Walmart here I come!

If you do not complete the application in one session, just hit the SAVE button. You can log back in later to complete. Just do not wait long because your application is not on file until it is submitted. The application you complete online will be printed out and given to your husband to review and officially sign when he comes to the DC to meet with operations personnel. This will be the one and only chance to make any corrections to the application before Walmart begins verifying its contents. Any conditional job offer that may be made will be on the assumption the application submitted is true and correct.

 

Thank you, TomOfTx !!!

Yes, I think I'll be able to get through some of it tonight, but it's late and I'm tired and don't want to make any fatal mistakes so I will probably save to draft and finish it up tomorrow.

Right now I'm at the "Qualifying Questions" and I have to think through the one about having run OTR in each of the last three years. He only ran one trip with a single overnight this year -- but spent that one in a hotel! He had plenty of OTR in all other years, though.

I'm afraid that if I answer "yes" he'll get kicked out for lying; yet if I answer "no" won't they just skip over his application completely? Won't they be looking at those minimum qualifications first and ignore everything beyond that if they are not met?

 

Relax, OTR (Over the Road) by definition means to drive a long distance from place of pick up to place of delivery. The term OTR does not mean you had to spend days away from home. Your husband has already spent time in a sleeper of a truck, so that will be nothing new to him. Answering YES is a truthful answer. Prior to coming to Walmart in 2013, I had spent the previous 7 years with UPS Freight doing a line haul run between Houston and Irving, TX 5 days a week. I slept in my bed at home every night.

 

Ooooohhhh, shoot, he does that drive a long ways thing all the time! As far as he is concerned, 6-700 mile days are the bestest days.

Thank You, Tom !!!

and ((( HUGzzz ))) for you, too

 

The length of haul driving for Walmart will be shorter than other carriers as our DC's are spaced fairly close together. Most trips are less than 250 miles. You make a lot of money on the accessory pay on top of the mileage pay.

 

What is accessory pay?

And I have seen folks say there are weeks with lots of miles and few of something else (I forgot what they called it) and other weeks where there are lots of the something else with fewer miles (I've read up to page 74 in this thread, not done yet).

 

Accessory pay as I refer to it is for non-driving tasks such as drop and hook of trailers, live load/unload of trailers, delay time at a stop, pay for taking a 10 hour break in the truck, etc. These items add up quickly, and from my own experience I prefer shorter trips where I can add on the accessory pay. It was easy to make close to a dollar a mile on days where I drove less than 400 miles for the day due to all the add on pay. Of course, we all have those days where you just want to spend the day driving and hope for a nice 500 mile run instead even if the overall earnings may be reduced for the day.

 

Thanks, Tom -- yep, maybe that's what the other folks were talking about ... nearly a buck a mile? Why, that's twice the minimum that Brian would accept mileage type jobs for!

There's a local guy that he has known most of his life. He would love love love to work for Joe, but Joe only pays about 40 cents per mile. Brian says we can't afford for him to work for that.

 

Good efficient use of your time working will turn into a large paycheck driving for Walmart. You really have a lot of control over how hard you work here. It may not make sense to an outsider, but those who work here know what I mean. Most of the dispatch is automated by computer, so keeping accurate availability for dispatch times updated on the OBC (qualcomm on board computer) is key. Some of this may (or may not) seem overwhelming to your husband, especially if not well versed in using an on board computer, but in time it will seem easy. Walmart Transportation is the most efficient logistics operation of any carrier I have ever driven for. You have to be here to see what I mean. Come here with an open mind because what you see here in terms of logistics is light years ahead of the average every day carrier on the road. On top of this, you will see how well Walmart drivers are treated when picking up a load from a vendor because the bottom line is this, WE are their customer and Walmart has a tremendous amount of pull when it comes to dealing with shippers who sell to Walmart.

 

Thanks, Tom -- some more invaluable info!

Yeah, he got a couple of months using the OBC when he was with Smith, but I'm sure that it wasn't enough time for him to feel comfortable with it. Shoot, he's even a lost cause when it comes to using my desktop -- of course, he's never had to use one, either. If I leave YouTube open, he can manage to watch videos, and occasionally even find a website or two.

However, he has since gotten a smart phone and I am very impressed with how he has taught himself to navigate around that d@mn thing (I hate smart phones and the whole data on your phone thing -- I've got a simple flip and a 29.99/mo prepaid plan). I'm totally lost with it; yet he figured it all out himself with no instructions or anything. And he ain't much in the book learnin' department to begin with

So I'm sure he just needs time to learn it all. Elogs will be totally new to him, though.