P&D guys, a few questions

I'm a former P&D driver and I'll try to answer your questions based on my experience....

1. If you DON'T have a bidded run, you would go to new places everyday. If you DO have a bidded run, you would go to the same places or area everyday. There's a lot of bumping docks at commercial or industrial areas and residential deliveries as well, which are home deliveries and THAT, you would go to different places.

2. Some places are extremely difficult to deliver, especially if you're delivering in a major city, on a one way street, with cars parked on both sides, and you have to back into an alleyway, with city traffic stuck behind you. Or if you're doing a little off roading on a construction site.

3. How many stops varies from day to day. It all depends on how much freight you have to Pickup and Deliver and how many Residentials as well, but it can be as many as 20 stops. How many hours can be anywhere from 45-55 hours a week, but usually it's somewhere around 50 hours.

4. Start times can be from anywhere from 8-10:30 am and finish around 7-8 pm, but for the most part, you work roughly around 10 hours a day.

5. Difficulty from 1-10, I would say it's around 4. If you have a bidded run and you know your area, the job can be extremely easy, except for the unknown residentials you'll have. I give it a 4 because of that, because you never know what you're dealing with when making a house deliveries. Too many variables, from low hanging power lines, if it's on an uphill, how big is the freight, and if you're delivering to a rich neighborhood or not (believe me, you'll HATE delivering to rich neighborhoods).

 

1 - its mostly regular customers 95% of the time, a few residential here and there, then you might have construction site for a couple months

2 - most of the time there is no problem to get a rig anywhere.. NOW some of the places can be tricky or accessible only with a pup (a long trailer wont fit, or you can't turn , or you ll drag your landing gear and get stuck..); always walk in if you never been to a place, ask the customer etc, park right in front of their building put the flashers on.

3 - it all depends on your route ( i can have anything from 5 to 14 stops, and maybe 2 / 3 pickups ; but then my route is 250 to 350 miles depending) if you stay in the city you can have more stops, but do only 50 miles .. I think if you are just city they want us to do 5 or 6 stops per hour.

4 - Mondays 0830, rest of the week 0930 . Averaging about 40h per week - our center is not that big !

5 - The job is physical that's for sure. Up and down the trailer, If you have chemicals, them totes can be quite on the heavy side, or if you have stones, steel etc ... but then if you use your head and empty airbags on trailer to unload and drop the tractor when you load you will let gravity work a bit for you. And if you can't move it, use chains, straps, palette grabber.
Then if they have a dock. piece of cake; let them go get the stuff with their forklift
So again, the difficulty will depend on your route, if you have mostly windshield time, that's not hard, If you have all the heavy freight , you will work out some; if you have a bunch of residential or stops where you need to break up freight to use your dolly to deliver.. some working out again.

 

1: No, I have a set bid that changes every 6 months (unless nobody with more seniority wants it)

2: not at all (I pull a 28' pup though 99% of the time)

3: 6am- 5:30 pm M-F (the number of stops vary)

4: see above

5: 3 (and that's only because once every 2 weeks I get a sort and seg at a food warehouse)

 

5) You may already be aware of this, being that you are in beverage delivery. But in case you don't, please be advised that the vast majority of customers are terrified of boxes---especially government "workers," and certain immigrants from certain countries (but really ALL immigrants as well as native born americans) and, unfortunately, female office personnel(but most "male" office personnel too). But really most customers, and even LTL employees including drivers;

The don't know what to make of a box, how to move it etc. They don't want to touch them, as if it's kryptonite.

Its an epidemic really.

i would say 98% of society are frightened of boxes.

So this unfortunate fact does make the job more difficult.

 

i mean if we really want to make America great again, then the first step is to get people less afraid of a cardboard box.

P.S. i am venting, but i'm not being sarcastic or joking.

 

P.P.S.
Now that i think of it, there is one group of people that Trumpoo wants to get rid of who AREN'T afraid of boxes............

 

1. Do you go to new locations everyday?

Residential deliveries are mostly new. Regular customers will be about 40-80 places you will frequent on a consistent basis. Some places will be visited once a month... others daily. Expect to interact with the same 10-15 customers on a weekly basis.

2. How hard is it getting a rig into some of the stops you go to?

If you suck at backing, don't apply. Most stops are as easy as stopping along the curb.... Some places it is blind side off a busy four lane road with cars honking at you from both direction.

3. How many stops/hrs do you work per day?

10 hour shifts with 15-22 stops are the industry minimum. Expect to work longer hours during the summer time

4. When do you start and clock out?

Some places have start times. Others will call you the morning of your shift. Start time + 10 to 14 hours will give you an idea when you get off... actually... don't worry about what time you clock out, rather what time you clock in.

5. On a scale of 1-10 how difficult is your job?

Depends on the stop. If you are lucky, most freight you can tailgate with a pallet jack, and they pick it off on the side of the road with no backing required. If management doesn't like you, you will end up with tons of hotel deliveries (which usually means break down the pallet and handcart the freight in), then residentials, and lots and lots of oversized liftgate deliveries that will burn up your clock.

Thanks, I'm a current Coke employee who is looking to move to OD in the near future