Crete Carrier - A Year In Review - Fall 2013 Going Forward

sooooooooo.....if it was you and Crete was trying to get you to return, would you?

I didn't hate Crete, I loved the way they ran me, the truck was good, they just wouldn't get me home when I wanted. Always about 10 days after I wanted to be home, which would have been about 32 to 39 days b4 I got home.

I also like that a lot of times they offered me 2 load choices. Another point on the down side, those ProStars were so heavy I had to really be careful with what the load weights were. Do they run anything besides the ProStars these days?


Anyways, thanks for the replies and be safe out there..........Paul

 

They don't do multiple load offers anymore. Freightliner Cascadia and International Pro stars. I hear the hometime thing. I never had a problem with that down here in Florida. How long have you been away?

 

I've had 4 asset managers...2 couldn't get me home for important dates, let alone regular home time. The other two, including my present one, have really been outstanding. If getting home on-time had continued to be an issue, I'd have already been gone. A day, even two late....OK. On occasion. But only to that extent.

 

Limiting me to 4 days at home after staying out for a month was the last straw for me. Declining avg length of haul was another. I always managed to make it out to the west coast 10 to 12 times a year which was nice but I also got lied to a lot by dispatch. Waiting 2-3 days for a service was a drag as well.

 

Ive taken five twice since being here. I just put my PTA for five days out...never heard a word about it. Both times were after at least 28 days out.

 

My first 5 years there I would avg 6-7 days of home time after 30 out. When they replaced the Columbus terminal manager in the fall of 2009 he decided he wanted to play hardball and limit everybody to 4 days. After trying to discuss it with him and getting nowhere I called Lincoln and talked to some VP and got him to call my terminal manager and tell him to back off. Things were fine till a year later when he tried to do it again. Called the same VP and was told the company was enforcing it fleet wide. A month later I was gone.

4-5 days was just not long enough for me to get everything done AND feel refreshed and ready to go another 30 days.

 

I ran pretty good with crete but I'm cutting my
Time out on the road to 4-5 weeks being out 7
Weeks is too much I wana have some sort of life

 

I've been in 3 different Prostars in the 18 months I've been with Crete. A 2010 and a 2011 (both double bunk) and now my current 2014 midroof. I figured I'd have issues with max weight (I did with the company Prostars at Swift) but never had a problem here. Even with the slightly heavier double bunk trucks I could scale 46k+ with a little work. I hear folks complaining about the Cascadias maintenance-wise but as far as I know the weights are similar.
I have an idiot for an asset manager but my terminal staff helps me out when he doesn't so it balances out just fine. I usually get home when I want provided I let them know when I need to get there (even with the general lack of west coast freight) and generally take 5-6 days off after 42-45 on the road. Never had any complaints as to how much hometime I ask for... one day off per week out suits me fine.

 

I left Crete August of 2010. They had regional dispatch then so there was no constant communication with the same person. But what I'm reading it sounds like Crete is not better than where I'm at( although I'm on worker's comp now) Just checking for options if they pull the plug on me after I get back in the truck, I've heard that is a possibility.

 

Will this World Cup ever end? I've seen so much I'm actually learning the rules. Even white people were cheering, yes, hollering yesterday when USA played. I'm with Mexicans today so it's normal.

And how can a game end in a tie??
thank you and goodnight