Thinking of going to Stevens CDL training any current students or drivers comments?

i just wanted to add.. the trainers know who is gonna make it by the end of the first week...it shows in your ability to follow instructions.......plain and simple

 

yes, you can make more money on the Alliance side if you follow the program. The single largest reason people fail on the Alliance side is failure to follow the system set out for you.
You must be disciplined and willing to work.
During your first year out there as an Alliance driver, you will do much better if you take minimum home time.
If you're not sure this is the route you want to take, go company and learn the ropes first.
My first year as a company driver, I made a shade under 35,000.
The next year as an Alliance driver, I made a little but uner $40,000.
I will complete four years with the company in April.
Last year (2011) I made over $70,000. I train, so that helps a lot, but my last year as a solo driver I was in the mid 40's.
You can read more about Alliance on the Alliance thread.

 

As far as the DM postion being a revolving door, that doesn't surprise me at all.
The DM's position is the hardest one in the company (in my opinion).
I have done that job in the past. Everyone thinks it's easy and they can do it, but quite frankly, it takes a special person.
And even those that can do it well, often burn out after 3 years or so.
It's like herding feral cats.

 

I dont think that you could pay me enough to be a DM. My DM stays so stressed out its pitiful.

In my opinion I feel that all of the office personel at Stevens is over worked and probably under paid. I feel that they need to add quite a few more staff members in all departments. I feel that Stevens is growing too quickly.

 

Hey Emu... If you ever hear that they need people for the DM position... Please let me know.... I will do whatever to work for this company

 

Sorry I meant to say nascarchuck, instead of Emu.... Sorry my bad

 

Sorry... just saw this. Im no longer with Stevens so I wont be able to help you. Good luck though.

 

I'm seriously considering a school here in the Twin Cities. A Stevens recruiter is there tomorrow so perhaps I'll be able to get in to talk to him/her. One issue I might have with running refer is that it might mean multiple stops at grocery warehouses and I hear the downtime can be lengthy waiting for unloads. Is there anything to this? Wouldn't matter having lots of miles if it takes days to get them in.
Also, Emulsified: I too traveled the country in a motor home for almost 3 yrs back in early 2000's. Escapee? loved the life. Hope to do it again sometime in the future.

 

In my time with Stevens (about 8 months) I can count on one hand the number of multi drop picks/drops I had.

As far as wait time, that will vary. The longest I had was 3 days but I was dispatched on NY day and the shipper was closed for the holiday and took awhile to get caught up.

Other than that I was already late on a pick in Bakersfield when I got the dispatch and the shipper wasnt happy that I was late. They made me sit about 12 hours or so.

In my opinion WalMart was the worst drop. It seems that almost everytime I would finish and get to a truck stop with less than 30 mins to go. Once I ran out of time there by about 15 mins and had to be towed about 5 miles to a truck stop. Cost Stevens $450.

I had them as quick as between 30-45 mins but they were normally 2-3 hours.

 

I'm looking at companies to apply, I know Stevens is reefer, but is that no-touch frieght or do you have to load/unload the trailer as well? I've only driven van in the past.