Truck Driving Jobs

solo379 · Joined: 14 Feb 2004 Posts: 3162

Patrick, spending time on a road, is not neseserely means making money! I'm home every weekend, for the last 7 years, and making more, well, a lot more 8) , then when i was out for 2-3 weeks at a time! :wink:

littleman2 · Joined: 03 Jul 2004 Posts: 1954 Location: Washington State

darn strait Solo I have made more money doing my local work then I did being out 2-3 weeks at time as well. plus I am home every night and weekends off.

Patrick · Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2004 8:04 pm Post subject:

See - this is where people need to remember that each one of us have our own priorities. I WANT to be out on the road a lot. Not just to make money, but to see stuff and drive. I actually do LOVE to drive ... A LOT. Stevens has claimed, and nobody I've come across has refuted, that they have the most average weekly miles of any company that will hire and train people with no experience at all. I don't want to be on a dedicated short haul run at this point in my life. I want to drive all over the place - Mexico - Canada - New York City even! I have no home or family to come back to so I will frequently be taking my days off wherever I am, renting some cheap car and a hotel room and seeing the sites of whatever town/area I'm at. That is what I want.

Based on my desires - does anyone here think Stevens is not a good way to go? Any better companies that will train, provide new - well maintained equipment, and give me the most miles?

But I do appreciate your input. And maybe sometime in the future - after I have a few miles under my belt - I may get a little place to call my own and find someone to live there with me and at that time I might want a nice, high paying, local run so I can be home with a hot meal and a big bed every night. It is just where I'm at right now in my life.

littleman2 · Joined: 03 Jul 2004 Posts: 1954 Location: Washington State

well the way you put it you would be happy any were with any company. Just make sure they take care of you. the only person looking out for you is the one who you see in the mirror.

redsunn21 · Joined: 20 Jun 2004 Posts: 187 Location: N'awlins

From my company searching and talking to recruiters,this is what I was told each company starts at after being with a trainer:

Stevens: .25 mile

CR England: .24 mile

Werner: .24 mile

USA Truck: .24 mile

Roehl: .26 mile

USF Glem Moore: .28 mile

Schneider: .25 mile

US Xpress: .25 mile

Swift: .25 mile

These are all dry van rates.I have a more detailed list if you want to see it.

Sleeves · Joined: 28 May 2004 Posts: 63

If you like to stay out and do coast to coast running you might give SRT (Southern Refridgerated Transport) a call. I drove for them for a while. The home time issue was my biggest problem but doesn't seem to be yours. I ran alot of east west loads and always had good mileage. Their trucks are also newer and well kept. All in all I liked the company and the people I worked with.

I will say one thing about SRT. They haven't changed their web site one bit in a very long time. :D
http://www.southernref.com/

CAD lays it out a little better.
http://www.classadrivers.com/truckingcompanies.php?Cid=62

Steven's, i tried them and left during orientation. far to much BS in their over all package and their pay was below most others to start and far to low after one year.

Quote: For company drivers - is the mileage calculated hub to hub or book? First off and unless I have been wrong for a long time. There is no hub to hub. It is your trucks hub mileage. It is calculated using a mileage calculator attached to one of the drive hubs on your tractor. It is actual miles driven. last I heard is Stevens pays Household movers guide. The worst of the worst when it comes to being shorted miles. No matter whta you will always drive more than paid but HHG is the worse.

Quote: Does Stevens require trainees to pay for the training up front and then reimburse over a period of time? Not if you train at their school. But you will be commited to them for 2 years or you will be charged a large sum of money when you quit early.

Quote: Where are Stevens Operation Centers? Training Centers? Only one that I ever knew of. Just outside of Dalls.

Quote: Their website doesn't say what kind of "no touch" freight or "hook & go??" ratio they have for driving. Are they known for lots of driver assisted loading/unloading? They use to and most likely still advocate drivers unloading and making the money doing it as opposed to hiring lumpers. It was suppose to be a great incentive and increaee in pay if you did it yourself. Since they pay drivers less to do the work than they did lumpers I wasn't excited about it at all.

Thats what I know froma brief 4 day stay during orientation. It was enough for me to leave. Others didn't mind and stayed.

Patrick · Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2004 2:55 pm Post subject:

Sleeves wrote: If you like to stay out and do coast to coast running you might give SRT (Southern Refridgerated Transport) a call. I drove for them for a while. The home time issue was my biggest problem but doesn't seem to be yours. I ran alot of east west loads and always had good mileage. Their trucks are also newer and well kept. All in all I liked the company and the people I worked with.

I will say one thing about SRT. They haven't changed their web site one bit in a very long time. :D
http://www.southernref.com/

CAD lays it out a little better.
http://www.classadrivers.com/truckingcompanies.php?Cid=62

Steven's, i tried them and left during orientation. far to much BS in their over all package and their pay was below most others to start and far to low after one year.

Quote: For company drivers - is the mileage calculated hub to hub or book? First off and unless I have been wrong for a long time. There is no hub to hub. It is your trucks hub mileage. It is calculated using a mileage calculator attached to one of the drive hubs on your tractor. It is actual miles driven. last I heard is Stevens pays Household movers guide. The worst of the worst when it comes to being shorted miles. No matter whta you will always drive more than paid but HHG is the worse.

Quote: Does Stevens require trainees to pay for the training up front and then reimburse over a period of time? Not if you train at their school. But you will be commited to them for 2 years or you will be charged a large sum of money when you quit early.

Quote: Where are Stevens Operation Centers? Training Centers? Only one that I ever knew of. Just outside of Dalls.

Quote: Their website doesn't say what kind of "no touch" freight or "hook & go??" ratio they have for driving. Are they known for lots of driver assisted loading/unloading? They use to and most likely still advocate drivers unloading and making the money doing it as opposed to hiring lumpers. It was suppose to be a great incentive and increaee in pay if you did it yourself. Since they pay drivers less to do the work than they did lumpers I wasn't excited about it at all.

Thats what I know froma brief 4 day stay during orientation. It was enough for me to leave. Others didn't mind and stayed.

Damn if I'm gonna start sounding like a recruiter here!

Okay, here are some things I've learned after starting the application process with Stevens.

Answers are coming from Theresa Adams out of their Dallas, TX HQ.

How do they calculate their miles?
- They use Rand McNally to calculate their miles. I'm not sure if this is better than Household Movers but if Household is the worst then Rand has to be a little better at least.

Commitment for training for CDL?
- They used to require 2 years that they would prorate. Now they have the industry standard 1 year commitment. Any shorter than 1 year and the student/employee is liable to pay for the entire amount of training. How much? Not sure - still checking into it.

Where are Stevens Offices/OC's? - According to their recruitment flier posted on the internet here they are out of the following locations:
Atlanta, Georgia
Columbus, Ohio
Salt Lake City, Utah
Jackson, Louisiana
Lexington, Kentucky
Ontario, Canada
San Antonio, Texas
Warren, Ohio
Chicago, Illinois
Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Houston, Texas
Laredo, Texas
New Orleans, Louisiana
Greenville, South Carolina
St. Joseph, Minnesota
Yakima, Washington
Dallas, Texas - Corporate Headquarters

I'm not positively sure if this list is still completely accurate, I'm not sure how old the posted recruitment pamphlet is.

No-Touch ... Drop & Hook: - They say they pay for all lumper, but will pay you if you want to unload. What exactly this means - I'm not sure. I have been told by one of their drivers that they will pay whatever the lumper asks for to do the work. If you want to do it they will pay you reasonably.

As for SRT - They sound top of the line. I would consider them seriously instead of Stevens, except they do not pay for or provide training for a rookie like me. So maybe after a year with Stevens I'll keep my options open.

Patrick · Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2004 10:19 pm Post subject:

Okay - lots of people are talking about the Physical Agility Test (PAT) of companies when they hire. Anyone know anything about the PAT (if any) given by Stevens Transport?

So far I'm still on track to start training with Stevens on the 20th in Dallas. I'll try to keep everyone updated about what happens - but I don't promise a journal :wink:

Guest · Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2004 9:08 am Post subject: re

Good Luck Patrick

Thanks for all the info on Stevens.

Hubby and I are looking to do the same as you. Only difference is we will have to put some roots down where ever our daughter chooses to go to college. For holidays, boyfriend bashing, the normal parent things. LOL

Try to keep posting, stay focused, and remember this is all about you.

Patrick · Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2004 12:46 pm Post subject: Re: re

snow1 wrote: Good Luck Patrick

Thanks for all the info on Stevens.

Hubby and I are looking to do the same as you. Only difference is we will have to put some roots down where ever our daughter chooses to go to college. For holidays, boyfriend bashing, the normal parent things. LOL

Try to keep posting, stay focused, and remember this is all about you.

Hey there snow1, are you both going to team drive? I'm not sure that Stevens is the place to go when you want to spend a bit of time with the family, based on my limited research. Are you an O/O team?

Guest · Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2004 2:17 pm Post subject: re

Hey Patrick, no we are not an o/o team. We will be going to training together in about a year. Then we will team together.

We have also tried explaining to people that being on the road/traveling is what we want to do. I was told that trucking is not a vacation. You see the sights through the windshield. Go figure. Read thread Hello by me.

When I said that we would need to put roots down somewhere, I meant we aren't picky. It'll depend on where our daughter chooses to go to college. She will be the one actually living in the "family" home.

While she's in school, we're planning on spend as much time on the road as possible. Figuring in 6 years we can see a lot. But we would like to be home for the big holidays or close to it.

BTW where in Southern Cali are you from. We're in the Central Valley between Bakersfield and Fresno??

Patrick · Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2004 3:02 pm Post subject:

Well - it sounds like you know what you want and need out of this kind of job. Reasonable expectations seem to be the best qualification a person can have for this line of work.

Right now I'm based out of the quiet mountain town of Crestline - situated just east of Los Angeles, nestled in the San Bernardino Mountains.

dnc915 · Joined: 11 Aug 2004 Posts: 75 Location: Springfield, Mo

Well Patrick I hope you really enjoy driving. And dont listen to all the complaints most of these guys are just trying to help. But you have to do what you want

Patrick · Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2004 3:48 pm Post subject: Re: Good Luck

dnc915 wrote: Well Patrick I hope you really enjoy driving. And dont listen to all the complaints most of these guys are just trying to help. But you have to do what you want

Thanks dnc915,

You're absolutely right. I'm thankful and appreciative of all the "advice" others have offered. I know my priorities are not necessarily the same as others so I take into consideration all points of view. I'm still a bit nervous and I hope I haven't made a wrong choice - but I do love to drive, I don't have to worry about being home on a regular basis, and I want that newer and hopefully more reliable ride.

Wish me luck!

Patrick · Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2004 4:01 pm Post subject:

Okay ... I started a blog (web journal). I'm sure it will end up in the ever growing heap of abandoned blogs rusting on the side of the information superhighway.

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