Anyone else take issue with Walmart dc's late policy?

Guess I've been lucky. Never did anything but drop and hook dry goods for WM. A bunch of times. Also did dedicated for them for months. Always thought they were pretty decent to drivers. This thread is a real eye opener.

 

Car haulers don't have that problem

 

At least not until WALMART starts selling CARS

 

west of courthouse at 71 and 35 are a TA and a Loves. Theres is also truck parking at the MickeyD's. North of those is a Flying J as well as rest areas on both the NB and SB sides. Even closer to the courthouse DC to the west there is a walmart store that trucks park at too at US 62 and US 35.

Just for future reference.

 

How much time after an apt..does WM consider late? 30mins? 1hr? Etc...

 

Over my career driving both Reefer and Dry van I don't ever remember having a serious problem with Walmart DCs. I don't know the exact amount I have been in but over a long career I have been in most of them at least once. I have had some of the traffic clerks to offer me drinks and snacks. As has been clearly stated. Get there early. Stop paying attention to the signs in most cases once that guard at the guard shack checks you in you are in. Most of the time those signs are there to get drivers to spot that trailer and get checked in and paid ASAP. If your appt is for 10AM get in line at least by 8 45 and once checked in get moving. In most situations it should not take you much longer then 30 minutes to spot, park and walk into the traffic office. If there is a C/F going on and there is a line all the way around the corner they are not going to charge you with being late. If they try to contact your company. Remember over 90% of the time it is NOT you the driver that pays for the lumper or the late fines. Let your carrier handle these things. If you are in that 10% do as you feel you have to do.

As to actually being late. Depending on the DC and how they operate some will turn you away right from the guard shack and some will call the traffic office. This is why you walk in and they check your appt number in the computer. I have been late before. In fact one of my last trips into the Laurens SC DC I was almost 3 hours late. Not my fault because I was helping out and picked the load up at our Atlanta drop yard and brought it up there. I told security I was late and why. She checked the computer and agreed I was late. She called over and spoke to somebody that told her to let me in. My company had sent an email and they accepted me. Just remember this one thing about Walmarts. Be late getting on the property you won't get in. Be late at the traffic window and you are going to be unloaded as they get to you.

 

Pro tip: flatbed doesn’t deliver to Walmart DC.

But yea, I have heard of people showing up an hour early and dropping quickly, then standing in front of their window while they ####ed around on Facebook or something and waited to serve them until the appt time was passed and then refused to pay detention lol

 

You sure about that?

 

The average Walmart DC in the US when busy will admit anywhere from 10 to 20 trucks an hour. That means in an hour a traffic clerk will have to deal with those same drivers as they check in. If a Traffic Clerk sits on her tush and does her nails or messes around on FB and those drivers start building up to such a point that they all are late trust me it won't happen each and every day because that DC will bounce her tushy right off the property. People that are telling you this are using a good bit of hyperbole.

 

I deliver to Wal-Mart dcs and other big grocery warehouses quite often. Thay are my favorite deliveries and never a problem.

Show up at 8 am, 10 minutes to get my chains off while the ground crew hooks up the rigging, 30 seconds for the crane to lift and i got a signed bol in my hand. 5 minutes later all my chains are stowed away and im headed to the the gate waving at the 150 trucks lined up in the docks.