened to me for comedic value. I go into Int'l when it opens and they say they won't even get to my truck until the afternoon. Now in these situations (like at a terminal too) where they want you to wait around for endless hours, I try to get the h@ll out of there immediately and get my mind off the job. There is a movie theater and mall in town so I call a taxi to take me there.

i stop by the terminal to take the lock off my loaded trailer (which a super nice driver had brought over from the Pilot fuel island where I had broken down. I gave him some cash because i'm sure Crete won't). At the terminal I see signs for one of those cookie cutter assembly line 'medical' clinics that Crete uses. I've had something stuck in my eye for three days so I figure I might as well get it taken care of during this down time. I've never used my insurance and I figure this place probably honors Crete's program. So I have the taxi take me there assuming it will be a quick fix.

Once I get in, the tech (definitely *not* a doctor) pokes around in my eye and says she momentarily saw a lash floating around. Now mind you, I have already done major flooding procedures over the last three days, even pointing the Pilot shower head in there and it hadn't flushed out. The tech/quack fumbles around touching the q-tip surface to my nose and other non- sterile surfaces and then into my eye. She attempts to do that thing where you roll the eyelid up (which I bet is exactly what is needed). She has no idea what she is doing and crudely tries to grab my lashes and eyelid flesh with her bare hands. She can't do it, gets exasperated and finally gives up. I concentrate on expediting the h@ll out of there ASAP.

i go to the billing desk and expect to pay something like a $15 co-pay, I have Blue Cross/ Blue Shield and must certainly be considered practically VIP. Well I soon find out I have $1000 deductible and this 'procedure' will cost me $120! I pay, walk outside, blink my eyes and feel the familiar object floating around just as before. Now I am super PO'd and walk across the street to Walmart vision center thinking they may have actual medical personnel. They tell me to go to some place called "Cheyenne Eye Clinic". I call that place, but you have to make an appointment a day in advance. I tell them my situation (as a transient/CDL hobo) and they agree to see me later in the afternoon. I confirm that they have an actual Ophthalmologist on duty.

My day so far: -$40 food going bad in 90 deg truck (yes it's hot as h@ll in Cheyenne today), -$38 taxi (only one person in terminal so they couldn't shuttle me), -$120 quack clinic, and up-coming -$150-200 on the second clinic. If ever I needed to take some kind of recreational drugs, this would be the time.

UPDATE: The second clinic had a real doctor who masterfully rolled up my eyelid and removed what he said was a small wood chip. Total time: 4 min. I was completely exhilarated and on a natural high .......... until I walked up to pay: $371.00 !!

Called Int'l, found out it's the fuel pump and won't be done until the end of business tomorrow. Breakdown said I need to find a hotel under $100 and then call back, wait on hold again, etc. to get authorized. So far checked out 4 hotels and all are sold out. I asked if something special is going on and they said no, this is usual because there are a lot of business travelers on Tue, Wed. May need to start looking for Salvation Army, lol.

 

Crete's insurance SUCKS!!! BC/BS use to be one of the better insurance companies, now they are the scum under the bottom of the barrel. I have always had issues with using our insurance. Now -without trying to start a political debate/fight- our politicians have something to do with our deductible going up to $1000 per person, and our premium co-pay increasing as well. The affordable care act was passed, and our premiums and deductible immediately went up the next fiscal year. Now the 30 million 'uninsured' can go to the doctor, but the rest of us 'insured' can't because the out of pocket costs have gotten too high...that, and Crete has a lot of old farts like me that are starting to get to that age where we need the doctor more. I think the emergency room charges would have been cheaper for ya...just tell them you were walking across a dusty parking lot and another truck passed you kicking up dirt/dust and gust of wind blew something in your eye.

When I go to the doctor in June, I'm not even telling BC/BS. I'm cashing in my 2nd week of vacation and using it to pay the doctor. He is on our BC/BS plan, but he gives a discount for cash customers...if I were to turn the claim in, he would have all that paperwork and red tape to process, but it would still be under our $1000 deductible. Thru the insurance this visit is $600 because of all the extra bs his staff has to go through with paperwork, a cash customer(visa and mastercard accepted, so it's not under the table...ie illegal) gets in for $500.

 

Exactly! I don't know the ins and outs of insurance, but it seems like everyone is running some kind of scam. When I was asking the Crete terminal lady how to get to that first clinic, she made a comment that I thought odd at the time. She said something about "be sure not to tell them that we sent you" or something like that. I forgot about it. Then when I got to the clinic, the first thing they asked was "is this workman's comp?". I said "no" because I didn't really know what that is.

In hindsight, now I realize that I should have said "yes". I am literally on the job 24/7, so if something flew in my eye, it most certainly was on the job. I realized that was why the Crete lady made that weird comment. She wanted to make sure Crete didn't have to pay anything. Oh well. Another lesson learned.

The other stuff you said is so true too. When I worked overseas, my eyes were really opened. I think I had BC/BS as well, but it would be almost impossible to use it unless I flew back to the US. So on one of my vacations to Thailand, I paid out of pocket to have a ridiculously extensive check-up, including MRI, cardiac stress test, and all kinds of other diagnostic tests. It was an all day thing where I saw several specialists. The whole thing only cost me around $500!