Stevens Transport - Dallas, Tx.

Thank you for clearing the fog! We have Stevens Come to our school to recruit. That company sounds really good from the outside. I was really going for it. I'm glad somebody finally created a place to kinda seperate the good, bad, and the ugly! I've tried to tell everybody in my class about this site and Stevens Trans. The recruiter hasn't come to the school yet but he was at the job fair we went to. He had me and some of my classmates snowed pretty good. I dont think he is going to get any fellow students suckered this time, at least from my class anyway.

 

I have always wanted to be a driver. Having a family has kept me from trying this. I am now divorced and my daughter will be married in June. I plan on being in a truck driving school in July. I am so glad I found this web site because Stevens was at the top of my list. I guess I better do some more homework. Any help that anyone has for a good company owned school where I can work off the debt would be appreciated. I am now driving a bus for Disney World in Florida but want to move back north. I have a CDL B with air breaks so I need to get a class A. Thanks in advance.

 

It's been a while since my last post. Thought I'd fill you guys in on what's been happening. I completed Stevens Driver School and got my CDL I have to say Stevens has excellent training that prepares you to be eligable to enter their 8 weeks of Student/Trainer and Trainee/Trainee program. Currently I am a T5 student and have racked up 7100 miles. I have two required mountain passes and have driven in all required zones. Almost ready for Orientation II then 3 weeks of Trainee/Trainee. I've been all over the US. All I seem to do these days is travel. I started out wanting a change of pace and boy did I get one. My first trainer, Larry is an Alliance Contractor. He runs a dedicated route so I was only able to stay with him for two weeks. Being Alliance you have to stay motivated and focused. Larry made every move count. We never touched or unloaded a trailer. Just drop loaded and pick up an empty. The process was that simple. I got along great with Larry. He was like a big brother and gave me alot of insider information about Stevens. I'll tell you now. You've all heard this before. Stevens is what you make out of it. Then there was Thomas. This time I got to see things from the company driver perspective. Thomas is articulate and has a disarming personality. Again I was impressed with the quality of Stevens trainers. We left Stevens yard with a load headed for the North East. Got as far as Little Rock and was repowered with a loaded heading for Lareado. This is where the fun starts. We picked up a loaded trailer from Mexico. Did not scale because Thomas did not like the scales in Laredo or the CAT scales anywhere else. Well, I was driving in Utah when I got the red light to come inside at the scales north of Salt Lake City. Evidently I was 1300 lbs overweight on the trailer tandems. The fine was only $50.00. At this point I started to realize this guy makes mistakes along with some other wierd quirks like playing the radio so loud it almost blew me out of my seat. Turning up the heat in the cab of the truck to the point it was unbearable, then opening the windows in sub freezing tempretures. As you can well imaging this really started to get on my nerves. We did not stop to take a shower for 4 full days. By this time I was stewing in my own jucies. Excuse me if my demeanor is curt and I'm on the brink of ripping you a new one for not having an organized preplan that includes timeout for meals, bathroom breaks and basic human needs. Thomas being acutely diplomatic responded quite nicely by being suprised at my indiverence but in a later conversation admitted he needed to evaluate my attitude when under stress which would also include sleep deprivation. WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP! Our relationship only went downhill from there. We were driving through Wyoming. Sleat and snow coming down blowing sideways accross the road. Thomas decided to first over heat the cab then open his window about 1/4 the way down. I simply reached for my jacket. This insenced Thomas and we stated to cover, disscuss at nausium all our points of indifference. By the time we reached Wamsutter, Wy. Thomas very nicely told me to get off his truck. After some back and forth with Stevens councilors I was given a Greyhound authorization number and a ride back to Dallas. Well guys it looks like your not going to see eye to eye with everyone. I arrived back at Stevens yard at 7:00 am on Saturday. They put me on a plane headed for Houston by 2:00 that afternoon. Stevens understands that this and often times alot worse happens. Stevens stood by me. Now I'm with a new trainer. Another Alliance Contractor. Howard is from Africa and a really nice guy. So far I'm learning alot about the business from him. Its been good getting exposure from 3 different trainers. You take the good with the bad. So do I think Stevens is a good company? Yes I do. Would I reccomend Stevens to other people? Yes I would. I have not gotten board yet. I don't know what to expect next. With Stevens there is never a dull moment.

 

I'm glad to see your happy or but this is the bad site for Stevens
best of luck anyhow

 

I have been watching the postings on this site for a while now and thought I might put my 2cents in. I went to the Stevens Driving school the class that started Dec.2 1999. I live local so I did not have to worry about the hotel ect. I will say the company expects the out of state drivers to use the hotel address or someone they know in Texas for there CDL. If you take a look at the first posting back in 2005 "this stuff is true" My story: I went to the school I have to say I learned a lot. Class started off with about 20 you do class room then the hill you then take your driving test by this time the school has there money from the state/gov. they start getting rid of you at this point. If you know your going to leave do not tell anyone ! Word will get back to them and they will cut you leaving you with a big bill and bad credit then they will deny you finished training (1 month) Orientation about 80 where in one room for a week of 12-14 hour days -If you go do not put your head on the table I seen guys do this and get told to go home! Remind you that you have to pay for your trip home!not to mention they have there money they want you to go!! They count on it!!(1 week) then you have to wait for a trainer I had 3 trainers in a 6 week time. The trainers take time off or quit. One I hated He was a a%% but thats his job to try and make you quit! But guess what I didn't! I got stuck Michigan at one trainers house because she took 2 weeks off. I received no pay for this because the truck was not moving and she was off duty. The pay for training was only about 250 wk back then. Then you are supposed to do the 2 trainee phase otr I did not have to do this. I got my own truck (piece of junk) and I was gone 2 weeks I came back and they offered me a Fleet manger position I did not take it at this time. I went back out another couple weeks. They asked again and well I took after seeing how you get treated on the road by the dispatchers inside. 22 cents a mile is horrible!! Let me tell you as a single driver what they do. You run hard to get to a point then they steal your load from you to give it to a team the team takes it and your miles. You stuck sitting getting loaded again. New single drivers will be the ones sitting at the shippers and receivers while the teams and o/o are getting the miles from your load. They call this REPOWER It does not matter how hard you drove to get there or even how early you would be and that you were safe doing it. It does not matter you will not get miles! So anyway I took the job on the inside. This really confirmed everything I thought about this company. Remind you by now my bank account is dry from waiting so long to get paid and not getting miles and still having to take care of my family at home I felt like taking the job inside was my only hope at this point in getting caught up. They told me my school fees would all be taken care of since I took the job. (it wasn't) I went in the Training Fleet Manager you know the one that hooks the trainees up with trainers and so on. I can tell you 99% of what is in these forums is true!!! They do not care about people they want the money from the State/Gov so they get there money and then yours one way or another! I had a very hard time sleeping at night from the things this company does behind close doors and to the innocent drivers. If you don't care about your credit but want training and your CDL then go for it just remember do not tell anyone what you are doing they will hang you out to dry! You are better off hiring a o/o or something. I can tell you that they made it very hard on me to find a good job and it still haunts me and that was back in 99 to 01 I know they make it sound so great but thats what they are trained to do. These people only care about getting there commissions. Like I said they do not care about you!! But the folks on this forum do care and thats what we are all here for! To try and help others not fall into the traps we did. I have fallen into a few maybe because I am a women who knows. There are good jobs out there. My father has been driving for ABF now for about 19 years and my ex-husband drives for UPS was Overnite now for 20 years and 3 months. Freight companies pay pretty good you just need to get a few endorsements. Its worth it. Myself I am looking again do to another company going under....Anyway good luck to you all and "Keep it between the lines!"

 

Morph,

Thanks for your posts...good reading....how is it going now?

 

I was sold on this company........ I have learned so much reading these posts. It just seams like all would be so much better if the government would just stay the hell out of business.

 

hey man i can't find you on you tube are you sure you're not a receuiter imma stevens driver as well and i've been lookin for some other stevens drivers on you tube. hit me up you can find me under truckermojo. i just went back to work for them i used to work for mrs.bairds but the hell with the local work i need to get on the road again.

 

I was told that You must change your license over within 30 days of completing school and before working as a truck driver...

 

I think you should use a CDL school separate from the truck company you go to drive for my oppion.....for what it's worth