Stevens Transport aviary

Here I sit bored to tears in the OR1 classroom waiting paitiently for my newly assigned trainer to arrive. The nice thing is that this will be my last trainer and I should be in grad class on the 12th. My new trainer has trainer recert on the 12th so that means we should be back here to the yard next Sunday.

Smoker, congrats on keeping your truck. You have been through enough already. You shouldn't have to lug all your gear around again.

Now for an update on the u-turn allegation that happened last week. As I posted earlier we were routed back to the yard last week for investigation into this allegation.

As anyone who has been to the warehouse in Victorville knows, Nisqualli Road is a three lane (2 lanes going each way and a center turn lane) dead-end road. Google Nisqualli Road and look for the warehouse at the far east end of the near the dead end. This will provide a good overview of the area.

After pre-tripping the trailer we left the warehouse. A few moments after pulling into the street and heading west, the dash lights went out on the truck and the ABS warning light went off on the dash. With no dashlights it this would have been unsafe to drive because it was well after midnight there would have been no way to tell how fast you were driving. There was no GPS on the truck, otherwise we possibly could have continued to the TA in Barstow to get the trailer checked out.

Not wanting to continue further my trainer wanted to troubleshoot the problem. He pulled into the center lane and stopped. Since there could be other traffic on the road he backed the truck in the center lane a short distance. He then turned into the street directly across from the guardshack which is Production. He drove to the end of production and turned around in the cul-de-sac. This is where we tried to figure out the problem with the truck. Eventually, the dash lights came back on and we headed for Barstow for repairs.

From the vantage point of the person who made the complaint it appeared as my trainer was doing what Stevens defines as a u-turn. Once it was explained to safety and others in the company what happend and why it happened my trainer was not fired. Although he did make a mistakes in this situation he did not completely go without punishment. He still has his job so he can support his family in this economy but I don't think he will have another student anytime soon. Before backing the truck Stevens would have preferred we called the police to block the road.

Moral of the story....you never know who is watching what you are doing or what the perception of what you are doing is.

For everything Stevens puts in their driver manual I was unable to find anything in there on exactly what defined a u-turn. There is the legal definition and then there is the Stevens definition. In class they give examples but I now feel there should be clear definitions along with diagrams in the manual.

 

Congrats Smokr glad you still have your truck.
I am currently Laredo. I am really getting tired of these loads, it's as if we're dedicated. Texas to Ohio, then Detroit, back to Texas, then to Minnesota, then back to Detroit, IL to Texas, hmmmm I wonder where to next. I really would like to get some more of my zones and maybe a couple of mountains lol.

 

I'm glad they didn't can him over that. It really bothers me that someone would just report it without first picking up the CB and asking, "Hey driver, what was that all about?" I guess, in the end, that's what Stevens safety department did by questioning him before they just let him go, but that's not the way I would have handled it if I'd witnessed it.

Glad he's still employed and I hope he comes away from the experience with something positive.

 

I am too. If Stevens cold have proven a u-turn via the sensors that are on the truck it would have been a matter of shutting the truck down right there in California and putting him off the truck right there. Then I would have been stuck on a Greyhound back to Dallas if not fired myself.

I was assigned my trainer. He is in Littlerock, AR waiting me while I sit here at Love Field waiting for my flight.

 

Glad your trainer was not fired.

A simple definition of a Stevens U turn... When you change the direction of travel 180 degrees on public roadways without going around a city block.

this includes streets with center dividers, highways with medians.

Way to hang in there Barracuda, and this should be a quick week for you. Then it will be on to the next stage.

 

Your trainer maybe dedicated to the midwest. You may have to change trainers to get your mountains, and regions. My first trainer was dedicated Kraft, from Ft worth to Chicago. Lots of miles, lots of backing, nothing else.

 

Great attitude there smokr... And they found someone to drive your truck back to dallas, of course with a load. Glad everything worked out.

 

Hay thanx for the insite! I'm gun'a hang around here till I get the call from Stevens office hope sometime this week...thanks again
How many miles are you avg. on the norm?

 

Nah he's not dedicated the loads have just been falling that way. His DM is getting us back to Laredo in hopes of sending us to another region.

 

what kind of class room test do you take at Stevens after you are out with a trainer is it like sqt test like at Schneider fail 3 time and you are on a bus back home just want to know is it map reading or what