Working 4 Stevens Transport

You've been running Stevens for awhile. Have followed your posts & appear level headed. Seriously considering Stevens based on threads, speaking to some people w/co, training in CO, equipment......Co. claims you will get the miles first yr. Now. been in business for many yrs & learned nothing guaranteed BUT things are possible if you apply yourself & the opportunity is provided.
Can you provide more details on expectations for first yr drivers at Stevens...Real mileage, pay, quality of staff to work with, is there really unloading option as they claim? Reviewed their benefits in detail. VG compared to most. The cost is higher, so are the real benefits.
Things that intrigue me about Stevens: More drop/hook, potential miles per haul, quality of operation. CPM only as gd as hauls provided.
Oh yeah...they state 3-5 wks out. Is that realistic? Not crying about home time. Just want to plan accordingly. Have traveled extensively previously & I work well replenishing after a month out. Thx for all your info!

 

Hey sorry to bust your bubble but I am a sand driver for Stevens tanker division. This part of Steven's transport has been expanding very well. I am currently running sand on wells out in Mississippi. We have trucks in south Texas and Oklahoma.

 

(Stevens Transport is a joke) I took one of there recruiters up on a new offer working for Kraft out of Allentown, Pennsylvania so I flew down for orientation a couple months ago from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Stayed in an okay motel about 3 miles from the terminal, did my physical and drug screen right there on site. I have high blood pressure & Diabetes so I was put right on medical hold til my numbers came down which I will say I think that was really cool for them to do that and not just send me home like other companies usually do. For Lunch and dinner it was nothing but sodium sodium sodium, pizza pizza pizza, pasta pasta pasta, how do you try and keep your numbers down when they are filling you up with sodium and you are trying to pass there physicals? So then you go out for a roadtest and I don't know much about all there trainers but the guy I went out with was so rude to me making me feel like I was back in trucking school. I told Stevens how I felt when I got back and they really didn't care. They told me if I wanted I could leave but guess what I'm from Philadelphia so I could find myself my own way back. Then for the rest of the week I was trying to get my numbers down for the stupid Stevens physical. Oh and all the roadtests they will tell you that you need to go out with a trainer for abit even if you have years and years experience. So last day you have to be approved by safety dept and have an interview with two people and I was and guess what? They told me they weren't interested! So all that time in Dallas I was played. I tried calling the owner, or recruiters and nobody cared that I was played. Even though I was told everything was cool and for me to come down for orientation.

Never again Stevens never ever again!

 

I worked for Stevens for 4 months right after CDL school. They are an OK company to start with when it comes to learning the job. And they are extremely safety conscious, which I liked. Like anything in life, you will get out of it what you put into it.

Having said that, I left for several reasons. Mainly, most of their trainers are, well, for lack of a better term, crazy. It doesn't take a lot to be a trainer at Stevens, just one year of experience with no accidents or tickets, a 2 day class and that's it - you're a trainer. When they start running low on trainers, they pressure drivers to become trainers. So most (not all, but the vast majority) of trainers fall into 2 categories: 1) They are leasing a Stevens truck and they become a trainer so the student can help them make their overpriced lease payment. (Trainers get paid for students' miles, while the student gets a flat $400 a week salary - before deductions. Most weeks I brought home around $230. They deduct for everything.) 2) They didn't want to be a trainer in the first place but got pressured into it, so now they are somewhat resentful about having to share their truck for 6 weeks.

My first trainer was an OK guy and I learned a lot from him. I lasted about 12 hours with the second trainer because he was so weird I couldn't imagine travelling across the country with him. He absolutely would not speak unless you asked him a question, and then all you got was a one word answer. And when he was in the passenger seat, he would just stare out of the windshield for hours at a time, not speaking or moving. I'm pretty sure he was on some type of drug. So I got off his truck and they paired me with a trainer who was ok for a few days, but as time went by this guy revealed himself to be some kind of psychopath. He would yell and scream at the slightest mistake, no matter how minor. He was a white supremacist and everything to him was N***** this and N***** that, and there are too many Mexicans in this country, etc. Now this is America and you can believe whatever you want, but I don't particularly enjoy listening to that type of rhetoric 14 hours a day. And he would order me around like he was a drill sergeant and I was a Private E-1 on my first day of basic training. I'm a grown man in my 50's and I just don't allow people to talk to me like that. I tried several times to talk to him about it and see how we could meet halfway and get along better, but he basically told me if I didn't like it, to get the hell off his truck. So that's what I did.

There are other issues with Stevens - they are very cheap, most of the office staff doesn't give a s*** about you, the company doctor will put you on medical hold if you have so much as a hangnail, etc. And they call the Stevens Yard in Dallas the 'Hotel California' - once you check in, it seems like you never get to leave. You are required to report to the yard at least every 90 days, which is fine, but once you're there it can take upwards of a week to get back on the road. (All unpaid, of course.)

I'm sure Stevens is not the worst company out there. And they will give you a chance right out of school. But I would take a long, hard look around at other companies before I signed on with Stevens. If you do sign on with them, just get your year of experience in and move on to a company that treats their drivers better.

My current company gave me a second chance after my awful experience at Stevens. They treat me great, keep most of their promises, I'm home more often and they pay better, so I'm happy. Just keep in mind, Stevens should be treated as a means to an end - learn the job, get in your one year of experience, then go on to a better company.