Stevens Transport - Dallas, Tx.

you bet my experience with stevens and that's what i can address on first account basis not some third level word of mouth type negative bs...btw my former trainer just signed another lease with stevens...so they must be doing something right.

 

well here in Houston this Week my class started with 17 or 18 then we dropped to 10 in week 2 and now in Week 3 we are 4 that can test. So if all goes well the next few days we should have 4 going to Dallas.

Seems the written test got a lot of folks here. Well that's the rumor I hear.

 

In response to original post that Stevens isn't a good company to work for...

It sounds like you were the one who had the two accidents and got fired, unless that happened to a fellow student. So if either is the case, you or the other driver deserved it! I'd fire you too if you had two accidents in a year (or whatever the time table you say), two tickets, I'd fire you. Two customer complaints, two run ins with lumpers, whatever, I'd fire you.

A career in trucking is what YOU put into it, not what Stevens or any other company's recruiter "promises" you.

And while I'm on that subject, what the hell were their recruiters telling you? Did you come out of corn country Nebraska or Idaho and they saw your naiveté to the trucking world? (Oh, naiveté means ignorance)

Between Stevens website, other sites mentioning Stevens (and there are good and bad stuff on the net about EVERY trucking company, no matter who they are) I called them up and spoke to them, they called me back, I asked them dozens of questions (wrote them all on pad of paper so I wouldn't forget when on the phone) and I asked more relevant questions than how much $$ or home time, the usual people ask a new company.

I spoke to three people total at Stevens before I decided to accept, and each one was nice, polite and got me to who I needed to speak to if they weren't the one. Before I left for Dallas I knew UPFRONT how much the training was, how paid back, the loans for bus, hotel, food, etc were ALL told to me before I committed. I knew EXACTLY to the penny how much I'd be paying back once I graduated and hit the road.

Your claim of not knowing any of the things you say they "ripped you off" of or lied to you about - paying back bus tick, hotel bill, food bill, tell you what....if they DIDN'T tell you about those things up front, my guess is ANY MORON WOULD KNOW NOTHING IS FREE!!!

When I read on their website they'd send me a bus tix, pay for hotel n food, I knew immediately in my mind (because I'm smart) that NOTHING is free, bus ticket, hotel or food, in life and maybe they didn't mention it to you because any normal, sane person understands you'd have to pay that back in the real world.

You're not going to get "rich" per-say, working for Stevens. But starting out with no experience, it's a great company to get your foot in the door with. In my opinion they are a great company to work even after your foot is in the door! Never had a problem with them (real problem I mean. Screwing up a paycheck once in a blue moon, forgetting something they owe me for - sure, that crap happens, legit, sometimes not? Who knows. What I do know is, crap happens, Stevens or any other trucking company. Good and bad.

Google ANY trucking company out there and you'll find tons of info about them, good and bad. The fact that you feel slighted, taken advantage of and lied to, in my opinion, means YOU, yes YOU didn't do your research properly and jumped before you looked at what you were getting into.

And if any recruiter actually TOLD you that you wouldn't have to pay back those things you listed (no one knows cuz you don't say why/how, just that you had to pay back bus tix, hotel, food. Did they actually TELL you not to pay it back, or did they forget to mention it to you in the first place. My bet is the latter and that YOU dropped the ball.

Bottom line - YOUR responsibility to investigate a company to YOUR satisfaction, get YOUR questions asked and answered. No one is obligated to mention anything to you except enough to pique your interest in joining them, that's it. As long as they didn't lie about something legal, that they could actually get in trouble for, it's ALL on your shoulders dude. Sounds like this was your first foray into trucking or the "real world" of work. Chalk it up to ignorance (on YOUR part) and move on.

No, Stevens isn't perfect, but they are far from the worst!

I can always tell on here who the complainers, whiners, slackers are....

You want work, more money....but want to be home more. You want a nice rig...don't want to pay your dues (working for anyone for a year and expecting a new truck is ludicrous. This is YOUR inexperience and ignorance ranting on here! Nothing more...

Post something after you've had a few more years of experience and been to three or four other companies because you think they all suck. Here's a twist for you......maybe, I'm just sayin', just spit-ballin' here... maybe.....just maybe the problem isn't the COMPANIES.....maybe the problem is.......Y O U ! ! ! !

People go from company to company for a reason, and it usually isn't a good one, and it's usually them, not a company. I mean, really, what are the odds of going to work for say four or five companies and then you the driver says, "They all suck!" Do they really? Any chance it's you and your bad attitude?? If a driver has so many problems over and over with different companies, I can't help but think that it's probably YOU (whoever you are) and not THEM. Know why? Because YOU are the only common denominator in this equation of freight my friend! Plain and simple....if you can't go to work for a trucking company for a least a year without complaining all the time, it's YOU, not the company!

Settle down, suck it up and be a professional.....wait, sorry, you aren't!

But that's just MY opinion....I could be wrong....(not)

 

I am lucky I get to do my schooling in Denver Colorado I live in Colorado springs Home every night and DCL in my state.

but would I have to transfer my CDL to Texas to work for Stevens and do the Orientation in Dallas????????????????????

 

No. You keep your license in your home state. the confusion comes from those that originate their CDL in Dallas. By law, you can only be licensed in the state you test in.
So people that come to Dallas for school are licensed in Texas, then they are required to transfer their new CDL to their home state within 90 days.
So if Colorado is your home state, you will license there and remain licensed there.
No mess, no muss, no fuss.

 

anybody who fails the written test in Houston either can't read, do not understand written English or just plainly did not study.

for the same fee (if unemployed the unemployment office will pay the initial test fees $69), you get three tries at any of the different tests. You can take the tests using computer or paper. Many folks get all riled up if the computer tells them than an answer is wrong. so take the paper version.

on top of that, the instructors have some very good study guides that are filled with sample questions plus you get the website where you can take test samples over and over again.

so if you fail the written tests, perhaps trucking will be too challenging for you...after all you'll get Stevens Drivers manual plus their very good Rand McNally Road Atlas For Truckers (yes it is quite different than the ones at Walmart...these one has approved Stevens trucking routes who have taken into consideration bridge clearance plus local zoning restrictions).

by taking your classes at HCC, you won't be required to take the physical in Dallas (other than the urine sample), won't be charged bus ticket, hotel room and if required to stay at the yard beyond 5PM, dinner will be supplied by the company.

People arriving at Dallas who got their training and license at Houston, are very welcomed at the yard. Mostly because the Houston folks do a very good job of separating the wheat from the chaff.

 

JeffOTR...well stated

where on this great land and unemployed person can get his training in a field that won't be outsourced to china, india or mexico. on top of that will assign a trainer that will put his truck on the line plus be forced to spend over 35 days in very close quarters with a stranger that have no idea of how to keep his truck between the lines in heavy traffic or harsh weather. then after 12 weeks or so will give you a very good rig (not brand new but under 400k miles and on top mechanical shape) and after a few months give you a very good chance of leasing your very own 100k rig, regardless of credit?

to read these naggers/complainers/whiners is very sad. how many dudes in the world will die to get this chance?

can anyone imagine if the pioneers that made the continental, have had the wussy attitude of these naysayers? this country would have never been born.

now that the middle class in this country has been decimated, Stevens is a very good option to be part of the shrinked middle class in USA.

 

Ok, let me get this straight. I go Stevens, sign a contract to be trained, I'm on the hook the bus fair, hotel room and food. Now I pass my CDL test, go out for more training. Then I get a truck and if for any reason I'm let go I'm still on the hook to pay for training. I could be employed by Stevens for 364 days and the say see ya, I still have to pay them back.
Doesn't Stevens get money from the state of Texas for each student they train?
This has RUN AS FAR AND AS FAST AS YOU CAN FROM STEVENS written all over it. Trust your gut, notvyour head.

 

Does Ross still train for them? if anybody knows PM me Thanks

 

Chucky, to my knowledge, Stevens does not get money from the state. You train/conform to their standards or hit the road. I will tell you from what I have heard, they have a good training program. I guess it would be no different than going to a private school. You will have to pay for that training one way or the other. Most companies if not all that hire student drivers have some form of tuition dismemberment. Some companies will even send you to a school and pay for it but again, you will be under contract. Most private academies are accredited by their state in the case of Texas and will be affiliated with a college. My best option was to go to a private school then let the companies fight over me, yea right
Any school one wants to go to, they need to research it and make sure the trucking companies recognize them.