#Company Drivers#

Company driver here. Actually finished my first year with Prime a couple days ago. A bit different from the rest of y'all since I work the Walmart dedicated account.

Actually put serious thought into leasing for the past few months. There was a part of me that wanted to try it out just to see if I could make it, but I wouldn't go through with it if it meant I had to leave the account to make it work, and I just couldn't make those numbers add up in my head. So company I stay.

 

I love it. I'm based out of the DC in Olney, IL and deliver to Walmart and Sam's Club stores. Usually 2-3 stops per route, then deadhead back to the DC or pick up a backhaul from another shipper. All miles and stops paid. Backhauls pay detention, as well.

I'm on Division #111, which means that I'm technically still an OTR driver and can get pulled off that account to run a regular prime load at any time. It doesn't happen often, and my FM is pretty good at getting me back to the DC within a day or two. I live in St. Louis, so whenever they send me that way, I just take my 10 at the house. Never had issues with hometime. They'll assign me to run a route that heads into the city, I'll drop the trailer at the Henderson dropyard in Caseyville, and go home. I'm not sure how that would work if you don't live within the DC's delivery radius.

The runs are short, rarely more than 100 miles between stops, and 500mi roundtrips at most. All freight is no-touch. The store associates pull the pallets off. You just have to supervise. Some of the associates can be annoyingly slow, but if they take too long, call dispatch and they'll have the DC take care of it. Freight is pretty much guaranteed. If Walmart is having a slow day, your FM will most likely send you on a Prime load and get you back as soon as possible.

The trailers Walmart runs vary in condition, but the shop does a good job of staying on top of work orders. A lot of the trailers are older and heavier. Only a few have the skirts, and no trailer tails because they use roll-up doors. The best fuel economy I was able to manage was 8.2mpg, and that was before they replaced my super single drives with duals. Fuel economy dropped nearly 2mpg after that, but I'm slowly bringing it back up.

If you live within 50mi of the DC, you can apply to work the dedicated account permanently. Home every day, slip-seat trucks. Can even apply to have a day or two each week off. You'll take a bit of a pay cut doing that, but if you like having a home life, this is an option. Most of the slip-seat fleet are Prostars.

Once you work yourself into a routine, it's a very easy position to hold. You can make about the same as a company driver depending on how you run. You can also make less. I average $850 each week after taxes. My highest settlement was $1400, and my lowest was $500 (but that week I sat for two days because it was right after Independence day and there was hardly any freight going out). If you're interested, let your FM know and he'll let you know what your options are. We also have a Walmart account out of Shelbyville, TN.

 

Not a problem. I believe there was a thread awhile back for Walmart dedicated drivers, but seems we aren't very active on the forums.

 

WTG Darth!!!

 

Oh, man. Didn't you get the message yesterday that they upped the required miles to 45,000?

Awsome man. Really glad you got through this.

Congratulations & all the best to you out here.

What truck did you choose?