Starting Stevens orientation

We should be in the same orientation. I start school with Stevens in Dallas on June 17. Three weeks of school puts me in orientation on the July 8th.

 

Unless they have changed it, you will do your orientation during your third week in school. You will have some fairly long days that week to finish school and cover the OR1 stuff. I finished school on Friday, was hired on Sat and left with a trainer that morning.

 

Hey that works for me too.

 

If you are showing up with your CDL, orientation will consist of a physical including a whiz quiz, background check and a lot of paperwork. You will also do a road test and some skills testing to make sure you have an idea of what you are doing. They don't expect you to put the trailer in the hole this first time, but they expect that you can get it moving in the right direction.

When you are through with that you will be assigned a trainer and hit the road for 5 weeks. In that time there are some requirements you will need to meet to move on. You will drive a minimum of 8500 miles, you will drive in four areas of the US, you will bump a dock in the Northeast, you will descend three major mountains loaded with at least 25k lbs, two with out using the Jake, one using it.

When you have completed all of those requirements you will return to Dallas for around a week for ORII. This will be another round of skills testing, they will be looking for improvement, and a lot of classroom work, on company policies and trip planing. You will then go out on the road for another 3 weeks with either another student, or a finishing trainer. Them it is back to the yard for a day or two of Grad Class and this will be followed by going solo for 90 days as a Grad fleet driver where you will start to build your reputation in the company as a driver and as it grows so do the miles and subsequently your pay check. Grad starts with the reins held pretty tight but they loosen them as you prove yourself. This is Stevens though, they never come completely off.

After Grad fleet you are a member of the regular fleet. It is about a 6 month process all together.

 

For all you that are heading into orientation, are with a trainer or thinking of going into orientation let me offer some things to ponder. This is based on both experience and observation.
ASK your trainer to get at least one NYC load. The more the better.
People in orientation make a big deal out of NYC, Donner Pass, Cabbage to mention a few and it literally scares the life out of new drivers.
It's mean to instill respect for those places so you don't take them on with a cavalier attitude.
If you can get two or three loads into the city and you get to drive at least one preferably, you will find that NYC is not a big deal. Personally I find NYC, Philly, Boston to be much more truck friendly than Houston.
This will make your first year's solo experience so much better. While you may not ASK for a NY load, you won't be gut wrenching panicing as you drive across country, heading for the Bronx.
Most experienced drivers will tell you Hunts Point is not a big deal. Whole Foods in Seattle is much harder to fit into the dock than 98% of the other placed we deliver.
Ask your trainer to let you drive in the cities as much as possible. Any major city. Once you've done it you'll realize it's just a matter of watching, being careful and knowing where you're going.
Mark Bush does NYC routing and does an excellent job. Use him. After you have your load and are waiting at the meat patch or after you've shut down, call him, take notes and his turn by turn guidence is the best. How he can make it sound so good year after year is beyond me. But he is good.
Another thing to make your trainer teach you is how to slide the fifth wheel. I find far too many drivers never learned and panic at the thought of trying to balance a load. It's simple.
And while I'm on the subject of fifth wheels, drivers...keep those things clean and lubed! When you're having your truck washed at Blue Beacon, ask them to clean the 5th wheel. Then a can of spray lube on the pins will keep that thing working easily. There's a lot of road gunk that can build up and play havoc when trying to move it.
Just a couple suggestions, but it will make your life as a driver SO much easier.

 

the more i here about stevens and the way they do there training makes me want to venture with them. i have applied there on monday but no call from recruiter yet. i had a cdl back in 06 but had to stop after 6 months to help take care of my dad. have been wanting to get back into this industry again since i left but now i can since my other siblings are around now to watch over our parents. anyways i went to a PTDI school (A.I.T) for 4 months in 06 so had extensive training behind a truck. i think with the school and previous experience combined with the way stevens is said to train here it would be a great relearning experience.
i have to get a cdl again so would have to go through a training company just cant wait to get behind the wheel again and do what i have always enjoyed DRIVING.

 

Why would you have to get a CDL again?

 

well for one when your dot medical ends than your cdl gets suspended and cdls do expire if you dont renew them as mine did
at the time the dot med expired i couldnt afford to get another dot exam at the time and didnt think id be able to get back into trucking either due to family matters.

 

but now i dont think i will be able to do truck driving due to the fact i cant readily prove i worked in 2009-11 due to being paid under the table and the guy i worked for moved out of state and isnt in buisness anymore. may be able to get the guys new # but that may not matter

yea i know i shouldnt have worked under the table but work was/is hard to get and took what i could get. i know i could have filed taxes still but than that could have cost me my job and who knows what else. pretty sure stevens wont allow me to work there without the verifiable work. only option i can think of is to say i was unemployed for that time but that would give me no recent work history short of the 4-5 months at the last job i was at (got laid off dam construction work bites sometimes) and that is one reason im wanting to get back to OTR its more stable than construction.