Lowe's Home Improvement

Recently I took a job at a Lowe's Home Improvement store. The job was driving a class B tandem axle flatbed straight truck with a Moffett forklift, delivering to customer's homes and jobsites. On paper it looked good- set schedule, home daily, 150 air mile exemption, very good hourly rate.

Unfortunately the job was a mess. I told them when I interviewed I take load securement and DOT regulations very seriously. They said something to the effect of "yeah sure great". After working with these people for a week, I would wager none of them could even tell me what 'DOT' stands for.

I found numerous defects with the truck, all of which would have been violations- straps that were shredded, a broken side box held on with a ripped ratchet strap, tires with cuts in the sides from forklifts, and nonexistent paperwork.

When I refused to drive the truck as it was, they reluctantly provided replacement straps. The delivery managers tried to argue with me that they don't have to do a DVIR. I told them that is incorrect and while they still tried to argue with me, they did provide DVIR booklets. They told me they weren't fixing the tires or the toolbox. I now had earned a reputation as a diva with management.

None of the orders being delivered were properly wrapped, banded, or palletized. The managers and order puller tried to insist that the straps would hold them. I told them that they weren't qualified to make that determination. Many items were damaged when I cranked down on the winches because they were either improperly packaged or should've been sent in a box truck. I told them I didn't care, because if the items flew off the truck, they would be damaged anyway. The kid who loaded the truck wasn't qualified to operate a mechanical pencil, much less a forklift. He was slow and had no idea how to arrange things so that they could be secured safely.

The managers are supposed to call customers and verify deliveries before I leave. They failed to do so, and as a result gave me an incorrect address to a remote area that they insisted was correct. When I got there, a contractor was there and told me I was at the wrong jobsite. I then had to reverse uphill a half mile up a one lane dirt road into a busy main road.

I later came to find that this store has gone through 6 drivers since the beginning of the year and seeing how they operate, it's no wonder. After a week of this nonsense, I told them that our ideas of safe and acceptable standard operating procedures are too different and I do not think I can continue working here. I refuse to run a truck that isn't safe or a load that can't be secured properly. I'm not risking my license for them nor am I willing to put others' safety at risk. The management is extremely underqualified with no understanding of load securement, DOT regulations or the FMCSA.

I'm sure not all Lowe's stores are like this; management is the determining factor in how good or bad this job will be, but my warning is to be very cautious with Lowe's.

 

Correct. Most of these managers are former cashiers or worked at Marshall's or Kohl's before this. They don't care about what happens out on the road. That's good and well for them, but unfortunately it doesn't translate to commercial vehicle operation.

I would've preferred to load the truck myself, however none of the orders were labeled or tagged the way they were supposed to be, so the order puller was the only one who knew what went on the truck. Additionally the store requires a "spotter" to run the forklift in customer areas, and where they load in the parking lot is a customer area, so you are required to spot for the guy loading you, anyway.

 

When you aren't delivering, they expect you to be pulling orders, which is not what I signed up for. I did that job before I got into trucking. Pulling drywall, block, 6x6 lumber and concrete is not fun. That's why I got my CDL- so I didn't have to pull orders anymore.

 

@buddyd157 this store used a 3rd party company to drive the box trucks. The flatbed was in-house. Some Lowe's stores use third party for both box truck and flatbed but Lowe's doesn't have a company-wide contract like Home Depot does with XPO.

The trucks are usually either Penske or Ryder leases.

I worked at a different Lowe's store for a while before getting my CDL and while it had it's bad days, it wasn't a bad job and I had good coworkers. It was nothing like this store I just left.

I agree 100%. I wish I knew who I could report these managers and this company to. In the end, safety is what it comes down to and I will have no involvement when something flies off the truck and injures someone or causes an accident or whatever.

These managers do not seem to understand the seriousness of operating a commercial vehicle. To them, it's no different than Harry Homeowner tossing some stuff in the back of his Silverado and taking it to his house. We as drivers know that there is a lot more to it than that. There are strict laws in place regulating CMVs and as commercial drivers, we are held to a higher standard. These "managers" are ignorant to all of that and do not want to be educated about it.