Stevens Transport aviary

Yeah, no autos, but they are going to 8-speeds instead of the current tens.
Today we went right through Dealy Plaza! It was great! We drove around downtown Dallas and such, and I was like, wow, this looks familiar from some movie or something...then it hit me where I was driving through! I was probably all grin by that point! lol

 

Right now no experienced drivers are being accepted until sometime past February from what I'm hearing around the school. Why, I have no idea. I guess it's hard to retrain to Steven's policies once you've learned another way(s) and driven for a while.
Right now not even taking anyone until after the first of the year, and the first group is starting the 4th of January I think and is totally filled.
I didn't hear back from Stevens for almost a month after I filled out the online application, and then they only asked if I would fill out a paper application if they sent me one. Then about two weeks after I sent in the paper application I got a phone call, then two weeks later I was signed up and another two weeks later here in Dallas.
I specifically requested that they perform all their checks (driving record, criminal history etc) before they accepted me.
I told my recruiter I was recording our conversation for my records and asked if that was okay, and when she said yes, one of the first things I asked was that they do all pertinent checks on me before they got me down to Dallas because I didn't want any "well we found something and you aren't Stevens material" after I was in classes and had wasted my time and money. I was very nice and very polite about it, and said I didn't think that they would do so, I just wanted to protect myself as much as I could after reading some of the horror stories at other companies.
And I have read a lot of horror stories and I watched a good driver here in my class get the boot after they did a deeper check on him after almost two weeks of classes.

 

No choice there. I've been to Central's yard/depot in Salt Lake for three days, and I've seen their students, buildings and equipment.
They do not compare to Stevens in any way. Well, both have some very good drivers working for them, but otherwise...

So today was the end of my second week at the Stevens school.
Being a Saturday it was a half day, and we spent the day polishing our straighline backing, parallel parking, and tight turning out on the hill, which is what they call the driving range.
In the last two weeks I've gone from knowing the CDL technical information but have never been in a truck, to being able to shift one but downshifting was impossible, to today, where I was able to go from a dead stop to sixth gear and back down without missing a beat, over and over, only occasionally grinding a bit of a gear here or there downshifting.
I feel confident I can pass the DSP driving exam! I've driven the Dallas area highways, side streets, and even right through Dealy Plaza and through downtown. I've driven on some wavy, hilly, tight, twisty streets and I've driven on the Interstates. I can control my lane position, I can control my speed with brakes or downshifting, I can stop on a dime, and I always know how far I can stop that rig at any speed. I know I can turn it where I want it, and I can leave that curb or stop sign completely alone. In two weeks I've gone from timid and hesitant to confident and sure. I'm far from perfect, and hardly 'good', but I can control that rig, and I'm proud of that fact.
And I still have a week to go!

 

LMAO! I can't help but wonder about his mileage!