And away we go…another Walmart Transportation thread

6017
Seymour Indiana

 

The plan is absolutely no outside carriers in any DC.
The DCs with outside carriers are normally “run” by those carriers and the difference is very noticeable.
Of course the veteran drivers will say Walmart is going downhill and not what it was once. Change is change. Happens.

The system of slip seating works majority of the time if not around 99 percent but not all drivers follow the cleaning and leaving room for other drivers. Again, that mostly happens from the old timers whose entire truck set up for their comfort. Not alll trucks are used as slip seating but everyone is told they have to keep the truck cleaned and available for other drivers to use. Last truck I was assigned had to be the dirtiest and stinkiest one yet. No pet policy but smelled of dog and found some doggie biscuits and water bowl so…pretty sure it was an old timers truck. 36,000 miles and the inside looked like it hadn’t been cleaned since Sam Walton was alive.
Could that situation be an outlier and not the norm? Leaning towards outlier as far as lack of cleanliness but the leaving room part is a problem once a month, IE a week outta the month you’re in a very cramped situation.

The pay is good but the schedule, which, BTW, is the crux of the disappointment (along with substandard health insurance) isn’t consistent. What I mean by that is there’s a good chance what you get hired in on you will lose during rebid every April.
Worked my first full weekend since the turn of the century. That was eye opening and there’s not much anyone can do if they decide to remove a ton of schedules to more or less make more drivers available for weekends.
I understand it. Low man on the totem pole but when you have numerous drivers hired on with certain schedules and then all those drivers lose that schedule…makes for a tough time to enjoy the good things they offer.
For example I made 510 Saturday and 567 on Sunday. That’s not bad at all. I’m pretty new (less than a year) and my daily pay is around 370. Not saying the money is bad. It’s not. It’s not a hard job.

Inconvenient situations depending on your life? Yes.
No micro managing at all but they are strict with order of operations and doing it the Walmart way up to and including the process of hooking up to trailers. The order of operations when going to a store. It’s very robotic. They do have office personnel who’ll drive around the DCs and watch drivers to make sure they are following procedures and you will get spoken with if you deviate from procedure at any point.

Just from a personal standpoint, and maybe being older with kiddos, it might not be the end all. Trying to keep that part out of any conversation as that isn’t helpful for everyone.
It’s probably the best of a dying industry.
I took the job for a few main reasons

1 if Walmart has major issues, worrying about freight lanes and pay and parking won’t matter one bit.
2 the truck parking is almost a non existent issue and that is pretty awesome.
3 the other benefits offered are pretty sweet. They offer some pretty cool benefits like paying for secondary education at a very steep discount.


They have a lot of good they offer depending on your life’s situations and goals. Guess at my age, I’m done chasing money to the level of sacrifice time with family. Working full weekends isn’t ideal for most, but they try and ease that with better pay for weekends.


Sometimes money isn’t everything.

 

Yeah that’s not micro management
That’s installing a specific set of protocols that every single driver is required to follow. It’s a routine that they expect all drivers to follow. They keep an eye on things to make sure their way is done as close to 100 percent of time. Is it a bit much? Maybe. Is it hard to do and eat up your clock? Absolutely not.
The routine is for the safety of the driver and the the upkeep of equipment. Mostly for the upkeep but that’s fine. Besides dirty trucks inside from time to time, the equipment, including the older trucks, are maintained very well.
It’s corporate and they want to avoid lawsuits for things drivers or maintenance can catch before hitting the road.
Safety is most important and profits are right next to it.
I wasn’t around when this was the country club atmosphere.
Not having to fuel your own truck…not having to unhook or drop trailers…just driving. The old timers say it’s definitely been more onus on the drivers. Still beats dealing with companies that try and micro manage with phone calls, texts, emails…got a hot load that has to deliver no matter what…telling drivers how to run their clocks…etc etc

I start my clock and my day is done when it’s done. No pausing the clock to save time for whatever BS the company has up their sleeves.

Maybe your definition of micro managing differs from my definition and experience, but they expect things done their way and that’s the way it is.
I have yet to receive a single phone call from anyone ever in any department.
You control your own clock. You control the time allocated for daily tasks.
I’ll agree it is a very robotic system but it works extremely well for them,

 

It’s still very much seniority based bid system. No way a newer driver will get a Monday through Friday schedule nor get one assigned truck.