Any Pepsi drivers out there?

Very good write-up Trav1289. I will say you are on point as to the life of a new Pepsi driver. I can tell you it will get easier and your days will get shorter as time goes on. After you get a good grasp on all the different products and stops that you deliver to, you learn and develop little short cuts that will over the course of a day save you those extra 2 hours a day that you need to eliminate. I assume that at your location you bid on your routes every morning? If that is the case, then it will take many months just to learn all the different routes/stops that are serviced out of your warehouse. Once you do learn the stops you know how each stop likes things done and the fast way to do it. You also get to know the employees at the stops and they will ease up on you and let you get away with doing less work. I can tell you that after 20 years with Pepsi, there are very few accounts that I have to "work" the product or even get checked in because they know me and trust me. I do know it is tough being a new guy at this job. There are times even now that I will go to a stop that I haven't been to in years and I will get treated like a "new guy", but once they see that I know what I am doing they will ease up and let me do my thing. My days are about the same as yours with 12-16 stops and 350-550 cases. It is usually a 8-10 hour day for me. My best advice for you is to talk with the more senior guys about your route each day and ask if there are any tricks or shortcuts that you can get away with at each stop. Things like "this stop won't check you in" or "this stop will let you drop you stacks in the cooler and they will work it" or "get to that stop at such and such time because they wont be busy at the register". Things like that will save you the time you need to make this job bearable and allow you to have a life outside of the world of Pepsi-Cola.

 

No bidding goes on. We all have our own route, and mine is one that was manned by a former vet that was well liked, so a lot stops kinda grumble they got a new guy now when they had a good guy with experience. Im a person who is hard in himself, a perfectionist I guess I could be called, and this job does make me get down on myself. Not being fast enough is what really eats at me, I know some things just take time, but it gets frustrating being out there 12 hours a day. If this job was a 4 days on 3 days off I would be ok with it. I hate when I bring a store back because I was not able to make the time window, I wont lie this job is becoming more of a resume builder then a long term job.

4 more days until weekend.

 

Trav it took me 10 months 10 months to become a decent beer truck driver and for the lights to really come on and guess what the minute they did I ended up getting another job at Gordon Food Service and now come Monday morning it's back to square one I really got to knock this crap off of starting something new once I get the hang of something. I keep telling my self at this point for better or worse stick it out at GFS and make it happen can't keep starting over.

However for you it's different I think Pepsi is a good start, and trust me 6-10 months it will get better it does take about 10 months for the lights to kick on that was my experience. I was working 50 hours a week to at the beer truck company, and my days were long, but over time they started to come down.

Like I said 10 months or so. My big thing though was "I really think I should be using my CDL for more" which is why I got out of beer hauling. To many carriers out there and options. The beverage business has some things about it that I really don't care for and I'm talking beyond the truck driving part. Being a sales rep at any beverage distributor is an awful job you're forced to sell things into stores that you know the stores would never buy and aren't going to sell. The stores get all crabby because they are strong armed into taking the stuff then the display or whatever is built and then 21-30 days later the stuff all gets close dated and goes back to the warehouse and left for dead.

When I quit at the beer distributor they asked me if there was any other part of the company I could work for or wanted to work in and I would have liked to try working in the sales department, but I would want to do it the right way not the unethical shaddy way that a lot of beverage companies run there sales departments and that didn't sit right with me.

The beverage business really doesn't get my motor going one way or another. It's not a bad job once you get the hang of it being a city delivery driver, and really its a good job for someone who is at the beginning or mid end of there driving career or maybe had some big time driving jobs made there money and now just wants to pedal around town and be home. It's a good job for that, but for guys like you and I (also 26) it's a good start, but I also think you know I should probably long term be utilizing my license better then this.

 

I applied for a Bay truck position over a month ago, and i had a face to face, a contingent offer.... did the drug, background and physical tests over two weeks ago, is it normal for them to take this long to get the results, i KNOW everything will be clean, but does it sound like im in good shape to get the job? Im trying to be patient but i really need this job!

 

I would give them a call and just asked them if they filled the position or if you are still a contender for the job. If you are, then ask them if they know how long before they plan to fill the position. Never hurts to let them know you are still interested and eager to get the job.

 

Isn't that the point of accepting a contingent offer from them though? They gave me a verbal offer and emailed me the offer... They wouldn't have had me do my tests if I hadn't accepted the offer

 

Pepsico takes forever to do anything. It's how they operate. They're as big a corporation as you can get and with that comes slow decisions. It isn't a bad idea to contact them just in case they forgot about you, lost your contact info, forgot they were even hiring (don't laugh, I've seen it happen) etc etc.

You think this is slow? Wait till you start. Lol. Hurry up and wait.

 

Based on the steps I've gone through, is it safe to say I have a good chance of getting the job, assuming my test results come back good?

 

yeah, you're hired. But don't assume they haven't forgotten about you. It happens- often. Pepsico is as big as it gets. Stuff slips thru the cracks all the time. Contact them and remind them. You've still got a month of training before you can even run a route for them. You've gotta get started. Be proactive. Contact them monday

 

Thanks! I really hope so, I've turned down a couple other jobs waiting for them! Thankfully I'm still employed but it would be nice to get confirmation!