hardly anyone pays 500 for training that I could find.

Actually, Technical and Community Colleges that offer CDL training courses offer superior training and price ranges that are still bargains.

For example, near my own home, there is a college that offers an 8 week, 240 hour course, and requires the student to drive for 750 miles in order to graduate, and the costs are as follows:

Application fee - $15.00
Full time student tuition - $372.00
Course Tuition - $465.00
Support fee - $35.00
Registration fee - $26.00
Accident Insurance - $4.00

Total Mandatory Tuition Amount - $917.00

This is up from what it was a year and a half ago, and only added the "full time tuition" onto the previous tuition course rate, but you can see that the training is much more intensive and hands-on, and it still represents a bargain rate, when compared to CDL mills.

This particular school has endorsements of accreditation from 17 credible organizations, most within the State of Georgia, but the Georgia Motor Truck Association is one of them.

And as far as I know, this rate is good for in and out-of-stater's. Of course, one would have to foot the bill for lodging and expenses for eight weeks, but even that still wouldn't hit $5,000.00 when all was said and done.

Finding a bargain can be right in your own back yard. Ya' just have to look for 'em.

I'm paying $600 for tuition at a state university technical center driving program. The D.O.T. physical and drug test will cost an extra $75. Supplies (logs, FMCSA reg book, CDL test fee, etc.) will add about another $100 so thats about $775.

I think Prof Swift meant that it's hard to find a company that will pay you $500/week, when you are training. I made a $650 check one week during training, but that was because my trainer and I ran around 6000 miles that week.

Just for the record ~ A friend of mine spent only 5 days in the Howardjohnson motel down there for orentation and is now out with a trainer already and will recive his first paycheck in less that 5 days ,He claims they do not run this place like the military, now of corse he didn't attend there schooling but was pre-hired as am i as a new graduate from a mill,he says the problem there having down there is needing more trainers.Also the room and meals are completly on them , you do not pay a red cent back for this unless 1.You fail a drug screen . 2.Have lied about anything on your app. 3.If you continue to fail there yard,pretrip and road tests and get worse as time progresses.

I myself think being paid only $350 weekley for 8 weeks is BS and don't get paid for orentation time too,But as long as i can pull in $550-650 a week after going solo i don't think i would complain, you just have to apply and carry yourself like a man who is desperet and tell yourself this is your only option,Im sure as the ball gets rolling things will be much better .


TopFlights~

I got a trainer right away after orientation. I'm a non-smoker and the rest of the non-smokers were afraid we'd be waiting for trainers but as it turned out, we got dispatched first. I gathered my stuff, got a taxi voucher and confirmation number for a Southwest flight out of Love Field to Amarillo to meet up with my trainer, who was waiting for an IBP load. That first load ended up going through Las Cruces on it's way to Los Angeles so I got to spend a couple hours at the house my first week out. Not too bad.

The only money I was ever charged for training was a $600 difference between my tuition and what they covered.

I made $600 a week solo easy and that was at $.22 a mile.

__________________

Let me tell you a few things about my 6 months of HELL with Stevens transport:

I worked for Stevens from dec 99 thru june of 2001. My travel agent was a guy by the name of Mitch Moore. (Not to be confused with Richard Moore, a GREAT guy in my opinon and one of few people at Stevens that knew what they were doing).

My first week with the company consisted of sitting at IBP in Garden City KS for 3 days waiting for a load and NOT GETTING PAID. The load I picked up went to UNI foods in Montreal PQ Canada. When they FINALLY got my load on the 4th day (by this time I was so sick of the STENCH at the meat patch I was ready to puke, and no they wouldnt let me go somewhere else to wait, I HAD to sit there) they told me this was a "hot" load and HAD to be in Montreal in 2 days. This was IMPOSSIBLE because I didnt have the hours and I informed them of this, they said OK, run with it and get it there ASAP.

I get to the customs broker in windsor and come to find out THEY DONT HAVE MY PAPERWORK, so guess where I sat for another 2 days WITHOUT pay? Thats right, Windsor Ontario Canada. When they finally got that squared away I went on my merry way onto Montreal.

After a crash course in french sign reading I finally found Uni Foods. I went inside the warehouse and was quickly greeted with "bonjour" by a smug looking woman. I sheepishly said "Im American, I dont speak french" to which she sighed and replied "May I help you?". I gave her my bills and she sent me to another office. The guy in this office tells me that this load is 1 week late and that they are refusing the load, I will have to take it to a different warehouse further north of Montreal. I said I couldnt do that, and that I needed to call my dispatcher which I did. The guy on the other end was yelling at me for having the load there a week late, I said WHOA! hang on a minute here pal, I asked this MORON how was I supposed to deliver this on time after sitting at IBP for 3 days and being held up in Windsor for another 2 days waiting for the load to clear customs?! He replied with "oh, uhhhh.....hang on" and put me on hold. The head guy for the meat loads got on the phone(some guy named Richard I think, he was from Brooklyn, cant remember his name though) and I explained the situation to him, he responded with "F##K THAT! DONT GO ANYWHERE! Ill send you instructions on the QC in a few mins, hang tight".

So there I sat twiddling my thumbs, once again not earning any money thru no no fault of my own. I get a message back on the QC that the load will be delivered there, so I go back inside and talk to mr personality. He tells me to back into the dock and they will unload me and walks away. 5 HOURS later theyre finally done unloading me and I get to leave. They put me on a Kraft load picking up in NY and delivering to a Piggly Wiggly warehouse in Alabama. Great, so now its been 12 days and I only got paid for 1600 miles at 23 cents a mile.

I took it with a grain of salt, telling myself this must be the exception not the norm. Boy was I wrong! The rest of my time with Stevens was JUST LIKE THIS! And hometime? WHATS THAT!? They kept me out for 6 WEEKS before they got me home for the first time, and that was only for 2 friggin days!!!!! They dont believe in home time, but they have no problem making you sit in a truck stop or shipper/receiver for 3 or 4 days on a regular basis, all the while your not making any $$$.

I put up with this until June, by this time I was already looking at my options. They had me pick up a load in Joliet Il that was delivering to the Minyards whse in Coppel TX, which is about 20 minutes from where I live and about 30 minutes from Steven's terminal in Dallas. This load was supposed to deliver at 5 am on friday, I got there at 10 pm the night before and got up friday morning, went in to get my dock assignment and they inform me that the load isnt supposed to deliver until monday morning!!!!!!!

I called Mitch Moore and tell him whats happening, now get a load of this, instead of letting me bring the load to the terminal and going home for the weekend this ####### tells me I have to sit there all weekend and wait for Monday before I can go home!!!!!! I COULDNT BELIEVE MY EARS!!!! I said ARE YOU NUTS?! Why cant I bring it back to the terminal?! He tells me that Im not allowed to leave the receiver without delivering my load and hung up on me. I was beyond mad at this point, I went back in the warehouse and told them Id be back Monday.

I drove back to the terminal, pulled into the yard, parked, cleaned all my stuff out of the truck and sent them a message on the QC telling them that the load is secure, in the yard, the reefer is full of fuel, the keys are in the ashtray, and I QUIT!

Now bear in mind this was a SEALED load and my load locks (your assigned 2 load locks and a meat lock when your hired) were in the trailer securing the load and the lock was on the trailer doors. I get a bill 3 months later for those 2 load locks AND my meat lock which had been on the trailer doors!!!! over 500 dollars!!!! I couldnt friggin believe it!!! I called them and asked them wtf were they charging me for these, they were in the trailer and the lock was on the door when I dropped in the yard the day I quit.

They said I didnt turn them in when I quit so I was being charged for stealing the equipment!!!!! I said "WAIT A MINUTE! Are you telling me I should have opened a SEALED trailer and taken the load locks out of it? and left a couple hundred thousand dollars worth of food unsecured?!", the guy said no your not allowed to open sealed trailers. We argued about this for 15 mins or so and I finally got fed up and told the guy where he could stick his bill and hung up.

The moral of the story is STEVENS TRANSPORT ABSOLUTELY SUCKS! They sucker you in with the fancy trucks and promises of huge paychecks and once they have you they treat you like a sweatshop worker. DO NOT WORK FOR THESE MORONS THEY STINK!!!!!!

When I started I wondered to myself why the dispatchers work inside a locked office with a little window you talk to them thru, on the day I quit I understood EXACTLY why

FS1973 couldn't be more correct. I suffered through 6 months of these morons as well, every load was just as described, no miles, and un-Godly waits. Ran out of fuel twice in Colorado waiting for loads. Got there w/ full tanks, and Idled through 200 gallons trying to stay warm in below zero degrees temps. And both times it happened I was told I couldn't leave to get fuel, but was billed for the service charge to come put fuel in the truck and start it. Stevens doesn't give a damn, and you shouldn't give them the time of day. As I have stated in the past, run from them as if they are the black plague itself.
You have been warned!!!!!!!!!!

my uncle drove for stevens transport for 4 months until he could'nt take anymore!! they will start you at 25 cents per mile and leave you out on the road for weeks at a time while demanding you run anyway you can to get there on time. their dispatchers are very unrealistic with the trip times. and will blame anything that goes wrong on the driver wheather it's their fault or not. if your a trainee you will get crapped on more than a truck stop toilet seat!! you should AVOID this company at all cost!! when my uncle quit they told him he owed them $3400.00. he told them it was worth it!!! he did get a job with Roehl transport and seems to be really happy with them.
Smurf...

Well....at least some good came out of his experience with Stevens Transport. I hope he likes his new job, and that it keeps going well for him.