Paid training

What happens if you quit or are let go??

Good Luck
Winger

 

Not to toot Prime's horn, but 6 months = half.... one year = free and clear

 

how was the school in Dallas i start July 5 i have my cdl already what do the people with cdl do how is the hotel need some info

 

You are going to orientation, not school.
Here's how it works:
Stevens provides and pays for the motel. You will be put in one of two, and probably America's Best.
Stevens pays to bring you to Dallas by bus. If you choose to fly or come another way, they will reimburse you up to $200. Bring your receipt. They reimburse you there. (verify this with your recruiter)
You arrive saturday. They will shuttle you to your hotel. (details thru your recrutier)
The motel is cheap, a bit ragged, but clean. You will have a roomate.
Sunday Morning (early) you will report to the motel lobby where you will enjoy your first fine repast: breakfast. It cosists of sweet rolls and coffee. There is also fruit loops and some other cereal in a big dispenser that looks as if it's been there before Moses crossed the Red Sea.
You will find many other recruits milling around. No one knows what's going on. A shuttle will start taking you, 11 at a time, to Stevens yard where you will be dropped off outside the classroom. Each shuttle trip takes about 30 minutes. You will end up waiting outside Stevens classroom with the others for an hour or better, or waiting at the motel lobby for the same time.
Sunday ends about 5pm. they will feed you lunch. you take care of dinner.
Sunday is a lot of paperwork, introductions to departments and such.
Monday starts the same, however there will be more people to transport. The people from O2 will be there. More than likely, they will have two shuttles running. They fed us pizza for lunch.
Monday and Tuesday consists of classroom stuff all day. They feed you lunch and dinner both days. The food fills a void, but is largely undiscernable. I think when I was there, we had beefaroni one time and some kind of enchilada or similar another. Once we had some kind of meat patty (I think it was meat) with lots of gravy. The food is nothing to write home about, but it's ok and gets you by. it's served cafeteria style there at the classroom.
After dinner both days, you will go out on the 'hill' for hands on instruction. One of those two nights you will be taken out for a road test evaluation. As long as you can shift most of your gears, don't run over grandma on a corner and don't throw up on the instructor, you will pass.
The two nights on the hill accomplish two things: they help you learn some more skills relevent to what you'll be doing, such as some offset backing skills, docking, etc.
The other, and more important, is this is where you are evaluated on several levels. They are not so concerned over your being able to back perfectly or hit the gears perfectly. They are concerned over how you accept instruction/criticizm, and you are being evaluated physically.
An example is they set up a tractor with a car on the blind side. You must climb into the driver's seat and check the mirrors. You will discover how blind that spot is! They will find out if you have a physical limitation that prevents you from getting in and out of the truck safely.
Another test is where they have you climb under the trailor, behind the tractor to see the suspension setup and brake chambers. Then you exit the other side. Each student does this one at a time. They are checking to see if you physically can do this. You will be required to climb in and out of the trailer.
They are not there to flunk you, however each thing you do is an evaluation of your ability to do the job safely. they know you will need to learn. They want to make sure you are physically able.
Each thing they have you do, makes sense in relation to the requirements of the job.
Typically, starting monday, you will start to see the class getting smaller. Here is the first warning I can offer you:
Monday morning, you will have your Stevens DOT physical and drug test. The physical is just like any other. Don't pay attention to the rumors that circulate. However... When you arrive monday morning, you won't be standing around oustide the classroom. It will be open and you'll just walk right in and put your stuff down, then head back out for a coffee or water or whatever.
No!
Once you enter the classroom you may not leave under ANY circumstances before taking your drug test. If you leave, it's considered a refusal to take your test, an automatic failure and it's reported on your DAC that way. Kiss your truck driving career goodbye!
Now I tell you this for a simple reason. Many people stand around the motel lobby and drink three or four cups of coffee, then after arriving at Stevens, head for the john. Others (like me) don't drink anything and are fairly dry by the time we get there. Either way, you'll be a part of the dancing crowd pleading to hit the john, or dry as gypsum.
They do take those that need the bathroom first, but it still can take an hour or more for those to get through the drug screen. if you can't pee, the nurse sets you down in a chair in her sight and gives you measured bottles of water until you can pee. You may sit there a couple hours before you can pee. You'll feel like you're sitting outside the principal's office in grade school!
The physical and drug tests take all morning. While you wait, you get to watch old training films. They are so exciting that after a while, you'll be looking for a cliff to jump off of!
Over all, the things they cover are well thought out, pertinent to your new chosen career and presented in a professional and methodical manner.
the class will get smaller and smaller. Some will have problems because they were not honest on their application. They forgot to tell the recruiter about the DUI last year or the hernia operation last fall.
That is considered dishonesty and will get you bounced out in a heartbeat. Whatever you do, be brutally honest.
I know...you've probably heard all kinds of sotries about how they throw you out because you broke your arm in the third grade, but that just isn't so. I told the doctor about a torn rotator cuff I had repaired in 1994. He had me move my arm in a range of motions, then said, "OK".
I'm an old guy (I mean old!). I take blood pressure and chlorestoral meds. I was worried about that. My BP was the best in years that morning. 116/68. Go figure. If you take BP medication, they require you to be tested at the yard every 90 days. They arrange your schedule to get you there, it takes a minute and you're gone. All they want to do is make sure you continue to take your meds. Makes sense.
you will only get a one year med card, but it doesn't matter.
There are several places around the motel you can eat. Sonics, McDonalds, some kind of chicken place and more. I'm told to stay away from the chinese restaurant, tho.
Now the second warning: Bring a postive attitude. I have een attitudes ruin more people in this business than anything else. Bad attitudes and complaining is a cancer that destroys. You will find complainers that start to glom onto you there. Run!
You are not yet a driver. You are a newbie with a CDL. Stevens will train you to be a driver. That is their job. It will take time and patience, but you will be better for it.
Now if you're a seasoned driver like me, you will not be required to do all the evening training, but you will be required to do the physical tests and a driving skills test. If you pass, they move you right into a training schedule.
You will see people bounced out for lying on their paperwork. A few will fail the drug screen, and a few will not pass the physcial tests in the yard. Those that fail those tests are usually morbidly obese. there were 62 that arrived in my class on sunday. 33 were assigned to trainers for O1.
A few, very few, will be on medical hold until they can get some more information. That usually doesn't take more than a couple days.
If you make it past wednesday morning, you have made it. Wednesday they have you fill out payroll paperwork, then give you your ID badge. If you get your badge, you're in.
Wednesday ends about 5pm. Some will be assigned their trainer wednesday afternoon and a couple may even get on their truck. Most will go out thursday and friday. A few may take until saturday. It really depends on trainer availability, your needs (i.e., smoker, non smoker?). But you will get there.
If you are one of the masses that don't go out wedesday afternoon (only two did from our class), you will report thursday morning to the classroom with all your luggage, ready to deploy. If you don't go out thursday, they give you a motel voucher and it's back to the shuttle and motel to repeat the process friday.
Now my last piece of advice: Bring twice as much money as you think you'll need. Better to have too much than not enough. Bring half as many clothes as you think you need. You can always do laundry. The trucks are cramped. you will likely share your bunk with your duffle bag, so leave enough room to be able to stretch out and sleep. Also, you will have a lot of time just sitting there in the jump seat. bring a book or laptop or whatever to take up your time. there is only so much small talk you can do with your trainer.
Stevens is a training company. they make money when you succeed, but not before. they are paid by government programs to make you successful. Until you pass O2 and probation, they don't get a dime, so it's to their advantage to get you through. the people that don't make it those first three days are high percentage failures anyway. That is what they're doing...weeding out those that won't likely make it. It makes no sense to spend days or weeks of trainers time and company resources on a high risk student.
Hope this answers your questions.

 

thank you danish5666 but the recruiter has not taken the class i have to take the class be driving a school bus the last 2 years what kind of work in class are you doing are you in class now thanks alot

 

Great Information Max.........much appreciated!