Stevens Transport - Dallas, Tx.

I don't know your circumstances, but I find it hard to believe you were driving 3,000 miles per week, especially as a contractor, and were making 'small' checks.
The only thing that makes sense is you were living off of advances. I see that constantly...drivers living off of advances, fail to keep receipts for reimbursable expenses and in the case of some contractors, poor trip planning (high out of route miles).
TLea is right....you signed a contract. I can guarantee you if Stevens did not live up to their end of the contract, you'd be holding THEIR feet to the fire for what they owe you!
Lesson for everyone here: Never sign anything unless you understand it completely.

 

Never let them pressure you into a lease, be a company driver for at least 5 years and learn this business..

 

Go back and read all of the previous posts.

 

who has time to read 1700 posts??? I know I dont

 

And furthermore, who the hell signs THAT kind of contract without having a lawyer look it over? That's your own fault!

 

I was with them all of three months and I can tell you that this company thrives off of B/S. I won't slam the school cos in my opinion, that was some of the best training you could have wanted. Now as far as after school, here is what I have from personal experience. Like BB King actually said you will go through OR 1 and have to wait for a trainer. My first trainer was excellent. He too was lease operator and was willing to answer anything that I needed answered and then some. We spent a great two weeks on the road and he allowed me to drive some of the more complicated roads in the U.S. which was fun. Unfortunately he had to go home to deal with horrid family issues (which I understand very well) and we were separated after that. I was returned to the yard and assigned a new trainer within a few days. While the second one was just as knowledgeable as the first, this man had serious issues. He was bipolar at times and that isn't a good mix when you have a student with the same issues. Sure he kept me fed and what not, but messing with me and threatening to keep me from my family in one of you bipolar spells is a HUGE no, no. I finished out with this man despite issues and me wanting to kill him by week 6's end.

I returned to Dallas on March 13th. From here I did go through the final touches and classes to actually become a solo driver, which is what I actually trained for in the first place. We were introduced to our driver managers and I can tell you at first glance, that you won't be able to tell how much of a sorry ball one is until you deal with them yourself. I was assigned my truck a few days later, and decided on at least a two week solo run. And despite being mocked for it, performed a PTI and discovered a busted coolant hose under the hood. This obviously disappointed my DM but I told him there was nothing I could do about it. When I did get on the road, I was sent in circles looking for a scale house that I was told was one direction, and was sent in an entirely new direction. Didn't complain. Was assigned a new load after my first successful one. I took the assigned load but it was repowered after my DM decided that I would not make the load after receiving my trip plan. Again, no complaint. I was sent to Denver, CO where I ended up taking a 34hr reset. But I was assigned a New York City load after that. No problem. Lexington Nebraska here I come. I picked up that load and proceeded to NYC. In Illinois, during a PTI, my driver side door malfunctioned. I could get out but not in. I had to alter logs in order to drive. Despite doing, everything I was supposed to, my DM decided that it was my fault even though I had filed reports with breakdown prior. Further down the road, my brakes would lock up now and then and my transmission would some times stick or come out of gear completely. These incidents too were reported. Once in Youngstown, OH I was told to submit a Repower request. With that done, I took my 10hr break. The next morning, I realized no one even showed up. I sent in a message wondering what to do, and was told to proceed. Still, my DM sent me a heated message about making the load late. Upon calling in for New York safety talk, I was even told that the load should have been repowered. Was sent into New York unable to get ahold of anyone in the Safety Dept. and was lost in the city and not even the good parts. The load was delivered the next day and I was assigned another going into College Park, GA.

En route to GA, my reefer quit on the border of South Carolina. I had to spend the night at the Thermo King dealership as waiting for the man repair it caused me to run out of hours. I could not move my truck until 5 am the next day and the appointment was set for 7 am. I sent in a running late message and proceeded in a rainstorm, past numerous wrecks and bad traffic pileups. I did get to the Costco, however, they stop receiving frozen goods after 8 am. No biggie. Call your DM. Again I was blamed but told to find a safe haven. En route to do so, I was caught in a back alley and ended up damaging equipment and nearby property. Severe irritation was deemed the cause. Then only after that was I told that I "could've parked at the Costco." Now I know that some shipper/receivers don't want you on their lots all hours of the day. But why wasn't I told this before I drove away. I again ran out of hours and had to spend 34hrs in Newnan, GA. Again, I was told to send in a Repower request which was accepted and done. However, despite the other driver and myself trading info and meeting the next day, the Repower was cancelled in both of our faces. I did deliver that load a few days later, but due to my transmission, suffered another backing accident as it was stuck in reverse. Again, I was blamed. I could go on with the rest of the adventure but I'll bring it to a conclusion.

I returned from my 7 days off and reported back to the Dallas terminal. I was talked to quite nasty by a safety supervisor and ordered to reassess my skills and wait on their decision. I passed all of my assessments with flying colors, but was forced to sit on the Dallas yard for 8 days before it was decided I was to be disqualified for being deemed a risk, despite them not finding any history of problems in the past. Now here I am hunting a new job with a CDL that I can't even use. I blame myself for a lot of the situations such as letting the irritation get to me and not taking matters into my own hands sooner. But what I will not take blame for is the lack of communication and the stiff necked attitudes that half of the employees at Stevens Transport possess. To any others out there, don't be another statistic. If you had to learn on your own and it worked, 9/10 of the times, it's the best way. Just wish I had learned that sooner.

 

Sounds very much like what happens. A few things, a 34 hour reset is NEVER required, can always run off of recap hours. Transmission problems and breaking problems, I would have refused to drive the truck until repaired.

Yes the communication problems at stevens happen often.

Called for the safety talk, was told it should have been repowered, but never talked to safety before entering NYC?

two accidents while in grad fleet, yea that is a red flag.

And just remember, most of the staff at stevens are trainees also, just like you where. And they have between 50 and 80 trucks to keep track of. Not an excuse, just a reality of the training companies.

 

You sound very much like part of the problem.

 

Maybe people would stay with a company if the company didn't treat them like ****. It took me 5 companies to finally find a great place to work. Do your research before you even think about calling and above all else believe very little of what the salesman I mean recruiters tell you. Get in writing.

 

Let me put it to you like this. I'm not blaming anyone. I even say that arguing with the guy was the reason all things started to fall apart. As far as the NYC thing, I had called prior for the talk and the guy over the NYC talk actually asked me about the issues and stated that they should have taken that load off of my hands after the issue of my door rod malfunctioning. I enjoyed my time with Stevens. I just hated the blame game and different threats that were made such as writing me up as it seemed that I had taken a 14hr break when in fact those extra hours I was outside and away from my truck and could not do anything. And from what I was taught, if you're not doing anything from the job, you're off duty. I won't begin to tell how late I realized that the only one you could truly depend on was yourself. That was the purpose of my post. It all depends on you.