First Day at GFS

Discussion in 'LTL and Local Delivery Trucking Forum' started by Mike2633, Mar 2, 2015.

  1. Mike2633

    Mike2633 Road Train Member

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    So today was my first day at GFS. It wasn't that bad granted I was with a person who knew what he was doing, but we did just fine. 12 stops I don't know what our weight or stop count was, but we were pretty well cubed.

    We also did one hospital and that wasn't awful either with one guy it would have been more of a pain, but it was no big deal with two guys. We had to load everything on U-Boats and then we just took it all to the kitchen.

    The schools and hospitals got a ton of dry goods which are in big boxes, but not all that heavy.

    We did a ton of schools GFS does like every school district. They must have the pricing and the product offering that makes them really attractive to school districts and institutional places like that.

    Like I said we also did a hospital and the hospital was a dock stop and they got all kinds of dry goods, chips tea paper and plastic products we had 2 U-Boats for the hospital freezer 2 U-Boats for the hospital cooler and like 4-5 U-Boats stacked full of dry goods going to the hospital you know, plates, napkins, tea stuff like that.

    The dry goods some are not heavy and in general this food is heavy in some cases, but in other cases it isn't it all kind of depends, but today wasn't a bad day.

    Where I think the killer is though and where it gets heavy is not so much the schools (not that they can't be heavy) but the regular restaurants and pizza places. I worked at a pizza place for 4 years and yes our stuff was a tad on the heavy side.
     
    Last edited: Mar 2, 2015
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  3. Shaggy

    Shaggy Road Train Member

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    Sounds like you found a second home, GFS has nice equipment from a outsider looking in. Yins small guys adapt very well ( work smarter x3 )
    Have fun and marry a lunch lady :biggrin_255:
     
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  4. JColt

    JColt Bobtail Member

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    GFS delivers to our jail at the police dept I work at. Occasionally when C.O's are real busy I'll help the driver get into the jail for delivery. He really enjoys working for them. Course he's like 28 to 30 yrs old and can still move heavy stuff, lol.
     
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  5. Mike2633

    Mike2633 Road Train Member

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    We went to a jail today as a matter of fact. It's wasn't a bad day I rather enjoyed my self to be honest. The customers were nice, I got to see how the truck is loaded and how it all works. Learned a thing or two I liked it better then driving a beer truck I'll tell you that right now.
     
  6. Radman

    Radman Road Train Member

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    Yeah pizza joints are heavy. US Foods did a lot of Old Chicago pizza. Always got 100+ cases too. Yeah US foods did schools and Hospitals too. They can be a pain especially when they put the kitchen not near the dock. Wow 12 stops only must be Senior guys route. You know how that goes.
     
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  7. Mike2633

    Mike2633 Road Train Member

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    We had 16 stops today and our day was defiantly longer. I got to drive today and yuck. I'm like brand new again. I feel like it's my first time out again so disgusted with my self. These big tractors swing the trailers a lot further with a lot less spinning of the steering wheel. Working at the beer company our beer tractors were smaller and you could spin the wheels some and it wouldn't jack the trailer all around, but these bigger tandem axle tractors back the trailer with a lot less turning.

    My other problem is and this I'll get over on my own, but my shifting experience is weak I can manage, and I'll get better in time, but it's a struggle.
     
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  8. street beater

    street beater Road Train Member

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    I tip my hat to you food serv. Guys, that and beer/bev. Are about the only things i wouldnt want to ever do. That being said we have drivers that think im crazy for liking flats.... to each there own, at least your happy. :)
     
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  9. Shaggy

    Shaggy Road Train Member

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    Driving ( shifting ) will adapt to the equipment, chalk it up as learning on the flipping dang job, Just think of food as the extension of beverage. Lousy locations and have situational awareness, lunch ladies may need a quickie before show time :biggrin_25522:
     
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  10. Mike2633

    Mike2633 Road Train Member

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    Oh dear. Actually the one school gave us some cookies today they were actually really good chocolate chip cookies. Yeah tons of schools. Today we went to a meat store that order like I don't know a lot of meat and we had freezing ice rain which made everything an ice skating rink, I will say that all the keg experience I had doing beer has come in handy that is one thing the beer distributor got through correctly because when you're trying to hold back 300lbs of meat from dragging you down the ramp well it can get a little harry. You need a lot of control.

    Yeah I keep telling my self, after this doing beer and then working for GFS I'm done ha-ha I want not that they are always a picnic, but I want a road job, I've had enough parking lots full of cars and 16+ stops a day and dollys and ramps and skavanging the trailer for product.

    Actually that's one thing that isn't really a problem, the man who is training me and I have a real good, system I pretty much can see the GFS system so I understand how it works and how the truck is loaded basically how the products are seperated so like what happens is we get to a stop and I open up the trailer and then we go in and he'll attack the cooler and I'll attack the dry goods and then like say were waiting for someone to open the door or what ever say there's a delay, I'll go over to the side and climb up into the freezer and start attacking and staging the freezer. We had one stop today that was only 6 cans and we had the entire stop done in 10 minutes.

    My biggest thing though is I'm not used to this equipment the equipment we had at the beer distributor even our 28' trailers were different then this stuff, basically we used smaller tractors at the beer distributor and a lot of them were auto's because that's how the beverage business is, and now I've got to go through another not major learning curve, but I have to start over again. It's kind of why job hopping sucks in a way, not that it won't happen, but and this goes for me more then anyone else, but how often do you want to start over?

    Once you're on a route and you know what to do and all that happy crap, it does get easier.
    I will say this I like this job better then beer from a delivery stand point, some of the product is much lighter and the stops don't always take as long. Now like 6 cans that's the heaviest of the dry goods oh and water and stuff like that, but a lot of the dry is not always heavy and the food isn't nearly as breakable. A big box of potato chips is hard to break especially since they are all air.
     
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  11. Shaggy

    Shaggy Road Train Member

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    Doing a job many of us refuse to do, Not,because it's below our self value. Yins are just crazy folks love a true mental physical challenge. Keep writing these short novels. Fun reading. Think your already adapting well and just throwing out the tractor and trailers is the hard part lol Sly fox
     
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