Walmart here I come!

Here at the DC in Sealy, TX I was paid $14 an hour for all the time in orientation, which was shortened to only 4 days since there was only 3 of us in the class. It may be different at other DC's, but I do not know. For a full 5 day orientation you would likely make about $700. For the second week which you spend with a mentor, you are paid your rate of pay for mileage and activity. For the 2 weeks combined, I made about $2200.

 

Jim, it looks like the new process where they do a phone interview before sending the drivers to the DC for the road test has changed this step that you, me, Matt and a few others went through. Now, when the driver passes the road test, instead of having them sign a form to check their past employment and wait to hear back, they are now sending the drivers for the physical, drug screen and submitting the background check right then. This means that when they hear back from Walmart, it will be the final offer and only have to wait for the orientation date. I saw a few driver candidates go through this process last week. This would work out great for drivers who had to travel a long way to get there.

 

If you wish to quit smoking, Walmart will pay 100% of the cost to go through a quit smoking program. This includes supplying you with any medication or nicotine replacement items, such as gum, lozenges, patches, etc. You are eligible for this the day you start. As someone who has battled kicking the smoking habit, it can be hard. Since working here I haven't needed to smoke like in the past. Happy work environment certainly helps!

 

Adding on to what Matt already wrote, the appointment times we have are drop dead times, meaning the load to the stores needs to be delivered by the scheduled time. We arrive at our own convenience. For General Merchandise (GM) loads, the drop by times for the stores would be: 1st truck of day: 16:00, 2nd truck: 18:00, 3rd truck: 20:00. For grocery loads, it normally needs to be delivered no later than 22:00 each night. If you had a multi stop grocery load, the final stop almost always is a drop and hook. Loads for Sam's Club stores usually have drop by times of 20:00, 22:00, and 23:59. These loads are all drop and hook just like the GM loads. I have yet to ever come close to missing one of these time cutoffs. Many times I am delivering GM loads to stores the night before it is even scheduled to deliver. If you keep you ETD times accurate, you will almost never be pressed for time to deliver on time. We generally arrive well in advance of the drop dead times.

FYI, you will hear the term ETD a lot here. It refers to "Estimated Time of Departure". This is the time you believe you will be hooked up to your load and out the gate by. Very important that these times are accurate. You control how hard you do or do not work any given day based on your ETD. If for example you think you may be to the DC at 3pm, but you want to take a shower and get something to eat, just set your ETD based on this. You may not end up leaving until 6pm, so just put that time as your ETD and include available hours to drive for the remainder of the day as well as hours remaining on your 70 hours.

All your dispatch information is sent to the truck's OBC (On Board Computer), which is a upscale newer Qualcomm unit that handles all the messaging, electronic logging, navigation, and vehicle performance.

 

Thanks to both of you Tom and Matt this is invaluable to me because it's helping build a picture I'm my head of what might be my future if I make the grade. The computer stuff will be all new to me as I drive a 92 Pete with a mechanical 4and a quarter and a 15 over, I can handle my smart phone and pc at home but this is a little scary I never did any electronic logging but I guess I better learn quick if I'm gonna retire there. Tom, according to your post on the hiring protocol am I understanding you correctly when I say there's no longer a phone interview or is that still in place? I hate to sound stupid but I was looking over some of the questions they might ask and the one regarding " in order to put on placards you must first what? All I can think of is on they simple side have a hazmat endorsement in the other hand my other answer would be to know what your loading in your trailer am I thinking too hard I think they're both correct answers what's a driver to do lol!

 

No need to feel intimidated by the truck's on board computer. It is easier to operate than a smartphone or pc.

The electronic logging is very user friendly. It does most of the work automatically, such as switching you to driving when the truck gets above 15 MPH and/or 1.5 miles from last location. You mainly need to manually switch it to off duty/sleeper and just input your current trip number, BOL, and trailer number. Much, much easier than filling out a paper log.

The phone interview, which is a new process, is still in place. It was only just put in place about a month ago. It helps screen candidates who may live farther away from a DC and saves them the trouble of traveling a long distance for the initial interview.

As for hazmat, study the hazmat guidance and the criteria for hauling it. Disregard studying the requirements for hauling explosives and/or radioactive materials as we do not haul them and you will not be quizzed on them. Just so you know, we rarely haul hazmats in quantities that require placards. I have yet to haul a placarded load here. Most of what we haul is common household items that are considered hazmat, but in very limited quantities, often less than 50 pounds in the entire trailer.

Feel free to ask any questions. One of us is usually on here to assist you.

 

yea that's pretty cool u 2 talked. I've been checking and waiting on marcy or johnstown to put up there ad.

 

Ok thanks Tom, the electronic logs sound interesting but easier is bette so they say hopefully I'll get that opportunity and find out for myself, I appreciate very much your time and patience. Now I will sit quietly at my desk hands folded waiting for them to call. Be safe and enjoy the open road I hope someday to meet you and all the drivers who've been a hope a help and a blessing to me, peace and chicken grease buddy.

 

You are welcome. Just pay it forward when the next batch comes to ask questions.

 

Joeyd, just to let you know, I came from no electronic anything, also. Paper logs, no Navigo (Jill), and so on. So, I was learning from scratch also. The logs were the easy part. Remembering to input what you were supposed to, when you are supposed to, is what you need to get used to the most. You will forget something. However, it is ok and easily fixed.

Shoot, even seasoned Walmart drivers forget to go into the sleeper now and then. It happens.

Basically, it is getting your routine, and not straying from it. This is also what slows you down in the beginning, and how you will see large improvements in your ADP as you get more efficient with your routine. The routine ensures that you will not forget something. I am still seeing that improvement, without consciously knowing that I am moving faster. I am just being more efficient all the way around.

As for hazmat, in 10 months I almost hauled a load that needed to be placarded. Almost. Everyone was running around saying it was a hazmat load, until I looked at the paperwork and realized that it was under the weight threshold to need to be placarded. So much for my one hazmat load. LOL Just study up on the limits needed for placarded loads, and the different types of loads, and such (handling proceedures), and you should be fine. In my previous life, all I did was haul hazmat (propane) but it was always the same thing, so you always knew how to handle it.