Beware of WEL companies

I used to think tyson was akin to walmarts private fleet.

but last year in joliet il there was a cold storage facility that tyson also had a contract at, I saw nothing but damaged trucks and bad drivers show up and tarnish my view on tysons private fleet.

 

Not sure where you were, but that’s a lot of bad apples in one spot… I’ve only been with Tyson for 9 months but from what I’ve seen they keep their equipment clean and maintence often. They have been trying to improve and hiring on a lot of people. But I think retention is pretty bad- just in 9 months 3 or 4 drivers were hired on and left the small,dedicated account I run…
But Tyson is far from Walmart fleet standards. Tyson sure can try and compete but it doesn’t match. Only thing going for Tyson is assigned trucks,not as much micromanagement, no front cameras (for now).
You can tell by how the companies(as a whole)treat their drivers, who actually respects their drivers (Walmart does, Tyson far from it).
The transportation headquarters is small and super outdated. They are disorganized and really don’t seem to have it all together. Can’t get new company tshirts,etc because they don’t have anyone hired to do that stuff since February (even though they want us wearing Tyson clothes- so they expect you to like or fit in to the button down they gave you on day one). The Parking lot to test drive and “train” in when hired on is small and crowded. Upside of this is that you’ll actually learn since a bunch of the shippers yards are super small. the small dedicated account I run on, Tyson bought them out like 3 years ago. A bunch of the drivers from there are still running outdated and busted internationals and have been told by Tyson numerous times they will give them new trucks, haven’t seen them. Yet they’ll throw a newly trained cdl student into a KW HAHAHA
Tyson also gave us a .01 cent raise, wow! But then increased the cost of health insurance program!!!
Walmart has a up to date facility, clothes they want you to wear and constantly update and give you new ones. Walmart lets their drivers park at DCs for sleeper or at their stores. (Many Tyson plants don’t allow)
Walmart drivers make over 100k and get regular weekly home time, most time longer than 34hrs.
Tyson drivers don’t hit 100k unless you’re a road warrior and never get home.. or one of the older drivers that been at the company for like 20years.
Tyson isn’t awful but they aren’t Walmart… I’d put them above Werner,Decker, and prime (so many of their drivers are really bad now, I thought prime was better but I’m seeing really bad out of them).
I’m putting my time in at Tyson then running over to Walmart lol

 

Anyone still with Wel and loving it?

 

Not with wel, but i deal with their drivers alot.

From talking to their drivers and dealing with their mouth breathers.

It seems to be a fleece company now, and they hire anyone.

Lots of their drivers cant back a trailer to save their life in an open lot, and they're always driving with their highbeams on, then get mad when we ask them to stop blinding everyone.

 

Place is about as bad as Welfare Express. Best to avoid the scum.

Their recruiters play clueless and wont answer much of anything except...you'll need to ask in orientation. Lmao...

 

I drove for Tyson for 18 months a couple years ago, and you’re completely correct. Better than entry-level for sure, but far from the best in the business. It’s a shame. I think at some point they were at top of the leaderboards. Nowadays they are just prioritizing growth over quality. They want to be a Walmart-quality company to drive for, but they lack the care to be one. They do tend to respect and reward the lifers more than the rest of the fleet. Sometimes it felt like they were just between their old ways and the new ways.

I didn’t hate driving for them but I didn’t enjoy my job in the end. At some point I guess I started to feel just like a chicken in a cage.

 

Okay, in our defense, Paccar low beams suck, I could see better if i ratchet strapped my bicycle headlight to the front bumper.

Current life update from me is that I have left WEL before the christmas holiday (though they tried to get me to bring my truck to Oklahoma and fly home without any of my belongings, nipped that in the butt real quick). Going to reassess my work-life needs and probably go for a more regional or local company.