Crete Carrier Corporation - Lincoln, Ne.

I have been driving for a few years now and for the most part it is a good company. One of the problems you will find however, is dealing with the Acklie maintenance department. I’m not sure where these guys get their training (if any) but there is quite a problem with these shops. It seems that every time I put my truck into the shop for a simple “A” or “B” service, it comes out with more problems then when it went in.

Examples: Voltage meter was reading way below what it should had been. Took it into the shop and they charged one battery and replaced the others. Again, reading still below average and once again, another trip to the shop where they simply recharged the batteries. I finally took it to a TA where they replaced the alternator and everything is good now.

After coming out of the shop another time I was about an hour away when I hit a steep grade and the truck wouldn’t make it up the hill. Road service came out and found that the fuel filter that was replaced was never primed and the gasket was folded.

Two trailers that I found which had just come out of the shop for a regular PMS had either dead batteries or the lights weren’t working properly. This last time I put my tractor in for regular service and it had been there for two weeks while on vacation. I specifically wrote down to check the tail lights as one was blown out. When I came back the service was signed off but the lights were still not working and the fluids had never been topped off. It actually looked like someone put some grease on the fifth wheel and that was it.

Just recently I picked up a trailer which had a dead battery… the product was temperature sensitive and the battery needed to be fixed to get the refer up and running before the outside temperature dropped below freezing. I took it to one of the shops and they said that they would not be able to get to it any time soon. I insisted that this unit needed attention very soon in order to make on-time delivery (which many shops could care less about) and that the product needed protecting. The foreman just shrugged his shoulders and said, “what do you want me to do about it?” I called breakdown and after trying to get them to fix this unit within a reasonable amount of time, they told me to take it up to the TA.

Just a word of caution, that when you take your equipment into a terminal, not only make sure the stuff is serviced correctly, but make sure it was done at all. The Acklie service department seems to have a mind and attitude of their own and doesn’t necessarily evolve around the actual principles of a shipping and on time delivery company and, they don’t seem to be getting any better!

Right now I am broke down on the side of the road waiting for a tow. Not sure what went wrong… just driving along and it died. Probably something that the maintenance department screwed up. Seems that the only thing the shop is good for is turning back the idle on the 9th gear so you can’t get any momentum on the hills, trying to save fuel they say!

Miles… yeah, mine seem to be getting low also. National driver and I had 900 miles this week. Spent two days sitting under a load because the shipper was not ready to take it. I am also out of Deland and have to agree… the fleet manager there will tell you that she will take care of or look into things for you and never does.

 

I actually considered, if I ever went out on the road again, to drive for Crete. They are ther only ones who gave me straight up answers and would pay a decent amount.

 

They will tell you like it is, and if they ever lie to you, turn your back!!!! I am satisfied with CRETE, and there pay is better then any other!

 

Well the recruiters aren't all that honest. I spoke with both Crete and Shaffer recruiters and detailed my situation. I told them exactly how long I ran OTR before accepting a local job to be home with my son during the final two years of high school (due to all he is involved in). I told them exactly what I had done since then (the jobs I had done). Both recruiters told me there would be no problem but I would probably be sent with a trainer for up to four weeks depending on my safety record from my previous company (which was clean with one minor exception, which I also told them about).

Finally decided to apply with Shaffer as I thought the reefer side would be better. Waited to hear from them and heard nothing for days so I decided to call. I was told by this same "honest" recruiter that my application had been denied. When I asked why she put me through to Craig, the director of recruiting. He said I had unstable work history since leaving the road nearly 2 years ago. My application showed five employers. I tried to get him to look closer as two of those five are actually part time jobs running concurrent with my current employer, who I have been with for 17 months. He said that the only way he would accept me is if I went to drive for someone else for a year. I wonder if Shaffer would like it if people purposely came there for a year just to go to another company?

After seeing I was getting nowhere with him being reasonable, I went back to the "honest" recruiter and asked here if there was anyone I could appeal to to have them look at the reality of the employment situation. She gave me the name and address of the president of the company. So I wrote him a letter asking him to look at the matter. I figure, if there is such a shortage of drivers, maybe this individual would be willing to look at the facts and would most likely decide that things would be okay. Well, the president of this "honest" company didn't even have the common decency to acknowledge my letter. I waited several weeks and then called. It was obvious that nothing had been done with my letter (other than it was probably filed in the round file) and there was still no reasoning with this individual about his read of my employment. The reality is, he was unwilling to admit he was wrong on the first read. Honest people can admit mistakes.

Anyway, think twice before believing the "honest" recruiters at Crete or Shaffer. They will tell you one thing but will not go to bat for you to get things done if they told you one thing and the truth is something else.

 

You want to know about trust within this company?
http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...ny-here/35986-shaffer-makes-the-hit-list.html

 

Jerril, let me make one thing clear to you and all others.... THERE IS NO DRIVER SHORTAGE. With the slow down in freight over the past 18 months many companies have become more stringent with who they are willing to hire. I don't think the recruiter purposely lie to you. She probably felt your sitiation was one the company could work with based on the information you gave via your phone conversation. However, upon further review of your writen application by Craig, who does the acctual hiring, he felt you weren't what the company was looking for due to your job history. This is not the recruiters fault. Maybe in the past they would have considerd you, but now that they can be more picky about who they hire, maybe this gave them cause to pass you over.

 

Crete denied my application also because they couldnt verify one of my employers (they were bought out) but I did get this resolved and it really is a hurdle getting on with them. One recruiter told me that they are very picky about the 10 year background. However, I am now driving for Crete and I am really happy with them... There hiring process weeds out the bad apples I am told.

 

I asked during numerous phone calls if there was any problem and she said "No". Since she could see this was a concern she should have checked to make sure. If she was not in a position to decide, she should have asked. I have other companies do that. The recruiters have said, "Let me check on what would be requried." Then they would come back and tell me. Real honesty is being honest enough to say, "I am not sure let me check." The situation her is she was trying to fill her quota and said whatever it took to get me to fill out the application.

And by the way, there have been a couple major publications lately that have reported on the driver shortage in the industry. Freight is slow now but, according to Transport Topics, tonnage has increased over the last two months for the first back to back increase and so things may be turning.

 

What’s curious about this perceived CDL holder shortage are the conflicting stories that show up next to each other in both industry publications and general news outlets. On one hand, the ATA and several trucking companies report there are currently 20,000 drivers needed for available trucking positions across the country. They estimate that by 2014, this will increase to 110,000, and indicate there are approximately 3.4 million truck drivers in America with 1.7 million of these listed as over-the-road. Yet, on either the next page or a preceding page in the same publication, there will be a discussion from the DOT, the FMCSA, or Homeland Security about the fact there are over 11 million CDL holders in the USA today.

Now with a little simple math, if you subtract 3.4 million from 11 million you come up with an excess of 7.6 million truck drivers. Let’s assume half of the 7.6 million are retired, or have other interests that keep them from trucking. That still leaves 3.8 million qualified truckers who would consider returning to the ranks if the conditions were right. The conclusion is there is not a driver shortage, because there are 20,000 open trucking positions with 3.8 million qualified CDL holders to fill them. The question the ATA should be looking at is, Why are 3.8 million Americans, who are qualified to drive commercial vehicles, not willing to fill these positions? Numbers don’t lie: the problem must be in how truckers are treated and how they are paid.

 

And if you want to get home at Crete, you better not live outside the 'golden triangle' as they call it. GA thru OH out to MO and back to GA. I live in FL, which is usually tough to get home, no matter what company I've been with. On Jan. 28 I put in for home time. Asking to be home on or before 2/8/08. I was in the El Paso area. The only thing they offered was a load to Gansevoort, NY (north of Albany) for the following Tuesday. I talked them into letting me drop the load in E. St. Louis so I would be in a good area for freight to get home on. Once in E.St. Louis, the only thing they offered me was a 2 stop from E. St. Louis, 1st stop west of Chicago, 2 nd stop Grand Rapids, MI. This was Friday, the 1st stop was Monday, 2nd on Tuesday. (450 mi in 4 days) They claimed that was all they had. But after looking over all the loaded trailers in the drop yard, there was a load going to near Savannah, which last time I checked was close to FL. Or at least closer than Michigan. But like always, they failed to plan. Someone was already dispatched on this, even though they knew from the start that I would be dropping in St. Louis. After it was all said and done, I did the load, idled the truck all weekend. Idle time was way over 70%. Later in the week they reminded me that I need to start reducing my idle time. I reminded them if my truck were rolling, it wouldn't be idling and that I didn't care about their 'cost' anymore, it was time to look out for numero uno. When I got to Grand Rapids, they seemed to miss the msg's I had been sending over the last 9 days for home time. They told me that it was to short of a notice to get me home. 9 days, too short notice? I informed them, what ever load they dispatched me on was taking the scenic route through Florida. Whether or not I had a job afterwards didn't matter to me. I had only taken 1 1/2 days off for a funeral since Christmas. I was in bad need of home time. They pulled a rabbit out of their hat and managed to get me a load to Ohio, and then one to Miami and even set up a T'call in our Deland yard before I even asked. Once I got to Deland, it took them over an hour and a half to authorize me to go home. (home is 2 hours away) But it took me getting ugly(er) with them. I would rather have been easy going about it, but when they continuously ignore your msg's to them it sorta' gets you ugly. Don't they realize, when you screw with the drivers, the drivers screw with you? We are the ones that smooth over crabby customers, we are the one with the responsibility of keeping up a good public image. How long do they want to stay in business.