[evertruckerr]

mba driver wrote:

You are in for a big surprise. I enjoy working with Superior, but as anyone will tell you, it has its drawbacks......

Thanks for the heads up, but I feel I have a very firm grip on what's ahead of me at Superior. I've read all I could find on this forum and others about the company and have spent many hours talking to drivers at various truck stops.

I am very aware of how easy my job is now. As a matter of fact I don't even consider it work. Prior to Crete I pulled reefer for a dedicated account for 3+years and unloaded my own truck, every pound of it myself with nothing more than handjack and have restacked far more pallets than I could possibly remember. Not to mention the years I worked in framing and block construction in the Phoenix sun. I really need to stop patting myself on the back, I guess I could alway get dollarshort to do that for me.

I am certain the flexibility in hometime will more than makeup for the extra work, even if I have to take a bit of a pay cut. I love a challenge.

I figure if Cyanide can do it, it will be a breeze! :shock:

[evertruckerr]

Originally Posted by wsyrob

So how does that work? Did your dispatcher tell you to go to a hotel or did you have to ask for it? I am currently in training with Superior Carriers. Just trying to learn.

Hey, this is a Crete thread, Go away. Superior Carriers suck(at least until I start working there) :lol: :shock: :!:

[evertruckerr]

OK, I'll try this point by point thing.


mbadriver wrote:

You are in for a big surprise. I enjoy working with Superior, but as anyone will tell you, it has its drawbacks.

Equipment -

Underpowered Internationals. You won't find ANYONE bragging up the Superior fleet. None of that "all our trucks are 05, 06 or newer."

They may be underpowered, but I've been passed up by you guys on the hills more than once. An underpowered truck is nothing new to a Crete driver. My current truck has 582,000 on it, but I keep it spotless and it's not any different than a new truck.

Take your Crete Freightliner Century Class and cut about 2/3's of the sleeper. They are tiny, they have no aux heater. The engine runs from the time you start it until you return to base.

Sleeper size really isn't a concern for me, I'm content with the bare minimum. As far as an aux heater, I could care less. I never idle unless the temp gets down to the teens(mostly to keep the trucks fluids from freezing). I sleep like a rock in cold weather. Summer heat is a very different story.

As a new driver with them you whatever truck is laying around the yard. The Best of the Worst. It will be filthy, and most likely leaking something somewhere.

I wouldn't expect anything else, standard practice at most trucking companies that I've dealt with in the past. I've had to detail a truck or two before moving my stuff in. Hope for the best, expect the worst and you'll never be disappointed.

Administrative:

If you need a lot of hand holding (trip routing, directions, fuel stops) forget it. You are definitely free to think for yourself (i like that!)

That's Crete to a tee, except they give you routing, directions(most of the time)and fuel stop. LOL! Outside of that they do expect you to be able to think on you feet and solve unexpected problems on your own without someone holding your hand every step of the way, that's why some drivers have a difficult time with the company. Crete actually expects you to be able to think for yourself. Here is your load information, get it there, and leave us alone. In my time at Crete I have talked to my fleet manager once, about a non-critical issue early on. Outside of my fleet managers assitant(who is a very pleasant woman) who I call to set up hometime and change fuel routing on occasions, I don't know a single person in the company and don't really need to. I do my job, they pay me, everyone is happy.

Support: They leave at 5pm.

Same here, God help you if you need help from the night or weekend crew!

Miles: That story has been beat to death. You don't need a lot to make a good living at Superior.

You will need the miles at Crete, but not as many as at other companies. If you know how to manage your time and your logbook, you will be able to get plenty of miles.

Downside - to low miles = a lot of work. You gotta do a throrough pre-trip you never know what the condition is off the trailer you just picked up at the tank wash, or was pre-loaded. Climbing on top checking all the caps and seals, dome lid/seal, clean dry odor free. Internal valve pump, external valve. You just can't trust or assume anything.

You can't trust anyone. Sounds like good advise to me.

Allot of work is no problem, as long as the paycheck justifies the effort.

Unloading - its compensated, but still is work. Up and down the ladder, sling hoses, air up, air down, inspect for heel. Buckets, caps, plugs, velcro strips. A bit of change from opening doors. Also the rumor is tank yankers suck at backing. Baloney, the places you off load can be a riot. Back around a 90-degree turn, down the hill, another 90 to the blind side - all the while the product is bouncing you around like a pinball.

Unloading through a hose or a reefer one box at a time, I'm willing to give the tanker thing a try 8)


Backing, 5 years of delivering materials with and end dump to constructions sites should cover that, at least you don't have to worry about the wind blowing your truck over as you unload a tanker

It's a change from being a door swinger. The money is decent. I like my job and the weird little challenges. Not having some dimwit dispatcher sending me routing information devoid of any common sense is probably the best benefit Laughing

The door swinging does have it's advantages. "Hey, I'm backed to the dock, let me know when your done"

Being treated like a person is alway nice, although I can't complain about Crete. They are good in that department, but it sounds like Superior has them beat anyway.

It's almost worth hiring with Superior just to spend the training week with Sharp and McPeek Laughing They are a hoot Wink

I'm going to request mbadriver, I hear he's a real pushover

[mbadriver]

The policy book you get at Kingsport has all the terminals and the company motel(s) for each terminal. Bobtail over, give em your company ID, and they give you a room. No money changes hands. I prefer the Holiday Inn at Rahway, although the Comfort Inn @ Markham isn't bad. Kankakee motel is a dump, but has a nice bar. Kingsport isn't bad.

At Markham, you don't want to stray too far away from the hotel, because the neighborhood can get a little rough. That convenience/liquor store at the corner S/W corner of 6 and Dixie - boy that's a rough crowd.

I like my job at Superior. I wasn't trying to be negative. I was just trying to give "real" picture of day to day life at Superior. It's a different job than dry van. For instance, a half full trailer of a low viscosity product. It's like having a cannonball rolling back and forth. If you get tired while driving, just slam on your brakes - it'll wake you up in a hurry :wink:

FWIW, every truck I have gotten (I'm on my fifth in 3-months!) has been filthy. Perhaps, it has to do with the trucks getting repeatedly passed down the line to new hires. New hires tend to get a bit "dirtier" loading and unloading. The grunge ends up back in the cab. That's just a pet peeve of mine - I'm a bit of clean (not necessarily neat) freak.

I slip seated at the last company I worked at, I went ballistic over the other drivers leaving their trash in the truck. Once there was white powder residue and a razor blade on the little slide out table. I didn't use that little slide out table until about 4-days out. Crime in Italy, I could have been in a world of sh!t :?

In my whopping 19-months of trucking, Superior is my 4th company. They are by far the best. FWIW, I previously worked at Roehl, Falcon Transport, and Schneider. Falcon operated somewhat like Superior and I liked them. Just couldn't get the consistent miles necessary for decent paychecks.

Oh well, I got to get ready to hit the road. Today I forego the $20 loading pay. I had the trailer pre-loaded. Will start my work week at noon. :lol: Oh crap, just saw the weather - a noreaster and I'm heading into the teeth of it. If it slows me down, I will have to click over to hourly pay!

Originally Posted by wsyrob

So how does that work? Did your dispatcher tell you to go to a hotel or did you have to ask for it? I am currently in training with Superior Carriers. Just trying to learn.

[Graymist]

Originally Posted by evertruckerr

Hey, this is a Crete thread, Go away. Superior Carriers suck(at least until I start working there) :lol: :shock: :!:

On going through their website, I found that they have 3 dedicated fleets in the PA area ( I'll be moving to Pittsburgh ). Does anybody have information / experience with Crete's dedicated fleets, in terms of hometime, types of customers & products, live loads / unloads or drop & hook, weekly miles etc. ? Thanks in advance.

[dollarshort]

Just for your information I have, and always will run 100% legal. If I don't I will be fired.

The thing with the way we are dispatched, the driver is utilized to the best possible way to get the most miles possible per day. And yes I do run a minimum of 600 miles per day. EVERYDAY!!!!! Usually run about 675-700 per day. 8)

The reason I go home every weekend is because I never have hours left to run after Friday anyway, so why camp out in a truckstop for 34 hours when I can be home.

There is no reason to ever stay out more than a week unless you are wasting time. But that's not what I am out here to do. I never make an entry in my log book for a days hours less than 11 hours. It is usually 11 hours driving, 15 min. pre-trip, 15 min. post trip. Anything less is wasted time.

I you think you can run circles around me that's fine....I know what I am
capable of...Do you? :roll:

[dipstick]

Dollarshort said "Just for your information I have, and always will run 100% legal. If I don't I will be fired.

The thing with the way we are dispatched, the driver is utilized to the best possible way to get the most miles possible per day. And yes I do run a minimum of 600 miles per day. EVERYDAY!!!!! Usually run about 675-700 per day. 8)

The reason I go home every weekend is because I never have hours left to run after Friday anyway, so why camp out in a truckstop for 34 hours when I can be home.

There is no reason to ever stay out more than a week unless you are wasting time. But that's not what I am out here to do. I never make an entry in my log book for a days hours less than 11 hours. It is usually 11 hours driving, 15 min. pre-trip, 15 min. post trip. Anything less is wasted time.

I you think you can run circles around me that's fine....I know what I am
capable of...Do you? :roll:[/quo"



I work for Knight and I call BULLSHIT! Knight has the worse load planning I have ever seen. At Crete I was leading the National fleet with production for rookie drivers, with Knight I am starving. Crete has accepted my application to go back. As far as Knight firing you if you do not run legal I call Bullshit! again, I see more violations on HOS and pencil whipping inspections over here and nothing other happens except a verbal word from safety. Knight has many bush league drivers IMO. You can stop with the recruiting as the truth at Knight does not resemble your fairy tales.

[Karnajj]

Glad to see someone else call Dollarshort on the carpet for BS. Anybody with a sixth graders understanding of math can readily see that at his rate of pay there is no way in hell you can make the kind of money he claims to make.

[-FlyByNight-]

Nice job Evertruckerr! Looks like you've really mastered Crete's dispatch system and have it working to your advantage. Thanks for posting the info and keep on truckin'! 8)

[evertruckerr]

The final numbers are in and it looks like my initial estimate of my YTD pay was a little high. So here are the actual numbers and a the copy of my final pay check that I promised earlier in this thread:


My YTD pay on my final pay check of 12/27/07 for miles run through 12/21/07 was $60,857.19


Final Pay 2007 .................................................. ................$60,857.19
Less: First paycheck 2007 for last week of 2006........................- 575.23
Add: First paycheck 2008 for last week of 2007
including 1week pd/vac @ $1154...........................................+ 1743.57
-------------

Gross pay for 2007 .................................................. ..........$62,025.53


Here is a copy of final paycheck of 2007, you'll have to take my word on the adjustments.