Stevens Transport aviary

Just wanted to drop a "Hey - Hello" to anyone I may know who might still be at Stephens.

I got my CDL in =about= '07 and went straight to work with Stephens. Even though I didn't stay, I've never regretted driving with Stephens. I had great trainers -- except for one, lol. I was meat in the seat and I asked to be switched, so that was on me. Trainer wanted to log a lot of miles, and told me to just write down and pretend I was driving, and to give myself credit for hills he was driving. When I explained all this to The Safety Manager, Cheney, he sort of did a slow burn, and apologized and got me a great trainer.

Stephens has a terrific training program. I learned more about safety in less than a week of orientation than I did with ANY other company. And I implemented that on the road.

Since moving on from Stephens I went to C.R.Englund, and Werner. Werner was closer to where I lived in California, more so than Stephens in Texas, which was why I left.

Currently I am looking for work. I moved to Portland, Oregon and my OTR days are over. My fiancé has four small children and the last time I went out was the last. Everyone missed me too much. So, I'm looking for something with more home time.

Anyway, if you don't mind, I'll be eavesdropping on the conversations. It's true that once you get diesel in your blood it's hard to get it out. And I DO miss Stephens. Everyone was like family there.

I haven't read every page of the Aviary -- 686 pages and pretty close to ten posts on every page -- and I'll probably be doing that.

I can't remember? Are we supposed to mention names here? I would sure like to be able to say hey to a trainer I had.

Anyway, thanks.

 

I do believe its "Stevens"..... i hope it is or i'm going to feel pretty dumb after 5 years of being here.
I wouldnt mention names, really its not too cool. People arent always compatible to be in a truck together. Too, im sure we can all appreciate your post.

 

Well, I bit the bullet and came back to Stevens. Currently going through the school again as a refresher. Today is the end of week 1. And laundry day.

 

Welcome back Fozzy.
Father Luke, you're always welcome around here. Once a Buzzard, always a Buzzard!

Well I'm working today. Taking tuesday off to run mama around to all her new doctors.
This will be the first day I'll truely be running solo, so it will be interesting. Any of you on FAC or Ready Pac loads... be gentle! I'll be covering Mike's desk.

I know the drivers will likely never understand the ins and outs of dispatch, the weekend and night crews and such, but honestly, I've been humbled by how much work they all do for the drivers and how much they do with so little.
There are rough spots to be sure, and hopefully I can smooth a bit of those out as time goes on. But as importantly, I hope I can give you guys a better insight on how it works so you can 'game' the system to meet your needs a bit better.

 

Just a bit of insight to the 'automatic' dispatch system we all had so much hope in.
Inside, it's called the optimizer.
When a driver has sent their empty call, their truck profile shows 'A' for available (other designations are D for dispatched and H for Home)
Your truck number shows up as black type.
When you are soft planned or preplanned, the type is white. Once you are dispatched, it is blue.
If it's red, safety is on your tale!
So all the trucks that are Available will show at the bottom of the screen along with designations such as T for team, T1 thru T5 for training teams, T6 for D&D, etc. etc.
At the top of the screen the loads are shown, again in different colors denoting if they're ready to go, or waiting on customer information.
Once we've soft planned the load, the corresponding truck and load number are 'married' and show at the top of the screen in the corresponding colors. Once a load is accepted by the driver, it disappears from this screen (to another).
When a load is 'ready', the system will optimize. Search for what it considers the best driver for the load, and 'suggest' that truck.
But the criteria it uses lacks considerably. It looks at location (deadhead), present hours available and if it's a team. Not what kind of team...just a team.
Then it posts it next to the load.
Often we have to change trucks.
Why?
You'd be surprised at the reasons. At least I have been.
I worked Produce in Laredo this week. I can't believe the number of drivers that will call afte recieving a pre plan and say something like, "I don't do produce." or "I only drive West (East, North, South) of the Mississippi, I-40, etc"
The system doesn't account for the driver that is 30 hours into a reset and the load won't be ready until tonight.
Or the driver that will run hard, not complain and get the job done vs the driver that can't seem to get more than 350 miles per day.
All of this takes time. I went thru 4 drivers yesterday for one load...Laredo to St Louis to Chicago.
One of them has been sitting in Laredo for three days, turned down 3 loads and had the tenacity to complain to his DM, Archie and finally upstairs on how he's been sitting for days and can't get a load. (yes, he turned down the StL/Chi load).
So the optimizer doesn't get used a whole lot in many cases. The dispatchers will consider the truck, but if you've just done a repower for me (as one team had) and it was a big favor, you're moving to the head of the line in my book.
Right now, we have more loads than trucks in Laredo, but it's not always that way.
So I hope this answers those drivers questions as to why they are being used by this super duper new dispatch system that we all had so much hope in.
Best thing you can do is get to be known by the area dispatchers, develop a relationship with them and talk to them as you're coming into their area to drop a load.

 

Emu, goes to show that the human element can never be accounted for.
One question you have not answered yet, when considering a truck, do you see the hours for the next day? Like when a driver has zero coming back, yet I would get dispatched onto a tyson load, that has to go. Or was that just desperation setting in. And I hope you never tell a driver, "you are the only truck in the area," when there are many trucks all parked at the same truck stop waiting for loads.

 

Emu, I am bothered by the work ethics of some drivers by your recent posts.

Isnt Stevens a "forced dispatch" company? Does forced dispatch only apply to company drivers? If thats the case I might understand a little better, but still...

If Stevens is indeed a forced dispatch company, why are those drivers that repeatedly turn down loads still working for Stevens? And the ones that you mention a week or two ago that accept a load but never show up to load then say that the load didnt have enough miles, etc. Why are they still working there?

When I was with Stevens, the only loads that I just hated were NE loads. I would always take them and when possible try to get a repower requesting to go back the other way, but I never once turned down a load or missed picking up a load.

 

Nascar, I know we have had our 'differences', but we agree completely on this!!! I just recently commented to my hubby that I don't understand why they keep these 'deadbeats' around!!

You are one of the few 'new' drivers that actually has a good work ethic!! That is why you were able to move easily into a job that youenjoy and fits your needs.

As for the 'forced dispatch', O/O and L/O are not 'force dispatched', but we are aware that if we turn down a load, there is a clause that says they don't have to pay DH on the load we do accept. The only loads we have turned down are the ones that are too heavy for us. As a team that lives on our truck, we carry a lot more of our personal possessions, thus limiting the weights we can haul. We have turned down several repowers that did not make good business sense. I do know that there are company drivers that turn down loads and repowers!!

 

Hope the day goes well!! Hubby and I just took a 4 drop Ready Pac to LA and FL. Hauling OJ out to Stockton for Wed delivery.

 

Thank you for the kind words. I have always tried to do the best that I can for my employers but to be honest this is the first time that I really feel that my employer really appreciates me for my hard work and dedication. I hope that I dont sound like I am bragging (but I guess that I am ) but I just got my review yesterday and went from .45 per loaded mile to .63 per loaded mile! Im not the best with math but I think that comes out to about a 40% increase in pay. I think that this shows that my work ethics are in the right place. I also hope that this shows that a "new" driver can leave a company such as Stevens (or any other starter company) and be successful elsewhere. I think that this also proves to Dujo that someone can still cut up and have fun while working on the clock, behind the wheel or whatever and still have the work ethics to receive a review and a raise like I did.

Anyway, as far as turning loads down, I completely understand is the load is heavy, etc. After all, YOU are responsible for making sure that you are legal. I have had to backtrack about 40 miles or so in CA when I scaled at the nearest (that I was aware of) CAT scales and was heavy. Dispatch sent me back. I had to argue a little bit with the shipper telling them that my company wanted some of the load removed.