Stevens Transport---Who Trains These Guys?

I feel bad that this even happened and the response Stevens gave your brother is ridiculous.

I'm still a fairly new driver with less than 1 year experience OTR, but as a Stevens driver, it makes us all look bad when these guys get in a truck all sure of themselves and proceed to do stupid things like this.

I was involved in 2 accidents. During my time on grad fleet I accidentally backed into a truck and took out his headlight. They made me pay the highest deductible a driver can pay which is $2,000. When I took out a mudflap (thus earning the cb handle Mudflap), I also had to pay a deductible that was something like $300. Both times I had to go through a safety retrain which included a trip to the local TA for backing exercises, a road evaluation, and watch a bunch of DVDs about safety. Not only that, I had to meet with Harold in safety and explain what I thought went wrong and so forth.

This driver is most definitely paying the higher deductible considering the damage incurred. Only thing I can say for Stevens is they probably think your brother must have home owner's insurance to cover the cost of any and all damages which is why they said anything about a claim.

 

I believe Stevens is self insured and only have insurance for catastrophic incidents. What you were paying was not the deductable but the full bill for repair. You could say that Stevens insurance is owned by the employees, break something, you own it.

 

Yes, Stevens is self insured because of their safety rating.

 

Their safety rating is pretty good. Not sure what you mean there. Stevens is self insured because it saves them money.

 

stevens like most carriers are self insured for the first million dollars. And the driver is given a list of what he will pay on all incidents, and accidents...

My question on this, was it just a phone call to stevens, or did your brother take pictures, and file an actual claim?

 

thanks for the reply...
I would have filed the claim for damages to the property. That was one driver, who did make a mistake, and should have been held accountable for it. But don't paint with such a broad brush.
Rookies make mistakes. Even seasoned drivers make mistakes, but hopefully don't compound them.

In today's society, unfortunately, money talks more than anything else. Want to get a companies attention, file a claim.

 

Stevens does have a reputation around the industry as being a pain to work with on insurance claims. My last company had a truck damaged at a truck stop by a Stevens driver, usual mirror, headlight and some scratched paint. Even with many witnesses and photos it took the better part of a year to pry the cash out of Aarons fingers. Other companies are probably not much better either.

 

The Truckist, I feel your pain. I know this is hindsight and hopefully something you and your bro don't have to deal with again but, an option would have been to involve the police from the start. Even as you were following the truck. There is a number of things here under the crimes code and vehicle code that apply. And both the driver and vehicle owner could have been charged. The biggest part of that is restitution to your bro which would be handled through the courts. The case ins't resolved until the money is paid. Normally it's a route most peole don't want to take but, given the attitude of the driver and company, sometimes it needs to be done. Frustrating...