Stevens Transport Aviary . . cont'

Well that Jetro in Queens is a whole lot of fun... at least the women walking by were cute... only took 7 hrs to get 8 skids taken off. To he fair I was there 2 hours early.

 

The same people that answer the phones at night trained those lumpers how to unload.
(whoops! did I say that?!

 

Here is a good one, got 3 QC msgs this am. Adrian and William are looking for trainers/instructors and classroom instructors. The third is from my DM, which starts out, "I know you are not eligible..." and wants me to call and talk about becoming a trainer. Talk to me in November, I will be eligible at the end of that month. Wow. They must be in need. I tried to get in early, but they won't count my earlier experience since it was three years ago.

 

Just got off the phone with the truck wash on Long Island... last time I followed Stevens directions they sent me to an empty parking lot, they had moved, so I called to verify and found out they had moved again. However the really interesting part was when the lady was giving me directions she said, "then make a U-Turn", I said "a U-Turn?" She said... you're a Stevens Driver aren't you? LMAO... our reputation precedes us. Her Husband got on the phone and gave me an alternative, but Stevens Directions look to be correct this time.

 

Fozzy, yes they are hurting for instructors.

I do not know exactly how things work, but from what I saw, there was a lot of scrambling for instructors both in the classroom and on the hill. We were splitting into day and night classes but even then, the student to instructor ratio was high. I could see it more in week 3 when groups of us were sent to different backing stations and would only have one instructor per 2 or even 3 stations.

And this next statement is not a complaint at all, but is merely an observation... while I never expected anyone to know my name or remember my face, I did feel a bit let down that the instructors were so completely swamped that some of them tended to forget who needed a bit more attention, and who "got it", which led to increased frustration from both student and instructor.

So, yeah, this comes from a student and should be taken as such... if the idea interests you, it can only benefit Stevens and the motoring public to pursue it. The staff they have on hand is very decent, but very overworked and in need of more people who can bring their knowledge to the table, and who are engaged in the process.

 

I figured that was a fleet wide blast when I saw those messages, and I think I was about three months out when they sent the training request out. Last time I was in the yard, one of the ones I went through OR2 with was there going through the trainer course.

 

Well here I am in Corpus Christi waiting on my load. Was dispatched from San Antonio at 11AM for a 12PM DLD. Yeah right even a super trucker couldnt have done that one. Got here and Nope your load wont be ready till 7PM. OK so now we burn the clock....9:20 rolls around I have 2 hrs I can run or wait an hour and a half for a split. Yeah it puts the blown DLD back on us but it makes smarter running sense and I can still make the load on time. Choosing the split option just no point in running an hour and a half cant even make San Antonio. Here we flip the switch again, run all night and try to sleep in the heat all day. Got 2900 miles in last week even with my reset so all good. Still trying to figure how I tore my clock out that quick LOL.

 

OK... I am almost a celebrity... and you guys can say you knew me back when....

I just picked up the current copy of The Trucker Newspaper and one of my comments from their Facebook page is printed in there.

I assume now I will need to get some 8x10 glossys made for all my adoring fans.

 

I will speak in hushed and revered tones when mentioning your name from now on....

 

I was going to post a whiny post about how long I have been waiting while watching fellow classmates (girl people and non girl people alike) flowing out the door to meet their trainers and get the next part of their training done when I realized something. Today is Wednesday. I got cleared for a trainer on Tuesday.
So. It is possible that I may be a tad impatient.
But they had me making copies.... and cutting paper... and stapling.... IN A CUBICLE!!!!
AND!!!! I am almost fully caught up on the water cooler stories.

In all seriousness though, the men and women behind the glass and in front of the monitors are really quite phenomenal. The sheer volume of repetition they deal with on a daily basis is unbelievable.

In other news... KMac... can I have your autograph? On one of those shiny glossies? I'm a BIG fan!