Question from a Student

Just for chucks, I just went on the Stevens website and never have I read anything as funny as what they are advertising. Every single little thing I read was arranged or worded to be misleading as hell! If you are a new driver it all sounds wonderful. If you are someone with experience then it is quite comical! Especially the "FAQ" section! Every question that was on there was danced around and arranged to sound as if the driver would come on top. When they say they pay for every dispatched mile, that means its up to their interpretation as to what miles you were dispatched!!! Not actual miles BuckeyeCowboy. If they were to pay true, "actual" miles it would be worded as "hub" miles. "HUB" miles is the term in the trucking world that means you will be paid for every single mile that the truck wheels truly turn. Stevens does not pay hub miles. When they say they pay for every mile dispatched that is code for they pay you from post office to post office. That is how mega-carrier pay works. A company that pays hub miles is actually fairly rare. Not many do. If you do find a company that pays hub miles they won't pay anything else. You won't get a dime for breakdown, layover etc...

If you are an experienced driver I highly urge you to visit Steven's website. Its hilarious!!!

 

I was just going by what I was told by the recruiter. I know they will say anything to get me in the door. But i already fou d the company for me. So, I am not worried about it. Just trying to help with the info I got from the recruiter and the research that I have done.

 

Always ask a recruiter to put something in writing.

If they are ############ you, they will sidestep it somehow.

 

We're talking about a starter company here. Yeah, a couple of the FAQs were BS, but it's nothing new as far as how companies like this operate. Forced Dispatch, Actual Miles (which you need to learn as a new driver means zip to zip)_planned routes. Thats what I noticed as sugarcoating, maybe one or two other details. Stevens isn't my top choice atm, but they really don't seem that bad to get a year or so of experience.

 

I'm actually really glad that there are drivers/students like you that enjoy going there. everybody has places they love and hate. i mean, i'm in laredo weekly and some avoid it like i try to avoid nyc.

 

You probably already checked into it, but I can give you my opinion.. I am an OTR driver for J&R Schugel Reefer division. Been with the company for over a year now. Graduated from truck driving school back in August 2011.. Overall this is a good company. True that you start out with a trainer and are scheduled for 4 weeks but I have yet to hear of anyone doing a whole 4 weeks, it's all up to the discretion of the trainer.Pay is $400 a week and the only taxes taken out are federal and medicare (or whatever it's called). After training you test out and are assigned your truck and dispatcher. You start solo at 27 cpm, but at 6 months solo you automatically go to 36 cpm, unless you have some serious accidents or unsafe violations... You can pretty much pick how long you wanna go out, myself I go out 2 days shy of 3 weeks and come home for 3 to 4 days.. My miles are normally between 2600 to 3200 a week, sometimes more depending on when a load delivers. We run e-logs and qualcomms with gps. All our trucks are apu equipped and are no more than 2-3 years old. After my training was done (was only out with a trainer for 1 1/2 weeks ) I was given a brand new kenworth t660 only had 760 miles on it... Our reefer's run all 48 states while our dry van is confined to mainly east coast and across to MN, some dry vans get a TX or CA run once in a great while.. Hope this helps, if you have anymore questions just ask...