Stevens Transport aviary

Got the Kraft dedicated position! yay
Find out tomorrow if I have to change trucks or not. I hope so, as I don't want to have to come back to Dallas in two months.
Been all week doing road test and waiting to talk to Adrian. Found out today I got the spot.
Otherwise been a boring week!

 

To answer a question that has been posed:

I don't know who's ### I kissed, nor can I tell you how to do so. lol It was asked nicely though.
I can tell you what I did that got me a dedicated spot so quickly. Or, I can tell you what I've done, and I assume that is why. I don't see how it is all that surprisingly quickly though. Is it? Six months with Stevens now.
What I did was...
1. Learned in classes. Studied what we were told to study, practiced what they told us to practice.
2. Dressed appropriately. No wife-beaters, no holy jeans, no flip-flops. Button front dress shirts and jeans, or undecorated, plain colored t-shirts. Tucked when appropriate. Used to dressing these ways for my previous job of ten years anyway.
3. Spoke and acted like an adult with a vocabulary in excess of the same four-letter words in every sentence.
4. Hair short enough to control and kept clean.
5. Shower and shave.
6. Arrived early when possible, but not too early without calling, be polite, look, speak and act a professional truck driver, not like a hobo.
7. Do real PTIs, report problems, get them fixed.
8. Log reality as it happens. Watch hours, anticipate problems, relay when I will not have enough hours to deliver on time and request repowers/reschedules.
9. Do the circle of service calls.
10. Communicate, communicate, communicate. Don't leave anyone hanging for an answer. If you can't answer, tell them why you don't have an answer and let them know you are trying to get one. Read what you typed on QC with an eye toward it being taken badly. You can be surprised how sometimes what you typed seemed fine until you read it with a critical eye and see how it could seem rude or be taken the wrong way.
11. Strive for high MPG. At least try not to waste fuel. Drive safely and park safely. No speeding.
12. Keep truck clean. Inside and out. Don't have to be spotless, but obviously dirty and uncared for only leaves a bad impression. Even if you don't care what others think, at least keep it nice for yourself.


If any of that is kissing ###, then I guess I better get a bigger toothbrush.

And is it really any big deal to be put on a dedicated fleet after six months? If so, I have no idea why I was asked other than the above. Maybe some drivers say it takes so long because they wear greasy tank top shirts and you can see their underwear and it was hard for the person they were asking about dedicated fleets to hear them over their flip-flops, belches and in between "##%& this" and "*#^&# that"

Or maybe I happened to send a QC message or make a phone call at exactly the right time when someone was asking my DM if they had anyone to fill an open spot on the fleet? Or maybe I pissed off my DM at that moment he was asked and he wanted me off his board? Or maybe my DM didn't have anything to do with it? IDK
I'll ask the guy who asked me if I wanted to join his fleet and see if he can tell my why I was asked. Maybe it was just I was from the area? That's my theory.

And thanks TLea, I hope so too.

 

"You're from the right area, you present the right image and you've done the right things. And there was a problem that happened right after you graduated and how you handled it well. That and I hear you wanted to drive a truck for a long time and you're not just doing this because you have to work. You want this career. Some drivers don't, they just need a job for now. And you were at your last job for ten years. And your clean MVR and background."
As best as I can remember it when I asked, and I was working on remembering exactly what was said to my question.
"Six months is kind of fast, ya, but I really think you'll make a good fit and do a good job of it."
And I'm keeping my current truck. It got new tires, a full PM and a DOT inspection today. I should be dispatched Saturday, or as soon as they have something nearby going up toward Chi-town.
Yeah, TLea, that squeaky wheel is true. It might get greased, or it might get replaced. Depends on what kind of squeaking it's making. But "sent to the meat patch to wait for 3 days" is freaking hilarious!

 

Read the posts in "Good companies" and "Bad companies" and weigh what you read with what you see elsewhere on the web.
But since this is the Stevens Transport aviary, I can say that at least with Stevens, you will get some of the best safety training there is. You won't earn as much as at other companies as it's a training company, which means they pay less than most. You will have some of the best, newest, and best maintained equipment though. The staff at the HQ are probably also some of the most professional you will see anywhere.
Stevens runs products for Tyson, Kraft and Wal-Mart to name a very few. Mostly refrigerated, sometimes not. Stevens also runs a lot of produce out of Cali to midwest and far east coast, including down on the river in New York, a very tight, congested, aggravating place to drive a big rig - but unlike many if not most training companies, Stevens trains you well enough to handle it.
If you hit bad weather, you can shut down and wait it out. They preach and remind you every 90 days during their seasonal classes you MUST attend. Anytime you don't feel safe driving in conditions, shut it down. Just make sure you make that fact known immediately so they know it.
No chains, ever! YAY. Unless you ask for and are approved for "The Chain Gang". If the roads get snow covered, shut it down. If there is any kind of ice, shut it down. MANDATORY. Winds getting high? Shut it down. Raining so hard you can't safely see? Shut it down. Safety First. They'd rather you were late than laying sideways in a ditch or half on top of some four-wheeler. I know some big companies will push you to drive on, even in a blizzard.
No U-Turns...EVER. Immediate termination. No ifs, ands, or buts. Only exception is if directed by police/emergency crews or somesuch. If you have to drive 100 miles out of route because you missed a turn, they will not charge you the mileage. I've even heard of them paying you for those miles in some situations, no bull. Even seen where a driver kept going down a road instead of doing a u-turn. They always say "Keep going, don't u-turn. There is always somewhere to turn around safely" Well, this guy kept going and the road ended and he was stuck. Stevens paid to have him towed backwards for miles. Cost thousands of dollars. But because he didn't u-turn and followed policy, didn't cost the driver a cent. Not even a blemish on his record.
I can also say that Stevens is a stickler for honesty. Don't try to hide anything if you apply. They will and have and do hire felons, but only if you honestly report it and explain it and show responsibility since the offense. But if you try to hide a misdemeanor, they will find it and you're out.
You won't get paid as much here as many places, but you will know more about driving and safety from your first month than many ten year drivers know. And your training here is in high demand from other companies. I still get emails from Knight, Werner and a company from my hometown, all asking if I'm still happy here and saying they will hire me, fly me to nearest depot and put me in a truck within 48 hours. Two of them swear it will be less than a year old with apu. One says they will give me a brand new with an automatic transmission. I also was in contact with Swift, USA and others, and I still got emails from them for a while, but never even read them. They were like backup backup companies when I was first getting ready to get into trucking. Stevens, Werner and Knight were my first choices if I went company sponsored training instead of community school.

 

OMFG
Kraft Ft. Worth to Wally DC in Ochalata Oklahoma, with a preplan from Ft. Smith Arkansas to Aurora IL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(shivers)
Right now I'm at the Pilot on I-40 near Ft. Smith, waiting for pickup time tomorrow, then off to Aurora.
I think you're ready for a dispatcher position!