Schneider Dedicated Lowes

I was on The Home Depot account with Schneider, but have been live unloaded at various Lowe's places while driving OTR, it felt like more-less the same companies. While you wait to hear from someone who is on Lowe's, here is my top advice from my days on The Home Depot account.

Check if you'll need to do yard-jockeying and if you are going to get paid for it.

I needed to do yard-jockeying each delivery on The Home Depot account around Denver CO and I was not getting paid for it. Yard-jockeying meant I needed to drop the incoming, loaded trailer somewhere in the yard, take an empty from dock #1 and drop it in the yard, take trailer from dock #2 to dock #1, take loaded trailer to dock #2, then connect to the empty trailer, it's not enjoyable doing it when it's raining or it's freezing outside. No one told me I would be doing yard-jockeying before I started, that's why I am advising you to check.

 

Last time I delivered to The Home Depot and Lowe's places (a few months ago) they did not have spotter trucks, that's why The Home Depot (and probably Lowe's) use Schneider drivers to move trailers around

 

It's best to ask the recruiter on that specific account if they are going to pay for yard-jockeying, not all Schneider regions pay the same and it may depend on your level of experience/time with the company.

It may not seem like a big deal in the beginning if you don't get paid for yard-jockeying but after a while seeing drivers from other companies coming in/out for quick live unloads and them passing time watching you doing drop'n'hooks around the yard when it's hot, cold or rainy outside, it can end up being a deal breaker.

 

Not sure if you went with the position, but I tried it and I could not do any better than $800-1000 gross ($600-725 take home). Sometimes my take home was as low as $480.

I've moved on, but at best this is a place to get training. They say it's drop and hook, but you do ALL of the work at the distribution center. You have to park the trailers in a spot. Walk to office to get paperwork and the location of your new trailer and it often isn't exactly where they say it is.

They say you COULD make $73,000, but after my own experiences and talking to enough drivers it's more like $45,000 or less.

What really burned me was having drivers at trucks stop give me their information with other companies and I finally got fed enough to start making calls and now I am so much better off.