May vs. Crete

[truckiedriver]

Las Vegas is a lousy place to live if you drive for Crete.

Just wondering what trucking company is good to work for if you live in Las Vegas???

[Flydragon]

Las Vegas is a lousy place to live if you drive for Crete.

Just wondering what trucking company is good to work for if you live in Las Vegas???

I don't have a definitive answer, but I would think Knight might be a better choice in the long run. However, they require at least 4 months experience so you can't go there as a recent graduate.

[evertruckerr]

Flydragon wrote:

Sorry for the delayed response, I'm currently on the road with a trainer and I have to borrow his laptop.

Las Vegas is a lousy place to live if you drive for Crete. The closest terminal is Phoenix (280 miles) and I had to leave my car there; they're not letting me take the truck home. Crete doesn't place a high priority on getting you home anyway and living in LV just makes it more difficult. I knew that going in, but it doesn't make any easier.

I might sometimes get home under load if I pass through Kingman AZ on I40 (about 95 miles, 1:45 travel time). I could leave the truck and have someone pick me up and take me home for a day if I have the time.

The way I see it Crete's as good as any company to drive for and the pay is better than most, especially for recent grads. And being 8 weeks long the training (and training pay - $500/wk) is better too. My trainer is patient, knowledgeable, and pretty easy to get along with. I figure it could be a lot worse.

Let me know if you have any questions. I've been out nearly 2 weeks and I should be able to get to the computer more often now.

I hope things are going well for you.

You might want to consider making SLC your home term, or at least park your car there. It might me a longer drive but you will get through there much more often and it will be much easier to get hometime that way. Also you can get work done on the truck up there while you are taking time off. No shop in PHX.

I wouldn't count on passing through Kingman very often. I've been through there once.

I'm currently trying to get to PHX for hometime without much luck. Hopefully that will change soon.

[Flydragon]

evertruckerr wrote:

I hope things are going well for you.

You might want to consider making SLC your home term, or at least park your car there. It might me a longer drive but you will get through there much more often and it will be much easier to get hometime that way. Also you can get work done on the truck up there while you are taking time off. No shop in PHX.

I wouldn't count on passing through Kingman very often. I've been through there once.

I'm currently trying to get to PHX for hometime without much luck. Hopefully that will change soon.

Things are going well enough, thanks. But I'd sure like to go through Vegas right about now. Two guys living in a truck gets old real fast.

That sounds like good advice regarding SLC. Once I'm done with training I may just do what you suggest. Unfortunately, the drive is 7 hours to LV as against 4 1/2 from PHX. However, I'm wondering if I can get through LV fairly often if I drive for the Western Regional fleet. Since I'm only at 34 cpm my first year anyway, it might be a good way to get home under load.

[evertruckerr]

Flydragon wrote:

Things are going well enough, thanks. But I'd sure like to go through Vegas right about now. Two guys living in a truck gets old real fast.

That sounds like good advice regarding SLC. Once I'm done with training I may just do what you suggest. Unfortunately, the drive is 7 hours to LV as against 4 1/2 from PHX. However, I'm wondering if I can get through LV fairly often if I drive for the Western Regional fleet. Since I'm only at 34 cpm my first year anyway, it might be a good way to get home under load.

I know what you mean by two guys in a truck. I was a trainer for a short time and it just wasn't worth it. My student snored at an unbearable level and there just isn't enough room for everyones belongings in these trucks.

At least you are half way through it. Just think how wonderful it will be when you get your own truck. Happy days.

From what I hear the Western Regional guys are hurting for miles. There are a lot of trucking companies fighting for freight out there and Crete isn't big on hauling cheap freight, so that can make miles hard to come by. I would stick to National for now, but that is a choice for you.

By the way, your drive from SLC to LV in a car should be less than 6hrs in a car at 75MPH. I thinks its around 420mi.

[Flydragon]

At least you are half way through it. Just think how wonderful it will be when you get your own truck. Happy days.

Oh, how I wish I was halfway through. I've been out only 2 wks, 6 more to go!

By the way, your drive from SLC to LV in a car should be less than 6hrs in a car at 75MPH. I thinks its around 420mi.

Now that you mention it, I was clocking from LV to Ogden which is at least an hour further from LV. My gf/partner has family there and we go there once and a while. Possibly I can make that work for me somehow.

[ZMDWEBE]

Hello folks,
I won't elaborate here since I have a long reply in another thread,
but crete turned down my app, so I am sticking with knight.
I went 48, and now miles=smiles

[Jimbpard]

Why does anyone willingly sit for 3+ days at a time?? Thats like getting called into work at a retail/office job but the boss tells you that you will only get paid for the days that he feels like paying you. CRAZY! How the hell do you justify only bring home pay checks for a few hundred dollars are so a week, all while being out 3+ weeks at a time to your wives and families??
I'm not putting anyone down here. I love the idea of OTR, and would be doing it right now if I was a single guy with no family, but you gotta know when it's time...It's gonna get worse before it gets better.

I'm glad I'm on a dedicated contract that was just signed for a 3 year deal...Home Daily, 4 days work, 3 days off. The only waitin I'll be doing is for my steaks to be done on the grill.

Lebron, where's that damn union sign...

[Flydragon]

I've been out 2 wks with trainer... I do all the driving, backing, Qualcomm, and paperwork, he rides, talks on the phone, surfs the web and keeps one eye on what I'm doing. So far the longest we've sat waiting for a load is overnight, and we needed the 10 hours anyway.

If we sat for 3 days in this truck waiting for a load offer I'd probably go bug****. Many of those and I'd be looking for another job.