ABF Freight System, Inc. - Fort Smith, Ar.?

Like I said over IM, it won't hurt to have the experience under your belt with Stevens. You'll get worked like a dog, but that's the price you pay for being a newbie, right? Gotta start at the bottom of the totem pole no matter what.

 

I'm VERY disturbed by what I read up there.

If anyone ever had any doubt to my assertions that these, so called "independent schools" are not shams, and fronts for what in my opinion constitutes organized crime, there never will be a better example.

As I've reminded so many times, when someone signs a contract, you are bound to the terms of that contract, unless the terms are illegal.

Where is the ACLU, when there is an issue WORTH arguing in front of a court? How can it be legal, implied, contractual, or otherwise, to jack up the tuition on training to more than double it's face amount, if you don't want to be bound to slavery? And...how can it be legal to only have a choice to work for a company that the SCHOOL dictates as acceptable?

Why indeed. I have been saying for quite sometime that the companies that supposedly "recruit" from these CDL scam schools, own them. The schools are not independent at all, and this is a form of organized criminal activity.

The ONLY reason why this has not caught the attention of the legal community, is because it involves trucking, and the legal community, as well as our lawmakers, have a complete hands-off approach to intervening in matters of Interstate commerce.

I wish you well, and God knows I'm gonna say a prayer for you. You will need it. You have a goal, and that's what you need to concentrate on.

To everyone else, don't fall for this crap, and don't sign contracts of this nature. There is ALWAYS a better way to get into this industry, than to be led down this path of deceit.

If there is one GOLDEN RULE, that EVERYONE should follow, it is that you need to select the company that you desire to work for FIRST, and let THEM guide you to a source of acceptable training that they will accept.

Golden Rule number two; CHECK OUT that source of training and DEMAND to view the contract DAYS before you sign it, and read it VERY carefully for all clauses and terms, including default, alternative placement options, etc.

Golden rule number three; any company that will not cough up a copy of that contract BEFORE you are sat down to sign it, is not worth the time or trouble to do business with.

Rule number four? Disregard any of the first three rules above, and you will be screwed, royally, quickly, and without a loving kiss on the cheek.

Patience is a virtue, and taking the time to choose the best option for getting your foot inside the door of a truck is essential. You cannot rush these things, and you absolutely cannot trust the spoken word of anyone that tells you anything surrounding the terms of training. ONLY the written words on those contracts mean a thing, and when you sign them, you are hooked like a fish on Sunday.

 

Turbo , I understand what you are saying completly,and i really appreciate you saying a prayer and yes i will need it .Iam getting ready to leave my beautiful wife and five baby girls to persue this carrerr,i just look at it like my friend packrat said go there with a positive attitude and pack it in and gain some experiance , like i said i don't mind only making a little over $500 a week at the current moment iam making zero dollars and my wife breaks her back at the hospitals persueing her R.N degree,there is no types of jobs around here in this country town iam currently living in except for experianced drivers.

As for these mills being illegal iv'e often wonderd about it . This deal was i payed a $200 entry fee to be able to start training and if i signed a contract with stevens to drive for them for 2 years they would pay the school back a total of $5,969.00 and if i didn't report to stevens then the cost would go up to 12K they raise it for lawyer fees collection agency bills etc etc , I really dont mind if i gotta file bankruptcy and start over/over 12K if i was offerd a job with no experiance but i need that certificate from MTC so i can secure my future with ABF or ConWay.

Maybe one day all these mills will be shut down , who knows but it sure as hell is one gigantic conspiracy, iam assuming they do it to only attract felons of less violent crimes , but that wouldn't be the truth either because i seen people from all walks of life in the school .But thanks turbo we need more people like you in this brotherhood god bless ya from my family to yours .

TopFlights~

 

####, the cost of CDL training must have gone up. I think my schooling cost something like $3000. Probably would have been more if I had needed housing and feeding but since I lived 45 minutes away I didn't need that.

The school I went to was handled as if I had gone to Dallas and gone to the CDL school stevens ran themselves. I submitted two applications, one to Stevens and one to Werner. Stevens called me first.

Hell, I probably spent around $6k in school loans for college classes and a degree that I never even used.

 

I went to the same school, but I paid for the entire thing with Cash which total'd $2695, that paid for lodging, food, permit, and licensing fees. I also didn't have to sign any sort of contract whatsoever because I did pay with cash. Almost makes you wonder if a credit card would be worth not having to go through this hassle? I don't know Hopefully your time with Stevens goes fast brother, and you can finally get to where you want to be. I know of another person who paid for this school with cash, and after he got everything straightened out he went to a mail carrier of some sort near his home. You might remember him as Oscar. God bless, and I'll maybe see you out there someday. I've already drove to JFK Airport in New York after having only 60 hours of driving time, white knuckles, and pale as a ghost when I got there, but I did it.

 

When you are in dumb and dumber training at Steven's, you are still on the 350.00 salary,Which is possibly better than by the mile because you are not allowed to drive more than ten hours a day, total. That means you each drive for five hours then sit on your hands the rest of the time. Also, you are never EVER allowed to drive after ten pm or before six am. Those are iron clad, written in stone, unbreakable rules at Steven's....
Unless they have a load in Sacramento that needs to be in Atlanta in two days. Then the rule is: "fudge the log books if you have to, but get it there or its your ... buddy ". Personal experience speaking.
Other reasons not to work for Steven's, V.P. Carol, the owners daughter, Aka. Wicked Witch of the West. And Adrian, the Napoleon complexed head of Safety. Katrina, the recruiter, who will look you straight in the eye, smile, and flat out lie to you.

 

I was hoping somebody could give me a profile of the company or any experiences.. but one especially important question I have is whether they would hire me at 23(I will be 24 in 6 weeks, and finish cdl training in 2) since their age req is 25. I have no MDR problems or criminal history whatsoever. I would ask them myself, but its saturday : /

 

Any current drivers on here working for ABF Freight Systems willing to share there opinions about the company?

 

Once in a six day period only.