Stevens Transport aviary

Negative paychecks dont pay the bills. Congrats on the new job. Hopefully this will work out for you. I have talked with several JCT drivers and they all say they like it there. I also like the fact that the truck is yours for $1 at lease completion.

To me its a shame to see guys come in here all gung ho (sp) and then watch them as it doesnt go as they had hoped for then end up leaving. But Stevens has grads waiting on trucks so its no big deal to them.

Best of luck Flight...

 

He k flight I hate to see ya go bud. And I'll keep everyone up to date bout to get a little shut eye and head to Illinois at 0900.
Hopefully well get to meet some of y'all out on the road.

 

I have a few questions for some of the drivers that been with Stevens for a while. Whats the orientation like for experienced drivers? Heard the recruiters side, now im just curious of how it really goes down. And how are the miles? Ive spoke to a few up and down the road that say they run great, and others that just seem to not be making any money. I know that there is no such thing as a perfect company but stevens does seem to have good equipment and alot of solid freight. Any help is greatly appreciated

 

Thanks TLea.

Here are the bare bones of what I made through Alliance, and why it is no longer a viable option for me and my family. Certainly you will agree after seeing the evidence.

Total months with Alliance: 4
Total days off: 11
Total miles: 32350 or 8087/mo
Gross pay: $44787.67 or $11196.92/ mo
Net pay: $2502 or $625.25/mo or 5.6% of gross
What I was payed overall: $0.08cpm

Those are the numbers. People can make excuse after excuse as to why they are what they are, but the bottom line is that I worked my ### off for Stevens, and I did everything that Major Logan talked about in our business class. I have 3 friends who are also Alliance that are on their way back to the yard to turn their trucks in as well. People will say "Alliance isn't for everyone." which is true. If you train or are single and don't mind staying out for 3 or 4 months at a time, you will do great. If you are debt free with Stevens, you will also do fine. Unfortunately, if you still owe a note to Stevens and actually want to see your family once every couple of months, this is what happens. The system (whether by coincidence or design) is set up to punish you if you go on home time. The argument is "Taking time off will always cause a negative week unless you set money aside to cover the business expense and your personal expenses." My question is: how do you set money aside if you can't make money in the First place? We spend weeks at a time thousands of miles away from our home. No other business is like that. I also don't feel that 5 days at home every 8 weeks is an unreasonable amount of time. Heck, the company drivers get one day off for every week out.

I have also heard "If you want a weekly paycheck, go company." So, a business owner shouldn't be able to make a weekly paycheck? It's ok that 55% of a business owners paychecks are negative? What about the thousands of o/o's out there that bring home $2000-$3000/wk and are home on the weekends? I'm not asking for that, but how about enough compensation to bring home $300-$400/wk. How about compensating your "business owners" enough so that they don't sink during the very few times that they go to see the people who made the incredible sacrifices to allow them to do this profession?

The bottom line is that in my experience with Alliance, I made $.18cpm less than a company driver fresh off of the production line...all for the ability to take the truck to my house. It's up to each individual to make the choice that they feel will benefit them the most. Just please take heed that most lease programs are designed for the driver to fail, and Alliance is no different. That's how company's make money. If every driver succeeded in a lease (especially a l/p,) the company would be out of business real quick. They make money by recycling drivers. I'm sure that I'll hear some rhetoric about this post, but whatever. I'm done, and it's up to you to make the right decision.

Take care.

 

Good Luck Driver........

 

I total see and understand why you are leaving. And when I get asked about alliance I have one question, do you have young kids at home? Answer yes alliance is NOT for you.

My first year I made the same as a company driver, with out all the situations you went through. You did leave out the fits you had with the accident, not your fault, that caused you much grief. Little pay and bills still coming in.

Now just a heads up, no lease completion bonus and about a $2000 lease turn in charge for wear and tear on the truck.

And every business owner has to understand cash flow and have a savings to get them through the negative times. Lack of capital is why companies fail everyday. No rookie in a new industry to them makes $1000's a week and home every weekend. They have learned struggled and failed to get there.

 

Flight, unfortunately I agree 100% with you...

 

Flight, i feel your pain. But please understand that most companies read from the same book and are 99% like one another. IM not trying to talk you out of leaving Stevens, but going to JCT is jumping out of the pan and into the fire...... same setup, same e logs, same dispatch system, less freight base, and more of the same truck payments and obligations.....naturally they tell you what you want to hear, but ask for it in writting, nothing is guaranteed in trucking other than waking up in a ###### truck......... hopefully you'll wake up.

 

You are completely right. The difference between JCT and Stevens is an immediate .05cpm raise. They won't be taking out $200.00/mo to pay them back for the motel, bus ride, food, etc...They have Tropicana dedicated which I can jump on if I want to be home more since Tropicana is 19 miles from my house. They have 72mph trucks instead of 62mph trucks. The elogs don't bother me like they do some. They don't have the freight base that Stevens does because they don't even have half the drivers that Stevens does. I am not going to worry about freight since every JCT driver I have talked to is running right at 3000 miles/wk there.

I am also not going to bad mouth Stevens as I knew what I was getting into when I signed...well...mostly. I had a series of unfortunate events that dug a hole that I really couldn't climb out of. In situations like that, it's time to hit the reset button. I do appreciate the advice though.