Family Dollar Account

Here's an update to the SNI Family Dollar Indiana mess from a current driver on that account. (who knows for how long)

You CAN make money on this account. The full breakdown (as of mid Sept '13) on pay is:
.31 cpm and the 'average' is 1100 miles per week. This average is unlikely unless you want to work 6 days. (this obviously is dependant on your experience, I clearly don't have much)
35 dollar stop pay (not counting your first stop of the load; 4 stops on the trailer is equal to 3stops on your paycheck)
85 dollar hand unload pay (trailer pay, load pay... however you call it)
potential 10 dollar per load safety bonus monthly.

It WAS 1000 dollars minimum with 25 dollar stop pay and 75 dollar hand unload pay, until this week.

Here's the day to day sitch:
Pick up a load and... take it where ever you're going. Usually within a couple hours' drive of the DC. IF you're lucky, and the timing worked out, your 6am (the following day's first stop) will take you the night before when you get in. That way you can head to the next and the DC might be able to adjust your appointments so you can get to a shower the following day. I'd give it 50/50 chance of getting ahead of the game that way.

This is where the problems usually rear their ugly heads.

Your first store is at 6am. Everyone is crabby and tired, it's dark and chances are; you're not in the best part of town. Hopefully you didn't spend the whole night listening to knocks on your tractor door. Nevermind that the paperwork for that store does'nt have the 'do not park at night/ do not deliver after dark' line on it... more often than not, it doesn't let you know. It helps to call the store and ask the manager if it's safe and if there's room to park overnight.
So... once you get their half broken flex rollers strapped to the back of the trailer (assuming it didn't take you a half hour or more to get the trailer JUST SO for them, honest to god, "can you move it like; a half inch or so to the right?") you can now begin unloading.

No; you can't. 20% chance that the load is a mess and you can't mole into it without a ladder, and two or three guys catching things falling out as you open the doors. (Which... why on earth are most of the trailers swing doors rather than roll doors when most of the stores are in alleys/butted against walls/next to dumpsters and you have to jack knife to get it straight?) 70% chance that the load bar fell, and there's far too much distance between the doors and the back of the load to hold it up, leaving you with a mountain of crushed boxes, leaking bottles of bleach, exploded pet food... yada yada. 10% chance that the load held, there's just the right amount of room to get up there and start slinging product.

So you're finally putting stuff down the rollers... it's a 1200 piece stop. There's still the store and their staff to contend with. They don't want to do this any more than you do and are, more often than not, completely oblivious to the next appointment you have to keep in 5 hours. You'll probably make it... but there'll be no rest period between. Company expectation is: one driver can sling 500 pieces per hour. YOU the driver, should be able to do that without killing yourself for it... The store's goal is 250 pieces per hour, per person unloading. This is where the problem lies. These people are making minimum wage, they're not the most motivated people and it usually shows. While you're busy NOT putting down a box every 8 seconds, and watching them meander around slowly, you can work on your patience exercises... or whatever keeps you from exploding when other people are holding you up.

Repeat this process 2 or 3 more times in a day. Hurry back to the DC to start over.

Things that will help you:
Read between the lines when your dbl tells you that you'll have to figure out how to make your hours work out for the unloading day. You'll find yourself starting your clock 2 or 3 hours into your first stop to give you time to get back or get to a truck stop.

Know going into this that you're going to work every minute of your 14 hours and then some. Most recently (for me) I had a load that had three hours of drive time, with appointments spanning 12 hours. In a perfect world, where everything worked out, the stores will be on point, making you early for the next store and then a little more early... banking hours essentially. The faster you are, the quicker you get out of a store, and the earlier you'll be done. But... that's not the way this run panned out. I was held up at 2 stores due to missing employees. One wouldn't take me early, and burned up the 2 hours that I'd made for myself. Then I was chasing my tail for the rest of the day. Got done with my last stop at the 16th hour. I was stuck there...

The trailers are NOT climate controlled and they're far from clean. It's ####ing hot in there right now. And taking a deep breath to calm yourself might set off a few sneezes or an asthma attack.

There's no apparent interest in the safety of the driver. Specifically the load. Learn to dance... there's going to be 30 pound boxes sailing past your nose at high speed when a pile falls because they balanced 400 pounds of various shapes and sizes on top of a box of shaving cream.

To make money, you have to run 3-5 loads a week. And it hurts a lot. Push 45 000 pounds through your lower back and the next day is going to be a hard one.

 

Thats sounds terrible

 

If you are not an athlete, it is terrible...

 

I lasted 8 months doing just about exactly the same job here in the PAC NW for the about same pay, think I got $90 for unloads and $25 a stop after the first.
It was also SNI but Dollar Tree rather than Family Dollar, this was about the worst most back breaking job I think I've ever had, the pay wasn't worth it and cooking in those trailers on a triple digit day was simply awful!
I was knocked unconscious once, had my nose bloodied a couple times my glasses broken and was knocked off my ladder over backwards too many times to count.
14hrs...yeah that was a short day!

 

I did the FD for USX in Ashley... You will not make 60k, maybe 40k!! Its on you though... That job is hard, simply difficult!!! Reasons for me to say this is:

You bust your ###, while you unload the workers take forever getting the boxes off the rollers and most have the worst attitudes, its an icebox in that trailer, you will get hurt 100%, if you cannot back then don't apply, speed makes u money while the slow unloaders work hourly so if your impatient... Deal with it, FD distribution center loads the trailers like crap, all totes and cardboard have to be stacked and nicely pushed forward in trailer... And that's understandable but a long day and few hours left to rush back to DC makes things more difficult because time is everything...

Look, I busted my ### off.. made a few checks of 1000 take home, but I had it made by getting the best loads, longer miles, 4 &5 stoppers with small quantities per, dating my boss, and ran illegal... Qualcomm did not work so with this said... You will not get close to 60, or 50k... Maybe... MAYBE if you get lucky you might break 38k.

I would not recommend anyone work this job who's in their 40s, this is a young mans job who has a Yong mans back, if your impatient GOOD LUCK, if you cannot back good YOUR SCREWED, backing is so important on this account I cannot express it enough.

Only reason why I stayed was because I was dating my fleet manager, she hooked me up... Qualcomm didn't work so I ran 18 hrs a day easily!!! 5 trailers done constantly per week and that was busting my ###!!!!

If there were an account id strongly recommend... The wal mart account! That my friend is the dream job but u must live within 50 miles of gas city or Garrett.

Your welcome!

 

Listen to shaggywolfman... He's 100% on his post... Now, times that by 5!!! Seriously, this job sucks far greater than you can imagine. Some days are good, 98%of the rest?? Lol... Again, goodluck.

 

Wow I guess that explains the sign on bonus they are offering

 

I have always wondered how miserable these low-rent store accounts must be...i guess the work is proportional to the type of business you deliver. I imagine that these accounts get a lot of new hires and these guys and gals cut their teeth and pull the ripcord ASAP!!!

 

I just got out of the family dollar Ashley account with Schneider. I did it for 6 months and loved the money made 800-1000 just for doing three loads a week. It is definitely a lot of work and have to put up with a lot of #### from dispatchers and the stores. It's a regional account and you are supposed to be off on weekends but good luck they will push for you to do Sunday loads and sometimes have you work a week with no time off for a week. I was lucky to get one day off a week. They recently changed the pay too it's .36 cents a mile to start but I had previous experience and $105 for your first stop and $35 for each additional stop. I also heard that they have a $5000 sign on bonus now which is insane