Walmart here I come!

Hurricane is a little different in that they run loads out to other DC's rather than direct to stores. They cover a large area that services Hermiston,Loveland,Red Bluff,Porterville,Apple Valley,Grantsville and Buckeye. Once they drop thier DC loads they work thier way back towards Hurricane. They can easily be out for the whole week and cover alot of miles.

When there are any open spots at Hurricane they are covered by transfers from other DC's,I have never seen them pull people in off the street. I was at Apple for 16 months and never saw anything open up at Hurricane.

 

I noticed you only showed 2.5 off on the 6/3. My 6/3 was six full days and five nights out followed by three full days and four nights off. My gate time on my day out was 0900 and I was usually headed home by 1900 on my go home day.

I did figure out early that I could get an extra day in if I worked my middle day off,this was only an option if there was enough work and trucks available which at Apple was every week. I usually could get two extra days a month which helped push me over the 100k line for the year.

 

I would say we are probably a hybrid of that. When very busy, we primarily stay in state delivering to stores. However, when it slows down we do more DC runs. This last week I made 2 huge circles where I would run a couple of in state stores, then pick up a load to go to Fontana or Apple Valley. Then pick up a back haul back to Buckeye. Our GTM wants to let our driver numbers drop a bit, to around 160, seeing as how our efficiency has been going way up. He wants to make sure that everyone can be as busy as they want to be, all the time. We have a lot of retirements happening in the next couple of years. So, between that and transfers in............... and Buckeye working its numbers down, I don't see my seniority going up any time soon (there are 2 under me). I would love a 6/2, and that is my goal "shift." Especially driving from a long distance to come to work (not as far as some guys, I know).

It's interesting to find out how Hurricane works.

Desert, how long have you been with WM??

 

I was there for 16 months Im not with the private fleet anymore,Im with Landstar. Its funny I remember sometimes you would see more Buckeye tractors at Apple than our own. The Buckeye drivers always get sucked into So Cal. I loved going out to Buckeye,it was nice to spend a day or three working GM out of the DC or remix over at Casa.

 

Yeah, I'm convinced that they leave the undesirable stores for the poor Buckeye drivers who get stuck over there on a weekend. I know I have. LOL

Oh well, a bad day here is still worlds better than a good day at my X job.

If you don't mind me asking, why did you switch??

 

When I filled out the paperwork for my pre employment DOT physical I failed to list two prescription medications in the space provided. There was no intent to deceive or avoid listing them I just missed the whole section. Every two years for the last twenty two years I have filled in that section of the form,I had alot on my mind and got distracted. Neither of the prescriptions (acid blocker,seasonal allergy med)were safety sensitive and the issue was easily correctable but the legal department back in Bentonville had a huge problem with it. The whole team at Apple went to bat for me but the damage was done.

I was told by the VP of transportation that my status would be changed to rehireable after one year. They are reviewing my case as I write this and I hope to hear something soon. There were several other drivers that meet the same fate for failing to disclose prescription medications,most were for safety sensitive meds. I heard its now part of the new orientation material.

 

They were just implementing that when I was hired. I never used to list a couple, as that is just the way it was done in the industry for so long. They told everyone in the DC that they could come clean on prescriptions and redo their physicals, no harm no foul. However, if you did not disclose, and it was later found that you used a prescription, you would be terminated.

Needless to say, I now have to get my physical every year. Not a biggie as my stress level is so much lower, and my sleep is so much more regular than it used to be, I may be able to get off of these meds in the future. Sorry to hear that you got caught up in that. They gave everyone at Buckeye a chance to redo the physical with the meds listed. Odd that they didn't do that for you folks. It was caused by a driver dying at the wheel, who was taking meds not on his physical.

I hope you can get back in. Wish you luck !!!

 

I swear Porterville would do the same thing to the Apple drivers. Does Cerritos ring a bell? Most Walmart stores are very driver friendly,the new ones actually are visted during the planning phase and driver safety is taken into consideration when they design entrance,exit and delivery areas.

 

Not sure about the driver dying at the wheel. The policy was not in effect when the two of us were let go at Apple and several others at other DC's. I was told by a person in management that the policy was put into effect because of our cases. I think the legal department realized they had a huge liability issue on thier hands and scrambled to get a lid on it. I know of several drivers at Apple that were on some pretty serious meds and had not listed them on thier physical paperwork.

This is a great example of why I have always tried to hammer home the point about being honest and up front from the day you first apply and then on thru your career at the private fleet.