Stevens Transport aviary

you have to have 1 year with stevens before you qualify as a trainer, with no service failures, no major OS&D, and no major accidents. So switching you would be solo for a year according to the rules.

 

Sitting here today in the beautiful sunshine and heat of Chandler AZ... deliver tonight to Bashas, then off to pick up produce I am sure... My hours suck, and I really really have to get to the yard... safety talk and all.
Shut down yesterday in Kanab UT, the wind was blowing me all over the place, with 44,000 in the box.

 

Couple blocks from Bashas is the besteset ever burger place. The Heart Attack Grill. Worth the walk

 

Thanks for all of your input . I really appreciate it and think I'm going to make the switch to stevens. If I can ask one more thing, what is the incentive for being a trainer here. I am not one of those "trainers" that just sits back and does nothing, I really enjoy teaching rookies the ins and outs of the industry. Is it still .85 per mile as the web site says and I also hope the fsc is more than .22. I was hoping to get at least 4000 with a student once he has got some driving time under his belt. I also wanted to know seeing how I own my own rig, if I'm able to go home when I want to as I am now with the current company I'm with. I usually stay out 2-4 weeks depending with whats going on at home.

 

Rate is 0.85 plus fsc. currently the fsc is 0.46.
Home time is as you request. Just work the details out with your DM.
4,000 per week with a student is reasonable.

 

Had a very interesting opportunity arise this past Sunday.

I was getting unloaded in Englewood, CO. when my phone begins to ring. It's Stevens Transport. I answer it, expecting for it to be my DM. To my surprise, it's Dave Kendall from the fuel department.

He tells me he's working on a project and could use my help. I tell him I'd be glad to. He tells me that Stevens is toying with the idea of opening I70 from Denver to Grand Junction up for certain drivers for certain times of the year. His plan was to fly out to Denver and ride westbound with me to Beaver, UT. He would then get into an eastbound truck and do the trip in reverse. Then do it both direction one more time for good measure. He already had the trucks and specific loads (due to weight, product, model of truck, etc.) selected. I'm very excited about all this for a couple of reasons. First, I get to drive over Vail Pass. I have been over it a number of times on a Harley so I knew what it looked like. But had never seen it from the seat of a truck. Second, I really like Dave and would do pretty much anything to help him out. He's always been square with me and has given me help numerous times about how to improve my fuel economy, how to really use opti-stop, and who to avoid talking to while on the yard lol.

About 10 minutes before Dave called me, I got a preplan to pickup a load in Holcomb going to Deer Park, FL. Preplan had the pickup number on it so I had already called Holcomb...load was ready and waiting for me. Just over 300 DH miles and almost 1700 loaded miles with 4 days to do it. Good miles, nice run, almost a guaranteed OJ load going back to Texas waiting for me on the other side. And all this fit my log book perfectly.

Naturally, I ask Dave what his plan is. Are we going over empty? Am I repowering a load in the Denver area? He tells me I've got to roll to Dodge City to pickup an L.A. bound meat load. Fantastic. If there were ever an ####### in the middle of the armpit of the Kansas meatpatch, Dodge City definitely takes the cake. That place is misery on wheels (at least in my experience). I have never picked up a load from that place that wasnt 3-4 hours past the DLD. This load has the same amount of time on it as the Deer Park load, but 400 less miles. Or so I thought. I grabbed my map and calculator and did a quick draft of the mileage from Dodge City to L.A. via I70. Just over 1600 miles. Sure, 100 miles less that the FL load, but not anything worth worrying about.

I get empty at 1000 in Englewood. Head to the J in Aurora to scan and fuel. They had the pumps shut down due to some kind of maintenance so I roll down to Limon. Get fueled and head into Dodge City. Lord help me...

Arrive at Dodge City around 1800. Check in with the guard shack and am told the load isnt ready. No problem, DLD isn't until 1020 the next morning. I drop my empty and bobtail up to the Walmart to get a few things. Then back to the J for a shower, a slice of pizza and some sleep.

Wake up at 0430 to check in the load. Still not ready. Set the alarm for 0630 and fall back in the rack. Alarm goes off, I call, not ready. Get up, put on my sweats and tennies and go for a walk. Get back to the truck just after 0700, call, not ready. Get cleaned up, get dressed and head to the restaurant next to the J (it's reopened BTW) for breakfast. Get done around 0930. Call, still not ready. GO back and do a thorough pretrip on the truck. Get done around 1015. Call, trailer's loaded but waiting on bills. Load's going to Hong Kong. Great. When all was said and done, I was outta there around 1200.

Head up to Denver to the TA West. It's in Wheatridge about 20 miles west of the other truckstops in Commerce and Aurora. Dave was waiting there. He had purchased a set of chains to throw in the truck as Colorado has their chain law in effect until May 31. I get there around 1930 and pick him up. Off we go!

The original plan was to go over the pass during daylight hours so Dave could film the terrain (signage, mile posts, road conditions, etc) to help him when putting together his report for the brass upstairs. Obviously, I didn't make it back to Denver in time for that to happen. So he had taken his rental car over during the day, did his filming and took quite a few notes. They came in handy for the trip as we were driving at night. The headlights on my truck work very well and light up the roadway nicely but it was nice to have a bit of warning as I'm not familiar with that mountain. He had noted at what mile post the grades started, how long they lasted, what % of a grade they were. Like I said, very useful information.

We just took our sweet time going up and over the mountain. For those of you who have never been on that stretch of interstate, it is simply breathtaking. Even at night. Driving through Vail and Breckenridge and seeing how those towns light up it looks just like a Christmas card. There was still quite a bit of snow on the ground and on the mountains.

We had planned to stop at a designated truck parking lot at mile post 133. He wanted to see what that lot looked like and how accessible it was from the interstate so he could pass that info along to drivers who needed a place to take their break. There isn't much in the way of truck-friendly businesses once you leave Denver until you get to Grand Junction. There is a small truckstop listed in the Truckstop Directory in Glenwood Springs but I never saw it.

We make it to exit 133 and see the sign at the bottom of the ramp directing us to the truck parking. Problem is, the sign pointed both directions. If you turned right, it put you on the westbound frontage road. I looked in that direction and didn't see anything resembling a parking lot so I opted to turn left. Dave had spotted some lightposts that were lit up and looked like they could be illuminating a parking lot. Well, we go under the interstate and windup on the eastbound frontage road, heading back the direction we just came from . No worries though. I had called 511 earlier in the day and listened to the recording tell me that there was also designated truck parking on the eastbound side. Well, there is parking, and it is designated specifically for trucks by the Colorado DOT, and it's posted on the roadway that it's for truck, and it's perfectly legal for trucks to park there...... but not according to Stevens. The eastbound parking is nothing more than a widened shoulder. That looks too much like "sitting duck" material to me. Not comfortable parking there so we continue eastbound on the frontage road.

In my notes I had written down that the 511 recording said to continue back 7 miles to exit 140 and we could return to the interstate there. As we get closer to that point, Dave sees the top of a Shell sign lit up straight ahead of us. He tells me that he thinks that's the same place he used to park when he drove truck. He said there was enough parking for a few trucks. Sure enough, there's a nice lot there with a TMC and a few other trucks already in it. I see the Shell station as well as a small diner right next door. So I know I can at least use the restroom and brush my teeth before we hit the road. I'd worry about getting showered and all that stuff later.

I park and we go over his notes and talk about the trip. Decide to hit the rack and get some sleep. A quick note about that: I had mentioned to Dave before we started out that I didn't have a mattress in the top bunk. I use it for storage and the metal "tray" works perfect for my needs. Poor guy slept on that cold metal thing all night! I gave him a pillow and my comforter as that was all I had but it still had to be uncomfortable lol. I told him if he got cold to wake me up and I'd adjust the heater accordingly. Dude just crawled up there and went to sleep. Never complained once.

Get up the following morning and grab coffee. Wipe the sleep from my eyes, brush the dentures and take off towards Green River, UT. That's where Dave had planned to meet the eastbound truck that was gonna take him back over into Denver. He wanted to get a feel for going over the mountain in either direction. He had mentioned that if this all works out they were going to add the details into the mountain pass book; hence all the notetaking.

We drive the 200-some-odd miles to Green River and meetup with the other driver. They grab the chains and put them in the other truck, Dave grabs his stuff, we shake hands and I takeoff to the Petro in Vegas.

Dave had asked me to try and take some notes if I saw anything between Green River and Beaver that he thought might be useful in his report to the powers that be. So I jotted down a few notes on my window in dry erase marker about a few pulls and grades and tight curves on the remainder of I70. Still gotta call him and pass all that along to him.

All in all, it was a great experience. I've got a one-pick produce load heading to Target in Cedar Falls, IA. That load also takes me by the house as I've gotta pickup my new bank card and swap out my refrigerator at Target (just bought this one 2 months ago and the compressor sounds like its got a woodpecker stuck inside and it's trying it's damndest to get out lol). So giving up that FL load didn't turn out too bad after all.

Obviously, this sin't a done deal and in no way could he say for sure that the Aaron clan was going to green-light this whole thing. So please don't run into the driver's lounge next time you're on the yard and broadcast that Dave Kendall said it was alright to drive I70. I don't think he would appreciate that too much.



Abo

 

Whew! Got into roanoke, VA just in time. Gettin a little breezy here...

Hope everyone was anchored in for the storms. Finally made it out of brooklyn, laredo here I come. After catching up on paperwork I find I had 5 trips in 5 days for 2500 miles. Not too shabby.

 

Knew B... I brought Dave back from Grand Junction to the TA in Denver yesterday evening. Worked great for me.
He drove, so I picked up 5 hours on this load. Just enough to be able to make all four drops before running out of hours.
You and I have joined an elite group of few...Stevens drivers that have brought a load over the pass.
Makes your eyes water, doesn't it!
In Council Bluffs tonight.
Head out to St Charles for my first drop tomorrow, then Kenosha. Monday is Racine and Big Bend.
Then 24 hours of sitting. No more hours.

 

Hate to tell you guys this, but veteran stevens drivers have been going over I70 west of denver for the past 2 years, on a case by case basis. A great drive, slow at times, with no safe havens for trucks, and never will be as the elites that live up there would like to see I70 closed to trucks.
I can see why fuel is investigating the route, but I know 2 companies based in denver, prefer I80 even though it is farther, they burn less fuel, and the time factor is the same.
As Emusified said, 5 hours, to do 240 miles. for an average of 44 miles per hour, and I wonder what your fuel mileage was like? climbing twice to 11,000 ft. from 5,000 ft.

Sitting in El paso this evening, have a 2 dropper in Houston for monday.. and meat does not think I can do it!!! I laughed, Just have to drive my prefered time, 0400 start time each day.

 

fellow driver told me they are testing drivers in the clinic for sleep apnea? is that true. anyone been tested?