Comments By Ray W.

Hey guys!

Any chance this will ever change? I want to carry while out on the road, but I also don't want to be given a felony just because some state doesn't accept my Tennessee Gun Permit.. It says the right to bear arms shall not be infringed, but some states won't even let you apply for a permit for them unless you live there. That means I cannot carry through that state with out risking a felony should some DOT officer decide to search me. As an OTR, my right to bear arms has been infringed.... What do you guys do?

For any one wondering, I carry deep concealed. You'd have to physically search me to find my gun. I DO NOT OPEN CARRY.

Those who would question the need to carry a firearm need not waste their time with a response, thank you anyways though. Its a dangerous world out there.

This should help: Stevens Transport

Good luck!

Thanks for the info!

Hey guys! Ray here again. Today I am curious to see if anyone here has driven for Stevens Transport. They are the company I am going to attempt to work for. With that being said, I would like to ask a couple questions!

------The company says they pride themselves on having the finest trucks in the industry. Is this true? I also read that the trucks have built in wifi. If true, Is the Wifi in the trucks any good?

--------How does the company treat its drivers? I went to Indeed.com and the reviews were mixed. Most of the bad reviews tend to come from people who were expecting to be home more than twice a month, so its hard to tell if the reviews aren't slightly biased.

--------The pamplet I am reading for them says the trucks have a place for a microwave, minifridge, and an HDTV. Does the truck have to be running to power all that, Or is it run by a built in generator?

-------Is it true that 90% of your loads will be Reefers? Is it true that when dropping reefers, That you sometimes have to wait several hours for the trailer to be unloaded? (This is not a bad thing for me, I will have a way to keep myself entertained.)

Sorry for so many questions. I tried to format them the best I could. THis website base doesn't seem to have much in the way of text editing tools...

Feel free to give me honest opinions about Stevens Transport.

im not trying to say quit gaming entirely - But reduce the amount .. the original poster pretty much sounds like he's a serious gamer.. Ones who are known for playing hours . Nothing against them what so ever .. But once you start driving your gonna realize the following ... One day your gona either over sleep or Your gona play all night and your suposed to be driving the next day . Not a good thing.. understand 11 hrs of driving in a 85 thousand pound rig puts stress and makes you tired while working... 3HRS of your 14 hr day is wrapped up in your pre trip , post trip and lunch and breaks , and misc non- driving duties .. I am still in school my self for another 5 wks yet .. granted i really have no foot to stand on talking about this but from what my teacher has taught me is your gonna be tired after driving 11hrs ! .. He said do your paper work and get your shower and a hot meal and hit the sleeper berth.. you could opt to spend 1-2 hrs (3 max ) doing calls home or internet time or "gaming" but ideally you need to get your sleep.. Truck driving is a lifestyle. Your not gona be home alot . 2/3wks sometimes longer if you want it ..

as for me i am gonna chase the $ i don't own a home nor rent a place anywhere .. I've been living in a friends basement was paying 500$ a month to live in there ... but being outta work for so long i'm in a hole deeper then the nastiest lot lizard you can come across . i have no ties here in the state i live in no family or gf here , no place ( of my own) So i'm pretty much a "free bird" .. ideally i am gona put what little i own in storage once i make money on the road and take somethings in the truck and road it is . im trying to get money together to buy a nice little spot with about an acre of land with a nice pole barn to put my rig in and some "toys" once i start making a check..

Michael,

I wanted to suggest something of the sort as well, but I know a ton of people would dogpile on me about how I'm not a truck driver yet, so my insight can't possibly right, and if it is, it's just pure dumb luck. :P

I also imagine there is sometimes a lot of time to kill? Personally, I'm not at all worried about home time, and the truck will be my, "home". I'll need something to do while resetting the clock!

Thank you for the information on it. I appreciate it. I am not as serious a gamer as I sounded, I was mainly just worried I would never get to spend time with my online friends again. 1-2 hours a day is fine, I can live with that, I can accept that. I was just worried that I'd have to say goodbye to them. From the other posts regarding Reefers and having to wait to be unloaded (Ill be driving for Stevens Transport if I get my CDL), so it sounds like I might have quite a few hours sometimes. Do you think this will be the case when hauling reefers?

It really depends on the freight you haul. The first 6 months to a year, yeah your gonna be too tired to worry about doing much after your done driving except eat, shower n go to bed. After you get used to the schedule and you get used to working long hours then you will find a bunch of extra time. Unfortunately it tends to be in small 10 to 15 min increments unless your a reefer or van driver that gets live unloaded alot. For example I spent 4 hours sitting in a dock today and 2-4 hours is normal for me if I could afford the data I would have no problem breaking out a computer n playing some games. I have a wife and family to support so I have to be careful what I spend but the OP doesn't have those issues. As far as truckstop wifi goes it's pretty crappy, if it was me I would use a 3 or 4G Hotspot. I'm not sure what the ping and speeds are but im sure it's better than most truckstop wifi. I would definitely say that the Hotspot idea would work for farming and daily questing on wow but I'm not sure it would work too good for raiding.

Provided I am able to get my CDL, Ill be driving with Stevens Transport doing majority reefers. Sounds like I might have more downtime than I was expecting.

From my experience with gaming you may find there won't be enough time between work and trying to get sleep for much playtime, as well trying to meet up with your friends on line at regular hours won't be very easy. I'm not a driver yet but I have been thinking about recreation on the road and any serious gaming seems impractical. I found with world of tanks at least that 2hrs would go by pretty fast and it took will power to shut down. I won't say how long some of my sessions lasted but with on line gaming I don't think I was regarded as a heavy user. Unlimited does sound like the way to go though.

Yeah, I was figuring this. I am sure I will find something. I know for sure I won't sleep the full 10 hours. Even if its just an hour of gaming and spending time with the friends, Thats all I'd need really. Besides that, I can only work up to 70 hours a week before having to stop for around 30 something hours right? I would just use that to game on.

Whats up guys. Ray here. In a few months, I'll be going to school to get my CDL. I have been researching and studying quite a lot about various things regarding the trucking life. One of the things that I have not been able to find good information on is the quality of internet that the trucking life brings with it. While at home, I tend to game quite a lot to keep myself entertained. I have no cable or anything else of that nature. Most of my friends are long distance friends who I usually game and chat with.

With all that being said, becoming a trucker worries me a bit, but not what you would think... I am not worried about always being alone. I am not worried that I will be in a truck for weeks on end without being home. I can accept all of this. What worries me is that I am going to have to let go of my gaming passion because either there will be no internet, or the internet that IS there will be so bad that it's basically useless.

With this all being said, Here are my questions: 1.Can anyone tell me what the internet at truck stops is like? 2. If possible, Could someone run a speedtest.net test to see what the upload, download and ping latencies are? 3. I have been told some stops charge for wifi. Is it possible to pay for a faster wifi connection, one that you can play games on (basically, Do they sell "good" wifi at a premium price)? 4. I was told that trucking companies like Stevens Transport have wifi built into their trucks that can be used. Is it any good? Are there any data caps on it? 5. I currently use verizon's unlimited plan, But am unsure if their 3G service is enough to handle the stuff I want to do. Anyone here game off their verizon phone while its a hotspot?

The games I'll be playing include World of Warcraft, Planetside 2, World of Tanks, Various steam games. While these games do not require MUCH in the way of internet, An ideal connection speed would be 3 Megabits up/down with pings ranging from 100-250ms. To anyone who says I am jumping the gun on these questions because I don't even have my CDL yet, I am not worried about doing bad in school. I have a few truck driver friends that have helped me learn the basic ropes and have taught me some invaluable lessons, even going so far as to let me practice in their truck in an empty parking lot (Guys if you ever read this, Thank you so much. You know who you are.)

Thanks to anyone for answering my questions. Being away from home does not bother me. Dropping off the face of the world with some of my close friends online due to never being able to find wifi that works at truck stops does (Some of them are high school friends who live far away now). Truth be told? The biggest fear is that I'll have to say goodbye to these friends because I will be gone so long all the time. This worries me more than anything.