Stevens Transport aviary

Just don't get caught. They were clear: Though it is time off, "vacation" is not "home." Stevens allows drinking only on time off and only at home. I'm glad I don't drink and tend not to push the envelope when it comes to rules ... especially those set by my employer.

 

This is what I would tell anyone in you situation.

They will probably try but there are no guarantees in this line of work for home time unless you are in a day cab No training company can guarantee it, way to many unpredictable things can happen.

I would rethink your career choice, working at a pizza place would pay you about the same and you can spend time with your loved ones. Then when the kid is older go out on the road. You think your wife wants to raise a baby by herself?? Think not!!

The money she can get from WIC will be enough for her and the child, if you work at McDonald's or Pizza Hut or BOTH it will be better than the amount you make at any training company for the first 6-8 months. I was making $550.00 a week salary @ Papa John's when I went into trucking and took a hit down to $325.00 BEFORE taxes, but I only have myself to support. You have got two more to take care of, OUCH!

 

It's what just about everybody says: Trucking is not just a career; it's a lifestyle. Whether a company says they will "work with you" today will have no bearing on what happens when your wife goes into labor. I know folks who have been sent home on airplanes to handle emergencies and I know folks who have requested to be sent home to handle important non-emergencies and have been given routing back there...and got there too late.

But none of them was in the training phase.

Think carefully about your choices. I was a professional pilot for years and missed births and a whole lot of firsts. I grew to regret those choices later in life.

 

Once a driver has put the truck in a secure location, and is on HOME TIME, which is off duty and away from the truck, one may do what ever they want.
You are on Vacation, away from your home location, YES you many drink. This is how Safety will explain the rule after the training period. Now if you get a DUI while on home time, forget about coming back to work for Stevens.

 

I was getting called by dispatch, need to get moving, this is a kraft/walmart load, it can't be late...

Sorry but my safety comes first, and I am not moving... So it took a call to Karina to get dispatch off my back. There are many loads in the chicago area that were already late before the storm hit... now it will be even more. So I am on weather shutdown, but a simple macro gets me off shutdown too.

No more snow this morning.. now just waiting for the warmer weather, salt and plows to do their jobs.

Flight, enjoy your weather shutdown, youngstown is a bad area for storms.

 

Stevens dispatch will not see that as a positive attitude, but one that they can use and abuse, ie a push over that will do anything for dispatch, and that will put you into positions you do not want to be in.
Being positive and willing to help, and do the job is a good thing. But one must also know when to say no. The driver is the captain of the ship, and no matter what anyone setting at a desk in Dallas says, you the driver are responsible for what ever happens.

Safely operating a Semi comes with experience.
A perfect example; You have been running your full drive hours for 3 days, 11 hours driving, 10 hour break, common on meat loads... You make your delivery at 3am... after driving 4 hours.. dead tired and need sleep, but you still have 6 hours to drive... and dispatch calls wanting your help on a load that needs to be delivered just 240 miles away, into a major metro area. Will you say yes, and drive tired/fatigued, then hit a traffic nightmare, and run out of driving time before you get to the receiver? And what are you going to do if you make it the receiver legally, they unload you and tell you, you have to leave, but your 14 is up? The nearest truck stop is 50 miles away. No parking on the streets allowed.

Dispatch's concern is getting the load delivered, they do not care about you.

This is what I mean by be careful with the attitude.

 

You asked for advice.
Young with a newborn on the way, DO NOT BECOME A TRUCKER. Your wife will miss you, you will not even know your child. You will only be someone the child sees for 2 or 3 days every 60 days.
You will not make anywhere the money in the ads the first two years.
If your family is important to you, you need to be there for them, even if that means working two part time jobs.

And you will miss the birth, your wife will be angry, hurt, depressed, struggling with a new baby on her own... she might as well be a single mother.
Stevens rejects more applications per week than they accept in a month.
Week job market.

 

I am loading, well, waiting at the door for them to start loading me in La Porte, TX heading to WalMart in Clarksville. Due the 23rd.

Last time that I was is Clarksville I took AR 23 north to I-44 and it was the same way. Curvy and hilly. There were 2 curves posted at 10 MPH. I would stay off of that road in a truck!

 

Since this is your first baby, Infamous101, I'll add another "downer" to the list TLH and others have given. And this one is a biggie:

If you are not there consistently for your newborn's first six months, the baby will not bond with you and you will pay for that for many, many years. I experienced that firsthand when I was a professional pilot - a lifestyle not unlike driving a truck - and it took me 17 years to develop the bond with my youngest daughter. Believe me when I say there is no pain as great as being rejected by your own child. I was a stranger to her; she would not let me touch her, never mind hold her. I also missed many firsts with my children and those cannot be replaced. I would not do that again.

In my opinion, it's not worth it. Deliver pizza. Drive a Pepsi truck. Work for a local CDL-A company. Just be there for your wife and baby when they need you. There will always be OTR companies that you can go work for later. You only get one shot at those magnificent firsts with your children...and a digital picture or a YouTube video is not the same at all.