Tobyhanna DC driver

Discussion in 'Wal-Mart' started by Bigman18428, Mar 9, 2021.

  1. Bigman18428

    Bigman18428 Bobtail Member

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    Can someone provide any information on Tobyhanna DC. Just did phone interview and schedule for on boarding Mar. 29. Want as much feed back as I can get. Anything and everything. Thanks
     
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  3. mxpx148

    mxpx148 Road Train Member

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    I drove for Walmart out of 6080(Tobyhanna) for two years...what would you like to know?
     
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  4. Bigman18428

    Bigman18428 Bobtail Member

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    Everything, the good, the bad, why did you leave? My fear is micromanagement.
     
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  5. mxpx148

    mxpx148 Road Train Member

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    Ok:

    The good:
    -Well maintained equipment, no questions asked maintenance and repairs(though my second year there they were really starting to stretch out tire life).
    -You get paid for everything you do, and get paid pretty well. Your paycheck is always there and correct.
    -Parking is pretty much never a problem, since we can park at most stores and the DCs.
    -Time off is hard to match in the industry.
    -Great 401k match/stock purchase assistance, and many of the additional benefits you can purchase, while they do add up(STD/LTD/up to $1M life insurance) are top notch.
    -For the most part, you are pretty much in control of how hard you run. If you have one of those days that you just don’t feel great or whatever, you can pretty much make it an easy day by pushing your ETD out(though I never really pushed it with this, as I liked to run).
    -You will NEVER miss your hometime! I was once broken down in Maine the day before my go home day and they booked me a rental and I drive back to Tobyhanna so I didn’t miss my hometime.

    The Bad:
    -You will be sharing a truck, and sharing one for a very long while. You may get lucky and come in right away into a 5/2 5/3 or 6/3 program(I was lucky and got right into a 6/3) where you will share 2 trucks with yourself and 2 other people, but many come in and have to spend time on the extra board for the first year or so. On the extra board, you are on a 5/2 where you will jump around from truck to truck, sometimes daily, for your work week. This is a pain in the ### as you have to pack up and move your stuff every time, into a truck that may or may not be cleaned properly. You also won’t get out of the local area as much and will be stuck with the wonderful NJ/Long Island runs more. More on the cleaning, if you are particular about how you clean your truck, don’t expect the other people in you program to be. I came into a dirty truck multiple times, went to my coordinator who took pictures twice and said they would take care of it, only to come back to a dirty truck the following week. I gave up and just started cleaning them PROPERLY at the beginning of my week.
    At the end of your week, you have to pack up ALL of your stuff so the next guy can get in the truck. If and when you do get your own truck after a few years of seniority, it will more than likely be a Wed-Sat out, as bids go by seniority and the senior guys usually want the weekend off schedule. Even when you get your own truck, you still need to pack everything up for the most part at the end of your week...why? If you didn’t guess it, yes, extra board guys or guys with broken down trucks will more than likely be using your assigned truck while you are off. This caused a lot of POd senior drivers at that DC and is the reason a lot originally left after the .38 special days started from what I’ve been told, that and extremely limited set runs.
    - The medical insurance, for a large company, is the ####iest I’ve ever had at any job in multiple industries! It doesn’t cost very much bi weekly, but nothing but high copays and higher deductible/Max OOP. I was shocked a few months after I started when I went for an annual routine checkup(supposedly covered 100%) and receive medical an almost $700 bill for the lab work, the exact same lab work I’ve had done for years with other insurance companies and never paid a dime. It’s absolutely ridiculous that a company of Walmart’s size offers this kind of garbage insurance, and honestly it’s insulting.
    -Forget just about everything you learned to become the “best of the best” professional driver that Walmart is supposedly looking for, because once you step foot in onboarding, you will learn the Walmart way of doing everything, and don’t get caught not doing it that way. This includes things most drivers do, like spinning the landing gear without holding the handle properly, backing into a spot/dock without your seatbelt on, getting in without 3 points of contact etc. Don’t do it their way, you’ll be having a talk with safety.
    -You will be allowed 60 mins/day to talk on the phone for 10 mins max per call while on drive line. If you have an accident, or incident over $1000 dollars, you have to cough up your phone records for review for that 24 hour period. I don’t gab on the phone all day, but when I had important calls to make/take, it used to annoy me to no end with the 10 minute limit. I used to use the joke with my friends/family,” I gotta go, or I’ll turn into a pumpkin”. Lol
    -Get used to every single safety device ping, beeping and jingling in the truck, because Walmart has every factory safety option available and then added a Lytx camera facing outward. I never had a problem with the systems, besides from the older collision avoidance slamming the brakes on from seeing an overhead sign no and then, until the 2021s with lane departure. You used to be able to turn that off, but they changed that back last Sept/Oct so now you can’t turn that off. You want to talk about the most startling, loudest alert ever made, that comes on while your in your lane if you turn your blinker on to signal merging to the right if there is a car in your lane, sometimes reading two lanes over. It’s the dumbest system I’ve ever seen, and one of the final straws that made me leave.
    Also, all new trucks are automatics and they lock you out of both the performance and manual modes, which come in handy when your driving a grossly detuned truck on say 84 in Connecticut.
    In summary with the truck, they pretty much spec the trucks like your a rookie CR England driver heading out for the first time, not like the “best of the best” driver they supposedly hire. All this leads me to believe Walmart is chomping at the bit for automation and can’t wait to be able to get rid of drivers when the tech is ready.
    -Time off, while plentiful, is limited by spots available and seniority. If every spot is taken for a day off you want, you can sign up as an alternate if one of the drivers changes that day off, or “call off” and possibly face repercussions, though since COVID started, there aren’t really any. This never proved to be a huge problem for me, as the handful of days I requested off that were denied usually weren’t a big deal, and the two times they were important and I was denied, I flat out told them I wouldn’t be there regardless that day, and they ended up approving it.

    I think I covered mostly everything, and my thumbs are bleeding lol. As to why I left, I had enough of the micromanagement and running the Northeast nonstop and was going to get my own truck. I quit, then that deal fell through, so I took off December and found another company. After the truck fell through, I didn’t feel like going through the whole onboarding process again with Walmart just to go back to a job I knew I wouldn’t stay at long term. I went with a smaller 20 truck carrier out of Ohio in January and couldn’t be happier. I miss a couple things with Walmart, the excessive time off, the 401k match and the hometime(I’m out for 10-12 days with 2-3 off now), but as far as the job itself I’m so much happier. I have a O/O specd 2019 Cascadia, no safety nannies trying to drive the truck, wide open(that I use responsibly) and I don’t ever run the Northeast anymore. I’d say that coming up on 6 years I’ve found the best company I’ve ever driven for, and probably won’t leave unless it’s to get off the road for good, which is always a possibility.
    Walmart over all isn’t a bad company to drive for...you can make good money there and make it a lifelong career if you choose to. It comes down to what are you willing to deal with and what things are a big deal to you and what things aren’t. It certainly isn’t the Walmart that it was when Sam Walton was still alive, and the changes only seem to be for the worse from what I saw in the two years I was there, but some drivers would ##### and moan, and others loved it.
    Let me know if you have any other questions...good luck!
     
  6. Bigman18428

    Bigman18428 Bobtail Member

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    Thank You for your honesty, I am currently on the fence. But with more information I will make a decision. To be honest I will probably stay where I am at. Currently with a great contractor at FedEx Ground. Last year made about $99,000 but I ran my ### off and it was mostly team work with rookie drivers since I am a driver trainer. My goal was always to work for Walmart. On the other hand, I am the kind of person who likes a challenge. If I take the job, I will give it the best I could. I am 63 years old so I don’t have too many years left. My minimum objective was to take the job and then transfer to Delaware and retire there. If I fail at Walmart my current employer will take me back in a heartbeat. So I am still in debating mode. Thanks for the information
     
  7. mxpx148

    mxpx148 Road Train Member

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    If you did take it, Smyrna would probably not be very hard to transfer to after you get your year in...they are also always looking for drivers.
     
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  8. Bigman18428

    Bigman18428 Bobtail Member

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    Yes I know and that is where I am scheduled for my on boarding.
     
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  9. T.Rucker

    T.Rucker Medium Load Member

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    That was a great write up. Especially if you did that on your phone lol. You pretty much nailed it in that post. I left after 9 months for many of the same reasons and then came back after 5 months away. Now, I’m starting to struggle with the same old issues I had before. Glad to know I’m not the only one lol. The $ and the PTO are helping me through right now.
    Glad you found a good gig that you’re happy at.
     
  10. mxpx148

    mxpx148 Road Train Member

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    Thanks man...yeah, my thumbs were hurting lol. I learned a long time ago, in most cases, never go back to a job you left, because they never get better, only worse. There is one driving job I’d go back to...when I ran a bid run through TransForce for Bridgestone up to Ottawa twice a week. If TransForce got that back from JB Hunt, I’d be all over it!
     
  11. bzinger

    bzinger Road Train Member

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    Thanks for what you posted about the realitys of wal Mart I considered it a few years ago and thought about moving near the Ottawa KS DC or several others but decided I wouldn't last long sharing a truck with people that wouldn't share my ethic for a clean truck .
    Makes wal mart trucks much less desirable on the secondary market now knowing they've had so many driver thru them .
    Glad you are happy and I am too ! ...money isn't everything to me if I have to drive a rag .
     
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