Stevens Transport aviary

I put an app in with Stevens a few days ago and the recruiter seems to be in a tizzy to get me going. Guess where I live....the southeast!

Maybe they go into attack mode with every potential new hire. I've gotta say this for them, though, they're on top of things in recruiting. I told the recruiter I wasn't ready to make a decision yet but that didn't stop the phone calls and emails. I guess I just need to sit back and appreciate their energy and hope it extends beyond recruiting.

 

Stevens is the only one I never heard back from. I think I may give them a call. I just want to make the best choice possible for me.

 

They've sent me a pre-hire letter already. And I'm sure he was blowing some sunshine up my rear about the whole regional thing, but I've read this thread, and many others of many other forums.

It just seems to me, that you get out what you put in. If you have a bad attitude, then your only going to get negativity reflected back at you.

Stevens may not be the best, but they certainly aren't the worst for someone like me just starting out.

 

Good attitude.. what you put in you do get back, but at times, especially with the Saturday morning crew wanting to go home at noon, and then the weekend crew, dealing with Dallas can be a nightmare. Hurry up do something, let someone else fix it. Just me venting about the last 3 weekends. I am on my Third weekend of doing multipule repowers as no one looks a day ahead on weekends. And the one I am presently waiting for this Sunday morning is running late, and therefore I will be late for the delivery on Tuesday. As I speak he is pulling in, gotta go.

Now the recruiter was not telling a lie, just not telling the whole truth. Stevens does have "comfort zones" (regional kinda) after you have paid your dues. The first year you go every where, but at times you will get stuck in a loop, like from the meat patch, (Texas, Kansas, Nebraska) to the east coast (New Jersey, New York) and back. Just the way loads work out.

 

Yeah I have resigned myself to the first year being rough. But I'm hoping *fingers crossed here* that I have a pretty good year, get the experience, and them perhaps look into some of the smaller local companies. I'm even thinking about being a tanker yanker.

 

Nursery load.

Well, let me give my take on it. And then some of you senior drivers can give me a more experienced viewpoint on this load.

I got empty at the WM in Los Lunas, NM. Was told to DH to Irvine, CA. and that I would be loaded out of there. Called to verify the info was correct. Was told that it was, and that I would be paid fuel surcharge for the DH mileage. Not sure if they were blowing smoke to get me to take the load (I would've taken the load regardless). We'll see if I actually get paid when I get my settlement.

I take my break at the Flying J on the hill. Then head over to Irvine. Get there Friday night to the shipper (Hine's Nursery) and hit the rack. Wake up Saturday morning for my 0700 appointment. The crew that builds the pallets of nursery stock and actually loads your trailer doesn't even clock-in until 0730 on Saturdays. No worries, it's just a half hour. Half hour turned into 4 and a half hours. Ready to roll at 1200. Good news is that detention pay starts after two hours past the appointment time. Once again, we'll see if I'm actually paid that or not.

Get all the paperwork, and finally receive my load assignment. Going to South Carolina. But it has SEVEN drops! All Home Depots in South Carolina. The first drop is on Thursday Apr 15, and the CSR's haven't even scheduled the other drops yet.

So, my take on this load: it's overall a good load. Great miles, it's light so it pulls well and should yield me some decent MPG. I feel that if I'm getting a 3400 mile load, and only the last 300 miles of it is a PITA, then why complain? If I have to spend one or two days driving all over SC to deliver a bunch of plants and flowers, then so be it. I just spent the last 4 days hauling the mail. And, by the time I get to SC, my log book will be just about all used up anyhow. I couldn't run hard for those two days even if I wanted to. So I'm technically not losing too much revenue during those two days (at least I don't think??). Also, the extra drop pay will be nice for 7 drops.

Am I missing anything?

 

I had to disappoint Home Depot before when they wanted me to tailgate their freight.That might be in your future.

 

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that as well: the freight's got to be tailgated by me as well. Yippee! Lol

I got a QC message this morning saying the delivery had been bumped up to Apr 14 so it's gonna have to be repowered to make that date. My DM's trying to get dispatch to let me bring it to the yard but I don't think that's gonna happen. So I'll have some lunch here at the Flying J in Tye, TX and see what happens.

 

Yup, you've missed something. For nursery loads, you get paid $75/stop to move the freight to the end of the trailer. there's more money in this load than you know.

 

What you call money I call doing Home Depot's job.How many questions did you answer on your CDL test concerning lumping freight?