Working for Wal-Mart: A Review

This upcoming payroll period ending March 6 is quarterly saftey bonus paycheck. Looking forward to that!

 

Rollin Coal: You said that Gas City is a money printing machine with the miles and activities. I prefer GM DC's because of longer runs with drop and hooks but you piqued my interest.
At Gas City how many miles? How many activities? How many multistop vs one stop loads? Can a person with, for example, 2 years experience (max hours, weekend, nights, extra days, sell back vacation make 140-150k out of a grocery DC like Gas City)?
I am sorry for so many questions at once. Gas City is closer to my house than Seymour.

 

Nobody can tell you how many miles you're gonna run. I would tell you don't even think about or worry about it. The money is there. Get your safe routine down and you'll become more efficient with time. You don't have to hurry up. It's actively discouraged. You'll make it just fine.

$140-$150k your first year? I dunno anybody who made that their first year where I'm at. Don't even know if you could or couldn't anywhere else either. Again I would just say don't worry about it. The money is there. What they advertise? Yeah without breaking a sweat. Want to extend and work 6 days? Not going to be a problem the work is there.

GM versus grocery is a personal decision everyone is different. I run 220-250 miles a day on a set run getting a bunch of activities pulling $500+/- a day running the same roads every day. I have zero interest in running 400, 500 or 600 miles a day or going anywhere different all the time. But if that's what you want to do I imagine GM would be your thing.

 

I have an important question at the bottom. Here is some context for my question. Attached is a year end paycheck from what seems to be a 2nd year GM DC driver ($850 live unload vs $15,000 drop and hook) with night and weekend premium plus extending 3/4 of the year = 140k potential for 150k for extending all year. No mention of how much PTO was sold back to make whole on go home day.

Rollin Coal, with the above context in mind, I have read in this thread and on another Walmart thread where you rightly point out that groceries must be bought in store while clothes are bought online. So grocery is the future. I agree.

You also stated that grocery pays more than GM. I am interested in your answer. Can you give an example or explain how a hard working grocery DC driver can make more than a hard working GM DC driver? And what is the max a grocery DC driver can earn if they (while being safe) try really hard? How much more than a GM DC driver that tries really hard could that grocery DC driver that tries really hard earn?

Thank you for clearing this up. I live between a Gas City (grocery) and Seymour (GM) and have to choose.

 

I spent time in Seymour and still have a couple friends there. I was originally hired in Gas City and turned that down for the chance to work closer to home in Seymour when they posted an opening the same day I was offered a job in Gas City. There are weeks when my buddy leaves Seymour on Tuesday and doesn’t return there until Saturday and runs grocery loads the rest of the week. He extends all of the time because he is getting ready to retire and is trying to maximize his 401k. He made over $150,000 in 2025 and takes all of his PTO off. I think you should take the job that is closest to your home or hires you first. Don’t sweat a few dollars that you aren’t making yet. If it is still the same as when I worked there you can transfer to another DC that has openings after a year with the company. If the location that hires you initially is not the one you want to stay at long term you could eventually transfer to the location you prefer.

 

Banker, thank you for confirming that 150k +PTO is possible out of Seymour. That is what I was hoping for. Can you also confirm that Seymour has night and weekend night shifts? That is what I am looking for. 6pm Thursday 5-2 shift would be ideal. Is that possible? If so I believe that I would be more interested in Seymour. I prefer longer drives and more drop and hooks. I realize that GM still runs grocery loads and that is fine with me.

 

He occasionally still does some longer trips but you don’t pick what your next load is. I remember several months ago before they re-bid start times he mentioned they were going to have a large number of their start times late afternoon but I don’t know if they actually did those. I can ask him today and let you know. I do know when he pulls a refer trailer from a grocery DC he always takes it back to that DC. The $150,000 won’t come immediately because their daily average pay builds upon itself like a snowball. The bigger it gets, it’s easier to make it even larger. You won’t be disappointed with the pay or benefits of working there. Most people don’t mind sleeping in a truck or being gone from home for 4 nights in a row but that’s the only things about working there I didn’t like. Very often lately they offer a roughly $250 bonus on top of the normal pay to extend your work week for approximately 6 hours on your go home day. I feel like most times he does this it’s a really short load and doesn’t take him but a few extra hours to make that bonus. That’s the kind of activity that helps to raise the Average Daily Pay which is what you get on PTO.

In my opinion if you get the job and when you qualify to participate you should make your 401k contributions high enough to allow you to max it out yearly. Walmart matches your contributions so the more you put in the more they put in up to a certain percentage. When you can afford it I suggest you buy all the stock you can. When I was there the stock purchase was discounted, available immediately and it’s a very stable stock to own long term.

 

I don't believe in hurrying because that's when people make mistakes. However, I do believe in having a good system that will help me be successful. One part of that is to work nights, weekends, and a lot of 6-day weeks in order to get my ADP up, so when I cash in my PTO, it'll be worth more. That way, I can build that snowball a little faster and a little easier.

 

He said it would be luck of the draw because he knows a lot of drivers who want to work nights for the extra 7cents. He said a lot of new guys are 5-2 or 5-3 schedule but you will have the opportunity to make plenty of money regardless of what schedule or days out you get. Not sure if he meant 6-3 but maybe they have a 5-3 option also.

 

Quick update…things are rolling along in WM land. Been fortunate to have had a single truck the last three weeks. My last two week pay period really lived up to expectations as far as a potential earnings average. Still hoping to get on a 5/2 5/3 schedule at some point, but for now I’m just working the plan.