Stevens Transport aviary

I hope not.... And I don't see why people are late. I run my ### off to get my boxcar there on time. I don't like running 75mph, but I will to be on time. Need some house cleaning again.

 

OK, people. Here's one to shake your head at.
Got a call into the center at 1500 yesterday. A driver was arrested in Ohio for pulling a High Value Hazmat load without a current endorsement. Seems he failed to tell Stevens his HM endorsement had expired, accepted the load anyway and was routinely checked at a scale in Ohio where it was discovered.
He was asking Stevens to put up his bail ($25,000). Stevens said no.
Just so you know, judges routinely set bail high if they think a company is going to put up the money. It will likely be reduced to around $5,000 when the judge sees the driver is responsible.
When asked by safety why he took the load KNOWING it was illegal, he responded "It was a good run (2,000+ miles) and I didn't want to turn it down."
And you wonder why Kip only has a few hairs left on top?
You just can't make this stuff up!
By the way, it took two persons more than two hours each to sort thru this mess and get the load covered.
So that's four hours that could have been spent helping drivers that work hard and follow the rules.
See how this affects us all?

 

Driver qualifications also has that record and date in the computer, and his screen would have reflected his expired hazmat endorsement, unless qualifications screwed up. Ohio scales, and colorado scales always check hazmat loads when open. and yes the driver should have refused.

But somebody in Dallas also screwed up, either qualifications, or dispatch.

 

Hate to wish bad on anybody, but hopefully Stevens will allow this driver to seek other employment options. It's drivers like this that hurt us all and tie up company resources.

 

Amazing the driver thought he could get away with this, I would think he had no idea of the consequences, maybe he thought it was a slap on the wrist, DOH!

 

Well I finished my OR 1 got home a week ago tuesday and am heading back to dallas monday for OR 2. I am overall happy with the Stevens experience thus far, however I am questioning wether or not I want to do lease with stevens. I had a hell of a trainer, taught me a lot he was an alliance trainer but I saw a lot of issues with keeping him rolling (ie giving him solo loads with T3-5 co driver) and not getting repowered when called in with too much time on load. Makes me wonder if I will come out ahead pay wise as alliance or company. Does not seem to matter if you accept the repowers stevens calls and asks you to take and you take them, if you need a repower for too much time on load and ask for it you don't seem to get it. I understand good of the company and all that BS but when your sitting for a day or two each week and have plenty of hours, if the wheels are not turning no one is making any money. Appears to be a recurrent theme.

 

Thanks stlvance, that was helpful

 

My question is, why did he let his endorsement lapse?? I mean, typically, you renew your CDL and endorsement at the same time. Maybe he decided not to renew since there haven't been a lot of HazMat loads lately.

Secondly, what was a solo doing on a Hi-value HazMat load to begin with?? My hubby missed out on some loads when he was solo cause the load was Hi-value and therefore required
a team. We run team and both have HazMat, but have not had a HazMat load the entire 2 years!! Like Dujo said, Looks like it's time to clean house!!

 

I agree with TLH, it would be surprising if Stevens didn't have record of drivers HMat info including expiration dates. That obviously doesn't give the driver a get out of jail free card. (sic)

 

Oh, they do!! When you check in to the yard for your 90-day Safety,etc, you receive a printed out sheet that lists if your physical is due etc. It starts bringing up your CDL renewal, HazMat renewal,etc. at least 90 days prior to expiration. Still, it doesn't let the driver off the hook.