Stevens Transport aviary

You know, I was really considering getting on with Stevens but now, with what I have been reading in the past couple of weeks (give or take), I am not to sure now. Will Stevens really make it tough to quite when you want to quite. Are they really that bad as far as giving a driver a hard time using the mileage scheme against a driver just because he/she wants to move on to bigger and better things. I am not to sure if I even want to get back in to trucking now. I want to be able to get on knowing without a shadow of a dout that I will be able to support my family or not. Sounds like truck driving has gotten worse sense I last drove in 2008 for SNI.

 

Will, of course there has been other things I have read lately also that is making me reconsider driving for Stevens, let alone other trucking companys. I just can not remember all of them.

 

Why do these ####### big trucking companies think they have to screw around with peoples lives when we are just trying to make a living just like they are. How would they like it if the samething was done to them. Sorry about my complaining, I just do not understand and trying to understand these big otr trucking companies. it's CRAZY!!!!!!!

 

Bill has known about this site for quite a while. He's mentioned it many times in the past. I think most that go thru orientation have so much to try and remember that we don't quite grasp this tidbit.
He mentions it in the trainer class. As I recall, he says something like, "...if you all want to know what's really going on and how the drivers feel, read the Aviary. There are some senior drivers on there that don't pull any punches. They tell it how it is..."
Bill saw me in the hall one day and got that 'look' on his face. He asked me, "are you emulsified?". I looked at him and responded "I neither confirm nor deny anything."
He smiled and talked about the aviary a little bit. I think he is really a fan of the thread.

 

As far as quitting and how Stevens handles things, I can offer a couple explanations.
I don't condone any screwing around with anything, but maybe a couple (possible) explanations...
I don't think there is a designated person to do employment verifications for persons leaving or having left. I think that everyone has a CYA attitude within the walls. So if someone wants verification of employment for loans, etc, it's pretty standard procedure to give out that information in a correct format (fax, not verbal).
But if XYZ trucking company, for instance, wants verification of a driver, time on the road, etc. I suspect that rolls uphill to the department head to handle. There can be reasons for this, one of which, the desire of the company to 'save' a driver.
Now in all companies, there are 'good' and 'bad' employees. We've all seen them. It's not up to the person who receives the request, nor for the dept head to decide if that driver is one they want to 'save'. It's a combination of persons...your DM, the training dept if that driver is a trainer, Compliance. There's a host of people involved.
It takes time.
Yes, there should be a SOP, and there is...of sorts. One of the first things to happen is a red banner line appears on the screen of that driver and is seen by the persons most qualified to decide...the DM, their upline, accounting, Bonnie (if they're Alliance), counselor, etc.
They make the decision. If it takes a while, it can be a while before they respond (if ever) to the inquiring company.
I don't know what goes on in that process, and I'm surmising much of this, since I'm not involved in this part of operations.
I know that when the doctors made it plain to me I had to come off the road or place my wife in a care facility, I decided I had to quit Stevens and take a local position.
I love OTR. Sure, there are lots of things I don't like about it, but in large, I love the open road. This was not a question of whether I quit because I wasn't treated right or to make more money. I fit into Stevens very well and with my years of driving, I wasn't going out to look at the 'greener' grass.
But I decided I needed to do what needed done, found a local company, qualified, then cleaned my truck out and headed to Dallas to quit. I didn't tell anyone there what I was doing. The day I arrived is the day the other company send in the written request for my employment verification. I met with my DM and in the course of converstation explained why I was leaving. He put me in touch with others in the company and I had a series of interviews.
As I said before, Stevens stepped up to the plate and made me an offer that worked for me. They also sent verification to my other offer the next day. I accepted Stevens' offer, called the other company to tell them my decision. They verified Stevens had already sent written verification to them (the previous day).
I went back out on the road for a few more weeks, then came back, turned in my truck and moved to Dallas.
So I know they do verifications. And in my case, they did it BEFORE I accepted the offer to come into the office.
I know from other conversations and postings here that in other cases, they don't send out the verification or may take their sweet time.
This is not uncommon in the trucking circles.
If you're a good driver, they want to keep you. They don't send out this verification in order to give them time to convince you to stay.
Now in everyone's process of quitting there are a list of things to do. And some go thru this list faithfully. As an example, I'm sure TLea crossed all his T's and dotted his I's.
But that doesn't mean people inside Stevens covered everything.
Compliance, doing a review after the fact, may have to deal with a different date of departure because payroll needed those extra days to finish up paperwork. So there are missing logs.
They have very strict rules they have to follow, governed by DOT.

Another situation arises with drivers that quit without proper termination. Those that get off a truck in another city (even tho it's in an agreeable form with Stevens' blessing). Their termination date is later than the day they quit driving, so their logs are 'missing'.
Or those that are terminated, leave under health conditions such as hospital, med hold and more.
And finally, keep in mind all those screw ups that leave in a fashion that is less than desirable.

In other cases, the driver is into Stevens for a lot of money...school expenses, loans, etc. They know if that driver leaves, it may be a tooth pull to get their money. Better to try and resolve differences and keep that person to save everyone grief.

These are just some of the possible scenarios. It would be nice if they caught them and saved everyone the embarassment (to themselves) of the confusion, but being a reactive led company, it just ain't so.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not defending their actions. I find it embarrassing on behalf of Stevens.
Just sayin'...

One last thought. This problem of lack of employment verification is rampant in the industry. Most companies understand this and if you qualify in all other respects, they chalk this up to SOP.

 

emul i dont fit into any of those reasons that i know about. the place i am going to be at is ok with me providing copys of my time there and so on but it is more of a hassle then i was expecting plus the normal runaround you do when you try to give notice etc. the company im going to warned me about these and has had problems in the past dealing with dallas. i was told it by another place i applied at as well. im just glad im not footing any expenses for all of this drama.

 

Like I said...I don't defend them, but it is what it is.
most other companies (like your new one) know this and place less emphasis on the confirmation from Stevens.
Always make sure to keep your logs. It's your one proof of your workplace history.

 

Emul brings up a good point about logs, always keep a copy of every trip. It's like taxes, keep them for a few years in a file box just in case questions come up for employment, per diem etc. I keep a copy of BOL's, reciepts and log pages, even my hand written notes I used for all trips. I use a spread sheet for all driving activity and print that out if needed but have the box of documents as backup.

 

Hey Emul, I am glad you cleared some of that up for me/us. I guess I should have come straight to you with this confusion I had that was going on with these other guys. I am glad that we have somebody like you on this thread who is actually with the company and to try to help us clear things up that we may have questions about or problems that need to be resolved if possible. I am sorry I kind of lost my head there in the last post I posted, I just want to make sure I make the right choice by going back to truck driving. I have a family to support and I don't want to get burned again like I did when I was with SNI. It's not that they are that bad of a company to work. It's the fact when they asked me during training what type of run I was looking to do and I said I wanted the dedicated run.Not understanding due to being a new driver at the time, I did not know that you had to spend some time otr first. But they never told me this either. I found out way later. All I know is that I was lead to beleave that I was going to be able to be home 2-3 days each week. They even trained me on the Family Dollar dedicated run with a trainer. So I never actually got any otr training at all. Just dedicated training. It was not until the day of graduation when the told me I was not going to get the Family Dollar account because they had drivers waiting on loads. I don't know how true that is. Only they know. So they stuck me on line haul I was not trained for. Needless to say, I was unhappy about that and my wife was very unhappy. It affected my performance alot due to this and being angery every wakeing hour I drove. I am going for it again with this time knowing what I am getting into and my wife and I having a serious talk about it before I came to this choice. I am in the Security field and was doing very well for 10+ years untill the security company I work for lost the post I worked at for those same 10+ years to another security company. They sent me to another post where I took a $3.50 cut per hour from what I was making at the post I was at for 10+ years. We are sinking hard and this is why I am trying to be very carefull about what I am needing to do to left my Family back out of this hole we have fallin in. I think we all need to come to you to straighten things out we have questions/problems in to try to understand the situation and hope to fix or strainten it out some. I don't know about the others but I am glad you are on our side and trying to help in these ares. I already got a pretty good taste of what it si like on the road the hard way and I just hope I will do at least 100% better on this round with the understanding of it my wife and I both have of it now. I will be shooting for 110-120% if there is such a thing lol. thinks for everything you have done Emul and I look forward to seeing you and hopefully some fo these other great guys on this thread and at the company. I really need alot of encouragement on this choice and you are helping me in this area as well as some of these other guys on this thread that are trying to help us. Wish you all the best and your Families as well and that we will all be successfull in any direction we take in life.

 

Just a status update... Went to DPS here in Garland today, as was my plan to test on combination vehicles and Texas commercial motor vehicles. Before class on Monday. Their systems were up and down all day. I got there at 11:15 got my number, go take a seat. Three and a half hours later, nothing. Numerous verbal announcements " Were so sorry our systems are up and down we will get to you." At 4:30 my number is called finally. Anyway I'm at home now doing the snoopy dance. Passed both and now have a learners permit. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.