SNI Wal-Mart Dedicated (Super Long)

Hi all. I’ve been a member here a while but haven’t posted lately. Thought I’d take the time to write down my experiences as a SNI Wal-Mart Dedicated driver. Hope you enjoy!



There seems to be a lot of questions on here about Schneider National’s (SNI) Wal-Mart (WM) Dedicated Account (or other company’s WM Dedicated) in various parts of the country. I can’t speak about every location but I can let you know what I went thru and the experience I had. Keep in mind this all happened several years ago (I started with SNI in 2005 and quit in 2007) and I was still very, very wet behind the ears. As with everything else on this site, take it with a grain of salt. Talk to people who are living it right now and make up your own mind. No company is going to be a perfect fit for every person and even a “bad” company might work for certain individuals.

I did not have my CDL when I went to work for SNI. I had just got married (at 20) and was working a dead-end appliance repair job in my hometown. My Dad started driving in 1981 so I have been around trucks my whole life and always had a love for trucking. So, right before I turned 21 I was looking for a trucking job that would train me. I knew I had to go to some sort of school for most insurance companies to accept me so I began my search.

At the time SNI had a WM Dedicated account in Olney, Illinois (about 25 miles from my home). Of course I looked into them and the company-paid training they provided. After searching all the information I could find on the web I applied. To my surprise, SNI called me back in less than 24 hours (on a weekend). In just a short amount of time I was offered the job (provided I passed a background screening, physical, and drug test). I was all set to start with Schneider National.

Now, I have to add in here something about determination. My wife and I had a good, long talk before I even started the application process. At the time you had to work for SNI for a year before your schooling was paid off (I think it’s 18 months now). If you quit early, you would be prorated the ungodly amount for their academy. We made a decision that, no matter how bad it got, we would not be paying a dime for my schooling. No matter how much I hated it, how little I made, or whatever, we would stick it out until the year was over. Then, I could look for a better gig. Thankfully (as you’ll read in this post) it wasn’t too bad. I didn’t make a ton but we were comfortable and I actually liked what I was doing. That was all free and didn’t have much to do with the story but maybe some of you newbies should maybe take note. I figured it would be better to be stuck in a crappy job for a year than owe five grand to a truck driving school. That is just me though.

When I started I decided I wanted to run System. System in SNI talk is basically OTR. I thought “Hey, I’m young and I can see the country!” I was told after 6 months of System I could apply for any dedicated account I wanted. I could apply right then when I did my application but once I was in a group (System, Dedicated, Intermodal) I would need to stay for a while. I had no problem with this and wanted to travel quite a bit.

I got all my tests done and was ready to go to Green Bay for training. They offered to start me a week earlier than I did but I wouldn’t turn 21 until the following week so I had to wait to go. I met a SNI company van in St Louis, Missouri at the old STL OC (Operating Center; fancy SNI term for terminal) on a Saturday with a several other people to get a free ride to Green Bay, Wisconsin.

The trip went pretty uneventfully. There was one blow-hard know-it-all on the van but he was a nice guy (he ended up failing the drug test in Green Bay and got sent home the first day). Guy I sat next to was pretty quiet but nice as well. We ended up asking to room together once we got to WI. I was a smoker and he wasn’t but it wasn’t an issue. I just went outside to smoke. My wife never let me smoke in the house anyway. The van driver was an instructor in Green Bay so he filled us in on a lot of stuff and answered a lot of questions while we were headed up there.

After getting to Green Bay and getting set up we had Sunday off before the training actually started on Monday. I’m not going to go thru all that but it was good. I learned a lot and the instructors were nice and knowledgeable. They did push double-clutching pretty hard (which I abandoned when I got by myself) but they are paid by SNI so they follow their policies. I can’t knock them for that.

After two weeks in Green Bay I came home for a weekend before going to Gary, Indiana. I found a guy who lived in Olney while I was there who drove his car to training. I jumped in with him to see my family for a couple days. Then we had a week in Gary for more advanced training (I think they called it Jumpstart or something and I’ve heard they don’t do it any more). Gary wasn’t bad but that’s all for another story.

As a side-note, I think the training SNI provided was top-notch. They were very good at explaining themselves and very friendly. For what it’s worth I think they had a good school going on. I haven’t worked there in some time so I don’t know about now.

I got done in Gary and was hoping for a System TE (Training Engineer, another fancy SNI term). Instead I got a WM Dedicated TE. I was kind of bummed because I wanted to see the country but he was a good dude and we got along great. He was about 60ish and I don’t think he was the best trainer but he was good. He didn’t get mad and scream and yell or keep a nasty truck like some I’ve read about. It wasn’t spotless, but it was clean and good-smelling (except for the fact that he smoked but I did too at the time so I was good with it). He always had a little food in there too and wasn’t shy about sharing so that was good for a guy making practically nothing!

While I was training I decided I didn’t want to go System after all. My wife was going through a hard time with her mother having a brain tumor so I felt I needed to be home as much as I could. I told my TE who told our dispatcher (I can’t remember what SNI calls them now). I was kind of worried. I thought I would have to wait 6 months. Little did I know that they were clamoring for new WM Dedicated drivers. She made one call and in about 5 minutes I was reassigned to the Olney, IL Wal-Mart Dedicated Account. I was very happy with how they handled the situation.

After 4 weeks (I think) with my TE it was time to test. Everything went real smooth. The guy at Olney who did all the safety stuff was super nice and laid-back. He took everyone to the DMV to do their testing (I should mention you had to pass written tests before you even went to Green Bay so you could get a student permit). He had a very calming attitude that made you feel at ease. I passed the state test and SNI test on one try (actually SNI’s test was tougher!). I was now ready for my truck.

When I started solo they told me I would have to slip-seat for at least 6 months before I got an assigned truck. I knew about it before going in so again, it was no big deal. The first truck I took out was an old Crete truck, complete with red paint. We had several at the time and they weren’t bad. I did learn to hate a Rockwell transmission in those trucks (I don’t like how they “feel”) and drove a lot of miles in them as well. They were all about the same and were kept up decent but nothing to write home about. I also had to start on a 6 on, 2 off board. I hated that. Something about your days off moving all around makes it tough to get in a set schedule.

After 2 months of being switched around from red truck to red truck they kept assigning me the same one. It was ok with me because it was the last one on our account where the select-idle thing would work (I don’t remember the name of the system but it would shut off and start the truck for you when it got out of a certain temperature range; not a great system but it kept you from freezing to death without losing your idling bonus). I think I was assigned the same truck 4 times in a row. Each time it would be parked in the same spot, the radio would be on the same station, and the seat wouldn’t be moved. I went to my FM (Fleet Manager, I knew I’d remember) and asked why they didn’t just assign me the truck. She said they did but she must have forgotten to tell me a month ago! I’m pretty laid back so we laughed about it. I can’t blame her for getting behind one something as trivial as that; she had several drivers.

Although I am getting a little ahead of myself, after another 6-8 months of being in “Big Red” (I name all the trucks I drive and I started naming them after soft drinks) they routed me through the Indianapolis OC. I thought it was strange and they didn’t tell me what for. They just said to go through on my way to a backhaul and go to the shop. I did and, much to my surprise, my truck was due to trade. They had a whole lot full of brand-new Freightliner flat-tops out there. They gave me my new key, told me to clean out my old truck, and off I went.

Sunkist, my new orange truck, was a beauty. She had 24 miles on the odometer! That thing pulled like a freight train and that’s the truth (there were rumors that the WM trucks were turned up for more HP but I never heard any reliable source). I liked the flat-top, it made the cab easier to heat or cool and it was a fraction shorter than Big Red, making tight turns and WM’s a little easier. Plus, I’m only 5’7” so I could stand up in the cab, but barely. If you were 5’8” you probably would hit your head. It had plenty of storage space and rode better too. Still today, after being in lots of brand-new trucks, I liked that one the best. I like the Cascadia and ProStar but that Century class was a nice truck.

There was a lot I liked, and hated, about the account and working for SNI in general. They were pretty easy to get along with. At a big OC you were just a number (they were friendly but not real personal). The equipment was kept up very well mechanically. Some of the other drivers were jerks but you get that everywhere

One nice thing about working for such a large company was the fact that there was plenty of freight if WM was slow. On one occasion (in Big Red) they asked me to do a system load. WM was slow that week and they needed drivers to cover this P&G account. They told me where I was going and I jumped on it. I went to somewhere in Missouri and picked up a load of paper towels and TP going to a Sam’s in Ft Worth, Texas. I picked up, ran to the Memphis OC for the night, showered and ate, went to the Dallas OC the next day (there was a killer Mexican place in the OC) and then delivered in Ft Worth the next morning. After delivery I went to a Kimberly Clark plant in Paris, Texas and picked up bales of cardboard to be recycled. They were to Little Rock, AR the same day and I deadheaded to Blue Mountain, Mississippi and got a load of kitty litter going to a WM in Ohio. I picked up, spent the night at a Pilot in MS and then headed for the Indianapolis OC where I dropped it for another driver and bob tailed back to my WM DC. It was a nice change of pace and I still got home on time.

Another time, right after a hurricane knocked out power to the Temple, Texas DC I hauled a load to Shreveport, Louisiana to two WM stores. After I unloaded I deadheaded back to Illinois. It was a pretty sweet deal for me.

After unloading we would pick up backloads several times. The bad thing about those is you were at the shipper’s mood, just like any other driver. At the WM we were treated with respect and got in and out pretty easily. Not all the time, but often enough, we would have to pick up a backhaul and go to another WM DC. Popular ones for us were Tomah, Wisconsin; Washington Court House, Ohio; London, Kentucky; Moberly, Missouri; and Auburn, Indiana. Some of these were also SNI (OH, IN, KY) but some weren’t (MO was Swift; WI was Werner). Even if SNI didn’t have the contract we were still WM Dedicated so we could blow through the dedicated lane to get in and we could take our break if needed right there.

I will say the pay wasn’t great. I think when I quit after 1 ½ years I was making 31 ½ cpm. That’s nothing but I needed a job when I started working for them and they provided one. After a while I got on a 5 on 2 off board with Tuesday and Wednesday off every week. They technically could keep me until noon on Tuesday, but they never did. Whenever you got back from your last run you got 48 hours off. You would put your available time in a certain macro and let them know. About 2 hours before that time you would start calling you FM for load information. Sometimes the load would come out fairly close to your available time, but most the time it didn’t and you got to spend more time at home.

The loads were mostly at night. There were a few guys who only ran days, but not many. You could tell by what time your load came out what type of product you were hauling. Mornings loads were dry freight; afternoon/evening were dairy/frozen; night loads were meat and produce. I liked the meat a produce the best. They were less likely to tip over than the frozen/dairy and the reefer wasn’t as cold to get in. There were Wal-Mart company drivers who worked out of the DC but they never ever touched a reefer.

The stores were hit and miss. We did a lot of Chicago and Indianapolis. In Chicago we had all the Sam’s Clubs. They were ok because they were big and in the suburbs. Indy wasn’t bad either. Just like anything else, you got to know your way around pretty well. We would also hit up the Indy OC regularly. If you were ever by there at 8am you could catch all the Olney WM drivers eating breakfast (those who were awake). It was a tradition of ours to meet at that time. Not everyone participated but it was fun when we could do it.

If you got out in the boonies the people at the stores were great. While at the stores we were 100% no-touch. I had some yahoo in Chicago tell me I was going to have to restack a couple of skids. I would have helped if he had asked but he told me I was going to do it alone. I politely told him that wasn’t how it was going to work. After that he tried to reject the load. I still had 2 stops plus a backhaul to pick up the next morning. I told him to call the DC and tell them it was rejected. He did and they gave him a good butt-chewing and told him to unload the truck. He got some other guys and did and I never touched a box.

That was far from a normal experience at the stores, though. Even in Chicago the people were pretty good to deal with. You’d hit the same stores all the time so they kind of knew you. I would go to Sam’s in Peoria enough the lady there knew my name. You’d get on a pattern of hitting the same places all the time.

After working there for a little over a year we got a new OC manager. I don’t even remember his name but he was a jerk. Their boring safety meetings were bad enough (except we got a $50 off coupon at the OC store) but they took an uptick in stupidity when he was there. The guy had no idea about trucking at all. I don’t know where they got him but it wasn’t pretty.

Wal-Mart announced soon after Mr Personality getting there that they were going to add items to dry goods which would mean more loads for us. I think it was paper products and dog food or something that was coming from the General DC to the Grocery DC. They said our loads would go up like 45% when the plan was fully implemented. Sounds like a good deal for us, right? Well, it would have been except for our goofy manager.

WM was going to slowly implement the new plan in three phases. It would have taken 9 months I think to get all in and the freight level up to the new target. Well the manager goes on a hiring spree. He tells HQ in Green Bay that he needs so many new drivers for all this freight and they go to getting people as fast as they can. Basically it drove everyone’s miles down to crap. I think the last week I was there I had 1100 miles and was averaging under 1500 a week for the month. They had been on a slow decline for months.

The day I quit I went in a turned in the keys to my truck. It was a Monday night right before I was to go home for my weekend anyway. Maybe I should have given more notice, but I didn’t. I also didn’t abandon the truck or leave it wrecked or filthy. I cleaned it out and used all kinds of cleanser to make sure it was nice when I got out of it. The manager ended up freaking out. He got all red in the face and got up in my face like he was going to hit me and everything else. I think he’d been getting a lot of heat from the higher ups about driver complaints and miles.

The next day I grabbed my SNI newsletter and get Wayne Lubner’s email address out of it. I sent him the full description of what happened. Another thing that manager did was tell me I’d never be able to get a job with SNI again. Wayne apologized profusely and told me I was welcome back whenever I wanted. A couple months later the guy got the can. I don’t think I had anything to do with it but it couldn’t have helped. I saw him some time later but didn’t speak to him. He probably doesn’t remember me anyway. Other than the one manager, everyone else at SNI treated me with respect, even the higher-ups.

All in all, SNI was a good place for me. It wasn’t the best paying job but I made the best of it. The people I worked with were good and I liked what I did and the stores were good to deal with too. I don’t know if it will be a good fit for you but maybe something I said will give you some insight into SNI and the WM Dedicated accounts.

Now SNI doesn’t even have the Olney, Illinois WM anymore. Prime Inc has it now. It is kind of unfortunate. I knew some guys who had serious time with SNI who had to go System or find another job. Some probably went to work for Prime, but I don’t know.

There is a lot I didn’t get to go in to on this thread. I’ve already got too much typed as it is. Benefits, equipment, OCs, FMs, etc could all have a post of their own. Sorry I don’t have the time to write about all of them right now. If you have any questions you can ask. Hopefully someone who is out there working for SNI now can answer. I can let you know how things were in 2007 but I doubt that info holds up.

Hope you enjoyed my little (long) story. Good luck to everyone out there!