I noticed on cretes site that they do not require HazMat when you sign on but they do require it 45 to 60 days after sign on, my question is, is this mandatory that you get a hazmat endorsement? or is there another option?

It is mandatory. And they are very serious about it. My 60 day period was nearly up when Safety forced dispatch to route me home so I could check the mail. In two years I have yet to haul a single hazmat load but now that i have it I'm glad I do.

Cret also reimburses the application fees up to $125 I believe.

Well I know they reimburse you $100 and I've hauled 1 or 2 haz-mat loads since I've been here. Congrats on becoming apart of our team.

Going on 7 years with Crete....

I can count the hazmat loads I've hauled on one hand.

I saw a company Peterbilt 387 today with an APU. First Crete company truck I've seen with one.

Certified trainers?
 

Do Crete trainers go through any type of certification process? Do they "train their trainers"?
The more I read, the more I'm leaning toward this company. It seems to combine the good of the large with some of the driver-friendly thinking of the smaller companies.
Just this one question, since I've already begun the application process!
Jewels

Re: Certified trainers?
 

Yeah they sure do. I'm not so sure as to what the specifics are but I spoke to a trainer (about all the extra $ he was making) and he told me that less then %5 of our drivers in our fleet qualify to be a trainer. So in other words they arent letting someone with 6 mos. experience train new drivers.

Exactly. That's why I like them so much. They keep me busy. As long as I run legal and make ontime deliveries they never bother me, even when I was a company driver.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion but don't be fooled by the guys who want to try to tell you that smaller companies are always better. If you want to be friends with people in the office to get better loads...well by all means more power to you. I'm out here to keep my nose to the grindstone and work hard, not whine about not getting a load to Cali, or whatever.

"Courtin'"
 

Thanks, folks, for the good info. Crete and I are officially "courtin'"! I'm so excited I could just spit!
Again, thanks for the good news!
Jewels

I've only had one HazMat load in 8 months.

As far as the APUs go, they only have a handful, they are testing different manufactures to determine which one is best and if it would be worth the investment to equip the entire fleet.

Re: "Courtin'"
 

..


make an effort to go in and meet your dispatcher in person, you will have a much better relationship that way

I've been told by someone that I consider to be good authority that Crete will be going to the Thermo King Tri Pak APU in the next year or so.