Comments By Brandon S.

I do think things will get worse, way worse, before they get better.

I’ll be coming out of Gordonsville VA, so I’m assuming that and surrounding states. Just a guess. I’m new. Lol

I believe the recruiter said the dispatch times were around 15:00

That said, your DC will have its own particular schedules available. You could possibly be stuck on nights, depending on what they have. I got lucky and jumped right into an optimal schedule for me.

What area are your stores going to be in....which states?

*Asking for a friend*

I believe the recruiter said the dispatch times were around 15:00

That said, your DC will have its own particular schedules available. You could possibly be stuck on nights, depending on what they have. I got lucky and jumped right into an optimal schedule for me.

First day of onboarding. And yes I’m very nervous. But I suck it up and do what I have to do. I’m here for the best job I’ve had and nothing is going to stop me from giving my best for it. Onboarding is at Dover mall. Not the DC in Smyrna like I thought. They have the course set up in the lot, and a classroom set up in an empty store. I got my first look at the backup exercise and it’s pretty tight. I went inside and went to the seat with my name. There were 17 of us. All pretty good guys. There were lots of cdt,s. All good guys. Every one of them. They truly want you to succeed here, and will help you with anything you are struggling with. But you still have to get it done. They had a folder with paperwork inside. We spent the first half the day with an hr representative. We did drug tests, filled out forms, entered our license and medical card info. Around mid day that was done and we were released for lunch and told to be back around 1. Save our meal receipts. They will reimburse you for any meals you buy.

After lunch we thought we’d get to get in the trucks. Nope. Not today. Today they will show us what they want done. They showed us how to set up for the back and how to get it in. They showed us how they want the pre trip done. Tomorrow we would start. I kind of liked it this way. Tomorrow I already know what they expect.

Sorry I didn’t format that right. The questions are in the quote. I’m still new at this lol

HiThe 5/2-5/3 is what I ran from day 1 up to a week ago when we "realigned" the annual schedule. It's a good schedule, allowing for that 3-day weekend every other week. But the "weekend" doesn't always include Saturdays or Sundays. In fact, a full Sat/Sun wknd only comes along every couple of months. If you can get comfortable with your weekend falling on different days every two weeks, you'll love the schedule.

I think I’ll like this schedule. I’ll get some weekends off, and some weekdays is good for going to doctors and dentist and such. Seems like a good variety.

The downside is sharing 2 trucks between 3 drivers. You'll have to take your stuff out each week and hop into the other truck next week. Cleanliness is top priority. You will all depend on each other to leave the truck spotless for the next guy. WM pays for all cleaning supplies. If you get together with the other 2 drivers, you can coordinate things like scheduling a PM on the truck, and agree to leave things on the truck full time for the other guys to use, like a coffeepot, microwave, CB, etc. This will keep each of you from having to lug those things from truck to truck.

Im glad Walmart has a policy to keep trucks clean. My last company didn’t and the trucks were always filthy.

Now for the issue of sharing the bunk. That was my biggest hangup when I first realized it was necessary in this schedule. I'm not a germaphobe at all, but let's face it, crawling into a bed that some other dude slept in last week isn't something I particularly enjoy. Here at Johnstown, we are given a mattress liner to put on before our bedding. This will keep your funk confined to yourself, and more importantly, everyone else's funk away from you. As a result, after 2 1/2 years the mattresses are still like brand new. If your DC doesn't issue liners, I highly recommend you get one for yourself.

Really though, when we go to a hotel we don’t know who or what was in the bed last night. But you’re right I am getting the mattress cover.

I myself have reached the point where I would like to at least have every Saturday off, so that I can attend family functions, parties and such without having to burn a day off. That and my grandchildren will soon start school, fall ball, etc., so I want to be around for Saturday visits and games. At our last realignment, I bid on and received a normal 5 day schedule Sun thru Thur with an assigned truck. Now I'll have every Fri and Sat off, and can leave my stuff on my truck each week. I'll miss that 3-day wknd, though. Of course, with the crazy amount of paid days off they give us, I can make my own 3 day weekends whenever I want. Eventually I'll have enough seniority to get the coveted Mon thru Fri run, but it'll probably take 10 years or so lol.

Im happy for you. I have grandkids too. Enjoy that time. I hope someday I’ll be there long enough to do the same thing.

We deliver primarily to stores and return empty back to the DC for the next load. The vast majority of vendor backhauls are covered by third-party carriers, keeping us away from the inevitable delays associated with vendors. Nevertheless, I still average 1-3 backhauls per week. But those are typically drop/hook.

Are you running mostly nights or days?

I guess I got a little long winded lol. But I'm happy for you and want to see you succeed. I'll be happy to answer any questions when they come up.

Start getting that ADP up (average daily pay). That's how you get paid for days off. Maximizing your days now will pay off later, big time.

Ok I'm out. Good luck!

5/8/22

Today’s the day to head to Delaware for onboarding. I have to say I don’t remember being this nervous for a job before. Something just seems different about this place, the way they do things. They are paying mileage for me to drive to the event. It’s about a 3 1/2 hour drive to Dover from where I live and can’t check in until 3. So I’m up early watching the clock and fighting my nerves. I start my journey there, and my journey to my new career. I arrived about 330 and I was one of the first to arrive. There was a couple of Walmart trucks in the parking lot. I was starting to move from nervous to excited again, but tomorrow morning the nerves would come back.

4/22/22

After procrastinating a week, I put in my notice. I still had two weeks before onboarding so it has to be now. I’ve heard some say not to quit your job until after onboarding and you know you have the job, but this company has been good to me and I didn’t want to leave them high and dry. They weren’t happy, and they offered more money. I told them this time I wasn’t entertaining any offers. I was determined to give myself every chance at this Walmart career. I had a couple of snags the next couple of weeks. First, my background reports came back unable to verify because my company wouldn’t talk to them. I thought that to be very unprofessional of my hr manager. They must have eventually communicated because Walmart continued the process. Second is they had to have a copy of a crash report from 2016. It was an unpreventable where a pole fell on my truck on the highway. If I didn’t get the report then I couldn’t come to onboarding. I was a little stressed because I wasn’t sure they kept reports that old but I was able to get it from the dmv. A couple days later I had my verification for onboarding on the 9th. Now that I have confirmation I can stop stressing about getting in, and start stressing about passing onboarding. I stress a lot. I’ve been doing the same thing so long I’ve gotten too comfortable. That’s all about to change.

I just finished with onboarding for Walmart private fleet in Dover De. I thought I’d share some of my experiences for the week and the hiring process with hopes it might help someone looking to try going for Walmart. I gave up a good job to go after this, it was a risk, but I’m glad I did. I’m still brand new, but from what I’ve learned from onboarding I gave up a good job for a life long career.

4/15/22

I have been noticing the ads from Walmart talking about the new pay. I can’t help but think about going for it. I’ll never make that where I’m at now. Besides, I’ve been thinking about going to Walmart for a couple years. Everything I’ve read about them is good and the drivers really seem to like it there. In fact, I was scheduled for onboarding last year. However, my present company offered a very good raise to stay. So I stayed. But not this time. I went ahead and filled out the application. I was determined to go through with it this time. At least try, even if I don’t make it. If I don’t I’ll always ask myself “what if”?

Oddly enough about 30 minutes later I was getting a call from Walmart. The recruiter called and asked when I could do an interview. How about now? So within an hour I filled an application, did a phone interview, and had an onboarding date. I never expected that, but I started getting excited. And a little nervous. I’ve been at my job for ten years and I knew it would be hard to put in my notice.

That’s ok, you can get long winded lol. I appreciate the information and the tips. I’ll definitely get the mattress pad. I think I’ll enjoy 5-2 5-3, but getting your own truck is great. First chance I get I’ll do that too. I just got home from onboarding, will be going to orientation Monday in Sutherland. I’ll be working in Gordonsville but have orientation there. I’m excited and ready to get started.

The 5/2-5/3 is what I ran from day 1 up to a week ago when we "realigned" the annual schedule. It's a good schedule, allowing for that 3-day weekend every other week. But the "weekend" doesn't always include Saturdays or Sundays. In fact, a full Sat/Sun wknd only comes along every couple of months. If you can get comfortable with your weekend falling on different days every two weeks, you'll love the schedule.

The downside is sharing 2 trucks between 3 drivers. You'll have to take your stuff out each week and hop into the other truck next week. Cleanliness is top priority. You will all depend on each other to leave the truck spotless for the next guy. WM pays for all cleaning supplies. If you get together with the other 2 drivers, you can coordinate things like scheduling a PM on the truck, and agree to leave things on the truck full time for the other guys to use, like a coffeepot, microwave, CB, etc. This will keep each of you from having to lug those things from truck to truck.

Now for the issue of sharing the bunk. That was my biggest hangup when I first realized it was necessary in this schedule. I'm not a germaphobe at all, but let's face it, crawling into a bed that some other dude slept in last week isn't something I particularly enjoy. Here at Johnstown, we are given a mattress liner to put on before our bedding. This will keep your funk confined to yourself, and more importantly, everyone else's funk away from you. As a result, after 2 1/2 years the mattresses are still like brand new. If your DC doesn't issue liners, I highly recommend you get one for yourself.

I myself have reached the point where I would like to at least have every Saturday off, so that I can attend family functions, parties and such without having to burn a day off. That and my grandchildren will soon start school, fall ball, etc., so I want to be around for Saturday visits and games. At our last realignment, I bid on and received a normal 5 day schedule Sun thru Thur with an assigned truck. Now I'll have every Fri and Sat off, and can leave my stuff on my truck each week. I'll miss that 3-day wknd, though. Of course, with the crazy amount of paid days off they give us, I can make my own 3 day weekends whenever I want. Eventually I'll have enough seniority to get the coveted Mon thru Fri run, but it'll probably take 10 years or so lol.

We deliver primarily to stores and return empty back to the DC for the next load. The vast majority of vendor backhauls are covered by third-party carriers, keeping us away from the inevitable delays associated with vendors. Nevertheless, I still average 1-3 backhauls per week. But those are typically drop/hook.

I guess I got a little long winded lol. But I'm happy for you and want to see you succeed. I'll be happy to answer any questions when they come up.

Start getting that ADP up (average daily pay). That's how you get paid for days off. Maximizing your days now will pay off later, big time.

Ok I'm out. Good luck!