Dot Foods

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Advanced search using "dot foods" in titles only. Quite a few threads there.

I plan on going to the Mt. Sterling headquarters if they will hire me, and if I ever get through school. I heard they are picky about who they hire.

ETA
they have a real nice website
and they told me if I didn't gross 47 the first year, I would get a check for the difference
good luck!

 

I work in NY for DOT transportation, what are you looking for information wise? We're pretty much all paid the same rates across all the DC's except Cali. I worked in the warehouse for 3 years and then DOT paid for me to go to trucker school and drive for them. I know both sides of the business now.

 

Well in all honesty when I sat in school as listened to other companies, no one touched DOT in terms of benefits and pay. 2 weeks vacation after 1 yr, sick days, personal days, vacation by back ( have to use 1 week), GPS reimbursement ($100max), usually home every other night unless your doing a transfer load all-the-way to IL our home DC, weekend home time, $25/ month towards cell bill, plus more I'm forgetting. Pay is based on mileage, case count, line items, drop and hook, custom hauls, lay over pay, delayed pick up pay, couple others.

While in training all your meals are paid for by DOT( the trainer buys them for you and himself) and are paid $500/wk for 8 weeks ( unless they dont feel your ready, it could be longer.) Training is longer than probably most of the companies but we deal with a lot of paper work, and the places you'll deliver to requires a lot of backing skills. First two weeks is usually backing maneuvers in the yard, paperwork, smith system training, just a bunch of info you'll prolly forget but given a binder to put it all into. I carry it with me all the time to reference things. After that they'll have you do 1-2 weeks of doing straight transfer hauling to get windshield time, driving up here to NY ( we do A LOT of transfers with MD), Mt. Sterling, IL where our Home DC is and probably other places. Mt. Sterling is in the middle of nowhere but have a house just for drivers with shower, cable tv, Internet /wifi and as drivers get full access to the YMCA out there, I always take advantage of it when I have the time.

There are some negatives however....

Forced dispatch ( your going where they tell you to go) not a bad thing, you'll keep plenty busy trust me. I don't think MD goes to NYC, we do up here and it's a nightmare. There's always pain in the butt customers you'll be forced to go to, everyone gets their turn. You might also finish your deliveries and have just enough time to get home, but dispatch needs you to pick up a PO which will make you have to take a 10 hr break out and ruin your Friday. (But dispatch remembers favors you do them)

Slip seating for 6-12 months until you earn your own truck, it sucks having to move your crap. The dispatchers try to keep you in the same truck, at least mine up here do. Some drivers are slobs and you'll get stuck with a messy truck, drivers have to keep them clean on the inside. I have a whole milk crate filled with cleaning supplies I carry, I'm a neat person and coffee stains drive me nuts.

The hardest thing, you unload your own trailer and break the pallets down by line items.. You are the lumper. If you've never done warehousing work before or physical labor the first couple months will suck, not going to lie. Once you body gets use to the work or if your in shape already its not bad and a good work out. Plus it takes time to learn how all the blocks go on the pallets, there's several ways to make a 12 block, etc.

If you can honestly say you can deal with those last 3 things ( you'll eventually get your own truck) DOT is a great company to work for. There will be days you'll hate it and second guess yourself, but I'm pretty sure no matter what job or where you work everyone gets those days/ weeks. My first week out of training I was looking at a check for $1248 gross...

If you want to know anything else just ask!

 

Random post to reach 7 post in order to send pm.

 

any idea why its different in cali?

 

Cost of living is more on the west coast compared to the other areas would be my best guess.

 

makes sense