Stevens Transport - Dallas, Tx.

That was a verry accurate and honest post by mirs. summed it up pretty good. I will describe MY experience of the process from conception up till now.(hope it helps). i just up and took off to the school without talkin to anyone or doing any research, knew absolutely nothing about trucking. I was previously self employed and quite indipendent. Man what a shock, the school itself felt a bit like they were hearding cattle through there i can't compare it to meps in the military, but they kinda just run ya through and weed some (most)out. i was from tx so i didn't have any of the state license switching issues that some people seemed to be so concerned about.
My expeperience, i had to start on a sunday evening for a cdl "study" class i think it was 3 or 4 hours, actual school was to start the next day. monday and tues and part of wednesday all paperwork and a physical (drop ya drawers and cough for the hairy doctor) all that paper work wore on me pretty good. but finally like wendsday ya finally get out to the "pad" to rub and caress them pretty blue trucks. by this time we lost almost half our class of 27 due to physicals and background checks. for the next couple of weeks ya spend most of it out driving backing and what not out on the "pad" all the while going to the dmv to take written test for your cdl this goes on till everyone passes written and driving test.then ya "graduate" n wait on a trainer to go otr. it took a couple of days for me to get one. while ur waiting they assign you a baby sitter and ya go out n pretty much just practice backing (a lot funner than sittin in the classroom and listen to some greasy douche bag talk about what a ###### trucker he once was) some roll off the yard some fly out. they flew me to stlouis to meet my trainer it was funny cause my trainer picked me up late one night and told me to get some sleep. when i woke up we were almost back to dallas. anyway, my experience with my first trainer was horrible. this guy was a major butthead near constant yelling, making stressfull driving situations, even more stressful. i almost walked away from it numerous times. Thankfully he was on a dedicated run and only had to stay with him for a week. there is no way i could have gone 5wks with this guy. trainer number 2 was a godsend, a truly nice man and excellent trainer. stayed the remaining 4 wks with him. then a week of "orientation" in dallas. this week sucks, long hours extremely boring more paper work lectures etc etc....
during this week u really need to find somone ya get along with to go dumb n dumber with. just 2 of us from my original class made it this far so i teamed with him. whatever u do don't let your "trainee" teamate quit during this three weeks. you'll have to do the whole three wks over again even if ya been out 2.5 weeks already. turns out my trainee teammate and i didn't get along all that well but we suffered through it. then its back to dallas to get your own truck this process takes a couple of days.(more procedeure bs) now u can take 7 days off wherever. runnig solo i really love. i have been out now solo for a little over 60 days.
In summary, the school is really strict lots of procedure lots of waiting, but u do learn how to drive a truck.
as a company driver, i really like the job. i am runnin about 3200-3500 miles a week, they maintain their equip very well. honestly i don't think i could go through it again, at the same time it was worth it. sounds like a condundrum? hehe, so basicly if ya can put your pride in your pocket for a couple of months and suffer through all the crap its worth it.

 

Hey, MLR and Mongolian -
Thanks for the posts. Seems like they are an alright company and it really just depends on each individuals attitude. Looks like I'm going to Dallas here in the near future (still dependent on several factors). May not stay there for too long - but sounds like they have a good training program.

Thanks again!

LG

 

.. bcause Stevens is listed as one of the recruiters for SAGE at their job fair Fri. the 15th in Caldwell, ID; I wanted to find out as much as i could about this company before i get there as i don't recall ever hearing about them before.. thank goodness for the truckers forum because i learned alot reading all 26 pgs here tonight! I don't think they will be on my list for prospective employers but guess who else is lined up at that job fair to recruit? .. SWIFT.. WERNER.. STEVENS.. (birds of a feather..?) .. then we have US XPRESS.. MAY TRUCKING.. GORDON TRUCKING.. UNITED HAULING.. BROWN BUS.. TRANSSYSTEMS.. don't know much about them either, except for US Xpress..

..not your cream of crop the trucking companies from what I've read on this forum, so prospective grads are gonna pick from this group of companies to work after they graduate?? You would think that a SAGE school could attract a better group of companies looking for drivers!

 

..MAY TRUCKING looks like a good prospect, will have to do more research on them here though, their pay scale is much better than STEVENS, that's for sure..

$420.00
Per Week To Train

Tuition
Reimbursement

30¢
After Training
Then
31¢ at 6 Months
32¢ at 8 Months
33¢ at 10 Months
34¢ at 12 Months
& ½ ¢ Raise Every Six Months after that.

 

They have a terminal in Payette Id, also one in Brooks / Salem Or. the one in Oregon is the company Hq

 

..yes i saw on their website Salem is the HQ for May, that's just an hrs. drive on I-5 from where i live.. but home time won't be an issue for me, i have no family here, they're overseas.. most of their dry van deliveries from what I've read here is on the west coast which is fine with me.. the only downside are the long hauls up the hills & mountains here, & with most companies including MAY governing the engines at 62 your take home pay will suffer, but at least their mileage pay scale will give you something to look forward to if you can make it thru the 1st yr with them..

..i will have to give STEVENS credit though for maintaining their trucks which is a priority for me considering what others have posted about some of the companies they're driving for.. i read only 1 negative post from 1 driver concerning a repair issue out of the 26 pages i read here & the miles were there for the drivers who can stay on the road, the only negative would be their pay scale, it seems to be below average for most companies today.. if i am going to risk my life & limb every day for a company & stay on the road for weeks at a time i want to be compensated for that, not end up with a minimum wage i can make at the local warehouses here, get paid vacations & a reasonable 2 days off each week & not have to fight with dispatch for time off.. no I like being on the road but it's not worth the stress & all the b.s. u have to put up with being an OTR these days to work at minimum wage, they will hav to raise their pay scale before i would want to work for them long term..

 

I lasted 3 months solo in grad fleet after going through Stevens school, trainer, dumb & dumber. Just as I completed grad fleet I was fired for being argumentative. I had no incidents, no tickets, no accidents. Now I owe about $4,500 to Argus Capital.

 

They also have reefer loads out on the west coast they just advertise the dry on the west coast I belive that there is more dry loads out west but i do not know for sure. You can run either the 11 western or the 48 which will be dry and reefer loads

 

What is unusual is that you did not have to retest. I have known many people over the years that let there lapse, and had to retake everything.
Hazmat you have to retest every 4 years. And now it has all the back ground checks and other hoops to jump thru. Not worth my time.
I started driving around 1992. You should look at a training company though. Mostly because allot has changed since you last drove. Trucks are larger, trailers larger. More ways to communicate, air suspension lol.

Only a few will really rip you off, and only a few have contracts longer than a year. You will just sign up for a refresher. It will take less time in training than a new driver. Mine was 9 days at a school and about 2 weeks with a trainer, and I was solo.
I had always run local, so I was looked at by the industry as having no experience. Also, refreshers are typically cheaper than the full school. Mine was 2000 at Central. Paid off in 8 months, normally, but I had them put my safety bonus towards it also, so paid off in 6 months.

 

are the qualifacations to drive at Stevens for exp driver