MY Pepsi Experience

Discussion in 'Motor Carrier Questions - The Inside Scoop' started by miz860, Apr 26, 2016.

  1. buddgeez

    buddgeez Bobtail Member

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    May 19, 2016
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    Wow I've been searching everywhere online for a recent Pepsi hiring process. Now the position I applied for was FT Warehouse Loader(Seasonal) and I applied April 5, 2016. I received the "still in consideration" email on April 12th and I've contacted a recruiter and been in constant touch via email with a guy from HR at the NE Philly Plant (Mandy Stepan). And he recommended I hang in there and he said the process is really slow. My resume matches everything they do in the video I watched when competing the app. Do you think I'll be considered?
     
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  3. miz860

    miz860 Medium Load Member

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    Not sure they only hire once a year for the warehouse is what I was told.
     
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  5. miz860

    miz860 Medium Load Member

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    So a little update on the previous week.

    Monday we had orientation from 9am to 2:30pm. All paperwork and videos.

    Tuesday went out with a driver, had to arrive at 5:30am and all drivers were in meeting with the plant manager until 6:30am. We received our route and was out the door at about 7:30am. That's a late start but the meeting did that. We got back around 5pm.

    Wenesday we had to be there at 7:30 for more orientation things more safety and DOT stuff this day. Left at around 4pm.

    Thursday and Friday we got assigned a driver that we would be with for the remainder of our training. I am very happy with who I am training with. Let's me run the route and is very very helpful and has about 15 years of experience 13 with Coke and 2+ with Pepsi.

    I am really liking it so far. I know it will be hard when I'm on my own but I feel the hardest part is getting use to the location and names of the products. Once you get that and what you are comfortable with lifting it will be easy.

    Any questions please ask
     
  6. Lantern

    Lantern Road Train Member

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    Coming from a former Dbay driver, which I am unsure what your location runs if its GEO Box or side load, the work will get to you when you are on your own.

    Let me describe my 2 years as a DBay driver went, and don't take anything I say as negative, because you will understand what I mean when you get more experience with the company. I enjoy working for them.

    I started out on a DBay truck. My training was only 4 weeks and with a different person everyday in different areas, which was extremely hard to get the grasp of things because people have different ways of doing a single job. Also most have strong opinions about the job in general, so putting a bad taste in my mouth from the start. While training was rough, I got through it to start as a relief driver. The work at first by myself was insane. 7 stops, 300 cases? Who do they think I am? At the beginning they were giving me light loads (not in my mind) to help ease my into the work load.

    After a couple months of me getting my bearings on how to handle customers in several different situations, they started putting me on heavier routes. 16 stops, 500 cases. Which I was able to manage in 14 hours. Yes the hours were extremely long, hard days and not seeing my wife very much during the week was getting to me. But I pushed through the work and suddenly the started getting easier. By this time it has been 4 months and I finally just got a route on the west side of the city so the driving distance was pretty far. The route then became 14-18 stops, 550 - 750 cases everyday and I was able to keep up. From time to time rescheduling due to hours.

    My managers started taking notice that my work, and well work ethic had improved from complaining to just going out and getting it done with little to no snarky comments. They decided to put me on as a trainer with training pay associated with it. Apparently they thought highly enough of me, and my accounts were pleased with the work I had been doing. They reassigned me to a new route next to the plant, which was one of the routes I had been asking to get on since I had started as it primarily was a restaurant route with heavy bag in the box. Perfect for training they thought.

    Well, being a new trainer, and on a route I had wanted, I was satisfied. On days, without a trainee, I could be off by 11am/1pm. Who would be upset? At this point I started wanting more from the job, I had plenty of days where my route sales rep had irritated me, and completely screwed my day up without even knowing until I called. Which of course, he doesn't case and just wants the stuff delivered and stocked properly. So there was good days and bad days.



    Now, that is a general summary of what my experience was. Lets get into a little more detail of the core functions.

    Being that my location is in florida, it is always hot. Which means cases loads are always heavy. While summer, you will live and breathe pepsi but you make a ton of money off commission. Now winter, since my state is florida, we don't have much of a winter. Case loads did drop drastically, but you still maintained over 350 everyday and stop counts went from (on my route) 16 to 22/25 a day on a side loader. So be very aware that winter, depending on your location, you might not even work if you have snow. And if it is raining, you are expected to still unload the trucks.

    The product you will carry vs what I carried in my location will be different. We have different contracts then other areas in fllorida. So, be aware that some accounts will think things belong to you, when they don't. Product knowledge will come in time.

    Accounts. You are a slave to these underpaid managers and you will run into plenty that are completely butt heads who will just try and mess with you. Plenty of times I have been yelled at, cussed at, and well I had to keep a level head. Pepsi will fire you (in my location) if you are kicked out of a account which theses stores know and use to their full potential. Not all accounts are like this, but be aware. Your managers might not back you up.

    Help. You might find you have a extremely heavy day and notice that you have help. Never expect that person to be with you when you come back in the next morning to run that heavy route. Most of the time, the help is a fill in if some one calls out. So you might be slinging 750 cases by yourself. Don't ever get your hopes up. Managers are not likely to come out and help if you have been there for some time.

    Heat. The trucks in my locations did not come with AC. So you will be hot everytime you are outside. Stay hydrated by drinking water and supplementing with Gatorade every now and then to put electrolytes back into your system. It is extremely important!! If you don't, you will fill sluggish, hindering how fast you can preform your job. Here, it gets over 100F regularly during summer with high humidity. I can not stress enough to stay hydrated. I kept a cooler in my truck (my assigned route tractor) for me and my trainee to use.

    Breaks. While 30 minute breaks are mandatory, you will see many times drivers will skirt this. I won't explain how, or why. But you will. When eating food, eat light foods, heavy foods will slow you down quite abit.

    Chain accounts. While I delivered to pizza places regularly, I often got lunch for free. Well... heck.. always for free. So if you are strapped for cash, always ask them how much their medium pepporine pizza is, 90% of the time they will hook you up. This is heavy food so do it at the end of the day.

    Turn over. Turn over is extremely high. They have more people quit then they can train. You will see why. (hard work, low pay is a common statement).

    "Overtime Pay". Pepsi uses what they call various overtime in my location. Which is Chinese overtime. The more you work, the less you make. Sounds greats? It is not legal, and some how it keeps skirting the law. Pepsi has been sued several times and lost. Paying out millions in back pay to employees. Yet no changes? Hopefully with the new overtime law coming into effect, that will change. As for sales, I am still payed various overtime, but mine is well above what you will make as a driver since you are based of cases you move. Mine is based of cases I sell, and selling 600+ cases everday brings my various overtime way higher making it worth it to me. However, they try to limit us to 51 hours a week which is impossible. Oh, and every case I order, I work.

    As for me, I have been promoted into bulk sales. Which I highly recommend against in my location. I went from enjoying my job, to flat out hating it. I do more work then what I did on the side load truck (which doesn't bother me), but the position is designed to keep you smoothing over the customer everytime upper management decides to send in "extra". Hours are 65-75 or whenever the job is done, you are not tied to regulations like drivers have.

    Pepsi is a phenomenal company, I would recommend any one who wants to start locally to go to them. The work is back breaking, the hours are stupid, and the pay could be better. But monday - friday, weekends off? Potential to work saturday for extra pay? My first year I made 48k, second year was 50k. Now that I am in sales, I am making above 60k.

    (I'd write more but the wife is ready to go for a walk). If you have any questions just PM me
     
  7. miz860

    miz860 Medium Load Member

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    Aug 23, 2010
    Philadelphia, PA
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    Thank you so much for this. I have been training on 10 bay and 14 bay trucks. They pick routes daily based on Senority so no one has the same route everyday. Also they bid on areas every week so in the south Philly/Center City area they have 5 slots. Then the suburbs has like 10 everyone else is on like a on call route list. You will still have a route but it's not in a specific area and the times are different.
     
  8. Lantern

    Lantern Road Train Member

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    Now that I am back...

    One last note. Do not expect brand new equipment. My location was a large hub where we had onsite mechanics. So all the remote locations got the new trucks and we got the trucks with the problems.

    Our trucks ranged from 1999-2003. Now, they have recently bought 2 brand new trucks.. But out of 19 DBay trucks that isn't a huge amount. But atleast they are progressing. The new trucks have AC, the older ones do not. Some don't even come with DC ports for chargers. As a route next to the plant, and a trainer, I got the better of the equipment. Nothing new. But mine did have working AC.

    The trailers are OLD. 1988-1999 are what we operated on. HOWEVER. They refurbish them every 2/3 years. New doors, new paint, etc, etc. These do come with alot of wire shorts and ABS is a thing that always seems to fail. But trailers are for the most part very well taken care of. Specially since most work injures occur when opening and closing the bay doors. (A lot of shoulder injuries).

    This job will cause permanent damage to your body. You will ache in places you never did before. Shoulders will hurt, legs will hurt, every thing will hurt. Overtime you learn to live with it, but as for me, I've done stupid stuff causing damage. But it isn't the reason why I got out. The promotion meant more $$.
     
  9. miz860

    miz860 Medium Load Member

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    Aug 23, 2010
    Philadelphia, PA
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    I understand and am in a similar situation. I am at a hub where we have on site mechanics also and our equipment is trash.
     
  10. Lantern

    Lantern Road Train Member

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    Don't expect it to improve. They will keep saying it will change, but being that I am still with pepsi, our drivers have yet to change. I was one of the very few drivers they trusted to drive a stick so I got alot of rental truck time since most rentals are stick. Then there was a 5 month period where I drove a 1992 pepsi truck with a 9spd... It sucked. It sat as high as a normal semi so climbing in and out was a pain.

    I am currently trying to decide if I want to step back down to being a driver. I enjoy it way more then my current position.
     
  11. miz860

    miz860 Medium Load Member

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    Aug 23, 2010
    Philadelphia, PA
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    Oh wow. I was told during my test drive that there are only 3 manuals in the fleet but I have been in 3 different trucks and they all have been manual. That's not including the manual I took my road test in. Lol
     
  12. Lantern

    Lantern Road Train Member

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    Just give the job some times. It is alot of bull crap, and frustration, but it is rewarding. I was happy my managers 90% of the time while I was on the truck.
     
  13. miz860

    miz860 Medium Load Member

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    Aug 23, 2010
    Philadelphia, PA
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