$1000 a week before tax's ROFLMAO. Not a real good paycheck in my opinion. And 2700 miles a week. What does the driver do with the rest of the week????? Sit around??? I will stick with my little 80 truck company. I make better money and a whole lot less politics.

 

Lincoln has castrated all the terminal managers and you know it. None of them have the courage to stand up to Tonn Ostergaard and the rest without fear of losing their jobs. And as far as telling dispatch that you are not happy with your miles? Well, good luck trying to get them to give a damn. Everytime I say something about my miles the only response I ever get is "take it or leave it".

 

Oh my god....I dont know if I should just laugh or CRY about so much ignorance to say: Just ask your dispatcher if you want to run more miles.
And when a driver after 4, 5 or more weeks FINALLY wants to get HOME (or MUST GET HOME).......yes, why dont he run the freight he gets offered to NOT GO to the house. In fact, if the driver would stay out 365 a year A LOT of problems would be solved, right???? When I just think of the empty look i got from my fleetmanager at Shaffer when I just DARED to come in and complain about the lack of miles I was getting!

 

OK! Enough with the $1000/week.

Now I have to side with bluebeetle. There are many drivers with this company that are delighted to work a 7-8 hr days and are quite content with 2500 miles a week. I talk to them all the time. All he is saying is that with the reduced speed that Crete is implementing those drivers will now have to be just a little more productive. Meaning they will have to drive and extra 20-30 mins a day to maintain their same level of production.

It's unfortunate that we will have to work a little longer to make the same money, but at $5/gal and rising I understand the reason for it. Like it or not, we have to deal with it. It beats the hell out of looking for a job like so many people in this country are now doing. I still have no problem paying my mortgage and am grateful.


No one is saying that is what you should expect to make at Crete. It was an arbitrary number thrown out there for discussion and everyone seems to be jumping on it as if it is a solid number and not to expect more.

I have been here since September of 2006 and there is not ONE SINGLE WEEK that I have made less than $1000, NOT ONE (hometime weeks not included). As a matter of fact, I have had numerous weeks of $1500+. Even with the slow freight that the industry is being plagued with I am still able to make a good living out here with this company. I simply stated that I must consistently make more than $1000/week to justify staying out on the road. AND I DO. That's why I drive for Crete.

I will admit that the miles don't come as easy as they used too. I am running more short loads and seem to be getting more live loads. I am also finding it necessary to be creative when it comes to getting loaded or unloaded early. For the most part it has been working out well, but I do run into problems with extended downtime due to unnecessarily delayed appointment times.

I have no doubt that there are other drivers with this company that have not been as fortunate as myself, but I have yet to encounter any serious or continued downturns in mileage production. That may very well change, and if it does I will not hesitate to post that information also.

Keep up the good work bluebettle

and I hope things start to pickup for Karnajj. If this driver is short on miles I am confident it is no fault of his own. Our load planers really need to tighten up the schedules on these live loads.

 

Beetle, I would never be one to question your understanding of a trucker's livelihood. Your credentials speak for themselves.

My post in regards to Karnajj in the hot-box sleeper was aimed at questioning why these dedicated employees are being forced to withstand sub-human living conditions due to a lack of foresight by the company? There are many companies that have already installed APUs over the past few years.

In that Crete, for whatever reason ($$$$?) decided to drag it's feet is not the fault of Crete drivers. This obviously (now) very urgent problem/oversight is clearly causing Crete drivers to suffer physically (read Safety) to include decreased morale due to penalties imposed for over-idling. The company seems to have located a couple of 'band-aid' style quick fixes that, of course, come at the expense of the driver.

Until appropriate plans are in place to ensure an acceptable compromise between driver welfare and company profitability, the driver should not be the one to suffer day-after-day while the company scrambles to find tenable solutions. In other words. Give 'em a break.

 

IMO, Crete was and is a day late and several dollars short on the fuel cost- savings issue. Perhaps the bean counters were waiting for #2 to top $4.00 a
gallon( which actually with their volume discount~~ would put their cost just over $3.35??? a gallon) so as to justify the expense-- which really isn't true- given the fact the other week I was in Carrier Dealer getting a reefer worked on and was asking lots of questions about their APU. If a single owner/operator can puchase 1 unit for $1,800 ( that's installed+ including a motel room for the driver for 2 nights= 3 day install) then it stands to reason a large company like Crete could get a discount when buying 6000 units. Now since they claim that said owner/operator can recuperate that 1,800 dollars in fuel savings in 1 year. It just shows how "TIGHT" Crete is with the $$$$. or someone in charge didn't really want to admit the Opti-idle
was a waste of money-- and hasn't really been getting the job done-- which is actually the FACTS.

Now other ideals--- yes by all means lets turn down the trucks to 62-- I don't have a problem with that.... it's only a POTENTIAL PAYCUT-- hell, dispatch isn't dispatching at 682 miles everyday anyway. And a 110v outlet will allow me to LEGALLY PER CRETE NO INVERTER POLICY have a microwave & fridge WHICH AS I HAVE PROVEN accounting wise to save
up to $150 a week in MEAL expenses based on 3000 miles/week average--
is the same as a .03 cpm pay raise.

How about super single tires-- with less rolling resistance?
How about locking fuel caps?

How about ENOUGH WITH THE {NO SLEEPER BERTH SPLIT} policy---
a driver takes 8hrs at a detaining customer "to stop their 14hr clock" then runs the load to consignee-- to have SAFETY quietly order them "shut down" for an additional 10hrs! That ='s 18 hrs of IDLING instead of 10--- HELLO, since you've gotten off the hook on the FLORIDA ACCIDENT--- how about letting the drivers off the hook now-- and let us use EVERY "LOOP-HOLE" in the rule book to BE as productive as possible. YOUR risk management is sucking the fuel out of the tanks at a rate of a gallon per hour!

How about the "on board tire pressure monitoring"-- after all you know 99% of the driver's out here never ACTUALLY check their tire pressures-
low tire pressure is costing you BIG $$$ in lost fuel economy.

Recently, last month they cut 9th gear back to max rpm at 1600 rpm- and
reduced the idle rpm too---
and I've seen an improvement in MPG because of the reduced idle rpm--it also makes the truck rock less when opti-idle shuts down..thanks!
as for setting 9th to max out at 1600-- well, that's just progressive shifting normal operating procedure anyway-- so, I've seen no difference..
Perhaps just go in the computer and "turn on" all the automatic progressive shifting features.

Here's another suggestion: Since the fuel prices change daily-- why not change the daily hours of service update macro-- and include a question like--"how much fuel currently in your tanks"-- and set the computer up to send a new fuel solution daily! if needed.
Take a driver on a 3 day trip( yes- they do still exist)-- by day 3-- when he finally makes it to the intended fuel stop-- it's no longer a certainty that that stop is the best deal.

 

These APU's are actually pretty expensive. If you can find one for $1,800 I would buy it and resell it :P 8) 8) http://www.mohawktruck.com/Tripac.html

 

Thank you evertruckerr, belpre122 and headborg.

As far as the super singles, they have and are still testing them with mixed results.

The price of fuel has also caused the company to change the pay package for owner operators for deadhead miles on the sliding scale from $.67 to $.80 cpm.

The wait for the apu's have to do with a couple of things. One finding one that would not put a drain on the batteries and one that would not put out more "pollutants" then the diesel engine idling. The other issue was finding a supplier that would give us the best deal for a large purchase and be able to deliver in a timely fashion.

The slower speed will mean an estimated 4% reduction in productivity for drivers who run under 10000 miles a month. Less for drivers who are over simply because they are using thier hours to max already.

As far as changing since the Florida accident, DOT still comes in on a regular basis and will for a while to make sure that we are staying within compliance. Not that we weren't before, but with the increased size of the log department, fewer things are getting by.

The tire pressure and rpm issues are both viable. Though with what I know about the new trucks and what was left off of them, you would understand that adding a tire pressure gauge inside the cab isn't going to happen. However the new qualcomms are cool because they talk to you while you are going down the road so you won't have to think that nobody from the company talks to you!

Hours of service changes on a daily basis would be wonderful. Doubt that DOT is going to allow that to happen. I would rather see the old fashion log rules come back to play. A driver can drive 70 hours in 8 days. He/she can drive for 11 hours a day with a split sleeper birth. Still having the opportunity to take a 34 hour restart to get their 70 hours back. Scrap the 14 hour clock.

 

i was gonna say, i recall one guy saying his APU cost $13000
maybe the $1800 is the labor :/

 

Yeah, You're right I just found a Carrier Comfort Pro available on E-Bay installed in Ohio for $9,400.00.

What can I say- just a dumb company driver-- listening to a parts man at the Counter of Carrier Shop late one night in Indianapolis-- he obviously wasn't a Sales Man--- but sure would have been nice if- he'd slapped one on my truck for that price...
Here's a press release:

Carrier unveils ComfortPro APU

Mar 23, 2006 6:47 AM

LOUISVILLE, KY. Carrier Transicold is partnering with Teleflex to bring a new auxiliary power unit (APU) system to market this year for heavy-duty commercial trucks.

The new ComfortPro – built by Teleflex and marketed, installed, and serviced by Carrier’s dealer network – is an all-in-one APU that heats and cools the cab, provides in-cab power to appliances, helps warm up the engine, and charges the truck’s battery.

The ComfortPro APU is powered by a small Kubota diesel engine, which consumes about 0.2 gallons of diesel per hour, yet can also be “plugged in” to shore power at a truckstop or warehouse so the APU engine doesn’t need to be used, said Ignacio Aguerrevere, Carrier’s director of marketing, during a press conference here at the Mid-America Trucking Show.

“The ComfortPro incorporates the Deltek hybrid diesel-electric generator system used in our new Vector 1800 MT reefer unit, so there are fewer moving parts,” he said. The ComfortPro, available now to the trucking market, will be offered as an aftermarket upgrade through Carrier’s dealer network, Aguerrevere said.

Carrier dealer representatives at the press conference said the cost to purchase and install a ComfortPro may start at around $8,500, though that number can fall as sales volume rises.

Aguerrevere noted that the potential fuel savings from using an APU versus idling the truck’s engine should offer fleets a payback in roughly 1 ˝ years. He said that recent TMC studies indicate the average long-haul truck idles for roughly 2,000 hours a year, consuming 1.2 gallons of diesel fuel per hour. At $2.50 per gallon – the current price of diesel – that level of idling costs a truck owner $6,000 per year per truck.

Since the ComfortPro uses much less fuel to operate, a fleet should be able to recover 85% of the money lost to fuel costs alone from idling, he said. “That doesn’t include the savings from less wear and tear on the truck’s engines, avoiding fines for idling …in restricted areas, and the driver comfort benefits from less noise and vibration from not having to operate the truck’s engine to power sleeper amenities.”