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

Discussion in 'Discuss Your Favorite Trucking Company Here' started by The_Irishman, Nov 8, 2013.

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TruckerJimbo Medium Load Member

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July was a good miles month for me. 13,470 for the month. It marks the first time I can remember going over 13,000 per month. This puts me 10,800 ahead of last year at this time. My average length is 777 miles this year compared to 668 last year.

I am still off, until Tuesday.

TruckerJimbo, Aug 8, 2014

#2571

48Packard Thanks this.
TLeaHeart Road Train Member

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stungjoe said: ↑

It's 06:30 and I'm sitting at the cons of my last run with Crete. I have a 08:45 appt but my bags are already packed. I have twenty miles to drive to Wilmer to turn in my truck. I want to give some final thoughts about Crete since this thread is all about the "Pros" and "Cons" of life here at Crete.

Training: I came fresh out of CDL school in Waco, TX with had very little experience behind the wheel due to the quantity of students. I went with Crete because they have one of the longest best paid training requirements of the companies I explored. Two months and a very good trainer later I was ready to continue my learning on my own. I hope every driver learns something everyday. Young or old you can always learn something if you chose to.

Equipment: These trucks are fairly well maintained and the Maxforce engine aside I had pretty good luck out of the Internationals. My second truck left me in the shop on four or five occasions but with Crete's breakdown pay I at least got some compensation for my time. All of my trucks had A/C problems and left me in hotels from time to time. Not to mention one very long run over the July 4th holiday in 105* heat across Kansas.

Dispatch: One of the reasons I became so frustrated here is the lack of actual planning. I grew to dread my MT call because I never knew what they were going to throw at me next. For some it's no big deal and go with the flow better than I do. I like to have a plan and/or time to plan. Some of the preplans were late when the offered them and some were impossible to make on time delivery. If I heard "just get the load underway and give us your best ETA" once I've heard it a thousand times. I started to just say "No" to those because it only leads to me sitting somewhere because someone sent an email and is "waiting to hear back". I sympathize with them though because I understand if there was a way to properly preplan over 5000 trucks I'm sure they would have that system in place. This is where a smaller company has it's advantages. I truly believe they are understaffed at Lincoln.

Shops: It seems as though nobody like the shops where they work. I know I had more than my fill of the attitudes at some of Crete's shops. If these guys were in the actual free market they wouldn't last! I know one guy was looking for a job after I was told "to get on down the road" when I merely wanted to write up my trailer for a T1. A nice long convo at the behest of his boss the next morning pretty much sealed his fate because "I wasn't the first to complain but I will be the last" as he promised me. There is no reason for them to be the way they are. A perfect example was the young service writer at Wilmer. He was always nice and pleasant to deal with. They lost a good employee when he left but he's now a teacher so best of luck to you!

I really have enjoyed my time here at Crete. I feel they offer a new driver more than enough tools to make a success at driving. Some may argue that fuel solutions, route suggestions and monitoring of OOR miles was hand holding but for a newbie they can make your job less demanding. That's why I'm of the opinion that Crete is one of the better training companies out there. I know as a rookie you would be hard pressed to find a better paying company. If you find that you have outgrown their regiment then by all means move on. I'm moving on to something else but hold no grudges against Crete. In fact I thank them for the time I had here. I know I was written up once for hard brakes and it changed my way of driving for the better so again: Thanks Crete!
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The bolded and red I added to your comment tells the tale of crete... When I started driving, crete did NOT accept students, had to have 1 year experience... Crete was a company I aspired to join... Then they started the micro managing and became a training company.... so sad...

TLeaHeart, Aug 8, 2014

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iraqralph43 Road Train Member

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Onadetour said: ↑

Still in Lincoln waiting for the truck to come back from Detroit Diesel. The guy that drove me back to the terminal said Crete would be getting "a bunch" of new units in September and while it would be good for the drivers he expected his shop to get slow as we move away from the Internationals.
Stayed at the downtown Holiday Inn last night. Nice location but not so good for my food budget. Was told the four tour buses at the curve belonged to the Doobie Brothers..........new trucks ? ....peterbuilt or freightliner?
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iraqralph43, Aug 8, 2014

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Onadetour Medium Load Member

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iraqralph43 said: ↑

[....new trucks ? ....peterbuilt or freightliner?
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Didn't say, just said the Internationals where hard to get rid of...

Onadetour, Aug 8, 2014

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48Packard Ol' Two-stop Shag!

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iraqralph43 said: ↑

Onadetour said: ↑

Still in Lincoln waiting for the truck to come back from Detroit Diesel. The guy that drove me back to the terminal said Crete would be getting "a bunch" of new units in September and while it would be good for the drivers he expected his shop to get slow as we move away from the Internationals.
Stayed at the downtown Holiday Inn last night. Nice location but not so good for my food budget. Was told the four tour buses at the curve belonged to the Doobie Brothers..........new trucks ? ....peterbuilt or freightliner?
Click to expand...

My understanding is they decided against the Pete's.
Click to expand...

48Packard, Aug 8, 2014

#2575
freightwipper Road Train Member

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iraqralph43 said: ↑

Onadetour said: ↑

Still in Lincoln waiting for the truck to come back from Detroit Diesel. The guy that drove me back to the terminal said Crete would be getting "a bunch" of new units in September and while it would be good for the drivers he expected his shop to get slow as we move away from the Internationals.
Stayed at the downtown Holiday Inn last night. Nice location but not so good for my food budget. Was told the four tour buses at the curve belonged to the Doobie Brothers..........new trucks ? ....peterbuilt or freightliner?
Click to expand...

48Packard said: ↑

iraqralph43 said: ↑

My understanding is they decided against the Pete's.
Click to expand...

of course, it's cheap Crete.
I expect stripped down mid roof freightshakers with "Optimized" idle
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Click to expand...

freightwipper, Aug 8, 2014

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Guardian 91 Bobtail Member

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Hey there guys, I'm from Indianapolis and I'm trying to decide on a company to drive for. I just finished my CDL school on Wednesday and I'm torn between TMC, Melton, or Crete. Obviously the other 2 are Flatbed but they both have veterans benefits that really speak to me. Crete does as well and after talking to the recruiter Crete sounds pretty good. Because I'm a veteran, she said I could start at .39cpm on the weekly route having me home for the weekends. The other she said was I could do regional and be out 2-3 days at a time and get $180 a day. Is all of this realistic or just the recruiter giving me the go around? Also any other info you guys could give me would be great! Thanks!

Guardian 91, Aug 8, 2014

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tucker Road Train Member

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We dunno Guardian, depends if you went to an approved school.

Another typical day here, drop at Kim Clark in Romeoville, they won't give me an empty until I know if I'm picking up a load, beings it's Saturday, I can't get a reply. The driver that got here after me got a sweet load to Texas, me... I can't get a reply.
i asked if I could bobtail home (9 hours away) I get the hang tight message, with a little extra, that I'm due home on the 16th. Which I don't want to go home.
i send back that I don't want hometime, just checking if anyone is awake. No reply .

Finally told them I was bobtailing to the truckstop and I'll check back Monday...... No reply.

Im away from the truck now , hard telling how many messages I have waiting, but it's my time to play "ignore" and I'm real good at it

tucker, Aug 9, 2014

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xlsdraw and 48Packard Thank this.
Guardian 91 Bobtail Member

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I already have prehires from all of them. My school is approved. I was just asking for info about starting pay and such. How much I might make a week.

Guardian 91, Aug 9, 2014

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tucker Road Train Member

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Guardian 91 said: ↑

I already have prehires from all of them. My school is approved. I was just asking for info about starting pay and such. How much I might make a week.
Click to expand...

it might be on the website, I don't know about the local set pay gig , except for the Swift local driver that told me about it. Crete cold called him and he laughed at the low pay rate, which stunned me so much that I didn't ask anything else.

tucker, Aug 9, 2014

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