Stevens Transport A year in review

not much I can add to emulsifids answers.

In 2 1/2 years I have done a handful of hazmat loads. Mostly cleaning supplies, or plastic pellets.

Pre Alliance fleet is grad fleet with Alliance Driver Manager. If you do not like the alliance program, you can go company...if after signing the lease, it is not working for you, you may return to company.

Follow the rules on lumpers, and Stevens pays 100%. Get a P.O for every lumper. Can save your butt.

I also don't train...don't want to, trained in the food service industry for 20 years...like my space.

NO TWIC required or needed...I have been to 2 ports, both cost a $25 escort fee that stevens paid for.

 

Sept 27 to Oct 3rd

Miles ran, 2218 Still low

Miles paid, 2197

Miles transflowed yet to be paid 0

Started Monday off at the Tomahawk Truck Stop in Watkins CO. Don't deliver until Tuesday morning, and no sense in even asking for a repower. Many trucks in Denver, No freight. Tuesday morning dawns early, a 0500 appointment. pull in at 0430, am assigned a door, and they have me unloaded before 0700. A mixed kraft load, and no detention pay. wish all warehouses were this quick.
Send in my empty call, wondering which meat plant I will be headed to. Does not take long to get the head to Lexington NE message. I will be in Lexington about 1400. pull into Tyson, drop my trailer, and I still have not been dispatched. Call meat, they tell me they are working on it, and I ask about the grad fleet driver setting there out of hours, can I run his load? Nope, we have a team coming to cover that. Oh well.

Go do some shopping at the Truckstop/Walmart (anyone who has been there knows what I am talking about). Get back to my truck, finally a load, #### a shuttle run to Ottawa IL, DLD 0400 Wednesday. Only 612 miles. Could get some extra sleep, but decide I will pick it up at 0400. Grab the load, and arrive in Ottawa IL just before 1700. Drop the load, send in my empty, and nothing.

Call and ask for a load, get told we are working on it. Eat dinner at Cracker barrel, and then head over to the Clockwork Shell truck stop. Thursday, no dispatch, send in repower requests, setting on 80 got to be something....nothing.

This is getting bad, way to much down time, and making very little money.
Late thursday afternoon finally get a dispatch, DLD is Friday 2300. B U.................... s................... (fill in the appropriate words).

Can only get we are working on it. Not a good enough answer. Friday morning, Call Cat, and voice my concerns and problems. Now she hears complaints every day, as she is the alliance "counselor". When she looks at my history, she wants to know what happened. Why have my miles dropped from 12000+ a month to 7000? I have no answers, she will look into it.

a little after 1030 my phone rings, Stevens, DM want to know exactly where I am at. Gives me the phone number of the truck bringing me a load, call him and tell him where I am. The load delivers Saturday Morning near Pittsburg. At least I am moving, 500 miles today, and a chance to keep moving all weekend. Get told I will be dispatched from there. Grab the load, park at the reciever for the night, have a pre-plan, picks up sunday at a Dupont Plant, and delivers on Tuesday in St Paul. Not great, but better.

Get Unloaded, head down the road to the TA in Wheeling WV, truck is due for a level B service. Get that done, and spend the day playing tourist along the Ohio River as I work my way to my shipper for sunday.

Spend Saturday night at the Liberty Truck Stop, Mineral Wells WV. A good time was had by many truck drivers that night. I enjoyed the eye candy.

Sunday, head the 7 miles over to the plant, get loaded, load assignment says, 11 pallets, 20,000. When I pull away from the dock I have 21 pallets, and 44,000 lbs. got to love it when things are not right. I have had a lot of heavy loads, and balance the trailer to what I think will work. Nearest Scale, 100 miles. I am good, when I scale, trailer 33780, tandems 33100. I can even fuel up.

Head thru Chicago on Sunday Night, a nice uneventful drive, and shut down at the Illinois, Wisconsin line for the night and week.

 

September Numbers.

Miles Ran 8818

Miles dispatched 7711, empty 886, loaded 6825

Actual miles drove for those dispatched miles, 8348

Varience for the month, 637 miles, or 8%

now 360 of those vairence miles was me going home, all at my expense.

Total Miles paid in the Month of September 10899

Net Pay $2823.60

Net pay per mile $0.261

Net Fuel cost per mile, $0.191

With the low miles, and fixed cost, one can see that an alliance driver needs 2700 miles per week to be better off than a company driver.The months that I do take time off, always have a dip in net pay. But my miles have not been this bad in 2 years.

Setting here in St Paul MN tonight, this month is not starting out much better. Stevens has NO idea what I will be picking up Tuesday. So another day of setting, and a repower up here?????

 

January 1 to September 30

2010 miles ran 102,233
2009 miles ran 97,839
4,394 increase 4.3%

Dispatched Miles
2010 Loaded 87,270
2009 loaded 82,417
4,853 increase 5.6%
2010 empty 10,004
2009 empty 9,988
16 increase 0.2%

Total Miles Dispatched
2010 97,274
2009 92,405
4,869 increase 5%

Total Miles on those dispatched miles
2010 102,431
2009 96,005
6,426 increase 6.3%

Variance Miles (unpaid miles to be able to make the loads deliver)
2010 5,166
2009 5,445
279 decreased 5.4%
2010 Variance percentage 5.3%
2009 Variance percentage 5.9%


Net Pay after all trucking expenses
2010 $28,511
2009 $30,334
1,823 decrease, 11%
2010 $0.296 per mile
2009 $0.322 per mile
.025 decrease 8.6%

Fuel Cost
2010 $0.164 per mile
2009 $0.164 per mile


So I drove more miles this year, and made less money. Medical Insurance costs, and the new truck payment account for that. 2009 I had a T2000 with 350,000 miles and no APU when I started. Changed to the T660 I now have in October, and my weekly payments went up $100 per week for the APU, newer truck, and Comprehensive Insurance coverage. More expensive truck.

 

I do not hang out at the yard, but as of the last time I was there, about 3 months ago, almost all trucks had APU's. There were a very few old T2000 without APUs left.

Now I do know that the APUs have not helped the bottom line like predicated. Fuel Mileage did not increase enough to offset the cost of the APU. APU's are now under review, but every 700 I have seen on the road has an APU.

I can honestly say the APU has cost me money, but I am more comfortable on the truck, so the trade off for me between expense and comfort is worth the $50 per week cost.