Steve Tate & Kelli Lyon

“HDS has made all the difference in our lives! We were struggling after a ‘friend’ invited us to help grow his business & ended up leaving us stranded in another state with no way out, but by the grace of God! We were so upset & frustrated that at our age (both in our 50’s) we were not able to support ourselves, always stressed just to make enough income for basic living needs (and many times not even that), & not having any time with each other! Years before we had seriously thought about going to a trucking school, but there was always something stopping us. Now with no jobs, no home, only our car, cat, & few personal effects, we had nothing to lose! We made the calls to different trucking schools & found HDS to fit our needs the best & found out that there was even student loans & grants available to nearly anyone. Finally, it was THE opportunity to become professional team truck drivers together. This was our revelation…it was literally a lifeline to our future! The school put us through our paces, but we took advantage of every opportunity to be there & learn. We didn’t miss a day of school, nor the open houses, & even participated in school potlucks there. Each of us excelled in our own respects & found our own niches. We both took from each instructor massive amounts of information & personal knowledge. We got to know some of the other students in our class & still maintain good relationships with them & the HDS/DSW staff. Toward the end of the class duration we were asked to make a pre-trip video, which they use in current classes today further growing our confidence in our own abilities. It seemed everyone from the accounting department to the director of the school had high hopes for us. We would be stopped daily & reminded that if needed anything to just call or reach out to them & they would be there! Likewise, when we had graduated, everyone celebrated our victories with us! We decided to work for DSW because we both liked the idea of working for a smaller company (with a big heart). We weren’t a number! They made sure we had everything we needed to be successful with daily contact & answer any questions we might have. The higher income immediately helped us. We could see how much the industry needed drivers…especially during COVID times! We even were asked to do some humanitarian work for the Navajo Nation driving medical supplies to Window Rock, AZ. What an honor that was & reinforced our opinion that we work for an awesome company that truly cares! We have grown so much from our hatchling stage a year ago. We are still learning from the road & gain new understandings each & every day we drive striving for excellence & to represent DSW well. Just today, I observed that I earned on my last paycheck as much money as I would’ve made in an entire month of toiling at a minimum wage job that offered no hope of advancing position or rewarding me for my good customer service skills. Along with the fact that my honey & I get to work together, our combined incomes will allow us to finally get married & buy property together. This is the financial freedom we were hoping for! I encourage anyone who loves to drive, see new parts of the country never seen before, and who is willing to step up to a much needed occupation to take this opportunity! You won’t regret it!”