Stevens Transport I got fired based on the assumptions of my "feelings" Dallas Texas

The problem nowadays is that there is so much of a monopoly within this industry the days of the many mom and pop places for guys to go is over most of them wont even touch you without 2 years experience unless your a family friend or relative. If you are lucky enough to find one then keep them because they probaly understand trucking and wont run you into bad situations and will understand that stuff happens. Dont get me wrong the major companies out there are not all bad they have their ups and downs but unfortunatly if you are let go from one then it makes is next to impossible to get employeed because they all say that you need 6 months with another company without being terminated even with a good record before they can touch you, well if all the major companies have a clause where if you are terminated from your last driving job and they cannot hire then how the heck can you even get on with anyone to do the 6 months. It is a strange industry out there nowadays......I will not sit here and gripe and b***h and moan because each company has its strong points and each has its down points unless it is Knight Transportation then they have NO strong points just down points. But companies like Stevens, Prime, etc. do have some favorable aspects and just because one person did not have a good run of things there does not mean it will be the same for everyone.

Like others out there who cannot recruit drivers from the experienced pool of job seekers, Stevens Transport dips from the pool of people who are completely unaware of the conditions that await them in the world of trucking.

They rush warm bodies through their carbon copy, ten week wondrous training program, cramming what should take months to learn, and expect there to be little or no mistakes made when they proclaim them to be trained. They pay people peanuts in the process, caring little about the fact that while they are in training, little or no spendable income is realized by those working for them.

Many, if not most of those who sit on high, in those offices assigned to them when they are hired as safety personnel, most likely have never so much as turned they ignition key of a class eight truck, yet they seem to know when it's time to pull the plug on an employee. Is it any wonder why those who are aware of the industry trends avoid companies like this?

I'm deeply disturbed by this company for a couple of reasons. "Hungry" is one of many, whose stories outline a company that is in the business of ruining lives, through legal means of dashing the hopes of people who are eager to enter the industry, and are let go because they made errors in driving a vehicle ten times the size of those they have operated previously, with limited experience behind the wheel.

I have been a driver for more than three decades, and when I look back at my first year as a driver, I wince. I remember a dozen incidents/accidents, not all my fault mind you, but it was a record that I would have never achieved working for some of these companies today, because far too many people in charge of them adopt an unrealistic attitude that mistakes are totally preventable. Some for sure are preventable, but we all live in a fast paced world, where impatience rules the roost, and the demands of the job as a truck driver can be utterly frustrating. When pushed to perform at the unrealistic paces that are demanded, mistakes and errors are going to occur.

Thankfully, my first truck driving job out here was working for a man who knew what it was like out there on the roads, he overlooked my mistakes, as numerous as they were that first year, and kept me on the job. I stayed with his company for eight years until he closed the doors on the place to retire.

The other disturbing thing when reading "Hungry's" report, and more telling of the unabashed disregard that Stevens Transport has for people, in their quest to make money off the backs of the inexperienced, is that they rope them into leasing a truck from them, knowing that a man with ten weeks of experience has no clue whatsoever, or insight into the costs associated with, the operation of a truck as an independent contractor. I won't even get into the details of the deductions they charge that are over the top and a rip-off of immense proportions, It's shameful enough that they would allow someone without at least a few years experience to enter into such an arrangement, and it needs to be exposed for what it is. It's a scam.

The scam involves transferring all fixed and variable costs of operating that truck from the company to the driver of their equipment in a legal maneuver to avoid the taxes and benefits that are usually afforded an employee. Calling them independent contractors on paper doesn't change what they are in reality.

No one should enter into a contract to lease a truck from any company, and this goes for those that have driven for decades. Why? Because the simple fact is, there is no leasing program out there that I have studied to date, that was ever skewed in favor of the driver, and every company that offers these programs hold all the strings on the driver like a puppet. There's nothing "independent" about the arrangement. The companies win all the benefits, and they prosper tremendously every time they get people to sign up for them.

Stevens Transport took a seven month bite out of this man's hind end, and due to the manner in which he was terminated, he has lost his livelihood, his mode of transportation, and is now virtually unemployable as a driver due to his inexperience and record of mistakes that Stevens has surely charged him with. He took all the chances on them, entered into irrevocable contracts on his part, but they canceled all those contracts without any hesitation. And the insult is that he must pay them even more to recover his personal possessions. Who in their right mind would want to be treated like this?

Folks, I have a die hard rule when it comes to trucking companies. If you see them continuously advertise for drivers, and/or if they run a training camp for the inexperienced, it is for no reason that they find themselves in constant need of drivers. They are offering sub-standard pay for sub-standard working conditions that surround those driving jobs.

There are better ways to enter the industry, and they start in your local area. Explore the community colleges near your home that offer truck driver training courses. The costs will be cheaper, the financing as easy to obtain to pay for them, the training will be far superior, and they tend to work with a better class of trucking companies, as a general rule.

"Hungry", I wish you the best of luck, and my heart goes out to you for what you have experienced at the hands of this heartless and well known abuser of a company. My hope is that at least one person who reads your story avoids them if they are considering them as a viable option. If so, then at least a partial justice has been served.

Companies like this put a black eye on the trucking industry, and they and many more like them, need to find some other way to profit for a living. I'm a capitalist, born and bred, but there are limits to everything. They will never garner my interest, and I pray daily that they fail to draw interest from others.