Stevens Transport stevens paid less than the minimum, 350.00 a week I could't afford to take care of my family. Houston Texas

My husband is currently in the trainee/trainee phase of employment at Stevens. When he first inquired with the company he was informed of the $350 weekly training pay for both the 5 weeks with the trainer and for the duration of the trainee program. Stevens informs all new people of this. To those of you that are making complaints regarding this low pay, all I can say is that you knew before you signed on that it was going to be rough on your finances, and if you spouse didn't have a decent paying job that the bills wouldn't get paid. This is not the fault of the company that your cars got repoed and you had to borrow money. It is your fault for not thinking ahead.
I do agree that some of the things that have gone on during this "training" have been very difficult to understand and that the company was not entirely honest and left out many details, such as paying outrageous "lumper fees" when you get unloaded at the receivers. And the fact that you have to take an advance to pay these and the tolls. My husband netted $42 last week.
What is boils down to is that people need to sit down and do the math before quitting any job to take another, not place the blame where it shouldn't be.

I am looking at different companies who offer training, because I want to enter into the industry. I have been to their website and read their info. It states that they finance for food. They state how much they are going to pay you. So you should know that they are doing to take the money out of your checks.

When you were getting paid $350 a week , that was your training pay.
Most if not all trucking companies , pay along this line .

My husband received $300 a week , which minus child support and taxes etc , some weeks his check was only $12 !
BUT its only for 4 weeks !!
Your gonna have some tough times , but its definitely worth it .
This was a little over a year ago , my husband is now a trainer himself and makes well over $1000 a week .

He gets plenty of miles , and always has .
And as he says , the guys who complain about not getting any miles are the same ones who think they should be home every weekend !
If your willing to stay out 4-6 weeks at a stretch , truck driving can be an excellent and lucrative career choice .

The other person is also correct in that showers are something you never should have to pay for , when your with your trainer , they purchase the fuel on their card and do receive showers for that , and any time a trainer asks , he is given an extra shower for the trainee .

Food can get expensive , learn to eat off the dollar menu during training .
It isnt the trainer or the company's responsibility to feed you .

Whiners will never make it in the trucking industry , you have to have initiative , the ability to solve problems for yourself , and some backbone , without this your just another truck training dropout !

No one can live on 350.00 a week. Thats poverty wages. Groundcontrol you have your head in the dirt like an ostrich!!!
Most of the trucking compnies are a RIP OFF, PERIOD!!

Sorry to hear that you had a bad experience with Stevens, but how do you feel that you were ripped off? I went through that same training program a few months ago and can attest that every trainee I know was paid a salary of $350 per week (before taxes and employee authorized deductions, such as insurance). The money you spent while on the road was, of course, your responsibility. Your post seems to imply that you think Stevens should have been responsible for covering all of your expenses. I don't know of any trucking company in the country that will do that.

Why did you have to pay for showers? Every truck stop will provide drivers with free showers when they purchase fuel, and if you drive as a team they will give showers to both drivers. In the 6 months that I have been on the road I have never paid for a shower.

I agree that $350 per week is a very low salary, and it's really tough to get by on it, especially when you are trying to support a wife and kids at home. But let's be honest here, Stevens paid you what you were promised, it is not the companies fault that you were unable to cover your bills, that responsibility falls on you.