Crete Bit Off More Than They Could Chew

Try this on 32-34cpm stantard in nc for hauling new furniture, and 25 to 30 stops in chicago at 5-6 bucks a stop, and you guys whine about 41 cpm, gimma break, but we are home everyweekend,,, not rich but no 4 months on the road as a rolling warehouse,,,,,,,,yep im one of the oldies you new guys hate and dont respect,,,,,, real turcing is a cabover mack,,,,,,

 

Eww. Cabovers. Those things are so #### uncomfortable to get in or out of.

 

I know I am right when I see that Crete is losing drivers, many have quit over this same issue. Crete has much higher turnover than in past years and they have been really pushing driver recruiting for the past 18 months despite no increase in freight for the company. They have management issues that have begun a slow internal bleed and if Mr. Acklie doesn't step up and take action, he is going to see his underlings destroy what many still consider to be a flagship trucking outfit.[/quote]

Please correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't Crete have one of the highest paid RPM's in the industry? Doesn't Crete have great driver longivity, both in lenght of service and driver age? Also, is Mr. Ackley still active within the company? Just wondered.

 

We also have been in the trucking industry for 10 years we are looking for a place to call home we worked for a company that was bought out and destroyed by the company buying them, I think that most of these trucking companies now days have forgotten who actually got them to where they are and i am sure it was not operations or customer service or recruting, it is and will always be the drivers. They have forgotten what treating their drivers is all about. They all need the seasoned drivers but it is cheaper to hire students. we all have to start some where but we all had someone to look up to and that is being lost. New drivers are to scared to stand up for themselves and seasoned drivers are not and they do not want that. unfortunatley our world is headed that way, from jobs to being able to defend yourself with a firearm. It is very sad. we will keep looking, hope you do too. I keep hope that there is a company out there that still actually cares about their drivers and equipment and company. because you can keep hiring drivers but eventually all you get is the bad ones that really donot care about equipments, loads, customer service they just want a paycheck anyway they can.

 

Good grief! Indeed, if events were as you stated, perhaps it was time to move on. On the other hand, I'm in my 20th year with Crete and my experience differs considerably from yours. Like you, I work in the national fleet. Never have I been forced to change my fleet assignment. Of my personal knowledge, I know of no driver who has.

Now, to be sure, freight has been slow and is getting progressively slower. Sitting around a truckstop that is nearly full of trucks at 10:30 in the morning is fairly good empirical evidence that this is so. It's just one old coot's opinion; but, if they told you freight was slow, it more than likely was. Your refusal to accept a third temporary assignment to run Wal-Mart out of Sterling was, no doubt, viewed as a situation that constituted a voluntary quit. I'd have to guess that dispatch pulled up the load to your home terminal out of your dispatch order for the very purpose of getting their truck back and settling the question once and for all.

With your experience, you know that Crete offers a choice of a maximum of three loads whenever it is possible which isn't very often in this business climate. You also know that failing a choice, you're expected to accept whatever dispatch they can give you. Failure to do so constitutes a voluntary quit. This appears to be the choice that you made.

I can tell you that I too have been given those temporary assignments to Wal-Mart DC's several times in recent months. Sterling was not one of them. In all cases my work for Wal-Mart involved a 3 day deal over a weekend. They paid me mileage ($.48 per mile) and/or $175 per day whichever was greater. On all three ocasions, I wound up with $525 for Fri.,Sat., and Sun. Frankly, I considered it a better deal than some 600 mile garbage load for a weekend I was going to be out on anyway.

Although I can understand your anger and frustration, I must tell you that it saddens me to see any first class experienced driver leave the company. In any case, I wish you good fortune in whatever endeavor you now find yourself employed.

 

I Never worked for Crete but my suspicion is that they are not the problem. They just fell for a very common potent scam artist who happens to be the largest retailer in the richest country in the world. What company wouldn't want to land a contract with such a huge client? Just like the people who end up working there with no medical benefits they think "its a foot in the door" what they really end up is with this scam artist's foot someplace els for example. I read in the news about a woman that worked there had lost her son in Iraq sufferd brain damage in a traffic acciedent to the point that she askes every day where her son is and every day she has to be told hes dead. Why do I bring her up beacuse I know she would never belive that the scam artist would sue her to recover her medical bills. Or how about the suppliers that have to lower the quality of their products to provide WALMART with the wholesale prices they'll accept who gets stuck with the inferrior products that customers return ??? Not Walmart. Or the costomer with the lower quality items dosent even realize they have been scammed. Or yet when these underinsured people that work there have to go to the hospital we tax payers get stuck with the bill how about when they retire ?? I guess that $50 DVD player costs us all alot more than we can imagine

 

almost every big carrier is a walmart carrier. goes for both TL and LTL carriers. just drive by a DC and look at the number of different carriers. its not just Crete

 

well after many years of driving for small independent carriers in nc a new venture begins jan 26th, got the call from crete recruiter today have checked out a bunch of companys so far they seem the most professional at the hiring process, that should get some good and bad feed back here any suggestions from long time crete drivers as what to expect,,,, thanks