Seems like it would be worth it to just use a debit card or cash to save the $3. $3 x 3 times a week = $450?

I think Lea is talking about service charge 4 purchasing fuel with the fuel card. AFAIK you can't pourchase fuel with cash or any other cards. Well, you could but stevens won't pay you back.

You don't NEED a bank account necessarily. Stevens will load all your settlement on your fuel card and you can draw from ATM like you would with any other "normal" debit/atm card. Disadvantage is every time you'll ay ATM fees which vary from $1.50 - $4.50. I've heard about $7.00 fees but haven't seen it myself yet.
There are other ways how to get your money without a bank account and you'll learn how in the orientation all about it.

I didn't have one (bank account) when I've started with Stevens too. I opened one over the Internet later an had constant problems with it untill I've finally got home and paid them a visit.

If you are leased to stevens you get a settlement. It should include the full rate and then they deduct fuel. I don't know though. Is Stevens one of these O/O schemes where THEY pay the fuel? I've seen this in very limited instances.

The $3 is every time I use the Stevens Fuel card. I see the purchase, and then get the stevens discount, and the opti stop discount. Using cash, or a debit/credit card, I do not get any of the discounts, but pay full retail.

The settlement has the base pay of .85 per mile, plus the fuel surcharge on loaded miles. Then the fuel purchases are deducted, minus all the discounts. The fuel surcharge is recalculated every Tuesday, for the entire 7 days, Tuesday thru Monday.

I'm going to get a little technical on you here but other drivers will agree to what I'm about to tell you. Stevens can put money on your driver card and it can be accessed for as little as $1 every time you get cash. However you can even avoid the charge by losing the fear of the advance.

If you need money you can generate an express code with it Then when you fuel, you can get up to$500 cash depending on the truck stop, for that code. If done after fueling at least 50 gallons, there will be no charge from the truck stop or stevens for it. Tchek systems does have a one dollar charge. If you leave money on the card or even have it direct deposited to a checking account, you can always get an advance )twice a week) at no charge at all when purchasing fuel.

So if your discimed, the advance is the way to go and it works out the same in the end anyway.

Lots of good info in this forum!

Headed back to Dallas to become a company lackey again.

I go to LA on a Monday, drop my load, head to Ontario TA. I hear nothing Tuesday. Wednesday I get a load assignment for Thursday morning, 2 picks in Bakersfield, 2 picks in LA. Whoopse, the two in LA were not first come as I was told so I have a Friday appointment for my last pick. I then scale it and as usual it's a complete shock to every one that I can't haul 44,500. I now drive back to pick 3 where they pull 4 pallets off to give to another Stevens driver. I am then informed that I am now behind schedule and get repowered. The guy I'm repowering is at a receiver waiting to deliver so I take over the waiting. Once empty I get a load assignment right away, picking up that evening on the other side of town. It's Friday afternoon rush hour so the going is slow. I finally get there, get loaded, and can't go far because I spent the day running errands for Stevens. I keep this load for a day and I then get repowered with an empty trailer. I then get sent to Amarillo to sit at the meat patch for 2 days waiting for my load to get ready. As usually they finish it right before the deadline, I scale it, again shocker, I still can't haul over 44,500 pounds and the drive axles are over 36,000 pounds. So I go back to the shipper for the 5 hour adjustment of the load. Did I mention that this load is going to LA? Rinse lather and repeat. Go to LA again so I can spend another week making no money.

You win Stevens, I give up. No more Alliance for me.

That is one suck bad week redeye. I had a 3 drop delivery in NYC on Monday, that there is no way a solo driver was going to do. First Drop, hunts point, which I could make, but then I would need my 10 hour break before moving, no way to make the Manhattan Island, and then Long Island. I told meat that there was no way I could make it, yet they kept insisting that I could, and even had my driver manager try to convince me that I could make it. I finally called my Safety supervisor, and told him the pressures that was being applied, and that I was refusing to do it. He backed me, and I got repowered in columbia, NJ, with an empty trailer. Oh well, I am now being punished, I can use the break.

Next morning, Tuesday, I get a pre plan to pick up MM mars, and deliver to atlanta, 3 days, 800 miles. Yep being punished. Then Steve from dispatch calls, and says don't move, he has me a HAZmatt load going to Laredo. Good, but bad, The only route I can take out of NJ once loaded adds 100 miles to the load, which being HazMat, I get paid for, but now I don't have the hours to legally make Laredo.

Took 2 days to find a driver with hazmat that could repower the load. My driver manager Kelly told me I am a pain in the ##### this week. Here I sit in Baytown Tx, Deliver the new load into Houston, in the morning, and will have 3550 miles this week.

Sometimes you just have to tell Stevens no, and continue to tell them no, until they understand. The pressure is on in Dallas too.

I always get any loads going into a major metro area that has more than 2 drops on it, repowered, so that I don't get stuck running errands for Stevens, making no money. Gives them students some good experience too!

RedEye, before you go back to the company side, you need to talk with Major and get the number of some successful alliance guys to show you how to do it right.

California can be a black hole, but if you work things correctly, you can make a bad situation great. The trick is to have a plan to get out when you get in there.

When I get to california, I've usually been in contact with produce with a plan. Get in, reset my 70 and grab a five pick load (the kind everyone hates) going out. The rules of picking up produce are this. You don't have to pick up the produce in the order they give you, so call the shippers and ask how "ready" they are to get you loaded. Produce is a very fluid business. If the trucks don't come in from the fields on time, they won't load your truck on time. don't worry about the miles between the picks either. Produce will follow your truck and adjust the route accordingly. You may also verify that this was done with your driver manager and if it hasn't been done, he/she will fix it for you. The goal is to pick up all the picks in one day worth of work, then roll out the next day. With your 70 hours fresh minus the 10 or less it took you to get all the picks, you have achieved escape velocity.

As for your current problem, run as hard as you legally can toward california and as you pass Albuquerque send a repower request saying that you've got too much time on the load. This message goes to all of the driver managers, dispatchers and repower division. If they've got a truck in trouble, you'll be high on the list of available trucks to come to the rescue. You should have a good chance of being the other guy that took your load vs the guy that waited all day and lost it.

Success is all about the planning.

Speaking of being punished... I delivered in Ontario, CA monday afternoon, went to TA totally out of hours and got ready for reset. I knew there won't be anything for quite some time. Well, 4 hours before my reset was completed, produce (David) called he needs me to pick up in Bakersville and I needs me to get moving RIGHT NOW.
I told him in 4 hours I'll have reset and he said "You're saying you can't make it with the hours you'll have available right now?" I said that I probably could make it but I want to get my reset to be SURE and that it's only 4 hours from completion.
Well, he took me of it and transfered me to my DM who said "Don't worry about it, they'll get you moving soon"
They didn't. Yesterday (Thursday) I finally got pre-plan. Pick up in Salinas, Ca (350miles deadhead) Friday @1600, deliver in FW Wednesday next week. 1600 miles in almost 6 days.
THAT is being punished!

Not only I didn't make any money in 4 days, staying at the Ontario TA is quite expensive. As 'yall know, it's $12/day for parking unless you spend at least $20/day there. I exceeded that royally. Now I'm back on Ramen for a while. lol