Foodservice Driving

They may not be the same as when I ran into their drivers years ago but back then they never stopped. They would always deliver goods to the stations I was unloading gasoline at and we would talk as drivers. Most could only spend a couple of minutes there but the only problem they complained about was always moving. They came out of Phoenix to Las Vegas and was always team driving. That's the only problem I heard and of course the pay the driver complain about. I also worked for a large corporation that does not gain their revenue from the truck and there's pro and cons just like any other job. But the pros always outweigh the cons. If you get hired on consider yourself lucky because this is one of the companies where drivers retire from.

 

US Foodservice was the one you are thinking of, there is also sysco which I think is part of the sygma corporation. There is core mark which does a lot of the gas stations and small stores. There are a ton of smaller companies too but I never used them when i was a Chef, it is very hard work, I used to feel bad when i was ordering 10 cases of ribeyes weighing 80-100 lbs each among tons of other stuff and watching the guy bring it all in. You also have to deal with breaking down pallets since the loaders like to screw up everything, you will find missing stuff for one customer on a different pallet etc. I made friends with the guys that brought my food but its too much back breaking work for myself. I dont mind working but I have a bad back or I would jump to it. The sysco guy worked 4 10's a week so had 3 day weekends every week. He said salary was around $60k and he got vacation and stuff. US Foods was pretty close in their pay and benefits as well.

Not sure if that helps any, pay is good and consistent but you will work for it.

 

Never messed with McLane or Sygma so cant help you there, but I know Sysco I have been told treats their employees well, the drivers enjoyed being there. My normal guy who delivered twice a week said he was with Sysco for 17 years and planned to retire with them.

 

I never worked for those 2 but have done food service. It is hell on your body, particularly if the trucks have ramps and no lift gate. Until you get into some shape you will be sore and tired, and when the soreness wears off, just plain tired. It takes a toll on your back and knees in particular. You can, however, make some decent money doing it, I worked for a very small outfit here in Philly for a couple years, it was a union gig as most food service is, that I'm aware of anyway. Very early mornings are tough to get used to, at least they were for me, I'm talking like 2-3 am start to head up to Long Island or down to Fredrick MD. My biggest complaint by far was how our warehouse guys loaded the trucks, having to touch product 3 and 4 times for let's say 12-18 pallets gets old real fast. Good luck in it though, I know lots of guys that love it for various reasons but it just wasn't for me....

 

I have been in foodservice/beer delivery for 7 years now and I love it! I am leaving MBM and heading to Sysco and I cannot wait! Few things about foodservice:

1. It's hard work.
2. If you can't handle the extra board or the thought of always being on call, then don't waste your time.
3. Learn how to properly lift.
4. The money is good.
5. Good drivers will make the best out of bad loads....stop blaming everything on the warehouse and learn to work smarter not harder.

 

Two other big food service companies are Maines and Sysco. It is hard physical work, but very good pay for a job that gets you home most nights.

 

the drivers can blame the warehouse very fairly....

I seen how they load those trailers, sometimes if I was the first stop there would be an item or 2 missing and be found all the way in the back for the last stop. I climbed up and helped a couple times try to find stuff, or sometimes I would get stuff on my pallet that belonged to another restaurant down the way.

Its the same for other companies too, sometimes I haul freight and the shippers just throw it everywhere, picked up a load a couple weeks ago at a Fred Meyer DC and was told I was required to put load locks, I open the back doors to see stuff just thrown on top of pallets leaning every which way, I told the guy checking my load that my load lock isnt even going to help with this mess, he said just go that I did what I was required too. The dock employees for the most part just dont care, I have seen some however who made sure everything was stacked perfectly. Hauled a load of Samsonite luggage that was all freely stacked in the trailer, the dock guy asked me if any of the stacks would still be standing at my final, I laughed and said nope, these roads are too messed up to keep lose stuff together.

 

In the Mid-West I recommended Eby Brown. They drive straight trucks & start you off at $40k. Home every night and off on the weekend's.

 

eby brown listings, I decided just to look since I was curious

http://www.eby-brown.com/careers/job-listings