looking for prehires

supposed to be 99% no touch and so far it has been. mixture of d/h and live unloads just depends on product it seems. ive been doing produce for the last couple of months since i like the west coast and thats whats here it works out for me

 

Stevens is an all refrigerated carrier. We haul dry freight also, but most of our loads are produce, meat and frozen foods. I don't know the official numbers, but I would guess we do about 10-15% drop and hook on our regular fleet. Some of the dedicated fleet have very high D&H.
As a refrigerated carrier, you will be picking up produce at the sheds at all hours, mainly in the evenings. Produce is very short lived and it is literally picked in the morning, processed in the afternoon and loaded on the trucks in the evening/night. It is not unusual to be loading at 11pm or later. Virtually all produce is live load.
Most receivers for produce are retail establishments such as grocery distribution warehouses. Most of these unload in the wee hours of the morning. Again, not unusual for an unload appointment at 0200 or 0300.
There is a lot of waiting around for loading and unloading. It is not unusual to have a three pick produce load where you pick up your load from three different places and can take a full day or more. With meat, you often drop your trailer at the plant and wait for your load to be ready. It's not unusual to wait a day and a half or more. Sometimes it's less, but this is a general way refrigerated works.
The loads are much longer runs than dry van. Our average load length for solo drivers is about 1200 miles. This compares to dry van loads of 300-400 miles. So when you are loaded, you run hard. A common load would be three picks of produce in central California, then run 1600 miles to Ft Worth or Cheyenne to deliver three days later.
The equipment Stevens runs is late model and kept up well.
Stevens pays all lumpers, tolls, fuel, trailer washouts, maintenance and one truck wash per week. As I recall they give you $25 per month for cleaning supplies such as windex, paper towels, etc.
I think I've hit the highlights. Maybe someone will chime in with more or if you have specific questions, ask away!

 

Slow down cowboy!
There isn't a sliding scale.
Everyone starts the same. One week inside (5 days) with classroom and orientation. Then a minimum of 5 weeks out with your O-1 Trainer. There are certain requirements including but not limited to: 8500 miles driving(for the student), three mountain passes, one without the jake, two with. Minimum weight on the passes 60,000. Drive all five areas of the country. Back in solo and bump a dock in the NE.
Then back to Dallas for 4 days of classroom and out either with a finish trainer or student to student. Three weeks out.
Then back for two more days of classroom, you are assigned your truck and leave solo.
At each phase, before going out on the road, you will be required to demonstate minimum proficiencies with driving skills. This is done one on one with a trainer both on the yard and on the road.
Three months with a minumum of 15,000 miles in the Grad fleet and then you move over to the regular company fleet.
Starting pay as a solo driver is 0.26. This graduates up to 0.30 by the end of the first year, then increases at a set rate from there on out.
Contact the recruiting office for exact numbers.
IF and that's an IF, you decide to go into the lease fleet, your income will vary. At the end of two years of lease, you have the option to purchase your truck or another truck in the fleet.
All trucks pull reefers. We don't have dry vans. We pull dry loads in a reefer trailer, often.

 

What wuestions should i ask the recruiters im looking to join stevens and im not sure what to really ask about i dont wanna just say yes and jump right in when there might be a catch to it

 

When I went to school I had exactly 1 prehire from the company I chose before hand. I'm not tge average case though as I am 3rd generation and have had my class A since I was 19. I researched every company that trained teams and made my choice before hand. As for Stevens they are known for paying low. They run APU equipped trucks though. Just my 2 cents.

 

pay during training is 350.00 flat per week until you go solo on Grad Fleet when you are paid by the mile.

no you are not run as a true team. the truck (depending on what week of training your in) is limited on how many hours it can run. and the truck HAS to shut down for 8 consecutive hours each day.

5 areas are NW, SW, MW, NE and SE.

 

$350? Wow that's nothing. I made 25 cpm while with my trainer at cfi now conwat truckload. $350 will cover your meals and expenses.