Comments By Heavy C

Yeah 5/2 is 5 on 2 off. We have many other programs like 5/2 5/3 which will alternate your days off because every other week you get a third day off. There 6/3 and also the rare 5/5. These are the most common. What's available will depend on the operational need of the DC you run out of. You're also not locked in for any certain amount of time. New schedules get posted all the time and if something opens up that you like more then you can sign up for it. It goes by seniority of course.

How's it's going Bird-One. So I work out of 7014 Lewiston, ME. We are a grocery DC and our coverage area is basically just New England. I have 5-2 schedule 10am start time Thursday out. Meaning my week starts Thursday. Really we do the same thing in a day cab as an OTR driver would. Only difference is they don't send us quite as far for our first trips of the day because can't sleep in the truck. So the really difference is miles. While an OTR guy may get between 550-600 miles a day I'm getting closer to 450-500. Now I've had bigger days but depends on how many trips are available and how I'm doing on time. The other difference is the OTR guys get paid $46 just to sleep in the truck every night. But I get to sleep in my bed next to my wife every night. So depends on what you want more.

As far as day cab positions being senior spots. That's definitely not the case. At least not here in Lewiston. OTR makes more money generally so they tend to stick to those positions. Again that's not always the case because it depends on how hard you want to run. Some guys like to do just one trip and shut it down or just go slower. Then you've got guys like me trying to fill my 70 every week.

If you got any more questions about Walmart I'll happily answer them.

Well I'm glad I could at least bring a grin to your face lol. I'm glad to see your still here fighting the good fight.

I've been doing great! Just taking care of the family and trying to keep the rubber to the road. I've really been loving my time at Walmart. Actually I'm kinda mad I didn't make the jump sooner.

My motivation was pretty simple in the beginning. I needed a better paying job and didn't want to dedicate years of my life to a degree. Getting my CDL allowed me to do just that in only a few short months.

I want to touch on the training part for a second though. Are you talking more about training for a brand new CDL holder or for a person with plenty of driving experience going to a new company? Because I'm guessing a lot of times the training between these two types of people will look very different.

I think if you want to learn a lot about what companies are doing right in terms of training you need to start at the top. Research the safest companies in the nation and find out what they are doing. Generally speaking the safest companies are going to be the ones with either stricter hiring standards or have a robust training program or both. For me a great safety record is a great indicator that a company is doing things right.

Hello everyone. I'm sure some of the veterans of the forum will remember me but I'm HeavyC. I was an active member here for a little while before I decided to take a break from socials and the Internet. I'm what you would call a career local/day can driver and for the last year I've been able to call Walmart home. I'll hopefully be becoming a Walmart Mentor here soon. A lot has changed since the last time I was here but I hope I can start again contributing to the conversation about this industry and just be helpful in whatever way I can.

Cheers

Yeah crazy that the baby lived. But another thought I had was the driver and how it's going to affect him. Would you be able to just jump right back into drivers seat after crushing someone like that? Some maybe others who knows. Could be something the driver never fully recovers from.

Honestly I've thought about this. I really don't think I could. Not that it would matter but that's especially true if it killed a baby. I would have a hard time doing anything even if I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt it wasn't my fault. There was a story a while back about a trucker who ran over a toddler in rest stop fueling area and killed him. Totally not his fault he couldn't see him, but to live with that would be brutal.

This is such a terrible story. I feel terrible for that family and the family of the trucker. Just remember to always move over.Horrible accident

It was later ruled a suicide. You just never know.

Best thing you can do is reach out to any and all companies you may be interested in and talk about this with them. Each company may be different in terms of who they can hire and what training is acceptable. Either way I don't think you'll be left out in the dark without a job if you attend private school. And as far as your permit and physical your school should have that included in the tuition and your first company will likely have you renew it when you get hired.

Thanks guys. Yeah the owner is still involved heavily. In fact I'll be meeting him during my orientation. The equipment is going to be very nice. All brand new. Tractor, Pups and dolly. My linehaul will be pulling Parts for GM dealerships. No grocery for me anymore.

I did exactly that. Private CDL training and took the weekend course. Which was also during the holiday/winter time. We actually missed a few days during that stretch for holidays and snow storms. So it got extended out. However I still had no problems getting my license. In fact I passed the first time out and still had two weekends to go before I finished the class, which I obviously didn't have to finish. I got what I needed. I had to take weekend courses to maintain my regular Monday thru Friday job. It may not be for everyone but I think it more depends on your level of retention. If you think you can retain the info and manuevers you learned the previous week then go for it. If not just go for the regular course.

So, I am wondering about your work options once you finished private school. Did you get more than one offer while in school? How long did they want you to be with a trainer and what was the pay like?

I got three local interviews as soon as got my license and prehire letters from a few OTR companies because of the school I went through and their affiliations with these companies. Look I get what the others are saying. And they're not wrong on most of it. But their suggested path wasn't going to be my path. I knew either I was going to make it doing it this way or I just wasn't gonna make it. Believe me I almost didn't. But here I am and I never once had to sacrifice time with my family. I won't tell you my path is the best. But it was the best for me