I have about had it at Crete

[Karnajj]

After delivering a nice 2150 mile load to upstate NY Tues nite dispatch had me sit till this morning to pick up a 282 mile run to NJ. Hoping that I would be able to get a decent load out of NJ I delivered early this afternoon only to be given one load offer. A 320 mile load to Wintersville Oh that doesnt pick up for 24 hrs and doesnt deliver till Sun. Wintersville is in such a place that I know I will not get a load offer till Mon morning. So, I will have a whopping 700 miles to show for almost 6 days. I have never seen it like this before. There were 46 trucks sitting empty in NY and I have never had a problem getting loads up there before. I have two weeks vacation coming in June and I think when I get back I'm going to tell Crete they can have their truck back. They just don't give a damn about us anymore.

[doboy]

i agree. i'm going 2 give my notice at the end of the summer. im chkng dfrnt companies now

[LARM]

Damn, I was looking into Crete...how long have you been with them?

I hope you're not quitting after just one bad week..though I'm sure there's more leading to your decision.

[Karnajj]

Been with them 3 years. Never had to sit more than 24 hours between loads, much less 48, but one time and that was over a year ago. I have been doing extremely well this year ( 53,000 so far) but its like they just dont care anymore. I called Lincoln and left a message with a fleet manager to get back to me and all I got was " you've had some good trips lately so now you have to take the bad". How do I explain to my family 700 miles in 5 days?
I'm gone 4-5 weeks at a time and this is what I get?!?! I dont know what I'm going to do. I tend to make quick decisions, usually to my later regret, so I just dont know.

[MonkeyNoodle]

Are you serious? It's bad in alot of places, dont think it's just you getting no loads. You even said there were alot of trucks sitting empty. Do you actually think Crete would purposely sit trucks and not give a damn? Give it a few weeks maybe things will pick up.

[LARM]

Been with them 3 years. Never had to sit more than 24 hours between loads, much less 48, but one time and that was over a year ago. I have been doing extremely well this year ( 53,000 so far) but its like they just dont care anymore. I called Lincoln and and left a message with a fleet manager to get back to me and all I got was " you've had some good trips lately so now you have to take the bad". How do I explain to my family 700 miles in 5 days?
I'm gone 4-5 weeks at a time and this is what I get?!?! I dont know what I'm going to do. I tend to make quick decisions, usually to my later regret, so I just dont know.

53,000 this year? Dude, no offense, but if you quit let me know, I'll take your job.

[headborg]

Been with them 3 years. Never had to sit more than 24 hours between loads, much less 48, but one time and that was over a year ago. I have been doing extremely well this year ( 53,000 so far) but its like they just dont care anymore. I called Lincoln and and left a message with a fleet manager to get back to me and all I got was " you've had some good trips lately so now you have to take the bad". How do I explain to my family 700 miles in 5 days?
I'm gone 4-5 weeks at a time and this is what I get?!?! I dont know what I'm going to do. I tend to make quick decisions, usually to my later regret, so I just dont know.

53,000 this year? Dude, no offense, but if you quit let me know, I'll take your job.

I think he meant 53,000 MILES so far this year- not dollars.

Scary times ahead--- the Devil in the Dark, or the one in Lincoln?

[LARM]

Ah I see.

Yeh, the industry is just scary in general right now. I'm wanting to leave JB like you wouldn't believe, but it seems like it's the same everywhere you look. It might be a good idea to just stick with the company you're with until the dust settles. It sucks a lot right now though.

[unclehotte]

I had the SAME setup like you, a very good run from West to East. Then the next week I got NOTHING.After I was mad and told my fleetmanager at Shaffer about it she said : You got over average miles, there are drivers who got much less miles.And those drivers will get the good runs THIS week, not you. Thats fine, its just I WORKED HARD to do these miles, I get NOTHING for sitting the next week. I guess it slipped out of her, I guess she wished that she had bid her tounge .Then I knew there was NO getting ahead. I told her that my mortgage company DONT care about THEIR rules.

[scythe08]

Be strong Guys! It's bad all over. I drive local and I have had only 5 full paychecks this year so far(get paid weekly) And the only reason I have that many is the I got bid out of my previous spot and I ended up in this one which was actually a better run.

[Karnajj]

Frankly I don't care if I'm doing better than everyone else. That's no excuse to cut my miles (if they are truly doing that). The way I look at it once the week is over it doesn't matter any more what kind of miles I got. They better be looking to keep me busy NEXT week. Used to be they would deadhead you how ever many miles it took to get you a load. I realize that was when fuel prices were lower but you still have to keep the drivers happy. When I was up in Rome, NY I was sitting with 9 other Crete drivers. What do you think the topic of conversation was? The latest Hitlery/Osama I mean Obama debate? Hardly. We were talking about how we used to never have to sit like this in the past. It wears you down when you can no longer count on getting enough miles to pay the bills. You get short tempered and you start pissing off people you are probably better off not getting mad at you. I don't drive to see the country. I don't drive because I feel like I'm contributing to the economy or performing a needed task. I drive because it earns me a good income. Forty or Fifty thousand dollars a year is not enough to keep me out for 4-5 weeks at a time. I HAVE to get up around $60,000 before it's worth it. Otherwise you are justing wasting your time.
When you sit you invariably start thinking about things you would be better off not thinking of. Missing your kids baseball game or your wifes birthday etc. When you are moving you have other things to occupy your mind. I'm just not moving as much as I used to.

[jefster]

I drive local and I havent had even one full check yet this year and I was getting ready to go otr because its so bad but I have a bad feeling it will be just as bad otr.

[Uturn2001]

These outrageous fuel prices are quickly taking the economy right into the dumper. Consumers are spending less on everything but fuel right now.

Even though worker productivity rose 2.2% in the first quarter of this year the unemployment rate actually more than offset it, so in reality there has been less product made and therefore less product needing shipped because less product is needed because people can not afford to buy what they used to buy.

I can certainly understand driver's frustration at having to sit, especially when they are not even getting a few hundred mile run a day. To be honest though I do not think anyone is really going to find a better deal than what they have right now in the OTR/regional sectors, especially if they are at the upper end of the pay scales.

As others have said things are bad all over, and I believe they are going to get worse yet and continue to get worse until at least mid November after the elections though I can see things continuing to decline until this time next year when people will get a feel for what the next president is really going to be like.

[whatsmynameagain]

I feel your pain, its turned into the same story over at Barr Nunn, I used to do really well with them now I am lucky to scrape together 1 decent week much less 2 in a row and we kind of get the same story about how we are doing better than average or you just came off of a good trip. I'm with ya, i dont care how good i did yesterday, I wanna know how good i am doing today. I have been really debating on bailing out on Barr Nunn as well but then i look at stuff like this and talk to other drivers from other companies and think to myself, where the hell can i go, its getting crappy everywhere. I feel your pain on deadheading to loads as well, Barr Nunn has really out the crunch on that as well, its getting to the point where its financially better for them to just leave you sitting with no load than it is to deahhead out to get to a load. Thats why they changed our layover pay to a 34 hour wait now. Sucks everywhere it seems.

[headborg]

Frankly I don't care if I'm doing better than everyone else. That's no excuse to cut my miles (if they are truly doing that). The way I look at it once the week is over it doesn't matter any more what kind of miles I got. They better be looking to keep me busy NEXT week. Used to be they would deadhead you how ever many miles it took to get you a load. I realize that was when fuel prices were lower but you still have to keep the drivers happy. When I was up in Rome, NY I was sitting with 9 other Crete drivers. What do you think the topic of conversation was? The latest Hitlery/Osama I mean Obama debate? Hardly. We were talking about how we used to never have to sit like this in the past. It wears you down when you can no longer count on getting enough miles to pay the bills. You get short tempered and you start pissing off people you are probably better off not getting mad at you. I don't drive to see the country. I don't drive because I feel like I'm contributing to the economy or performing a needed task. I drive because it earns me a good income. Forty or Fifty thousand dollars a year is not enough to keep me out for 4-5 weeks at a time. I HAVE to get up around $60,000 before it's worth it. Otherwise you are justing wasting your time.
When you sit you invariably start thinking about things you would be better off not thinking of. Missing your kids baseball game or your wifes birthday etc. When you are moving you have other things to occupy your mind. I'm just not moving as much as I used to.

It's called robbing Peter to Pay Paul- this week -- this half the fleet gets to eat-- next week the will switch and feed the other half.

One bad week? out of the last 17weeks -- and you still saying you're at 53,000 miles total--- that means you've still got 3100 miles a week AVERAGE!---- but, I know...every week counts--- just keep track of them--
tell them you're leaving WHEN/IF THAT AVERAGE FALLS BELOW X??

[Kurbski]

It is bad here in Florida. 71 seminole county workers just had their jobs eliminated and 30 other jobs will not be filled. First time I have seen it in 22 yrs with them. Tons of teachers everywhere being let go. We lost positions in facilities maintenance, roads, purchasing, emergency mgmt and others. Left the FD and Trash haulers alone this round. The media says different crap on every channel.Don't know who to believe anymore.

[headborg]

It is bad here in Florida. 71 seminole county workers just had their jobs eliminated and 30 other jobs will not be filled. First time I have seen it in 22 yrs with them. Tons of teachers everywhere being let go. We lost positions in facilities maintenance, roads, purchasing, emergency mgmt and others. Left the FD and Trash haulers alone this round. The media says different crap on every channel.Don't know who to believe anymore.

You know back in 1929? when the stock market crashed suddenly- and over night the world fell into the "Great Depression"-- it probably wouldn't have "crashed" had there been a "global economy" like we have today---

to day, it's a less noticeable slow slip into such-- and quietly AMERICA notices over a year or so-- it's now a 3rd world Nation--

a nation that produces NOTHING and consumes everything-- will eventually-- owe everyone else on the planet--everything.

[CaliTrucker]

Be strong Guys! It's bad all over. I drive local and I have had only 5 full paychecks this year so far(get paid weekly) And the only reason I have that many is the I got bid out of my previous spot and I ended up in this one which was actually a better run.

I am in the same situation scythe and jefster. This year flat out sucks. I am local and i have yet to have a 40 hour week. The really sad part is the fact that this past week was an "ok" week and i only scraped 23 hours. If i use my last pay stub and take a weekly average to get a rough estimate of my yearly income if things don't pick up, I will be lucky to clear $16,000 this year.

[jefster]

Calitrucker it will be $19k this year for me if it keeps going the way it is.

[Evinrude]

Frankly I don't care if I'm doing better than everyone else. That's no excuse to cut my miles (if they are truly doing that). The way I look at it once the week is over it doesn't matter any more what kind of miles I got. They better be looking to keep me busy NEXT week. Used to be they would deadhead you how ever many miles it took to get you a load. I realize that was when fuel prices were lower but you still have to keep the drivers happy. What do you think the topic of conversation was? The latest Hitlery/Osama I mean Obama debate? Hardly. We were talking about how we used to never have to sit like this in the past. It wears you down when you can no longer count on getting enough miles to pay the bills. You get short tempered and you start pissing off people you are probably better off not getting mad at you. I don't drive to see the country. I don't drive because I feel like I'm contributing to the economy or performing a needed task. I drive because it earns me a good income. Forty or Fifty thousand dollars a year is not enough to keep me out for 4-5 weeks at a time. I HAVE to get up around $60,000 before it's worth it. Otherwise you are justing wasting your time.
When you sit you invariably start thinking about things you would be better off not thinking of. Missing your kids baseball game or your wifes birthday etc. When you are moving you have other things to occupy your mind. I'm just not moving as much as I used to.

When I was up in Rome, NY I was sitting with 9 other Crete drivers.

When they make you guys sit, are they still hiring rookies from driving schools?