Walmart Or Miller Transporters?

I've gotten 2 offers one from Walmart as a company driver @ $82,000/yr gross and another from Miller Transporters, family owned tanker business out of Jackson, MS, as an O/O @ $175,000 gross w/ potential up to $225,000. Seen stubs to verify Miller, but as for Walmart this is just from their website. I'm 52 y/o and would like this to be my last job before retirement. How should I go about making my decision? Miller is 35 mi from my house, which should be no problem as an O/O, I could drive my truck home, but Walmart job is 200 mi away.

Richard, you have to have a lot of experience to become a driver with Walmart and comparing a company job to being a business owner is apples and oranges so there's no way to really even begin down that road.

Are you an experienced driver? I just wouldn't expect this kind of question from someone with experience so I want to make sure I know where you're coming from on this.

Welcome Richard.

Both very different jobs. A really great position to be in though.

Although I do not have experience with Miller, I am a dedicated driver assigned to a Walmart Grocery DC, thus able to offer you information relevant to their operation, what to expect from the job, getting in and out of the stores, etc. I have been on the account for about 3 years. As far as pay, since I do not work directly for Walmart my pay is different. However they recently hired several Swift drivers from our terminal. The annual pay you quoted is in the right ballpark. Their benefits are also top shelf.

In the mean time let me know what questions you have on Walmart and hopefully someone can chime in on Miller.

Good luck and congratulations on two really great opportunities.

Brett Aquila,

First of all, thanks for the reply. I have experience, just not in owning my own truck. I've pulled reefer for 3 yrs and heavy hauled oilfield oversize/overweight, hazmat , 3/4/5 axle lowboys behind a winch truck OTR for 5yrs. I've already been offered the positions and confident that either one would not be a mistake. I guess the real questions will an O/O @ $175,00-$200,000 with the expenses that come with owning the truck, make as much as the company driver with Walmart @ $82,000?

Well we normally help new drivers coming into the industry so we stay away from the owning and leasing side of the business.

Now Walmart? Oh man. That's an awesome job right there. Everything I've heard for over two decades about working there indicates it's as good as any job out there. I would say that's gotta be about the surest bet going as far as company jobs.

G-Town,

Thanks for the reply. I understand that Walmart is mostly drop n' hook. I guess that would be a plus over a tanker carrying lubricants, acids, etc., etc. When I was pulling a reefer , I hauled quite a few loads to Walmart Distribution Centers. I like their layouts. Plenty of room. Hopefully, I will make some sense out of it all and come up with a good decision. Thanks again, G-Town. I let you know if I have any other questions.

Brett Aquila,

Thanks Brett, you've been a big help. I think just getting it out there and just talking about will help make a good decision. I'm confident after all is said and done, I won't have any regrets. But thanks again and I'll let everybody know how it goes.

Brett Aquila,

First of all, thanks for the reply. I have experience, just not in owning my own truck. I've pulled reefer for 3 yrs and heavy hauled oilfield oversize/overweight, hazmat , 3/4/5 axle lowboys behind a winch truck OTR for 5yrs. I've already been offered the positions and confident that either one would not be a mistake. I guess the real questions will an O/O @ $175,00-$200,000 with the expenses that come with owning the truck, make as much as the company driver with Walmart @ $82,000?

Perhaps another way of looking at this...the operating ratio for the typical trucking company is 95-97%, meaning for every dollar they make, between 95-97 cents are spent in covering their operating costs leaving razor thin profits. If you take that same figure, water it down a bit, and apply it to an owner operator model, do you think it's possible to make a pre-tax profit of 82k annually? Frankly I don't know...but that is the way you might consider looking at this.

I am a bit older than you, so I understand the desire to be happy "in the last job" before retirement. Fact, I love my job and so do all the Walmart drivers I know and interact with.

G-Town,

Thanks for the reply. I understand that Walmart is mostly drop n' hook. I guess that would be a plus over a tanker carrying lubricants, acids, etc., etc. When I was pulling a reefer , I hauled quite a few loads to Walmart Distribution Centers. I like their layouts. Plenty of room. Hopefully, I will make some sense out of it all and come up with a good decision. Thanks again, G-Town. I let you know if I have any other questions.

My experience, if you are running from a grocery DC, the perishable loads are live unload at the stores, most of the back hauls are drop and hook , occasionally live load (Walmart usually gets priority, in and out in no more than an hour or so). Dry grocery is half live and half drop and hook (if it's a store with a separate grocery dock that has multiple bays).

If they have you assigned to a General Merchandise (GM) DC its predominantly drop and hook. Keep in mind the Walmart Fleet drivers will cross DC's depending on where the traffic is going, and the mix. In my region many of the Smirna DE and Tobyhana PA GM DC drivers will run grocery when it's peak season (during the big "eating" holidays). I see "Toby"

Both will also run Sam's Club loads.

G-Town,

Thanks for the reply. I understand that Walmart is mostly drop n' hook. I guess that would be a plus over a tanker carrying lubricants, acids, etc., etc. When I was pulling a reefer , I hauled quite a few loads to Walmart Distribution Centers. I like their layouts. Plenty of room. Hopefully, I will make some sense out of it all and come up with a good decision. Thanks again, G-Town. I let you know if I have any other questions.

My experience, if you are running from a grocery DC, the perishable loads are live unload at the stores, most of the back hauls are drop and hook , occasionally live load (Walmart usually gets priority, in and out in no more than an hour or so). Dry grocery is half live and half drop and hook (if it's a store with a separate grocery dock that has multiple bays).

If they have you assigned to a General Merchandise (GM) DC its predominantly drop and hook. Keep in mind the Walmart Fleet drivers will cross DC's depending on where the traffic is going, and the mix. In my region many of the Smirna DE and Tobyhana PA GM DC drivers will run grocery when it's peak season (during the big "eating" holidays). I see "Toby"

Both will also run Sam's Club loads.

Sorry, hit submit accidently, I see "Toby" based tractors parked in my Grocery DC all the time.