Stevens Transport Aviary . . cont'

Start orientation the 7th, hopefully things work out good for me at stevens. Starting at .34 cents a mile with four years experience. Been out of the seat for a year and a half, I am pretty sure I will be good on the road test though, came out of the military in 2010 after being retired and went back to trucking not driving for couple years and nailed the road test perfect then. Hoping they dnt stick me with a trainer for long if they do. College isn't for me I decided even though I made good grades, and plus I was happier trucking anyway.

 

I was reading the PDF I got the other day and its load/unloading pay not bonus pay

 

I don't know why they still include that in their recruitment material. 99.999% of your loads you're not gonna touch. It's very misleading to new recruits who get it in their heads that they'll be making all this extra $, and they won't.

 

That was one of my major gripes as well.

 

Its just as well for me... no touch freight is appealing to me. At 6' 5", 155 lbs, I'm not exactly a model of strength for manual labor. lol

 

Got emptied in Geneva, IL, and dispatched right back into the place I delivered to... for a Walmart load that was a very late dispatch going to Cheyenne. Checked back in with the guard, got to the shipping office, and found that if I had been dispatched only 20 minutes earlier, I'd have gotten loaded, but the third shift shipping crew had just punched out. I have to wait for first shift to clock in at 0600 to get in line... late... and wait for them to squeeze me in. Which is all just as well because by that point, I won't have hours until noon.
Fortunately, this particular Walmart load is a drop, so I shouldn't have to deal with any of that Walmart "You're late! Go away! We'll get to you somewhere between 1500 and next Christmas..." malarkey.

Supposedly.

So I'm told.

*sigh*

 

The Cheyenne Walmart is one of the more graceful locations. They are good about trying to work you in. Unlike Brudidge and some other locations.

 

And what some people don't realize, is that even if you do unload, you have to break down the pallets and sort the product onto other pallets. There was one place back east I had to do that with a meat load. No extra pay, as it was required of the driver to do so. After that, I was more than happy to sit in my truck while the lumpers did their thing. Thankfully, it was only a few pallets.

 

i recall a dairy that made us breakdown the load of yogurt. my trainer was not happy that day and is gonna refuse any load going to that place in the future. plus he didnt get paid on the lumper charge for like 2 months afterwards.

 

I will second that the Cheyenne Walmart is one of the most friendly walmart DC's. It was my home drop, and if it is a drop, you can go in early, and drop it in the lot and get any empty, and if you are close to the appt time, they might have you put it in a door, then get an empty. Even when I arrived late, for a live unload, due to circumstances beyond my control, like late dispatch, I was put in a door, but also told they would unload all the on time trucks first, then get me unloaded. It must just be the easy going attitude of wyoming natives that makes it that way.