Question for Stevens drivers that recently went through orientation??

Crete/Shaffer pay pretty good, but they're installing driver facing cameras.

 

Couple of dry van companies I recently learned about; Red Leaf Corp. in Ft. Scott, KS and Sunset Logistics in Michigan and both hire from all over. I'm not recommending them because don't know anything about them to make a decision. They're there if someone is interested enough to research and make some phone calls.
The name "Red Leaf" makes me think there's a Canada connection.

 

Another company I am interested in has driver facing cameras and after giving it some thought, I am OK with that. If I am ever in a position to buy my own truck, forward and driver facing cameras will definitely be installed.

If I wind up at a company with a driver camera and I quit/get fired because of it, I am mentally prepared for all the "I told you sos"

 

I think Abilene is installing them. Is that it?
Lot's of happy drivers there though; haven't read any negative posts about that company.

 

No, I was thinking of Swift. Yes I have read all the horror stories and no I don't think they are all lies, but if it comes down to working the fryer or driving for Swift...

 

9 out of 10 of those small paycheck stories are people who lease. They get blinded by big $ signs. Very few people will come out of school and training and be successful leasing. That will be true wherever you go.

I stayed as a company driver during my time at Stevens, I averaged around 2800 - 3000 miles a week consistently, My lowest week was 1800, my highest was around 3400 miles.

Very rarely did I sit more than a 10hr break at a meat plant, although some did. ranally though the ones who sat were the ones who had burnt loads in the past. Once in a while the plant was short trailers and everybody sat, but my experience was that if you ran hard and did not have driver fault service failures you kept moving.

That's the problem with taking recommendations for the "experts" in a forum like this, he said/she said hearsay. You only get half the story and usuay there is a reason behind things.

One example, there was a driver there, he was brand new, and he leased, and he got stuck on a crappy load 4 days from Texas to Denver, it happens to everybody from time to time. This driver, despite the recommendations of numerous other drivers rsn straight to Denver. Many of us told him to get to Amarillo and camp out because 40 is a main freight Lane, and chances are someone would be running late and he could swap loads and either pick up more miles or get empty earlier.

He said it would be stupid to leave that many miles on the run, drove straight to Denver and sat for 2 days, mad because they would not send a Company driver to sit on that load, 17 miles from delivery, for two days so he could run more. I asked him who he thought they would be able to find to agree to take a two day 17 mile load and give Thiers up. His response was "That's not my problem"

He was pissed about a small paycheck and low miles, and both were low, no question, but how much did he contribute to it because he didn't see the value in giving up a nickle to make a dollar.

There is always a story, a Recruiter will only tell you one side, people in this kind of arena will only tell you what they have heard... Usually only one side. I always tell folks to go to a truck stop and talk to a few drivers from companies you are interested in. Go to the fuel Islands and when you see one pull up, ask politely if you can ask them a few questions about their company. You will get s better tlpicture of what is really going on from those living it, rather than the Google Experts around here.

Good luck in you search, and remember, where you start is very likely not where you will end up. The important thing is getting started.

I did recently hear from a friend who is still there that they are testing the Drivecams now also and expect to outfit the whole fleet with them in 2016.

 

As I mentioned, I am fortunate enough to be in a position where I don't have to worry too much about earnings, not for the first year anyway while I am getting my feet wet and learning a new career. I have a pretty low minimum I need to take home each week in order to avoid dipping into my savings to survive. Evenif I don't get that for a week or four I will still be OK.

That dollar amount is much lower than I have ever heard any company driver bringing home.

 

Thats a messed up perception. When a driver quits before paying off the balance of the school, they dont collect unless stevens is ripping off texas rehab and other governmrent agencies that are funding alot of the drivers

 

Thats the craziest thing i ever heard that stevens dont want drivers to hang around no more than a year or two. I was there 2 days and left after seeing all the bs that a company that big puts their drivers thru. I been driving since i was 14 and got my cdl when i was 18. I never went to one of those schools.