Dollar General Private Fleet?

I suppose its true .....the old areas of any town have that characteristic......but it isnt limited to Dollar General ......I mean, if you think about it, how many times have we drivers passed a Dollar General on our way to our own delivery?....or several? ....

 

I would resist the urge to pull my rig into the parking lot of any Dollar General, but that task is fortunately up to a very few drivers who get used to it by delivering to it repeatedly......week after week.....

 

Yep.. the difference here I feel is that experience is the key. Paranoia is also something that the drivers there must be cursed with. Several of my drivers were million milers or old hands, I have been doing this since the early 80's and started in downtown SF and Oakland delivering to little tire stores. Old hands can see things and know things that the new drivers just do not. And the latest flock of drivers and I mean all of them seem to be less than capable of self protection. They tend to charge headlong into places that they need not be in They cannot seem to plan their entry nor EXITs from these places. We old hands if confronted by a bad situation can usually think our way out of it carefully.. the newer drivers (REGARDLESS of age) cannot seem to take the time to think.. they end up in situations and resort almost always to brute force (destroying property, their truck, Dollar General's Trailers) to get out. The number of drivers who show up in brand new trucks one day and come back after their first load in a beaten up jalopy were too many to count. I had several drivers jackknife into the trailer and explain to me that "well, I had to get out of the lot and it was too tight".. If you are an old hand who can see spaces and know where the corners of your truck are at all times.. go for it. The problem is that most old hands have worked their way up the ladder and have no intention of doing all the hard physical labor anymore.

 

yes I am one of those old hands you speak of....went up and down ramps with my magliner hand truck for 15 years.....you talk about tight spaces......try delivering a 48' reefer in Aspen colorado........going down alleys etc etc.....had to watch power masts.....poles , that ###- end swing and yes.....you can jacknife pretty sharply......but theres a stop- point......and that stop - point is NOT HARD TO CALCULATE!...... its the point where you can EASILY see when your tractor, or any part of it, is about to hit the trailer....lol the "brute " method is never a good idea.....finesse is best....

 

I saw a pic somewhere of I think it was a Dollar General trailer, that had started going uphill in Tennessee, and aparently had the load straps holding the carts (?) Come loose and the carts byrst through the rear cargo doors.......it was a mess.....one I hadnt seen before.....

 

The trailers are supposed to be equipped with several sets of straps that are mounted in sliders on rails. The loaders will sometimes not use the straps between the stops so the entire loads (on wheels) is being held with the last two straps.. one set of straps won't hold the loads.

 

Yeah....okay....that makes sense of the picture I saw then.......

 

Good thing it wasnt an air plane.......that flight would have crashed on take off......

 

GOOD!

Next best thing that could happen since sliced bread.

Tired of seeing these irregular route Mega carriers holding these accounts and paying subpar wages to drivers.

This will be a "win-win" for everyone EXCEPT the mega carriers who had their chances.

megas Paying guys 50k or less to do all that work with #### benefits.

 

in another "downside" to what you a re saying, this means more trucks sitting at truck stops, waiting for freight those dollar general drivers will not be handling anymore...now they too will be loading up the truck stops just waiting on loads....

can massive layoff's be in thier futures??