No more pets for Crete

Mandatory teaming is coming. The government won't mandate OTR drivers team. The private sector will. The government just has to manipulate laws that push the industry towards teaming, something they've already started doing. The new HOS and no-idling laws are obviously geared to the coming teaming trend. The government is getting it started, but the companies will take it the rest of the way. Outfits just have to get their stubborn drivers acclimated to the idea of teaming. This should be easy, though. Just institute max idling policies and force the stubborn to freeze/roast for a few weeks, maximum. No matter what drivers boast, before long, every OTR truck will be a team truck. They won't be quitting en-masse like they claim they will. Companies will call their drivers' bluff and before long we'll see no more solo OTR drivers.

 

That will be interesting if they try to implement forced team driving. I would imagine a lot of drivers would quit. Living in such small quarters with someone you don't like...........sucks. The 1 year I did drive, I wanted to team but there are some bizarre drivers out there to say the least. One guy had marijuana on the truck, 1 guy was a very angry person all the time, 1 guy was a nervous wreck driving and always worried about where the police were even though we were hauling legitimate freight and it had a govenor on it. I would also think there are many drivers that drive with a child or Spouse who don't drive. They will not want to give that up. They can try and force it but I doubt it will work. They would be eliminating a lot of drivers. I know I wouldn't team drive unless it was some I know and like. Monty

 

I wouldn't team drive unless I could convince my wife to get a CDL or maybe one of my sons.

 

JMO here, and I know some won't agree, and it's ok if we don't agree, that's what makes this great. I don't understand having a pet in the truck, but hey, if that's your thing, so be it. I love having furbabies around and I completely understand the appeal for people on the road that it makes it 'more like home' with a pet.

That being said, if I was in the truck ALL THE TIME, maybe I would think more of it, but then I'd feel bad for the animal having to be caged up in a box for however many hours in something that wouldn't move in the event of a crash/stop, etc., because the animal sure as hell wouldn't be running loose in the truck - nothing like a freaked out projectile with claws and the ability to crap or piddle if frightened.

I'd also feel bad about keeping an animal in such a confined space, but hell, people keep them in kennels and such, so I guess it's not all that bad, unless it's a bigger dog with a grossly obese driver, and you KNOW that poor animal's not getting the diet and exercise it needs (dog, I don't care about the driver, that's his own fault). I agree, I've seen numerous dogs in a single truck before too, and it just baffles me.

As someone with 4 cats, a dog and 2 fish (I'd have more, but I don't want to give away all my space), I'm an animal lover. I feel like it's unsafe to have an animal in the car/truck with you. It particularly pisses me off when I see someone driving along with a dog/cat/whatever on their LAP when they're driving. WTF?!?! Not only are you causing a potential hazard for your pet (emergency stopping and a pet bouncing off of the steering wheel/dashboard/windshield/back of your head make sense?), you're also causing yourself to be a risk.

Regarding the pets on the lap, I don't care if you THINK you're too cool and more than attentive enough to pay attention to both your pet and your driving, but it's a distraction, no matter who you are. You may never have a problem, I get that, some people are just lucky that way. Just like a lot of idiots with a cell phone in one hand, burger or drink in the other and screaming kids in the back might never be IN an accident themselves, but may cause plenty or just be a danger on the road, even though they think they're doing great because they've not actually run anyone/anything over.

Anyway... I'm hoping that Crete will re-evaluate their policy, allow those who want pets with them to keep them (in a safely stowed manner, of course), and just charge the deposit on the trucks. Honestly, I'd imagine with a lot of folks, it's not about cleaning up after a driver/animal leaves, it's more about tearing everything out and replacing it.

With regard to the forced teaming of OTR drivers, that's going to be a tough sell. No one wants to be in the truck with hubby after dairy. That's just a bad, bad thing. LOL

 

Any Crete dirvers have any updates on this string?

 

all of the pet lover can blame it on the lady that had 9 cats in the truck and had it put on a hunt trailer and took back to the yard to get the hole interior redid for 7 g's

 

I can garauntee that if teaming becomes required, I will downgrade my CDL back to a regular driver's license. One of the reason's I got into driving is so I wouldn't have to deal with working with some lazy-azzed idiot.

 

If you see me I will be solo.

 

Let me shed (no pun intended) a little light on this topic --

1) Pets have been "grandfathered" in. If you had a pet on-board, you can keep it, but once it assumes room temperature, that's it. No new hires will be permitted to have pets, the objective is to make this a pet-free company.

2) Why? Because we have leased trucks from Fruitliner! When the trucks are turned back in, one of the first things that Fruitliner does is clean the A/C system. If there is pet hair and/or dander in the heating/cooling system, the entire system must be either thoroughly cleaned or replaced. And... guess who got to pay for that? (Hint: For once, it wasn't the driver!)

I talked to Mr K. many years ago, and he told me that they had to keep track of four types of trucks -- Non-smoking with no pet, Non-smoking with a pet, Smoking with no pet, and Smoking with a pet.

Someone shows up, completes orientation, gets assigned a truck, and come to find out that the driver before them had a cat in the truck, and the new-hire is allergic to cats! Now they've got to scramble to find the newbie a truck! Royal PITA if you ask me...

And in all honesty, it wouldn't surprise me a bit if they don't allow smoking in the trucks in a few years...