Stevens Transport - Dallas, Tx.

All has been well I suppose. I had a camera on my truck mounted to the CB and I posted the videos on Youtube. Just things like mountains and cities and other scenic things. Well Adrian in safety seemed to think my following distance was to close and told me in that quid pro quo way "Delete the videos or your fired". I took them down, well sort of. Seems after having to call their lawyers there is no invasion of privacy on Stevens and there are no visual appearances of Stevens property or even there employees. So even if I have a camera mounted in the truck there is no proof of the videos coming from that camera or from what my "fans" have sent me to upload for them. But anywho.

I have gotten into their "fleece" program thinking ill make more money. Well I am making more but it seems I have to call and get my loads myself because my DM (driver manager) doesnt do it correctly. He came from the company side and like to pass out 4-6drop plant loads. I dont make anything from those kind of loads so I call in my own loads as much as possible.

Been awhile since I replied but now that I have the new laptop I will be catching up again, a few pages of reading to do here.

I have to admit, I was hoping the whole Stevens thing would be better than it has been turning out to be but its the people at the office, not the drivers I am noticing. The people change positions or quit so much the knowledge doesnt get transferred 100% to the next person and that causes alot of the same trouble to remain from one person to the next.

I have also noticed there are the few higher level people there that have knowledge of things against the company and they do all kinds of stiuff but for some reason they have never been fired. I am digging up what I can there. Any info you people out there may have send me a PM, im building a profile and will post it once it more accurate and factual not heresay.

Nice hearing your voices.

Morphinus

 

I have been wating to drive for stevens trans for awhile now but after reading these blogs they mostly scare me to death now. my options are so limited due to a 7yr ols burglary charge...any advice?

 

I am considering going to Stevens in Dallas for "training". But I was confused about the "transferring" of my license. I currently hold a Florida CDL Class "A" license and asked the recruiter specifically about this issue. Katrina (Stevens Recruiter) told me "oh, well, if you already have a CDL it won't need to be changed.....but her tone and manner led me to suspect that she was either not telling the truth or really didn't know. After talking with her I was forwarded to Amy (school applications processor). I tried to ask Amy for clarification on this item but was told that wasn't her area and she immediately put me back to recruiting again.

So......what's next.

Just to clarify....I held a CDL w/Hazmat for 25+ yrs, but hadn't used it since 1992, I let it lapse a few years ago and I recently inquired at the Florida DMV about re-applying for my CDL....they asked for $55 and re-issued my CDL (No hazmat though) without ever taking any tests, written or skills. After talking to a few people I understand that this is not normal.

Please, please, please, someone tell me how I can get back into trucking without being ripped off by these "training" companies.

 

.....tell horror stories about how they were treated. I didn't see that while I was there. It makes me wonder what they did to cause it.

To be honest I was wondering how much of the "crap" that drivers are getting form any company are directly caused by driver inconsideration. As a driver, you need to be aware that you are hired to do a job, and that is what you should do without too much grumbling. Take whatever loads they need moved, just so you get a reputation of being reliable. After doing that you will find that most of these companies will do better by you to keep you in their trucks. Hmm, seems simple enough anyway..LOL

 

You hit the nail on the head. Too many go on as a company driver and do not understand that they are an EMPLOYEE, which means they have to do what they are told to succeed. The only way to get away from that is to become an independent owner operator.

 

Great post, but just so you know, there is a paper that you would sign at the dmv that says you are changing your license over for institutional training, you sign it, it has school address on it, and only suppose to be for 90 days so you can go home and change back over to your home state, i will tell you, mine was for 90 days like it was suppose to be.. some of my classmates had full blown 5 year license, so thats how they get away with that. That piece of paper im sure is used throughout the country, this was in indiana..which has lots of truck driving company schools..cr england..driver solutions that hire for pam, usa truck, averitt, hope this helps.

 

i recently went through the stevens school (3wks), trainer
(5wks) student/student aka dumb n dumber(3wks), and now solo/grad driver for almost 2 months with the stevens. i could tell u my experience,(still employed ) the bad n ugly and even the part i like. i've never posted before. would love to share what i have learned about their program.

 

Mongo -
I for one would like to hear about your experience as I am considering going to stevens here in about a month or so. What's the good, the bad, and the ugly with steven's these days?

LG

 

well just trying to give some info about stevens to the guys that are looking to join the company...
I been with stevens since dec 07 , went thru school for three weeks, on the road w/triner for 5 weeks and what they call "dumb and dumber" for three weeks, now i been driving for the past 5 months has a company driver and let me tell u something the experience with stevens is what u make of it, i mean for some people is gonna be bad and for some others is gonna b good, for me to tell u the truth is been a lot of fun and so far stevens has treat me good, yeah u have your misunderstandings with some people but overall is been good.. i mean im single, i was in the army and drove trucks in irak, so like i say im used to pretty much everything, and stevens was a walk in the park compare to irak, i mean bcause i been reading all these posts about people complaining about stevens, i mean only thing i can say if u dont like it quit, why do u complain so much, im quitting stevens in the near future, but isnt bcause i have problems with them if not bcause i already got some experience and i wanna get a job closer to home, but i think for newbies stevens is a great place to start, i mean most of u guys look like wanna start in the top and get paid the big bucks, i mean dont mind me wrong i want that too, but i know if u want to get to the top usually in any job, u have to start from the bottom and work ur way up, so like i say i started making .26 cents a mile, and well, since i been a company driver, well im making allright money, i mean the only thing u have to do is work hard , stevens have the miles and would give them to u, i run in average 3000 miles a week, sometimes less sometimes more it depends how u run, i like to be safe so i stick to every regulation.
about the trining, i got to stevens with some experience, bcause like i said i drove tanks and trucks in korea and irak, but the thing is that the tanks and trucks are all automatic believe it or not, anybody can drive those , so i get to the school without ever driving stick in my entire life, and three weeks later i was driving stick pretty good for a beginner, i went thru school make some friends in the process , i mean my class was 50 people when we came in and from those 50 just 15 graduated, so is a tough school but believe me u would get out knowing how to drive a truck, then i went with a trainer for 5 weeks, actually for me was 6 weeks bcause he didnt wnat me to go thats how well we got along. I know u been hering all these horror stories about trainers and let me tell u the truth, some are real others just myths, but yeah u gonna find some trainers that are unprofessional and bad , but most of the ones i know are pretty good overall. like i was saying, i was with this dude for 6 weeks, and i learned a lot, he used to challenge me about everything and that work, i mean like the way i drive right now is thanks to him, and let me tell u im a allright driver, i cant say im good but im allright so far i have 50,000 miles without any major incident. thank god!!!
I still call him for advice or just to say hello, i mean i think i was lucky to get him as my trainer
after that i went three weeks with another student, and let me tell u something it was alot of fun three weeks went like nothing and, i think the secret is to go with someone u already know, i went with a guy that i went to driving school with and yes we were kinda diffrent i mean backgrounds and everything but we got along great..
after that i went to grad fleet, i graduated a month earlier and went to the company side... and its been a ride, like i said u gonna have ur ups and downs, the only thing i can advice is well dont let things get u down, look at the bright side of things, i bet u even if u are in a bad situation theres always ways to get out of it, theres always people that are in worst situations than u... best advice think stuff bfore u do it.
i sometimes overthink stuff, but believe me overthinking helps u bcause u will b ready for any kind of situation, and sometimes think outside the box,
unconventional situations call for unconventional solutions, sometimes u think throwing a driver side backing is normally what i would do, but sometimes a blind side backing is required to get the parking spot, i mean is a silly analogy but u know what i mean...
One of the ehing i do is mapquest every destination im going to, and use the satellite to see the place that u are going to pick up or deliver from, i mean u get directions and at the same time u can see how big the place is and what u are gonna have to do once u get there, like how much space u have to back up and stuff like that, i mean that helps me in a way that im already thinking about possible solutions of problems i can find.
so if u guys required more info please just reply this post with any questions ok

 

stevens didnt tell me , it was the guy that got kick out that told us he wasnt being charged, and he got kick out maybe a day bfore finishing school, wich it means that he already got is license when this happen.