Dollar General Private Fleet?

Werner and Swift have been getting away with performing like this for decades.........I mean, who wants to have their goods strewn all over the roadways and have your billboard sized name in all the news photos at every turn? Can anybody imagine some Dollar General executuve earnestly saying " well, its not our cost".........? So we conclude that Dollar General suffers nothing and only continues to benefit from such occurences? I cant seem to find any silver lining here......

 

My policy would be......stay clear of these people....its our duty to help sink them by not giving them any contracts , work......

 

Reward the competent......reward the competent.....

 

I suppose so.....D G is trying out the private fleet idea to some extent.....i forget where exactly.....makes me wonder........makes me wonder whether they are moving toward the goal of self reliance?

 

All good information and anyone considering Dollar General we be well advised to read and reread it then consider it carefully.

They also send drivers routinely to stores in crappy shopping centers that were designed for straight trucks. The parking lot will be uneven and result in the trailer being downhill from the rear toward the nose and to one side. So you get to push (or pull) an overloaded rolltainer full of dog food and water uphill - then try to get it up an aluminum ramp at the rear of the trailer and through a single man door into a stockroom not much bigger than the size of a walk-in closet that already full of crap. Many people can't do it - so they have to downstack the rolltainer onto a cart they call a U - boat or into another MT rolltainer.

This all takes time and effort. Often the rolltainers are overloaded, the DC doesn't secure the netting so as soon as it is moved away from the wall of the trailer stuff falls out. Many store managers are rude and a pain in the ### to deal with (not all - but quite a few).

The places you go to are VERY TIGHT and there are people and cars all over the place - often trying to pull in behind you or back out of a parking space on your blind side while you are backing.

They do not have adequate staff to handle trailer maintenance and repairs and many times your trailer will have liftgate problems or other problems requiring you to wait to get it bandaid repaired - keep in mind your clock is already running - then try to get to your stores and get it all unloaded.

Is it worth it? The short answer for most people is NO.

Any experienced driver can make more just driving and not touching freight elsewhere - and this is NOT a good job for a rookie driver. The probability of accidents (hitting poles, cars, buildings, trees, light poles etc) is near 100% - and is not going to help your career one bit.

Make your own choice - but be very careful! You have been warned!

 

They need to pay more! Drivers have to stop being taken advantage of. Take US express - they have a Walmart account. Works out to $1000 before taxes a week, 6 days a week you work with 34 hours a week off. That’s bad enough. Now look at the pay. Trips up to 225 miles pay $85. I can’t speak for Walmart but I am sure they’re close to Kroger and Kroger would pay me when I did it $1800 as an O/O to go deliver 225 miles away and bring the empty back.

So figure US express is keeping $1715 to your $85. It might not be that bad at Walmart, but you know they’re getting way more than you.

it’s criminal what goes on today in trucking. Put it this way. I was getting in 1998 41 cpm as a company driver. Today that’s normal some places. If you’re lucky you can get 65 cpm somewhere, but that’s not everywhere and even then you’ll probably be running the northeast and you’re sweet 65 is a giant waste of time when you factor in traffic all for giving up 3 weeks of your life for a lousy 3 days off when it’s all said.

Rise up truckers! And America!

not trucking but take that ####### who owns Amazon. He could have given his workers 100k each and still have the same amount of money he did pre pandemic . He’s raking in the money while his workers get bent over and screwed hunter no lube Biden style. Bezos earns 200 million a day. He could fund St Jude everyday for 1 mil and have 199 left. Does he? No.

Break up Amazon. Break up US express. Break up anything that’s big.

 

Is US Express that big? Nothing compared to Knight/Swift/Central...
And Amazon has served most of us from time to time.
So has Walmart, and many large companies.

I would be lost out here, on the road, without a Walmart for shopping.

It would be nice if some of these companies could be 'influenced' to treat their workers more fairly however.


And if you are SO unhappy with the trucker lifestyle and pay...
Find something else that better meets your needs and wants.
Get some better education that will get you into a position of money or power.
But stop crying that you have it so bad, when you have chosen this for you.

 

I believe an honest pay for an honest days work. The northeast companies are no longer paying cpm or percentage, they’re paying hourly or salary. Right now the average is $1,000-1,500 weekly. Some will pay $1,700 1099. But some of these company drivers that have high cost of living and high expenses are asking for too much.

$2,000 to $2,500 weekly salary. I’m like what? $1,500 a week is about $80,000 gross, how is this exactly crap pay? $2,000 a week is a 6 figure salary, that’s what I pay myself as an independent. The rest of my money goes back to the business.

I had an interview with a 30 year vet. This man wanted a dedicated run going by his house. $2,500 a week W2, Home in the weekends and wants to start his clock on Monday morning. No wonder why megas are bringing in people from third world countries. I’m starting to see the light.