Walmart here I come!

Well I don't want to Walmart-bash here, but I feel it my duty to warn you about the high stress level of this job. Many guys try to tell you its stress free. Its NOT! We only have maybe an hour or two cushion to deliver the load, there is the stress of picking which shower stall to use, and one thing that REALLY peaks MY stress is when they make burgers and offer TWO kinds of cheese (choices? We have choices?) They let us think for ourselves...stressful! Its also stressful to have to choose white or blue uniforms and to sleep in the truck (and get paid to do it) or come home for the night. Its stressful to see so many happy people...they all gotta be up to something, right? Oh yeah...you, the wife at home, will have stress too...you'll have to figure out what to do with the extra money and better benefits (also stressful figuring which benefits to choose from), and you'll be stressed out knowing he'll actually be home when he's supposed to, and you'll have to figure out what to do with the home time, which will probably be more than he's used to.

Seriously, the only stress here is going to a new store you haven't been before after a bunch of drivers ask where you're going (we do that to new guys as was done to me) and they say 'oh...good luck' but always turns out it wasn't bad at all.

Everything here is ABOVE board. And with the electronic logs, you CAN'T do anything but be legal, good for driver and company. The most stressful thing he'll do is the pre-trip /road test. After that...its all downhill (in a good way).

 

thanks Again! I think he can "deal" with those stressors! I know I can deal with the Money stress! LOL I do see a lot of "negative nellies" in the forum but I think its just lack of knowledge and some people just like to complain. My husband is not a complainer and likes to go to work and do the job required and THEN SOME! He is never one to balk at any extra work they throw at him, sometimes to his own detriment (did I say he was EXHAUSTED!). He stressing over the pre-trip but he's been doing this for so long I think he is stressing for no reason. Can't wait for it to be over so we can either become part of the Walmart Family or just move on and try again another time. 2 weeks to go before the test so I need to keep him calm!

 

You won't be able to keep him calm. LOL. But hopefully the two weeks will go by fast. Keeping calm until one actually gets the job is not possible in my experience. Best of luck to him.

 

Im going on my 4th week at Walmart. I can tell you he will love it! As far the pre trip goes, tell him to go over everything. We can all tell if the lights work. Im talking about the the forgotten details. When its time for the road test, don't run over any curbs, and remember safety, safety, and safety. He will do alright! And what these guys are telling you here about the money, benefits, and home time are all true. Good Luck to you guys !

 

LOL...........

 

Welcome !!! As my user name indicates, I am a Walmart drivers wife. You will not believe the difference, once he gets the job. It will take a while for the habits of working under such stressful conditions to go away, but you will notice it. My husband came from a similar work situation with his previous job. He is getting close to 2 years at WM, and just in the last few months has he stopped using phrases that had been a regular part of his vocabulary for so long. Such as "Well, I'm never home so how would I know." He is the man I knew before, is happy, and is doing more around the house than he ever has. Plus, he has done more work on his classic car, in the last year, than he has in the last 10 years put together. Rick is also a major overachiever and never complains. That is why he was invisible to his X employer, even though he was the senior driver. It is nice to see him proud of where he works and the job he does, and the recognition he gets for doing a great job.

Anyway, feel free to head on over to my thread for Walmart wives. You can do so even now, before he gets the job. Any questions you have, from a wifes perspective, I can answer..................... probably. And if not, I will find out. My husband and I are best friends, and talk about everything about the job.

 

Thank you for such a warm welcome. When he is in I will let you all know! Hope the class action suit that just came up doesn't change things!!!!

 

I read somewhere that the Virginia DMV is a good source for pre-trip review so for anyone who is interested, follow this link for a pdf download. You'll need a pdf reader to view it, of course. Adobe's is free if you need one. Anyway, hope this will help to lessen the stress load for anyone who is trying to get through the process!

http://www.dmv.state.va.us/webdoc/pdf/dmv60.pdf

 

Thank you. It was my Safety Manager was the one that suggested the VA DMV was the place to get pre-trip info. I posted it, but did not do the followup work. Thank you for doing what I should have done.