I Am On The Road

How long are you with your trainer before you go solo? And what is the pay? I have thought about Stevens, they sound like a good company.

 

Stevens training is done in three phases:
O1- minimum 35 days, 8500 miles. You must drive in all 5 zones of the country (NE, NW, SE, SW, and central)
You must go down 4 mountain passes. Two without the jake, two with. these are specific passes, such as Donner, Cabbage Hill, Cajon, Tehachapi and more.
You must back up and "bump" a dock in the NE.

O2- New trainer. You must run 21 days minimum. Dont remember the mileage requirement. You will do all the trip planning for each load. Basically, you're suppose to run the truck like you are solo and the trainer is there to 'get you out of trouble' when you have problems. He's suppose to be a shadow.

Grad Fleet. You are assigned a truck and go out solo. It consists of three months minimum, where you must run at least 8,000 miles per month.
G1, you receive verbal trip plan from your DM, then you submit them on the qualcom.
G2, you submit the trip plan via qualcom, then discuss it with your DM
G3, You submit your trip plan and run.

During O1&O2, you are paid 350.00 per week. During grad fleet, you are paid 0.26/mile

 

what all did the phiscial consist of have you had any surguries or high bp or anything,did they hassel you about job history,did they place you with a L/O.i know i have lots of ?'s sorry. but im still doing research

 

Physical is pretty standard. They just have higher standards than FMSCA. BP is a little tighter. I use a med for BP. Came thru fine. They are pointing out BMI numbers to each candidate that falls in obese or more. I was 3# over the limit and he pointed it out and told me this was a coming concern for the entire industry. I'm 5-11. I was 221#. Overweight ends and Obese begins at 218. (I'm now 210).
They look for scars that might indicate surgery. They have you do certain motion tests. I had rotor cuff surgery 10 years ago. He had me rotate my arm around, pick up a 5# weight and hold it at arm's length for 30 seconds.
Stand on your toes, squat down, that kind of stuff. Nothing serious.
They will have you walking under trailers, climbing into a trailer, getting in and out of the cab just to make sure you can do it without problems.
My first trainer was a L/O. My second was an O/O. Both were good guys.
If you're in reasonable physical shape, you don't need to worry. They are not looking for reasons to send you home, they just want to be sure there are not reasons you shouldn't be there.
We has one guy that was over 400# and bragged of a 62" waist. He thought they were unfair when they shipped him home, even tho he had trouble getting into the cab and couldn't get himself up into the upper bunk.
No one in my group failed due to BP. Most failed due to failing the drug test or forgetting to note past things like DUIs, felonies or major medical conditions (such as type 3 diabetes!)
I think they are fair in their assessments and really work to get you thru the process. Just be honest, speak with your recruiter about any concerns you have and be up front about anything. Most of the stuff won't matter.
When I had told them about some schrapnel in my right hand from a motar round in Da Nang, he just looked at it, had me squeeze his hand and said I was fine.
If you have trouble crawling under a truck, climbing into one, have a history of a serious cronic illness, you probably will have a problem with the physical. Otherwise, don't sweat it.

 

Whats Stevens rider policy? Do they charge insurance for having a rider???

 

I'm quoting from the top of my head, so I may be off a little, but...
No riders before finishing grad class. I can't remember if they require another 90 days probation after that or not.
Under 18 requires letter from parents, proof of health insurance and only between May and October.
Over 18 is year round. Proof of insurance.
Not sure if the proof of insurance mitigates their insurance costs or not. I think if you have adequate insurance, you don't have to pay.

 

He probably violated his HOS and over drove allowed hours. They are making him do a 34 hour reset. This is a good lesson in keeping your log straight and legal. Some people try and cut corners, but believe me...Compliance will catch up with you.
The only thing that fixes a hour violaton like that is a reset.
You'll hear more about this as you go thru training in your classroom instruction. Compliance Dept is VERY strict. Just be legal and you'll be fine.