Stevens Transport aviary

Just got a call saying I qualified for Alliance, good luck me. Hopefully my idea of how things will be is the one it is.

 

Got our first trainee team load Saturday. Got nsent to Cleburne WM DC to get an empty after scouring the yard for a couple hours. Drop and hook at both ends from Grand Prairie to Plainview. Made it to our fuel stop in Witchita Falls and shut down for the night due to not being able to run after midnight. Ran the last 4 hours up there, (co-driver in the pilots chair). Then got a meat load out of Cactus (JBS). Spent an hour trip planning to Milton, NY and didn't have enough hours to make a safe haven where I knew we could get a spot. This am I took off and drove 7 hours off. Stopped to swap drivers and as I was finishing my PTI got a repower message. Now my co-driver needs to make St. Louis before midnight. We were 327 miles out at 17:45. So we are rolling, 2 construction zones, one at a roundabout on US50 that detoured us from our flight path. If nothing else bad happens we should hit the TA by 23:30.

 

You got man, don't sweat it.

 

Seriously??? Dang, if you can even make it to the Jack your are doing really good much less win a category and 6th overall!!! Congrats to your brother!

 

Thanks nascarchuck and Emulsified for the comeback on the prepass and E-Z pass. I too think it would be worth it to have them both, since Stevens loves to visit the City on a regular basis.

 

What advantage did Stevens feel the 8 speed had over the 10, Super 10, and or the 13 speed?

 

price. It is actually a 9 speed that is easily and quickly converted to a 13 speed when they get ready to sell the truck.

 

Had a long talk with someone from the 'inside' tonight and it got around to Alliance.
Now keep in mind I did well with Alliance and had no complaints with it.
But it seems now that Angela is pushing for '90%' Alliance by the end of next year.
It use to be '25%' when I first started. The idea was the best of the best could apply for Alliance and you had to qualify in order to be accepted. Now it seems anyone that can sign their name is able to come on board.
The premium loads and best dispatches went to Alliance trucks first.
Now there is no difference. I confirmed this with a friend in Operations. They told me that there use to be consideration for Alliance. For example, all the available Alliance trucks were dispatched with loads before the company trucks were dispatched. If they ran out of loads for that area that day, it was the company drivers that sat.
Now they just take them all together with no difference.
Don't get me wrong. I do well with Alliance as an O/O. But I'm concerned about so many people that are being sold into the program that have no business being there yet. Or at all.
The failure rate, according to this person, is five times what it was a year ago. Not very impressive to me.
So a bit of advice to all of you that are considering Alliance: Check it out thoroughly before joining. It isn't all fun and games and I can tell you from personal experience that first year reaquires some extra diligence as well as a lot of extra time to be successful.
It wasn't a problem for me. I'm old. My kids are grown and I lost my wife a few years back, so staying out for months at a time is easy for me.
But if you're young, have a family or even just a spouse...think hard before making that commitment.
When you're ready, you'll know it. Don't push the envelope because you think you're going to make a lot of money.
You may. I did. Many others have. But there's a price to pay.

Heading out tomorrow. Everything is cleared and my truck should be done tonight.
Stay safe everyone.

 

Just what I have been trying to say for awhile but I get jumped on for talking "negative" about Alliance. Some succeed, some dont. Most see the dollar signs that Alliance recruiters throw at them and fail. People need to realize that there is a reason that Stevens as well as the other companies push the lease.

 

Where did you end up parking?