Start Stevens Training Next Week!

Discussion in 'Stevens' started by ajb293, Feb 6, 2015.

  1. ajb293

    ajb293 Light Load Member

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    Hey guys and gals. I will be starting training with Steven's February 16th out in Colorado. I was a little hesitant to do a thread like this as it will be painfully obvious who I am. However these forums / people's experiences is exactly what made me take the plunge in to trucking. Its only fair I try to contribute my own hopefully positive experience with Stevens and Trucking in general. I am thankful to all those in the industry who contribute their experiences and opinions on these forums. With out a window in to the trucking world so to speak I probably would of never even considered going in to this field.

    As for trucking as a career I am cautiously optimistic. I'm currently 31 with no kids / wife. With that said lets jump in to where I will be starting and what will be required of me. My training is going to occur out in Keenesburg, Colorado. The google maps of this town were quite, awe inspiring to say the least :) I will be here for 3 weeks! Sometime next week probably Thursday or Friday I will be getting on a Greyhound bus out of Atlantic City NJ. This is going to be quite the ride as the shortest trip is 36 hours (arrives too late though) and the longest is just a mere 52 hours! I did mull over whether or not I was going to ride the bus or buy an airline ticket. For me this would be a bad idea as money is going to be tight for the next couple months so being frugal and pretending I'm some VIP being driven in an oversize limo with friends I have never met across country is how it has to be :)

    I've been told to bring the following, DL, Birth Certificate (with out my baby foot prints), social security, and 4 references 2 friends, 2 family. I will also need a sleeping bag / twin size bedding. I was reminded it is Winter in Colorado however the weather out there recently has been ummm quite pleasant to say the least compared to my current location. Its actually going in to the 70's there this week! I'm sure as soon as I arrived some blizzard will roll through but that would just make my day honestly might as well get all that snow bs out of the way in training! (according to the weather people this is not going to happen but when are they ever right?).

    Money: DOT physical and Drug Test 100.00 CDL Permit and License 70.00 Housing 100.00 That comes to 270.00. They also tell you to bring expenses for food and 3 weeks of miscellaneous items. The number tossed around is 400 total but realistically I'm thinking I'll spend 500 possibly 600 if I'm not cautious with food expenses. I fortunately do have this set aside at the moment. You will not be paid at all during these 3 weeks. Its important that you budget and have the money to last! Stevens will be paying for your school which you pay back to them at 25$ per week for a full year. After that I was told the loan amount is forgiven and you are good to go. (I hope to update this info as soon as I am there / actually signing the loan). Something else you will want to bring with you is a voided check for when you complete school in CO you will be sent to Dallas. For whatever reason Steven's is currently sending out dated information in their emails with old pay scales / training programs. This thread will provide accurate up to date information as well as cost as I progress through the program. The recruiters I spoke to get here were very friendly and professional. They did answer all my questions up front but now I obviously have more questions! (most have been answered thanks to all of you on the forums and my expectations have been somewhat normalized I hope...) If it wasn't for the recruiters this thread would not be here so kudos to them.

    Well guys and gals wish me luck! Any questions / advice please feel free to post in this thread! Any corrections or errors noticed in my post please feel free to point out and correct as well. This will hopefully be a one stop shop for those looking to know what its like to train with Steven's in 2015!
     
    Last edited: Feb 6, 2015
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  3. freightwipper

    freightwipper Road Train Member

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    okay why did you pick stevens?
     
  4. mizzou42

    mizzou42 Bobtail Member

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    Looks like I will be meeting you soon, I also start on the 16th.
     
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  5. ajb293

    ajb293 Light Load Member

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    Stevens was not actually my first choice for starting a career in trucking. I had initially decided to go with Prime after reading threads on here / google etc. Prime however just outright rejected me at the recruiter stage due to unemployment. My recruiter that I spoke to at Prime I can say was the least "friendly" out of the 6 I ended up speaking with. I had verifiable unemployment via 1099's. To them this was just a no go and that is fine. I however was pretty disheartned as the recruiter didn't even want me to submit 9 years of verifiable employment history out of 11. I felt pretty rejected! I reached out to KLLM next however there was some strange issue over being "required" to have an address to attend school in Texas. I actually posted here about this and hindsight being 20/20 I think this was another way of saying "Thanks no thanks" kinda deal because of my unemployment.

    Stevens was next! The conversation with the recruiter was steered towards will my unemployment be an issue or not. The recruiter said apply and we'll find out, so I did. I was then forwarded to a woman who interviewed me / requested I send in the 1099s to verify the unemployment. She got back to me via phone with in 20 minutes and said I was good to go. Naturally I was elated but I also was nervous wondering if this would really be a good fit / good start cause quite frankly there are a ton of horror stories out there with every company. I feel a lot of that has to do with the individual though unless you are CR England apparently :p

    I continued reading on here and reddit and anywhere else I could to get further information about Stevens. I know there are other companies out there that may be able to provide better but Stevens kinda opened that door first. Nothing I came across seemed too damning and I'm actually very much willing to trade "pay" for better equipment, safety, and good training in this industry.

    Lets go back to CR England real quick before I ever visited this site I actually sent them an app based off what I saw on youtube about 10 months ago. They eventually got back to me but I was already in training for a job as an Emergency Communications Officer and passed that up. I did end up speaking with them again and they too out right rejected me based off the information I told them regarding unemployment. I did not feel the sting of rejection like with Prime however :)

    Overall I'm very happy with how things unfolded and I feel like a positive situation awaits. Time will tell. KLLM actually called me back recently except it was their regional truck hirer in the area I'm at. He had no clue I didn't have my CDL and asked if I was still interested in working for them o_O We spoke about my current situation and he was very pleasant and wished me luck with Stevens.

    Mizzou that is awesome, can I ask how you ended up with Stevens?
     
  6. SHOJim

    SHOJim Road Train Member

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    Good luck on your new endeavor!
     
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  7. SHOJim

    SHOJim Road Train Member

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    Sometimes the best gifts are unanswered prayers......
     
  8. mizzou42

    mizzou42 Bobtail Member

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    I have been looking to getting into trucking for years. I troolled the forms for the past few months trying to gather as much info as I could. I filled out apps with Prim, Knight, and Stevens, I was accepted by all 3. I decided to go with steavens My #1 reason for going with steavens their training program! #2 from talking to the recruiter and the info found on the forums I felt Stevens was the better fit for me. #3 The equipment!
     
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  9. Puppage

    Puppage Road Train Member

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    Best of luck to you. Looking forward to hearing about your journey.
     
  10. Jrdude5

    Jrdude5 Heavy Load Member

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    Good luck to you both on your new endeavors looking forward to future updates.
     
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  11. KMac

    KMac Road Train Member

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    Good Luck, learn all you can, but remember each day to take a moment and reflect on the things you see and experience. Appreciate the journey, its a wild ride.
     
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