EXHALE! Ranting and need to get it off my chest so it might not make a bunch of sense to you but i need to say my peace and get my POV as a truckers wife out...
Ok so as we all know back in April my husband began the journey to becoming an OTR Truck driver. I was SOOO Proud of him for taking that step and picking a career he could grow in. Little did we know he picked THE WRONG COMPANY to start this journey with.
To anyone making a decision about where to work in the future DO NOT GO TO Stevens Transport. Let me start from the beginning.
In order to be hired he had to complete CDL training. No problem. The training facility Georgia Driving Academy was located here in town which allowed him to be home a little everyday with our newborn child. Well they immediately put a end to that idea because he was initially forced to stay in a hotel. Not a nice hotel either, but a hotel where people were being robbed and shot, and a human trafficking organization was operating. (check the news). After about a week of training he ended up staying at home every night because someone at the school told him he was not supposed to be in the hotel anymore. Cool. We worked that out and i took him and picked him up when necessary cause that was what we were trying to do in the first place.
Now about the school. They gave him all sorts of crap about needing proof of employment and proof of income, etc, etc, etc. At one point i had to leave work and take copies of our tax documents from previous years to the school for the "secretary" (and i used that term loosely) to make copies and send them to Stevens, even though when he elected to start this process he was told none of these documents would be necessary. Even after we got that whole thing settled (had to provide three work references to validate him working...) he was still given a hard time. it was almost as if they were trying to weed him out of the program once he had already got a tab going.
Well he finished the CDL training and was licensed in May. Once Stevens found out he was licensed they wasted NO TIME getting their claws into him. He was licensed on a Tuesday and per Stevens request in Dallas, Texas at their facility by Friday. They provided a bus ticket immediately that required he take a two day bus to Texas. I didn't understand this either because a plane ticket from our local airport directly to Dallas/ Ft Worth would have been the same or cheaper, but i digress. Here is where the lies began to be revealed. My husband was told he would be paid $350.00 a week once in Texas for orientation and that meals would be provided.
After OTR training with a trainer the pay was to be .30 cent per mile and he would be a solo driver. What they had not shared was that most of the money earned would be going directly back to Stevens before it even hit the employees bank account because of all of the fees and rigmarole they came up with.
In Dallas, the hotel rooms were no better than the ones in town. They were bug infested with rude staff and no continental breakfast. The drivers were pretty much being sheltered at the cheapest thing the company could find. My husband even helped a man there after he was robbed at gunpoint and beaten.
The first day of orientation he found out he was not going to get paid immediately and there were few if any meals. Meals were provided with a meal ticket and they only provide those to certain trainees.
Once his orientation was over and he had jumped a few more hurdles he was finally OTR with his trainer. This was enough stress on its own. Now we had to add the fact that pay was limited with he was OTR to this equation. Did i mention we have a newborn? She needed things, i needed things, bills needed to be paid, and my income alone wasn't providing for everything (blessed with a little family assistance).
My husband was so ready to drive he completed with OTR training sooner than scheduled and got back to Stevens ready to be assigned a truck and sent back out as a solo driver. He finished training the end of June. He came home the first week of July, and then went back to Stevens to be assigned his truck. My husband sat in a hotel with no income, no food, and no explanation until August 2nd.
The first excuse they gave him was he had a medical hold. They forced him to take a sleep study and told him he had sleep Apnea, providing him a C-Pap machine all which he had to pay back to Stevens. He was told if he did not participate in the $900 study that he would be ineligible to drive. to hurry the process he was fine with this. Well the next few days went by and the story changed again. Now they said something was wrong with his license and he needed to come all the way back to Georgia to fix it. They provided him with a bus ticket the next day which they took out of his "pay" he wasn't receiving and told him it would be reimbursed once he returned to Stevens with the receipt. So from July 17- July 24 he was here in town taking care of that. We fixed the license and he was issued a new one (which i checked and NOTHING ON IT CHANGED!) and he returned once more to Stevens. Now he was on a safety hold. He was told because he had been on the yard so long after training (due to Stevens issues, not his own) he may be required to go through training again. At this point he was frustrated and i was getting angry. For almost two weeks my husband has gone back and forth with his "counselor" trying to figure what the hold up is and he was not driving. Not to mention there were other drivers in the hotels there that had been sitting for MONTHS with no work because they had not been put OTR for various reasons. When he asked for a ticket home because he found out that every day he sat in that hotel he would end up having to reimburse Stevens and it would be less expensive to wait on whatever he's waiting on at home he was told he couldn't get a ticket and if he left he was unable to work for someone else due to a binding contract. He was also told if he tried to work for another large company Stevens would sue them. Instead of a ticket home they gave him a list of bus ticket prices and sent him back to the hotel.
This is when my patience was completely done! My husband was turned out on to the street that same day. He was asked by hotel staff to leave barbecue Stevens would no longer be paying for his room. When he tried to speak with them about the situation no one at Stevens would assist him and his lack luster counselor was conveniently gone for the day. Did i mention that he had not been paid in all this time (i have my bank statements to prove it) and was unable to afford a bus ticket. Again the blessing of family and friends allowed for me to get him a ticket home that night on the Mega Bus and a Church member who just happens to live in the area in Texas gave him a ride to the station.
Im so done with Stevens transport and the way they treat their employees. There has got to be a be a solution that will work for everyone. I haven't even skimmed the surface of the issues that this company is providing its employees. There are multiple reviews online i wish i had known about before he went through this ordeal. Many of them detail the scammy nature of the company and from the drivers POV.
At this point i just want my husband to have gainful employment with the license and training he will eventually have to pay for. I want him to be able to use his skills to care for his family. This doesn't just affect him the driver, but me, and most importantly my daughter. Stevens Transport does not care about any of that. All of this for them is about a dollar.
This isn't the end of this i know. I will be filing grievances with the BBB and the DOL. I might go as far as alerting the DOT of some of their driving practices and making sure to tell anyone who wants to know not to deal with company.
I have gone through all the papers my husband brought home with him and i have yet to find a copy of his agreement with Stevens. I know he asked for a copy of it before he left, but was told it was not available. This is illegal BTW. UGH!
Stevens Transport, Inc. Reviews
EXHALE! Ranting and need to get it off my chest so it might not make a bunch of sense to you but i need to say my peace and get my POV as a truckers wife out...
Ok so as we all know back in April my husband began the journey to becoming an OTR Truck driver. I was SOOO Proud of him for taking that step and picking a career he could grow in. Little did we know he picked THE WRONG COMPANY to start this journey with.
To anyone making a decision about where to work in the future DO NOT GO TO Stevens Transport. Let me start from the beginning.
In order to be hired he had to complete CDL training. No problem. The training facility Georgia Driving Academy was located here in town which allowed him to be home a little everyday with our newborn child. Well they immediately put a end to that idea because he was initially forced to stay in a hotel. Not a nice hotel either, but a hotel where people were being robbed and shot, and a human trafficking organization was operating. (check the news). After about a week of training he ended up staying at home every night because someone at the school told him he was not supposed to be in the hotel anymore. Cool. We worked that out and i took him and picked him up when necessary cause that was what we were trying to do in the first place.
Now about the school. They gave him all sorts of crap about needing proof of employment and proof of income, etc, etc, etc. At one point i had to leave work and take copies of our tax documents from previous years to the school for the "secretary" (and i used that term loosely) to make copies and send them to Stevens, even though when he elected to start this process he was told none of these documents would be necessary. Even after we got that whole thing settled (had to provide three work references to validate him working...) he was still given a hard time. it was almost as if they were trying to weed him out of the program once he had already got a tab going.
Well he finished the CDL training and was licensed in May. Once Stevens found out he was licensed they wasted NO TIME getting their claws into him. He was licensed on a Tuesday and per Stevens request in Dallas, Texas at their facility by Friday. They provided a bus ticket immediately that required he take a two day bus to Texas. I didn't understand this either because a plane ticket from our local airport directly to Dallas/ Ft Worth would have been the same or cheaper, but i digress. Here is where the lies began to be revealed. My husband was told he would be paid $350.00 a week once in Texas for orientation and that meals would be provided.
After OTR training with a trainer the pay was to be .30 cent per mile and he would be a solo driver. What they had not shared was that most of the money earned would be going directly back to Stevens before it even hit the employees bank account because of all of the fees and rigmarole they came up with.
In Dallas, the hotel rooms were no better than the ones in town. They were bug infested with rude staff and no continental breakfast. The drivers were pretty much being sheltered at the cheapest thing the company could find. My husband even helped a man there after he was robbed at gunpoint and beaten.
The first day of orientation he found out he was not going to get paid immediately and there were few if any meals. Meals were provided with a meal ticket and they only provide those to certain trainees.
Once his orientation was over and he had jumped a few more hurdles he was finally OTR with his trainer. This was enough stress on its own. Now we had to add the fact that pay was limited with he was OTR to this equation. Did i mention we have a newborn? She needed things, i needed things, bills needed to be paid, and my income alone wasn't providing for everything (blessed with a little family assistance).
My husband was so ready to drive he completed with OTR training sooner than scheduled and got back to Stevens ready to be assigned a truck and sent back out as a solo driver. He finished training the end of June. He came home the first week of July, and then went back to Stevens to be assigned his truck. My husband sat in a hotel with no income, no food, and no explanation until August 2nd.
The first excuse they gave him was he had a medical hold. They forced him to take a sleep study and told him he had sleep Apnea, providing him a C-Pap machine all which he had to pay back to Stevens. He was told if he did not participate in the $900 study that he would be ineligible to drive. to hurry the process he was fine with this. Well the next few days went by and the story changed again. Now they said something was wrong with his license and he needed to come all the way back to Georgia to fix it. They provided him with a bus ticket the next day which they took out of his "pay" he wasn't receiving and told him it would be reimbursed once he returned to Stevens with the receipt. So from July 17- July 24 he was here in town taking care of that. We fixed the license and he was issued a new one (which i checked and NOTHING ON IT CHANGED!) and he returned once more to Stevens. Now he was on a safety hold. He was told because he had been on the yard so long after training (due to Stevens issues, not his own) he may be required to go through training again. At this point he was frustrated and i was getting angry. For almost two weeks my husband has gone back and forth with his "counselor" trying to figure what the hold up is and he was not driving. Not to mention there were other drivers in the hotels there that had been sitting for MONTHS with no work because they had not been put OTR for various reasons. When he asked for a ticket home because he found out that every day he sat in that hotel he would end up having to reimburse Stevens and it would be less expensive to wait on whatever he's waiting on at home he was told he couldn't get a ticket and if he left he was unable to work for someone else due to a binding contract. He was also told if he tried to work for another large company Stevens would sue them. Instead of a ticket home they gave him a list of bus ticket prices and sent him back to the hotel.
This is when my patience was completely done! My husband was turned out on to the street that same day. He was asked by hotel staff to leave barbecue Stevens would no longer be paying for his room. When he tried to speak with them about the situation no one at Stevens would assist him and his lack luster counselor was conveniently gone for the day. Did i mention that he had not been paid in all this time (i have my bank statements to prove it) and was unable to afford a bus ticket. Again the blessing of family and friends allowed for me to get him a ticket home that night on the Mega Bus and a Church member who just happens to live in the area in Texas gave him a ride to the station.
Im so done with Stevens transport and the way they treat their employees. There has got to be a be a solution that will work for everyone. I haven't even skimmed the surface of the issues that this company is providing its employees. There are multiple reviews online i wish i had known about before he went through this ordeal. Many of them detail the scammy nature of the company and from the drivers POV.
At this point i just want my husband to have gainful employment with the license and training he will eventually have to pay for. I want him to be able to use his skills to care for his family. This doesn't just affect him the driver, but me, and most importantly my daughter. Stevens Transport does not care about any of that. All of this for them is about a dollar.
This isn't the end of this i know. I will be filing grievances with the BBB and the DOL. I might go as far as alerting the DOT of some of their driving practices and making sure to tell anyone who wants to know not to deal with company.
I have gone through all the papers my husband brought home with him and i have yet to find a copy of his agreement with Stevens. I know he asked for a copy of it before he left, but was told it was not available. This is illegal BTW. UGH!