Stevens Transport Aviary . . cont'

lol i liked buzzard perch as a title.

 

Just sayest thou nay!

 

Just gotta say, while I no longer work for Stevens, I do still enjoy reading this thread.
Nice to see it so successful that it needed a 2nd part...

 

This is an open post to those in the Stevens Management and office who are rumored to read this thread. For a year now I have been a happy, motivated and dedicated employee of Stevens Transport. I think the tone and tenor of the many posts I have made in this forum will attest to that Statement, but in the short span of three days certain people and certain incidents have soured me pretty much completely and may have irrevokably turned me into a disgruntled employee who will be seeking a new place of employment.

It doesn't take much to keep some of us happy and when that little consideration is not forthcoming, even after following the rules and policies laid out by Stevens, it makes one take stock of their present and more importantly their future.

I realize my departure will have no affect on Stevens Transport, but as indicated by so many of the positive response to posts I make here, you will have one less positive voice to offset all the negative posts made by others, and more importantly, one less ambassador on the road.

 

It's unfortunate... corporate America sees it's labor/workforce as expendable now... another reason I got out of the industry I was in and finished my degree...

 

Sad but so true...

 

I wish that you lived in Texas. I would put in a good word for you where Im at.

While I understand what Dryver is saying, if I was the owner/management of a company I would rather keep my staff happy than having to keep replacing them. That never made sense to me but then again thats why Im a truck driver.

 

Stevens is no different than many other corporations. Their focus is making money. Do you think all those wall street listed firms are so much fun to work at? You are here to make money for the corporation, no matter what company you work with. In return you are paid what was agreed.If you don't like what you're being paid, move on. If enough people move on, things change.
Think of it from the owners side:
Steve Aaron busted his butt to build this company from scratch. He put everything he had in jepordy and took a chance. I can guarantee you he spent many hours working while his employees went home. I have no doubt he struggled many times in the first years.
That's the nature of a small business. Ask anyone who's started one.
Now flash ahead. I'm sure he doesn't lose any sleep. He makes a lot of money (as does his family) and he's built a very successful company.
Yes, it's successful because people like you and me work hard.
But we get paid what we agreed to. If we agreed to too little, shame on us.
But it's capitalism at it's best. There are people standing in line waiting to come to work here. As long as that's the case and as long as he's making money, why should it change?
Competition today is fierce. When my partners and I had our business we thought it was tough. Now I look back and wish for 'the good ol' days'. My part was easy. For the most part, I drove. But I sat in on the meetings with the accountant, and I saw the numbers.
The rates we get for freight today is less than 1/3 what we got 15 years ago. And it's getting worse.
Small outfits stand in line to get what a large company leaves behind and to nip at the large companies' heels.
Mostly running illegal. As a solo owner operator, it's easy to cheat on your logs. As a very small company it's easy to find drivers that will cheat on their logs and it's easy to bury that data. Because unless something major happens, you'll never be audited by the DOT.
Big companies are audited constantly and it's not to make sure they're safe...it's to generate money in the form of fines.
They HAVE to follow every jot and tittle of the law.
So when you see companies that 'force' us to take loads that are illegal or close to (orange juice comes to mind) it's because there are people everywhere that will run those loads. Legal or not.
They simply tell us the terms of the load and we have to accept it or not.
So if we won't do it, there are lot's of people standing in line to take those loads.
And suddenly we don't have a freight lane to move people in and out of Florida for home time.
Do we abandon the lane and not hire people from Florida? Some companies do.
I suspect it's much more profitable to run the freight and pay the fines than to abandon the market.
So goes the decision making process. It's about making money.
It's really a shame it has to be this way, but trucking is a hard business for anyone.
I've been in it a lot of years from all angles. I have friends that have been in it for many years as well, and we sometimes sit around and moan over what it's become. But then we're old men and women and the youngsters out there are full of urine and vinegar and willing to take our jobs...kinda like trucking companies.
And if you think most other trucking companies are 'better' than this one, think again. Everyone has their good points and everyone has their bad points. But what it all boils down to is it's a nasty business.
Find a company whose good points align more with your wants and needs and you'll be happier.
But don't sit around cursing the darkness.

 

That is why I recommend to anyone that asks - and often to those who don't, like now! - some of the keys to success are to turn off the CB to avoid those 'hot-button' issues you have, don't spend all your free time in the drivers' lounge grousing about everything in your life, listen to the music you like while you drive, (as opposed to inflammatory talk radio, for example) and point your truck to the destination. Hone your craft and take solace in knowing you are delivering something that some family will use one day. You are important.

Oh. And don't believe everything you read online, but take it in its entirety, question it - as opposed to arguing with the one who made the point; that is never productive - ask questions, and use your own sense of right/wrong to evaluate what you read and hear. Remember that people who are unhappy tend to write about it while people that are happy just do what they do. We tend to enhance the good (just talk to a recruiter!) and diminish the negative (just talk to a recruiter!)

Go ye forth and prosper.