Stevens Transport - Dallas, Tx.

welcome to the truth............here at covenant there are no miles for solos/teams. the only ones getting high miles are the trainers/trainees. 6000-8500 per week......and the trainee gets about .14 per mile?
sure it is justified in a way, but here they have freight they del thru this manner in a cheap way and make a bundle!
ah! greed and corruption at the expense of an employee...gotta love it.
ps: i don't believe there any good guys here in companies this big.

 

###### JimBob. I am still here at Stevens after 15 months. Average miles per week is 2800. Remember, that is AVERAGE. I have crappy weeks and then there are the good ones. I get home anytime I want if I start letting them know 3 weeks in advance. Then again I live in Houston so there is alot of freight going thru there. I have yet to start training, I feel there is more money if I was to go OwnerOp. Still doing my research on that avenue though. Uhhh, what other questions did I see. Oh well, Mojo, I lost you and everyone elses phone numbers when I upgraded my phone. ###### Sprint lady erased em instead of backingthem up, Talk about being peeved!!

morph

 

this is for gabldgs.. if ur a Navy vet & were honorably discharged u should qualify for Veterans Benefits which is quite a bit now compared to when i was in (Nam vet).. so why not go with a pvt school to get ur CDL that is PTDI certified or some of the good trucking companies may not approve your training.. You will have more options with better trucking companies then after getting ur CDL, that's the way i would go if i was in ur shoes, then u won't be tied to 1 company for a year just to pay back their training time..

 

You could be the exception to the rule. I lasted about 2 mos with stevens after my dumb and dumber training. After sitting in Ontario,Ca for 4 days I told them to get me a load back to dallas. Turned in the truck, and went else where, and I haven't paid them a nickel since then.
I came to the conclusion, "they didn't really train me, they let me borrow their equipt. for practice", and the money they didn't pay more that paid them. Not to mention their gov't subsidy...

 

Stevens SUCKS.

 

There trucks seem nice.

 

When you are looking for a job that should not be your only thought.

 

Alot of guys base their choices on things like "They sure have nice lookin' trucks". those are the numbskulls that do the bulk of the jobhopping.

 

Couldnt agree with you more! A couple of those numbskulls post here daily! When a driver says that he is not getting many miles and is here complaining that he is sitting all the time and then says that he likes the company because they keep their trucks clean so well--that pretty much says it for me that he likes to look good and doesnt care if he makes any money--credibility for that person is out the window then.

 

I went through training at Stevens and worked for them for just over a year, that was my plan. I researched all of the main trucking companies with driving schools and they all seemed about the same. It comes down to your attitude and communicating with the staff at the school and trucking company.
I understood that in exchange for 'free' training I would be working for 12 months at a lower per mile rate, suck it up, thats life. My class started out with 55 students, by the last day there were 21. If you have convictions, poor driving record, lie on your app etc, they will find out and boot you. The hotel was a 6/10 and the food 5/10. The training school gets a 9/10 and my experience with the trainers was good, 8/10. If you get a lease operator as your trainer you will drive more miles than with a company driver. He gets all the miles he can from his 'free' co-driver, and you will probably be given the night shift. I was with a company driver and we hit it pretty hard but we still had time for showers every day or close to it. Sinse i was on a fixed weekly pay I didn't care how may miles we got as long as we didn't sit for days. For the dumb and dumber part of the training pick your partner well and it will be fine. You know you will be living with this person for 3 weeks on a truck so when you are in basic training scope out the drivers and buddy up with a group you know has common sense, a brain, and can drive. After training they treated me well with good miles and home time if I gave them 7-14days notice. It is expected that you will be out 4-5 weeks and you are told this up front. I lived in Dallas so it was easier to get a load back to the yard for home time. Company drivers can take their trucks home if they can prove that they have a secure area to park it in. Stevens will want photos as proof and will check it out before they let you do this. Most of my buddies had a Kenworth dealership close by and would park the truck there. The jerks in my class that were always late with deliveries or screwing up didn't get the miles and sat longer, surprise, surprise. The longest I sat was 2 days at a meat plant, truckers from the other major companies sat for as long as I did.
Is Stevens the best or the worst? They are neither, but if you want good training in the reefer biz then I would say if you know what you are getting up front then go for it.
I had a 12 month plan to get into the trucking industry and new the ups and downs. If you know of a company that will put you up in the Hilton, limo you to school and supply steak and lobster for lunch, let me know. I left them for a regional job near the house, again part of my long term plan, and the Stevens training and experience helped me get the job. Not a raving fan of the company, nor do I dislike them. They served MY purpose.