I've seen multiple threads bashing Stevens for this and for that. Figured I'd give my experience based on the company.

I was a Company Driver with Stevens from October 16, 2006 to July 30, 2008. I had gone to a driver recruitment fair in Mesquite about a mile from their yard. I was talking with all the companies there, unsure of which place was best to go since I didn't have a CDL. I talked to a company and when I told them I was CDL-less, they took me to the Stevens booth and I started talking to them.

First off, I was told that they require a 1 year commitment on drivers in return for them training me to get a CDL. This is true, though they neglected to fill in the extra details about how you end up signing a loan out through a third party, how the deal is them paying for half of your monthly payments while they take out the other half in weekly installments from your first paycheck every week (which isn't such a bad deal), and how if you choose to leave after that first year you're still responsible for approximately $2500. So yes they do lie by omission.

I started my three week driver school at the end of September. Luckily I lived in Dallas so I didn't have to pay for food, lodging, transportation (which all were things that Stevens would be collecting from you once you were on the payroll another omission). The school was really well managed, the instructors made sure everyone was capable of taking a DPS test before sending them to the office. I started out with around 50 classmates which got lowered to 16 or so after the Background checks, medical exams, and recycling students that needed more time on trucks.

I passed my CDL test first shot in the rain (which sucks since that was the first time I did it). Got hired Oct 16. That day I was assigned a trainer, a lease driver, and Stevens flew me (on their dime) to Sacramento where I caught a cab to the truck stop my trainer was waiting at.

The next 5 weeks were intense, I was his first student, so he was a bit unsure of exactly what to do, so we ended up just driving and I learned a crap load. Tom knew I was making crap (50 dollars a day) and since I was making him like 1500 extra bucks a week, he paid for all my meals. All in all, the training wasn't bad.

Came back to Stevens for a 1 week crash course in trucking before going out on Dumb and Dumbers for 3 weeks. My co-driver was someone I knew from school, so we got along fine. I had to teach him a few things since his trainer was a prick, but that's the chance you take getting a trainer.

We were 4 days from our 21 day period being over and were in Amarillo, TX. We got told that instead of coming back to Dallas to take our 1 week off and get on the grad fleet, we were dispatched on a load to San Diego. We were pissed as it was Christmas, but when we got told that since we were on the "bottom of the totem pole" all the loads heading to Dallas and the surrounding area were taken. Our counselor agreed to pay us both for the miles we were doing (instead of the 50 bucks a day), which eased the pain. We eventually got back a week later, took time off, then came back and went to the Grad Fleet.

I got my Grad Fleet Driver manager and was assigned a relatively new truck because it was in Bum F*ck, West Virgina costing Stevens like 150 bucks a day in storage. I was paid 350 bucks, given a Greyhound ticket and went off to get my new vehicle. Aside from the bags of trash in the passenger seat, it was clean and ran well.

Grad Fleet lasted 90 days and during it I didn't make a lot of money (I was getting paid .26 per mile) but I did run alot of miles. I had some incidents, which suck because when you get back on the yard (which was every time I wanted home time) you have to go through retraining, etc. Its a pain, but Stevens does it to cover their #####.

Made it off Grad Fleet, got a new Driver Manager, who quite possibly was a saint living amongst the flotsam that I've heard stories of. She kept me moving pretty much any time I could. She got me good loads with good miles. I ran hard and even though I wasn't making a lot per mile, I was making decent money. If I bought something for the truck, as long as I scanned in a receipt, I was always compensated.

As for extended time off, I had 2 times where I had to leave work for about 3 weeks each. Afterwards, I had to do about 3 days worth of paperwork (just because Safety takes a day by itself to do) before getting back to work.

I ended up being fired for excessive speeding, after I had 2 speeding tickets which I had gotten with them. The Safety Director called me, sat me down, and explained that why it was that I was being disqualified for driving at Stevens and sent me on my way.

All in all, there are d*cks working there, and on several occasions they do tend to lie or "forget to mention" things. The people I dealt with treated me with respect for the most part, though some treat all the drivers like children (which considering some of the drivers I've met, they are kids). They aren't a bad company to get experience from.

Everyone has their own experiences with them so hope this helps someone.



Edit: Yes I know this is a big ol' chunk of text.

Ted,

This was a great post. I am struggling between choosing Schneider and Stevens. Couple of questions...Stevens do a lot of NYC and Canada? I have also heard that if you let them they will drive you into the ground so can one asume miles are there if ya want them? What is the equipment like? I have seen a few here in Kansas and they are always one of the sharpest around. There is so much info out there and it is hard to decide.

In the almost two years I ran, I only went to Canada 3 or 4 times. Depends on if you live in the Northeast area, people who live there, get more Canada loads. As for NYC, I think I went in 5 times, but the great part was they make you call safety and they give you a route to get in, 75% of the time the guys who are telling you have lived/drove trucks there so they know their #####. Anytime I went to NYC, I had a real nice load coming out of that place so it worked out.

The fleet is 95% Kenworth T2000. They are "fairly new". I've had trucks that were 4 years old, but that's about how long they keep them before the resell them.

And yeah, as long as you "Run it safe, run it legal" the miles are there for you (until you get in the meat patch and sit for a few days, but then you're usually going to either the west or east coast so its like 1000+ miles).

Thanks for the info Ted. I am still in limbo and your info has helped. So what are you doin now. Drivin still or have the tickets jacked things up?

Luckily, I was planning on going to go to college soon, so its like a "kick start"

College was great experience for me. I think that is why I am feeling okay about a career change as I have the degree to fall back on no matter the outcome of my trucking. I will put in 150% at making truckin work and if not I use my degree. it is kind of a nice spot to be in once you get there. What are you looking at majoring in?

Hey fellas! I am loving the posts. I am starting my training on the 22nd(Sept). I am thinking about Roehl, Stevens and mabe Werner but I'm reading some rough things about Werner. I know its going to be grind as a newbie but what company or companies would you consider out these or outside of these 3 for the experience and at the the same time make a little change at the same time.

So the 8 week training is actually 5 weeks with a trainer and the other 3 with someone else!? Care to elaborate? Thanks.

Well pretty much. If you go through their "licensing" school its an extra 3 weeks just to get that. After you get the license its 5 weeks with a trainer, 1 week back for a "training session" then 3 week "dumb and dumber" with another student. If you already have your license I think its a 3 day orientation then the training is based on what you have done previously.

..DO NOT GO TO WERNER!! they are the lowest of the low, their trucks arent serviced & they will screw u every chance they get.. this will be a decision u will regret if u go there!! Read the WERNER discussion group under BAD TRUCKING COMPANIES, then decide if u want to be treated worse than a junk yard dog there!