Stevens Transport - Dallas, Tx.

Pretty much what I did. Get trained then move on. After 8 months I left Stevens and got a really good job. Making more in a week than I did in a month at Stevens and Im only running about 1500 miles a week. Home most nights, company actually treats us as family, etc. I cant complain. I got real lucky.

 

Well, all sarcasm aside, good luck in your search.

 

Have you checked with any community colleges in your area to see if they have a CDL program?
While they take longer to obtain a CDL, they are for the most part less expensive. Also, check with the unemployment office to see if displaced worker funds are available to pay for your schooling.
With a CDL in hand, your employment choices are widened, and your not contracted to the company for the term of your school loan.

 

I did. Unfortunately the nearest college with a program is about 80 miles away, which isn't too big a deal, but the tuition is the better part of $4000.

 

Ok, gonna give it to you straight, here are the honest answers to your questions:

There is a contract that you sign, the fact that they dont want you to look at it is huge.
Out of pocket: Once you are done with school you will be charged $90 for books and a tire guage. This is all on you. Then you will be charged for 2 load locks and a meat lock, but if you turn those in when you leave they will refund your money. They will charge you $2 a week for the "privilege" of useing transflow. If you dont live in TX you will have to transfer your CDL to your home state, that is around $150 on you.

Unpaid waiting? On average 3 to 5 days mininum a month. Most of this will occur waiting on a load in the meat patch, but it can occur waiting to get unloaded as well. Stevens does nothing to minimize this. As a company driver, student, and grad fleet, you will receive the worst loads out there. The best loads go to the lease-ops, then teams, and the crap and scrap will go to you.

Living in OR, you will never get home on time and without a major fight. Stevens will tell you otherwise, but Pacific Northwest is hell to get home to, as Stevens does not do much business there, and because the loads to and from the PNW are good runs, they will never give them to a studen or company driver without a fight.

Also know that Stevens will promise to get you home within 3 dispatches from your solo date, but there is an "unwritten" company policy not send you home for 30+ days from solo dispatch.

Having said all that there are some fantastic people that work for stevens. And they have great equipment and a good safety department. But they are not a company that will look out for you, you have to be the kind of person that will piss, moan, and scream to get your needs met. But Stevens is up front about this, they say that to drive for them you need to treat it as your own business and stay on top of people and be proactive.

 

Last time I checked if you can save up 1500 and tolerate the conditions, you can pay CR England out of pocket for you CDL. And that included room and board. I am not saying anything about the quality of the training or the company, but that would get you in a truck quickly.

 

Schneider will train you for free with a one year commitment. You can be home weekly or every other weekend if you want. Having gone that route many years ago I would recommend them.

 

+1 I agree, If I were starting out today the Pumkin Co would be at the top of my list. Not just for the training but they have so many options for the style of driving you want to do after training.

 

The moral of this story is that nothing in life is free.

 

I was under the impression the BIG PUMPKIN stopped being a training/CDL school? Maybe they started again?