Pepsi Bay Driver or CTL Transportation??? ANY ADVICE...? PLEASE...

With Pepsi you would get in shape and stay in shape. I did foodservice for a while and I was a tank. Pepsi runs those little tractor trailers that require a class "A" license, but you would have no OTR experience. At your age if you don't mind the work, Pepsi would probable be a good choice.

 

Go with CTL. Pepsi will ruin your back. Not only that, tankers leads to some much better paying jobs in the future. With Pepsi you have to deal with whiny, whimpy store clerks as opposed to tankers where you deal with some pretty bright people on a daily basis at those chemical plants.

You're not passing on a good deal with Pepsi. Beverage companies are always looking for new drivers to replace the ones who get fed up with it.

 

When I was younger I had choices and went with food service. Mainly because I was young, newly married and wanted to spend as much time with my wife, if you know what I mean. Staying home was priceless, had three children, got to see all the things a father should experience. Its a personal choice, both aspects of driving, either local or long, can be rewarding. I've done both now and still prefer to be local. But I do think Chinatown has it accurately described.

 

Tanker work is pretty good. Much better delivering to chemical plants, many of which are along the Gulf Coast areas. You will make good money too.

 

I was reading your post and decided to make it my first reply on this forum. I am currently employed at Pepsi as bay delivery driver. I have been with the company for 20 years now, 16 of them as a driver. I am 37 know and started driving for Pepsi at your age of 21. I am not sure as how to advise you in either direction as whether to go OTR or work for Pepsi. All I can do is give you a little insight about working for the company and my past with them.
I too had a decision to make at your age. Mine was whether to continue going to community college for my associates degree or move up from my stocking job at Pepsi to become a bay delivery driver. Being young like you, the thing that swayed my decision was the money aspect. I was facing graduating with my associates degree and getting a factory job making $35K a year or driving for Pepsi and start off making $45-50K(which was a lot of $ for a 21 year old fifteen years ago).
I don't regret my decision to take the driving position at Pepsi. Being single at the time with no real major financial responsibilities, I was able sock away good chunk of change which gave me a good start in life. With my my job you meet and interact with lots of people which is also how I met my wife with who I have two beautiful daughters. I will give you my opinion of the good and bad of the job.

The good:
Home daily(important if you have a family)
M-F work week with occasional Saturday
Pay is not bad($45-55K) up here in MI. Not sure down there in LA.
Full Benifits
Pension Plan(through Teamsters)
You stay in shape(no need for gym membership)
Highly discounted soda purchase plan

The bad:
Very physically demanding
Can be long days(depending on volume and available drivers)
Inconsistent schedule of 8-14 hour days(never know what time your day will be done)
Have to work outside in all elements of weather(pushing two-wheeler in snow is not fun)
Have to deal with gas station and store managers who think they are better then everyone else
Terrible equipment(not the case at all locations)
Being we are Union at our location, there is that separation between employees and management

If you are looking at Pepsi for a lifelong career, I wouldn't. After being there for 20 years now, and knowing I still have at least 20 more years until I can retire. I am to the point now where I am starting to look at making a career change. In my time here I have only seen one person retire from the driver position that I have. Most guys in my job either quit, get fired, or get hurt on the job. When I was your age, I used to love getting up and going to work everyday. Now the only part of my job that I enjoy is driving truck.

 

Its hard to convince a young driver that 20 years from now your body will break down from all the repetitive work a food service job like that requires. On the other hand its when your young that you can bounce back from those hard days and injuries that I'm sure would be foolish to try new at a more senior age. You could use that local experience to fine tune your driving skills, practice on easier to drive vehicles, and learn the area your working in. Then you could move on to something like a LTL carrier or no touch freight regional position which requires (in my opinion) a more advanced set a skills and doesn't require all the same physical demand the soda industry would. A driver could still be working close to home until he has all his domestic affairs in order allowing him to be free to work OTR. The experience would still come but to a more mature person who would have a better knowledge of the ins and outs of the trucking industry.

 

Typically in the Beverage companies a Bay Truck is a Straight truck. A side loader is the same setup, but a trailer. I'm in Beverage (Beer) and as another guy said, it WILL get you in shape! The only thing I've noticed while at stops when I run into Pepsi and Coke is those guys do like 10-15 stops a day! I do 6 on my busiest day. I don't know how they do it. I typically dump around 1000-1500 cases a day. They do half that but spread throughout 3 times the stops but as far as I know they get paid descent, if it Pepsi is union where you are that's even better.