I am about to sign a contract with Steven's Transport. Does anyone have any info on this compant?

If you do a search on various boards, you will see that Steven's not thought of very highly. I believe one post I read somewhere, said that they are only one step away from being another CRE.

You're a little late in asking, but "better late than never". I'd hold off on signing. What's the rush? If Stevens is pushing you to sign, that's a red flag they're desperate. And they've probably gotten themselves into that desperation by their actions toward their drivers yesterday. If they abused the drivers they had yesterday, they'll abuse YOU tomorrow. You want no part of them if they're desperate.

Back away and do some research. Don't jump into a relationship with Stevens. Take your time, get some information, and make an educated decision. This website is a good place to start.

Good luck.

__________________
--Paved Dudley--

Yeah I drive a Swift truck
And that means one thing
It means she's slow
It's a typical company truck
It's just all show and no go

I'm gettin' passed by Yella
And even Overnite
I'm gettin' passed by ever' body in sight
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight

No, my hometown's nowhere in sight
And if you think I'm pissed off
You're right
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight


Love pissing off those trucking company insiders.

okay, sorry to sounkd like such a rookie, (but hey, that's what i am) but what is CRE? Thanks for the info by the way

yeah that's kinda what i thought, they do seem a lil pushy..... I'm actually supposed to be at their school in my hometown now but posts on this site are changing my mind. Thanks for the help.

CRE is C.R. England

does paid cdl training actually exist? I have no experience and only a class C liscense, any ideas on the best way to get started?

I will make a leap here, Notch. I will assume (judging by your CRE post above) you're green and are talking about a scheme trucking companies offer to incoming patsies. If you're talking about GENUINE paid training, just bear with me.

Paid CDL training is really "contract training". It should be called "indentured servitude" training or even "slavery training". It means you, a class-D (car driver license) holder, sign a contract with a trucking company, and the company provides you with training free of charge. You start with your plain ol' class D and they take you all the way to a Class-A CDL. You get in-house classroom training to get your learner's permit, get yard training to get your CDL, get hired by your sugar-titty company, and hitch a ride with a trainer who will cut your teeth. You'll be making money while with the trainer, but not much. Don't expect much above poverty level.

There is a catch to all this, of course. There always is a catch, as you know....or OUGHT to know. The catch is if you leave the training company within the contract period (usually a year), it will come after you and bust you for the full cost of the training. This will be spelled out in the contract, so you'd better read it before signing, if you do decide to go this route. I sure wouldn't, but that's me.

And thanks to all the government grants out there paying for people's training and driving up the costs of that training, what that company will want from you if you opt out is outrageous. We're talking several thousand greenbacks for merely three to five weeks of (probably substandard) training.

"Free" training seems straight forward, but trucking companies aren't straight forward. Most are pretty crooked and will rip you in various ways. If you sign a "free training" contract, the company can (and will) abuse you all it wants to. And when the honeymoon is over and your company starts treating you like a grease rag, what are you going to do? Quit? They'll bust you for the FULL cost of the training, no matter if you quit after the first day or after the 364th day.

Don't sign one of those contracts. Either pay for the training at a CHEAP school, such as a community collge, or get a government grant so you can get the training free with no strings attached.

Is there something out there called "paid training" that is REALLY paid training? I doubt it. A company won't take a chance on a stranger and train him for free. A family member, sure. A person who is "in the loop", maybe. But if a company doesn't know you, there is nothing holding you to the company after it trains you. After getting your free training, you can be easily poached by another company later if and when it dangles a carrot in front of your face. When you bug out, your training company loses its investment in you and your (supposedly costly) training. For this reason, I don't think genuinely free training exists outside of close-knit loops. A company would be stupid to offer truly free training. I know extremely small companies have been known to train family members free. But you won't get such treatment at a hugeantic. I bet Jerry Moyes' son would have to pay for training at Swifty.

__________________
--Paved Dudley--

Yeah I drive a Swift truck
And that means one thing
It means she's slow
It's a typical company truck
It's just all show and no go

I'm gettin' passed by Yella
And even Overnite
I'm gettin' passed by ever' body in sight
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight

No, my hometown's nowhere in sight
And if you think I'm pissed off
You're right
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight


Love pissing off those trucking company insiders.

as someone who signed a contract with swift a while ago- 2 years, i will say this
even if you go through a local cdl school you will be treated the same, your going to pay roughly the same for your license i paid 3,000 at swift whilst at baker college it would have cost 7,800 and you can look that last part up baker college of flint mi
i do not work for swift nor do i recomend anyone else working for them, simple way to put it your going to take it in a dark hole somewhere for the first six months personally i would recomend a cdl mill and grinning and bearing it for 6 months then you can basically go where you want

what would you suggest is the best way to begin a career in trucking? And approx. how much would a beginner earn in the first year?