Have you worked for a food service company?

this is actually how i started out in '92. i delivered to area restaurants and mom/pop shops. it was total touch freight and i liked it. it either came off with a hand truck or by the pallet, all depending on the stop itself. i did it for 7 yrs before moving onto auto parts delivery , then to coke delivery, then to b33r which was a pain but pay made up for it, then otr off to local and back to otr.

 

Your physical stamina will increase as you keep working. I'm 6'0 and around 210 lbs. Most of the guys I work with are 5'4 145 lbs. I had a hard time when I first started, but as time went on it became easier. You control what you carry. I might take seven cases of Kraukus Ham while you would take 4-5.
We also deliver alot of bottled water to gas station mini marts. I usually pull 7 cases. When my boss rides with me he only pulls 5 at at time. Think about it. I know it will be a hard decision. I was to go OTR but when I started thinking about being away from my family etc... I couldn't do it and I really respect those who can.
Good Luck in making your decision.
Toby

 

I see that, and greatly appreciate your response. I wasn't sure how often you have been checking in, but hoped yo would catch this thread. It is a good feeling to be able to pass the info on and help someone else. Thanks....

 

Been there, done that. Drove a small box truck, no CDL required, got paid 7 bucks an hour for it. Never again.

 

How did you like coke, I may have an inside track to a job with coke.

 

it wasn't bad. alot of moving stock around though. i looked at it last year to go back into it and i didn't like how they changed there pay scale. they payed by the box instead of by the hour. i didn't care for it since money would fluctuate to much in my opinion. now on the other hand i liked working the b33r delivery. not budweiser or big place like that since they seemed to pay less but the independant b33r delivery places. i did it in myrtle beach a few summers back and actually thinking about going back.

 

I tried to get on with coke when I was OTR. I put in an Ap and asked if I could get interviewed before I went back out. I was told no we will call to set up an appointment. Sure they did when I was several states away. The woman called me a bunch of times and I was really getting frustrated. I never could nail a time down. Took a local job and they called me when I was running local. She asked what state I was in and I said home. She said great can you come in? Nope too late already got a local.

I know several coke drivers all of them speak highly of coke. Know a couple of RC workers one likes it one hates it. Don't even get me started on pepsi! That is one ate up outfit. Know lots of their drivers and have had too many yanked up loads from them when I was OTR. Pepsi hired me on the spot with no road test or nothing, but I turned them down.

 

With summer time coming up, those beer and coke vendors are no fun to work for. I delivered beer for Miller down in Orlando for over 3 years. Averaged 800+ cases a day on a side loader. Touched every case by hand, and wheeled it in on a hand truck. Then rotated the new product in, filled the case... hard work.

That was the toughest driving job I have had, and it didn't pay well. I went to SYGMA from there. My pay jumped 20k a year, and I never looked back.