Stevens Transport Aviary . . cont'

Anyone here work for the tanker division hauling water in south Texas? I'm scheduled for orientation on Monday after a bum-start with Arnold's oilfield division. I've found a couple of things about the Stevens division, but figured I would ask here to see if there are any of you driving down here. Thx.

unloader

 

It is Mothers day, so happy mothers day to all the Mothers out there, and I hope you are not stuck in Mother Natures wrath, as winter has returned to wyoming... I80 is closed.

 

Well, 3 workdays left at my old job. In one week will begin training in Dallas. Hate leaving my wife behind for this little while, but excited to begin a new adventure.

 

Anyone know whatever happened to Smok'r...and everyone else? This place has become very quiet of late.

 

well, I'm still hanging around....

 

That's what you said to Methuselah! BTW, I'm still lurking about. Got this really sweet load, of sugar. WAKA.

 

Well I thought I would check in, since it has been a while. I am still with Stevens and they are keeping me pretty busy so I am a happy guy at the moment. A couple of thoughts on things I have read while catching up on all I missed.

Max, congrats and enjoy your retirement, but remember, we all know they only group of people who tell bigger tales than Truck Drivers are Fisherman, so any claims of catching the "big one" must be accompanied by a pic.

Preplans, lately I have found I get them when I get to the receiver or there about. I got to Eloy last night, 15 hrs early for Casa Grande Delivery. Maybe an hour out the PP came through. They have been pretty solid plans this way. I assumed they wait until they are reasonably assured the first delivery will be on time.

New York Flu... Or the Brooklyn Bends... I guess I have been doing it wrong #### it! I went down sick once for 24 hrs with Stevens AFTER I had delivered to Queens and New Haven, when I was empty. What could I have possibly have been thinking?

To all you new guys, welcome aboard, to those considering Stevens, no one can make that choice but you. Gather as much information as possible and talk to as many people as you can, even go talk to somee drivers at your local truck stop. I spent a 30 minute break taking to a guy in NY and showing home the truck not long ago. I pulled into a rest area for my break and he came over and asked iif he could ask a few questions. I didn't mind at all. Make your decision and live with it. The worst thing you can do is decide on Stevens bit keep thinking in the back of your mind "I should have went to Prime".

All companies have warts, all companies suck, all companies are pretty #### good... It all depends on the situation at hand. You decide on a first company to get your training, once you have received that and have a little bit of experience other opportunities present themselves. Fozzy, StlVance, Golfnut, and TLea are all fine examples of those who started her and have moved on. Others of us have chosen to stay for a myriad of reasons.

My reason is pretty simple. I like to drive all over the country, I am not looking for local or regional work, I want to run in the Southwest, the PNW, even to occasional NE run. I like variety. Stevens affords me that opportunity and they have been giving m plenty of miles. I am making money and having fun, so here I sit. Good luck with your decision.

Hope everyone is good.

 

As I was cleaning out my desk at work yesterday, I came across a list...THE LIST...that I had made over a year ago...of trucking companies. I listed every company on "The Inside Scoop" page, and one by one began to research them. I read everything I could about each company (not on this site alone). Then I wrote a yes-no-maybe by each one, according to my gut feeling, or not hireable due to area, experience, etc. Needless to say, it took me a few months to work through the list. I also added other companies not on the Inside Scoop.

By last summer Stevens was at the top and stayed there. By October I was confident this was the company to start with, and in February made the call, and set up the training date. Monday's the day.

I believe that, for those like me coming into this industry, it ought not be done on a whim, such a life-changing event. I have been studying on this since 2006, researching, reading, watching. And now that I find myself in such a position as to have to make a move, I am confident of my choice.

Now I'm anxious to get it on.


Thought I would add this: thanks to all who have contributed to this thread and its predecessor...but my extreme thanks to Emulsified and your sage wisdom. You have given insight to the workings of this company both as a driver and as an insider. One of the things I did in weighing my options was to take every post Emul made, and copy and paste it into a Word document, and print it out. It showed me how this company works, so now I have something to fall back on when I'm sitting there waiting on a load, or a load gets yanked off of me, etc. Thank you, sir, for taking the time. I cannot speak for anyone else, but for myself, I felt like I struck gold.

 

As mentioned i have moved on to another company. Ive been in car haulers,dryvans,and reefers. Im still in reefers now and go to the same places as buzzards go.still talk to your drivers though to keep up on whats going on in dallas.i was happy there as long as i wasnt micromanaged. When it got bad i left. One thing you will find is companys are pretty much the same just a different color truck.i am somewhere now that doesnt force dispatch and pretty much leaves me be. Sure the place i am at has issues too i just work around them here too.stevens has imo the best training in the reefer world so choosing them over prime was a decision i had to do. At least the trucks dont do 58 mph.

 

I recently left too, had a great time [in retrospect] but wanted to try dry van with a smaller outfit. Did close to 2 years and didn't go to NYC once...still thankful for that. Wonder if its because I bent over and never got an attitude on the phone no matter how hard I wanted to sometimes. Really glad i left on good terms, i can wave at buzzard trucks and be thankful for the experience & stuff without getting all pissed off haha. They actually got me back to the yard to turn in my truck from 20 states away without tennising me around. Gave me my fuel bonus and detention on my last settlement which was pretty decent of them also. Rate my time there 4.3 out of 5 stars.