Stevens Transport aviary

#### it man... I would jump all over either one of them... anything to get off this midwest-northeast circuit I seem stuck on...

 

Everyone in my Grad class looked at me funny when i turned it down too...

 

It seems to me they keep selling the idea of mpg... if you learn to do that you will make a ton of cash... some truth in that to be sure, but there are other things that with time and experience that are going to make or b:reak you too... have you mastered your HOS so you can maximize you miles? How well can you pretrip and do preventive maintenance? How good are you at calculating distances and time? Many things like this are going to make or break you...

Personally I still have a lot to learn and that is the basis behind, my decision.

 

there are many things to learn in order to be successful in business. Specifically, it's (expense containment) is not found in a couple places only. It's a culmination of little things. Take care of the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves.
When launching someone into this environment, it's best to concentrate on the 2 or 3 major items that count the most.
Nothing will affect your bottom line more than containment of fuel costs.That's why the emphasis on mpgs. By itself, it won't make you successful, but it gives you a target to concentrate on with immediate results. If you take that same class (Major hasn't taught it in a while) at a later date, you will notice a lot of other things that are taught, you probably missed the first time.
But by applying yourself and concentrating on improvement, it is more than possible and more likely you'll be successful.
Remember, you won't become a millionaire, but if you apply the principles taught, you will likely make more money than if you stayed on the company side.
Rome wasn't built in a day...

 

And how many are still there now? How many are successful with Alliance?

 

Anyone considering Alliance: when the recruiters call you and start giving you the 'pitch'...close your eyes and pretend you're talking to a used car salesman about purchasing a '79 Pinto wagon. If you weed through their BS the same way you do a used car salesman's...you'll discover they don't really have any idea what being an Alliance driver is like...and their sole purpose at the company is to get you to sign up for the lease. They don't care if you're successful or not. It's not their concern.

Then go and speak to the drivers who are currently in the program and get their take on it. PM some of the folks here in the aviary who are..or were..Alliance drivers...both the successful and not-so-successful ones and use that information to help in your decision. Ask an Alliance driver when you see one at a shipper / receiver or truckstop and ask their honest opinion. Take TLea's advice about having a young family and factor that into your decision as well.

Alliance is not a get-rich-quick program. You will fall flat on your face and make no money...or owe money...at some point during your lease. You will sit for 3 days waiting on a meat load. You will have an 1800 mile week once in a while. Your truck will breakdown and leave you holed up in a hotel for 3-4 days while your truck payment continues to accumulate. You will take a repower and find out that the person who set it up lied to you and cost you 500-600 miles that week. You will encounter all kinds of issues that will cost you lots and lots of money...mostly during your first 6 months in the program. Most of the new drivers can't see past that and believe that the entire time they're on Alliance this is how it's going to be. It sucks...I know first hand because this sums up my first 6 months. It was a miserable time. Luckily I have 2 trainers who were key in keeping me motivated to stay with the program and helped me see the big picture.

Here I sit 3 years later...successful. I went through the sitting, being broke down, negative settlements, weeks with low miles, all the bad things you've heard about Alliance...I've been through it. So when I say Alliance is a good program I'm not feeding you a line. I know that you can be very successful and make a good living being on Alliance. But it takes being willing to learn from your mistakes and know that there will be a few bad weeks...mostly when starting out.

If you believe everything they feed you on those posters in the hallways at the yard, listen to the recruiters that you'll be on MTV Cribs after your first lease, and don't do your own research before signing the lease then be prepared for disappointment. As Emu said way earllier in this thread...leasing is a shared-risk: when things are great they're really great...but when they go bad they're almost unbearable. Everyone wants the great benefits of Alliance but don't want anything to do with the negative parts when there are problems. Unreasonable expectations due to a lack of research.

Now I need some help with some basic math: I'm waiting on a repower here in Lordsburg NM. Got a call from the other driver at 11 (local time) saying he was at MM58 on I10 east of El Paso and wouldn't be able to make it to me until 1600 (local time). So 58 miles to the NM border + 140 miles from NM border to Lordsburg = 198 miles. Let's say 200 for simplicity sake. 1660 hours - 1100 hours = 5 hours. 200 miles / 5 hours = 40 MPH average. ????????? Me thinks he's stopping in El Paso for lunch and siesta. His load has to be in Vernon CA by 0200 (California time). It's 650 miles from here so I'm gonna need to be rolling by 1500 (local time) to make OTD. Oh well...another repower that I get grief for because it was late. One of the many benefits of this fantabulous trucking industry lol.

 

Very well put Knew B. Wannabee

 

Hey all, having gone broke trying the lease here I tell people that ask me that they should have at lease\t 10k in the bank as a reserve before they sign their first lease. If I had had the resources to stick it out I probably would have done fine. I had a storm of minor catastrophes plunge me so far in the hole I couldn't see daylight. You have to be prepared. There WILL be weeks where you are living on advances. It happens.

I am currently on the yard. Got a repower in Atlanta on the 16th at a little dump of a pilot. It delivered in Cleburn this morning at 0400. Trainee Team here. We rolled at 0600 yesterday and after fighting through a bunch of idiots going to some college football game flying flags with big red A's on them in Alabama (honestly, don't those people know if it isn't NFL it's really not that important?), we arrived at the Walmart DC at 2330. Laid down for a few hours then checked in and tried to go back to sleep.

Then it was time to address the leaking air hose. It was not passing the static applied test. So we had a load assignment picking up water at Nestle here in Dallas and going to Kansas (can you say "meat patch"?), but that got pulled so we could come to the yard to get the hose fixed.

So since we will be here until tomorrow I went to In-N-Out for lunch, did my laundry and caught the new James Bond flick.

Now I'm sitting in my truck waiting fpor the shop to come get it. I know they are waiting until I go to sleep. I am NOT playing "find the truck tonight though. I will stay close and when they are done I will park it myself.

 

well playing find the truck is all part of the yard experience lol and i honestly think someone watchs those camaras until they see you go to sleep and then send out the maint people.

 

Last time I was on the yard, the mechanic told me if I waited in the lounge he would bring the truck to me and he did, so that was cool