Stevens, Not so Great!

I went to school in St. Louis and recieved my CDL there, I listen to the recruiters and decided I would pick Stevens, I wasn't so nieve to believe everything he had to say was true, every company embelishes alittle. I recieve the date that I was going to be at Stevens, Nov 25th this year. I went by train to dallas which I did recieve reimbersment on, I stood at the train station for the yellow cab that was supposed to pick me up, I stood there for almost a hour fending off all the homeless people asking me for change or smokes. Finally the cab came, we went by the bus station to see if there was anyone there that was going to Stevens, There was, so we packed them in the cab and went to the Howard Johnsons, now this hotel was nasty, But that is another story. They tell you to be in the lobby by 7am to be picked up and taken to Stevens, Little do you know that there are about 100 people waiting in the lobby to do the same thing, I figured they would put us all on a bus, Nope. They had one window van with 3 bench seats in it and you had to cram yourself in there like sardines, or wait for him to come back, sometimes people wouldn't get there until after 9am and then the instructors would get mad at you because you weren't there on time, I told him that if you want me here on time then he needed to come pick me up and if he didn't then he needs to shut up about it because he knew what was going on, Our van driver was the slowest driver ever, He really didn't care because that is all he did all day was transport people to hotels, bus stations etc. I was told by my recruiter that we would take our drug screen and physicals on sunday and be on the payroll by monday, He only stated that we would be in training for 8 weeks not the 12 that we were told when we got to class. Out of all the peopel that were my class half went home by Wed. some casue they were lied to, some cause of Medical reasons. I figured out why some did on the Medical, Stevens has thier own doctors and also have thier own insurence which they run, it is through Stevens, so if you have the slightest medical condition, on anything, they will send you home, because they dont won't to have to pay for anything that is a existing medical problem, even though they dont pay much anyway. $600 deductable for going to the doctor or getting your meds through a prescription, that $600 for each so $1200 dollars before you get to start paying you co-pays. the 600 dollars has to be paid for your doctors visit before you start paying your co-pays and then you'll have to pay full price for your prescriptions until you meet the 600 dollar deductable. Not a very good plan. The doctors offices are right there at Stevens, They say they don't have a vested interest but you know #### well they do. we had a guy in class that was about 400lbs, his blood sugar was a little high and they told him that they were going to put him through some skills testing to see if her could get up in the trailer or the tractor, stuff like. He re-tested on his sugar fine then they put him through the skills test, I thought he did fine , so did everyone else but the doctor said it took him to long so they sent him home. He even went to Stevens school to get his CDL, Why didn't they tell him then, because they wanted the contract signed for $5000 before hand. Stevens talk a good game but they don't deliver one, I will be heading to another company to work for. Im already hired. If you decide to go to Stevens, just remember that they really lie about everything to just get you down there. beware!

 

Thanks for the post!

 

I survived the whole 10 week orientation process no late loads no incidents, although I was completely broke, and was given my own truck.
After the first two months solo it was ok when you learn to deal with the driver mgrs and dispatch people and not expect to much out of them. Well then in month 3 my blood pressure meds ran low and I had asked the "company" doctor to refill my scripts. He said sure no problem and had asked my to sign a release so he could get my chart from my regular Dr.
Well thats when the crap hit the fan, I was under a load taking me to my family for the holidays, of course I got in the day after X-mas (weather related). But then I secured the truck and was picked up to drive 70 miles to see my family for the remainder of the holiday. I didn't get 10 miles from the truck when the company Dr.'s nurse called to inform me that I was now on Med-hold due to what the Dr say in my chart from my regular Dr.
Approx. 8 months earlier I had seem my reg. Dr. and mentioned that I was having trouble getting to sleep as I had recently moved from a rural area to the big city in an apartment complex. Well that was all it took now I have been to a sleep dr. and done multiple sleep studies and am now disqualified from driving by the company Dr. because he rejected the sleep Dr's report.
So now i'M OUT OF WORK WITH NO PAY NO INSURANCE (as it was canceled by the compay the day I was put on med-hold) AND NO HELP FROM STEVENS TRANSPORT.
i am in the process of getting re-certified and fighting the company Dr.'s decision to disqualify me as a driver.
So beware of what you tell the Dr. at Stevens, my advice would be to not tell them a thing, and only see him for your physical, as required they do not accept med cards from other Dr's.
Better yet avoid Stevens altogether, they do not care about you all they want is the money the gov't gives them for training you on top of what ever you have paid for your training. They do not care about driver retention as there is always another group of newbies to haul their freight for well below avg. pay.

 

That is because Stevens runs thier own Health Insurance and Doesn't want to be out any money what so ever.

 

add many thanks from me as well!!!!

 

Oh heavens, the travesty! A company that would rather have people in decent shape. Here's a clue, take care of your self, don't do what ever you want and then expect everyone else to accept it and/or doctors to fix it.

 

I've been looking around, but it looks like Stevens is my best option. My other pre-hires are May, Werner and USXpress. USXpress wants me to team drive otherwise I would go with them. May has an extreme idling policy. I can't see paying money for idling if I am in 110 degree heat. Werner I have no problem with personally, but between Stevens and Werner it seems like Stevens is the better fit. I am in good shape with no health concerns. I don't drink or smoke or use drugs so I am good to go. I need to go ahead and get this experience.

 

Good luck. Hope all works out for you. Be patient, work hard and you'll do well.

 

I got a buddy driving for Steven's now... He was told he couldn't take ANY meds.. Not even store bought over the counter stuff... He had a cold for like 2 weeks and he was told he couldn't take Tylenol, Nyquil... nothing (Nyquil day or night cold meds!) He says he wasn't even allowed to have a bottle of mouth wash in the truck either...

Oh, I can go on & on about their policies, but the bottom line is find someplace else to go. They don't care about you in any way shape or form! Another incident happened recently.. He was broke down in a state his parents happened to live.. So he stayed with them while his truck was being repaired.. (5-6 days) Steven't refused to pay him layover!! Somthing about taking time off there in the past disqualified him from getting layover pay.. (He originaly is from that state but when he went to work for Steven't he was required to change his drivers license over to a Texas D/L! With a TX address on it.. he didn't live in TX.. < Is this legal!!!
When it came time for time off they said he had to return to TX, that was his "home" per his drivers license.. To make a long story short he found himself a girlfriend in Dallas.. so now he really does call TX his home, he lived with her.. changed his home, D/L, personal vehicle registration, residency, W-2.. everything.. For Steven's to claim he wasn't eligible to me is BS!

The last I talked to him... he said Nope.. they wern't gonna pay the $75 a day layover...

I've never heard of such a screwed up company.. They constantly re-power loads more than anyone I've ever seen.. I say run Forrest RUN!!!

 

My buddy told me this....got to love these posts.

Nyquil, dayquil, mouthwash all have alcohol in them, and that is a violation of stevens policies. Tylenol, advil, aspirin, your buddy is mistaken.

He took time off at his parents house, therefor no layover/breakdown pay. Had he stayed in a motel, then he would have gotten the pay.

To go to school in Dallas, yes you must change your DL to TX, and then change it back to your state of residency, within 90 days, or else be considered a resident of TX. Again, not Stevens, but your Buddies Fault. And yes it is legal and required by the State of Texas.

Yes stevens relays repowers loads. Common in the refer business with the time constraints placed on the loads by the shippers and receivers. Stevens could do less relays, but that is their way of running their business.

Stevens is a training company. Many people who think they want to be a truck driver, come, and leave within 6 months, as the job is not what they expected.

No large company actually cares about the individual, and if that is what you need, then you better work for yourself, and care about yourself.