From what I have been told by some drivers I know who work for Crete and or thier sister companies they have really tightened down on creative logging of any kind and start getting upset if things do not match within 15 minutes.

 

I drive for Celadon and am thinking of switching to Crete. Am concerned about this fuel routing hassle.

At Celadon we get fuel routing also but just ignore it and as long as one fuels at TA, Love's, or Pilot, no one says a thing.

Any of you Crete drivers know if that would fly at Crete?

Also anyone know Ave. length of haul,

and...

Ave. miles per truck per week?

Crete being a privately held company does not have an Investor site where one can do research on THE FACTS, like Celadon does. I'd like to know some facts before I switch....

Thx guys.

 

From what I understand from my friends at Crete you fuel where they tell you, but unlike some companies the fuel stops are along practical routes and they do not route you a hundred miles farther just to fuel at a terminal.

As far as miles go, I have never heard of any complaints of miles from any driver once they learn Crete's major traffic routes and how to use the load select dispatch system to their advantage.

If you want some good first hand knowledge shoot me a PM and I will give you the web addy of a site where there are several current Crete drivers posting.

 

In nearly a year of driving with them I have had exactly ONE incidence of fuel routing that took me more than a couple of miles off route. There are a few fuel stops that i refuse to go to. The pilots in Greenville, Va. Roanoke, Va. and Gary, In. are three examples. If i get routed to one of those I just call my terminal manager and get it changed. As long as you don't constantly ask for new fuel solutions they don't mind. There have also been a few times when I couldn't get a hold of anybody and just stopped where I needed to and never heard anything about it.

As far as weekly miles are concerned, I rarely get less than 3000 unless it is a week I am heaing home.

 

They send you routing and fuel stops on the qualcomm. If you want to take a different route and need different fuel stops you can call and request the change they will help within reason. If you can make the stops they send you you can adjust the route on your own.

 

Do Crete Drivers have a favorite forum they post in on the web?

 

Buckeye, that is the way it is supposed to work, but it only works if the person making the change is smarter then the computer. A close friend of mine who also drives for Crete called our terminal manager in Wilmer two hours ago for a change to the fuel solution for her trip. She is in El Paso,, loading off Ext 34, and was to fuel in Anthony at Ext 0 for a load to PA. Rather then run 68 mile of of route, she wanted it changed, so she got a new fuel solution. Petro, EXT 37, 72 gallons, then to Anthony for a fill, then back past the Petro to head to PA, only 74 miles out of route. It helps when the person the driver talks too understands the problem, but sadly, not all do.

This same person once did not understand why I needed a change to a fuel solution. She could not understand the route given was not a legal route, using US 64 east of Cleveland, TN. Took ten minutes to convince her I had to use another route.

Wonder when they will let the computers drive the trucks?

 

When that happens ( and it only happens rarely) you fill up regardless of how many gallons it tells you to get and then ask for a new solution before you need to fuel again. I can't understand why there is so much griping about the fuel solution situation. Yes, you may once in a while get a solution that makes no sense but all it takes is a phone call to get it staightened out. I think the problem is some drivers like to make it sound like there are snafu's every time they get a solution when in reality 99% of the time there is no problem at all.

 

Yeah, like that will ever happen.

Gotta love corporate thinking. :lol:

 

Were I not sitting in the truck with her at the time she was given the fuel solution, I would likely agree, were it not for the fact she was on the phone and given the solution by the terminal. Of course, she did not go to Anthony, but the phone call did not solve the problem, rather made it worse had she followed it to the letter.

I ran in to a similar problem last I left the house south of Austin, Texas. Computer could not find a fuel solution, so after a call to Wilmer, my next fuel stop would be in Sweetwater Texas, meaning pushing the truck 150 miles. A call to Lincoln, similar results.."no, you can not stop at the T/A in New Braunsfel or the Pilot in San Antonio, the T/A being right on my route to the shipper, and the Pilot not far off the route to destination.

Finally I told the guy in Lincoln when you figure out how to make the stupid program work let me know, I will fuel in San Antonio. And like magic here comes a fuel solution with the Pilot on it.

Like I said, it helps to be smarter then the computer. and have people who understand the real world.