Got Prehired By Stevens Transport

Flew down to Tampa and enrolled in Tampa Truck Driving School. In order for the school to take me I had to have a prehire from one of the affiliated companies that they work with.

Since I have a squeaky clean backround and driving history my recruiter told me that I qualify for Stevens. I got on the phone with Stevens while they ran my criminal and driving record and was told that i was all clear and "Welcome Aboard".

I have to go in to get my physical and drug test and so long as all is clear I start school on 1/9. School is 3 weeks and upon graduation I go out to Dallas Texas for orientation at Stevens.

If anyone has any knowledge or feedback on the company I'd greatly appreciate it.

Flew down to Tampa and enrolled in Tampa Truck Driving School. In order for the school to take me I had to have a prehire from one of the affiliated companies that they work with.

Since I have a squeaky clean backround and driving history my recruiter told me that I qualify for Stevens. I got on the phone with Stevens while they ran my criminal and driving record and was told that i was all clear and "Welcome Aboard".

I have to go in to get my physical and drug test and so long as all is clear I start school on 1/9. School is 3 weeks and upon graduation I go out to Dallas Texas for orientation at Stevens.

If anyone has any knowledge or feedback on the company I'd greatly appreciate it.

I am a Stevens Transport driver, who got my CDL from a independent school like you seem to have done.

They will drug test you again.

They will do their own DOT physical on you.

You will work 14 hour days during orientation for 3 or 4 days, so don't putz around after class. Get back to the hotel, and sleep.

Make sure the recruiter sends you a list of things to bring with you to orientation. Several recruiters did not provide those lists to my classmates. Mine did, fortunately.

Do not wait for the last shuttle to get you to class on time, because there usually aren't enough seats, and some late-risers are late every day. That's not the attention you want.

Bring your 10-year MVR and work history with you. A copy of your birth certificate & social security card as well.

If you get a CDL in a state that gives a paper, temporary CDL before they mail you a full CDL, make certain someone will get that CDL and forward it to Stevens, or to you. I had issues with my temporary CDL because I do not live near friends or family in GA, so getting my permanent CDL meant me leaving one trainer's truck and interrupting training for a week before I got on the next trainer's truck.

Stevens tries a hard sell on lease operation, even to new drivers. Don't do it. You don't know enough, and even if you did, you won't make much more money, if any. If you decide to become a trainer after a year or so with a good driving record, those numbers look better for a lease operator, but that requires being a trainer, which a lot of people simply aren't cut out for. I'm definitely not. If you are, it might be worth looking into.

Stevens does offer LOTS of field support to new drivers, even after being in the truck with a trainer. I am very happy with what I've learned here and the support I've received, even if I am less than thrilled by the fact that there is no raise for the first year. I'm still making 30 CPM , but I'm staying here to finish out a year, so I can go get better pay elsewhere and not have to spend more time in a 10x10 box with another trainer.

It's even possible that I might stay with Stevens if they raise my pay to 46+ CPM after my 1 year anniversary, but I doubt they will. They are a training company. It is their business model to train drivers, have them work cheap for a half year to a year, then wave goodbye as the experienced drivers go get better paying jobs. I bust my butt though, and I know Stevens will try to retain some good drivers with better pay than typical. If that happens with me, I might accept it, though Crete and Knight are looking damn good from my current seat.

Thanks for the advice. I'm still weighing my options and have till first week of January to make a decision. I will continue to do research to make sure Stevens is the right choice for me. What concerned me is the low cpm and lower than average training pay. Which means i can go 3+ months before I start seeing somewhat decent money coming in.

Thanks for the advice. I'm still weighing my options and have till first week of January to make a decision. I will continue to do research to make sure Stevens is the right choice for me. What concerned me is the low cpm and lower than average training pay. Which means i can go 3+ months before I start seeing somewhat decent money coming in.

This is true. From what I have seen, however, Stevens might pay less, but they train better, and offer new drivers better support. If you do a good job for Stevens, you will have absolutely no problem getting hired on by practically any carrier after six months to a year. Stevens company trucks are also all supplied with APUs and 1500 watt inverters, and the fleet is moving to fully automatic, though a lot of the training fleet is still manual at this time.

CPM:

Cents Per Mile

Drivers are often paid by the mile and it's given in cents per mile, or cpm.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

APUs:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

After watching some independent reviews by current Stevens drivers, one guy stated that their advertised yearly salary isnt really accurate. He stated that if you're looking clear even 40k/year you'd have to run about 3 months straight at a time. He mentioned how if you're looking to get home every 3-4 weeks, you'll get shorter routes with less mileage.

Any truth to this from your experience?

He stated that if you're looking clear even 40k/year you'd have to run about 3 months straight at a time. He mentioned how if you're looking to get home every 3-4 weeks, you'll get shorter routes with less mileage.

Any truth to this from your experience?

See, new drivers are pretty bad at time management in the beginning. It takes quite a while to become good at it. It's not just a matter of managing your available logbook hours, but you have to manage traffic, weather, appointment schedules, breakdowns, meals, showers, scaling, and a million other things.

Not only that, but to turn 2,800+ miles per week you're going to have to learn how to get some loads picked up and delivered ahead of schedule sometimes and how to lobby dispatch for more miles.

So a lot of new drivers get the impression you have to run for very long periods of time without any home time if you want to turn big miles. They simply haven't figured out all the tricks yet. I was in a regional division with US Xpress years ago and I averaged over 3,000 miles per week and I was home every weekend. It isn't easy, of course, but it's plenty doable. So no, you don't have to stay out for months at a time to turn big miles. Once you've proven that you're hard working, safe, reliable, and you've learned a long list of techniques experienced drivers use to turn more miles you'll be able to turn 3,000+ per week and still be home at least every two or three weeks, not two or three months.

After watching some independent reviews by current Stevens drivers, one guy stated that their advertised yearly salary isnt really accurate. He stated that if you're looking clear even 40k/year you'd have to run about 3 months straight at a time. He mentioned how if you're looking to get home every 3-4 weeks, you'll get shorter routes with less mileage.

Any truth to this from your experience?

Well, I haven't gotten a W2 from Stevens yet, and I'm not going to add up all 83 of my trip payouts for you, but I'm averaging around 10,000 miles per month, and I've been going home for 4-5 days every 5-6 weeks.

So, including time off, and not including things like detention pay, holdover pay, school visits, etc, I'm making about $3000 per month, or 36,000 per year. It wouldn't be a stretch to say I could make up most of the difference between 36,000 and 40,000 with other income over the course of the whole year.

However, I do push for miles, fairly aggressively, in every way I can, and use up as much of my driving clock as I can manage, every day when I do have miles.

I'm averaging around 10,000 miles per month.......and use up as much of my driving clock as I can manage, every day when I do have miles

You still have plenty of time available on your logbook to turn quite a few more miles if you can get dispatch to hand them over. If you're staying out 5 - 6 weeks at a time you should be averaging right at 3,000 miles per week when you're running. Even with the time off you should be able to get in the range of 12,000 miles per month. Make sure you make all of your appointments on time, squeeze every minute you can out of that logbook, and keep lobbying dispatch for more miles. Let em know that 2,500 per week isn't enough anymore with the experience and performance you've shown to date.

In fact, since Stevens does pay less per mile than a lot of companies I would let them know in the most professional and genuine way that they're putting you in a spot where you're almost going to have to leave to look for greener pastures once your contract is up if they're not going to pay you more per mile and you're only averaging 2,500 miles per week to boot. You might have to be the squeaky wheel a little bit to get them to ratchet up the miles.

I'm averaging around 10,000 miles per month.......and use up as much of my driving clock as I can manage, every day when I do have miles

You still have plenty of time available on your logbook to turn quite a few more miles if you can get dispatch to hand them over. If you're staying out 5 - 6 weeks at a time you should be averaging right at 3,000 miles per week when you're running. Even with the time off you should be able to get in the range of 12,000 miles per month. Make sure you make all of your appointments on time, squeeze every minute you can out of that logbook, and keep lobbying dispatch for more miles. Let em know that 2,500 per week isn't enough anymore with the experience and performance you've shown to date.

In fact, since Stevens does pay less per mile than a lot of companies I would let them know in the most professional and genuine way that they're putting you in a spot where you're almost going to have to leave to look for greener pastures once your contract is up if they're not going to pay you more per mile and you're only averaging 2,500 miles per week to boot. You might have to be the squeaky wheel a little bit to get them to ratchet up the miles.

Heh. I get squeaky with them very regularly. The average Stevens Transport driver only drives about 70% of the miles I do. I have managed two 12,000 mile months. My first four months were in the 8000-9000 mile range

I don't have a contract with Stevens, because I got a grant for my school, so I can leave whenever I want. After one year is up, I will be having that conversation with Stevens, for certain, both for CPM , and for miles.

It's even possible that I might stay with Stevens if they raise my pay to 46+ CPM after my 1 year anniversary, but I doubt they will. They are a training company. It is their business model to train drivers, have them work cheap for a half year to a year, then wave goodbye as the experienced drivers go get better paying jobs.

Hey Bob, You've been around here long enough to know better than to make a statement like that. That is your OPINION! You know what they say about opinions.