Stevens Transport - Dallas, Tx.

I started with Stevens in the 90s, and after all these years can still hear "keep 7 seconds following distance" "it takes 550ft to stop a 80,000 pound truck at 60mph on dry pavement" "keep room to live" "increase following distance in bad weather" "get out and look" "always leave an out". #### good safety minded company for new drivers and good equipment.

When I started I had $150.00 dollars in my pocket, no place to live cause I just left it for this job, and an old 83 chevy pickup that somehow made it to Dallas from San Antonio for orientation/training. Actually drove up there a week early cause I didn't have money for the rent, stayed in a hotel that was like 8 bucks a night with free roaches for a week on my own.

Once it started they put me up in a nice days inn and payed for lunch and dinner during cdl training. One of the trainers at the yard Howard Hand was #### funny, and I still remember driving in downtown Dallas with some other rookies and him cracking some jokes to ease the stress. After I got my CDL and went out with my OTR trainer "Wingnut" who was one cool older guy I heard Howard fell off the side of a truck and got hurt.

I had to work for them for 1 year at that time to pay for my training which lasted 3 weeks for the CDL test phase, then about 3 months I was OTR with trainer. We took a bit longer cause we kept getting loads that missed certain mountains I needed to cross. I was making .21cpm when I got my own truck and loads of miles and didn't care about home time cause the truck was home at that time. I left Stevens about a year and a half after getting my own truck for better pay from a near bye company, they didn't want me to leave, but .28cpm was a nice raise from the .23cpm I was making at that time.

Anyway most of these companies are just another color truck same stuff, variables are the dispatchers, locations, and trucks you get. Stevens does imprint those be safe philosophies in your head, which is good.

 

So what is it? the board is full of conflicting postings...one show Stevens as an evil in disguise and others as a regular company. Still other posts show that even is one is willing to drive, they're not moving enough freight to keep their drivers occupied...is it really the the Texas Workforce Commission is on the fraud some posters claim? Now, I know that attitude is everything but I have stayed in America Best Inn hotels and although they're for the budget conscious, they're not flee bag hotels types...after spending a couple of hours reading posts one is left with no real direction or assurance of facts...??

 

Kirk:

Have been following your posts and like you're now, I'm looking into signing on with Stevens and if things go as planned, should be otr O1 training the first week of November '10.

About the lease, for what I have seen it's about the one option that one could use to establish a small business with unlimited potential and many years to run.

Could you please give me some insight into how the Stevens program work? Is it true that one will remain in Dallas for weeks on end waiting for the O1/O2?

I'm of the belief that one takes any and all loads that are offered without any particular choices (good comes with bad and viceversa).

But I do want some input from somebody who is in the middle of it all and have positive results. From some of the remarks of some students in our current class, I could see where somebody will end up with bad situations...

 

There are no assurances in life, except that big government will screw you, and you die.

A few facts from a driver of 2 1/2 years.

Be up front and honest with Stevens. Be able and willing to learn. Stevens has the freight, and are forced dispatch. You take what they give you. You refuse a load, you wait until all other trucks are dispatched, then you will be given another load.

What fraud? Read the contract before you sign it, and understand it. Yes you will accept Stevens Self workers comp insurance plan, over the Texas plan, all legal in Texas.

The Am Best is run down, but you are only there for Orientation 1, which is Sunday to Wed, and then out with a trainer. Orientation 2 same thing. Unless you have caused yourself troubles, you are only in Dallas for 4 to 5 days each time.

You will be out a LONG time to get your training done. 2 months to 3 months. Tuff on a family person.

Stevens is a training company. They enforce the rules, and have additional rules one must follow. Yes I have had my problems at times, no company is perfect. Yes I have spent 2 days waiting for a load at a meat plant. NOT FUN.

Ask questions, keep in mind those with a grip are more willing to voice it than those who are happy.

 

3 to 4 months? All their recruiting stuff plus on class talks refer to 8 weeks...this is two months (2 1/2 counting the orientation in Dallas)...so why 3/4 months...are the tales of being (like you) able to drive only 500 miles a week true then? the q&a section in their website states:

If I am willing to run, how many miles can I average per week?
There is ample freight to average 3,000 to 5,000 miles per week (single or team).

If one is waiting days to get loaded, it's impossible to average 3k miles per week...

These are the items i'm confused about...it's a serious disconnect somewhere...

btw, i'm going to print all of these questions and give them to the recruiter to see what his take is going to be...

i don't worry about the contract...i have no problem paying the dues...besides if their training program is solid and the industry so recognizes it, then makes the 12 month obligation not too much of an issue...

 

i leave friday for orientation for stevens, i've read the bad and good, and i guess i'll see, i'm an army reservist so i'm used to the bs...and anything over 102 a week will make me happy. so is there anyone out there that can tell me something good about stevens?

 

they have nice shiny black trucks lol

 

I have averaged 2940 miles per week since January of this year. This includes the time off for home time. My best week was 3482 and I had to hustle for that one.
I have no complaints about the freight. I take everything they give me, never complain and deliver on time. That's probably why I do as well as I do.
Drivers that don't get loads, have problems they don't tell you about.
Here is an example: Most drivers hate to go to Laredo. They complain about sitting.
I have never sat there more than 12 hours (in Laredo). I've sat up to two days at the meat patch, tho.
I dropped a load there thurs evening and barely made it to the TS by the end of my 11. Figured I'd have a wait. Dispatched the next morning with a 2300 mile load.
Listened to a couple other drivers there complain they had been waiting 2 days. Then after talking a bit, found out they turned down loads that went to Houston or Dallas.
Well, that's the problem. You can't turn down loads because they don't suit you. When I was first in Grad fleet, I had to pay my dues...take the 300 mile dispatches.
I still will. But you build a reputation and before you know it, you get the better loads.

As for time out in training? It works like this:
O-1...4 days classroom, then out with a trainer. Might take two or three days to get with your trainer, but normally you're out within a couple days.
then 35 days (minimum) while you complete the requirements. I did mine in 35 days, most guys do.
Back to Dallas for O-2. Two days in the classroom, then out with your finish trainer for 21 days. I was back after 21. Most do.
then one day Grad training, you get your truck assigned, and after anywhere from one to six days, depending on what needs to be done with your truck from service, you are dispatched with your first solo load.
Grad fleet is 90 days and is just like regular fleet except there's a couple more pieces of paperwork to be done daily. You're under watchful eyes to make sure you are doing things right, such as your log.
You get time between O-1 and O-2 and then again Grad fleet, where you can go home if you wish. Most people don't take that time. They go from O-1 directly into O-2, then directly into Grad fleet before taking any home time.
It's your call. No one thinks less of you is you take the home time between training.
I did mine all together, then went home after about a month on grad fleet.
I've been married 42 years, my yougest kid is 32, so it was no big deal for me.
Each person needs to make their own decision.

 

thank you both, this makes my decision to stay with the orientation better

 

george2010, could you please keep us updated on your orientation journey?

by the pics for the ambi motel, it does not look that crappy...but those pic could be misleading...

i'll appreciate the feedback since i'm scheduled to be there next oct 23

regards