Swift Walmart Dedicated

How's it going everyone, been reading on here for a little bit and I was wondering if anyone could give me the skinny on the Swift Walmart Dedicated out of Johnstown, Ny. The recruiter said it would be 5-6 days of with 1-2 days off, .47 cpm and $15 a stop after the first, with a $4000 dollar sign on bonus paid out in 120 days. I'm interested in moving down to Johnstown to get on the home daily dedicated. What I was wondering is, what are the DC's like, what's a typical day like on this account, and how is operations towards the drivers. I been two a few DC'S in Georgia but just for D&H. I've heard a lot of talk about swift over the last year I've been trucking, but I read a lot of things that are good on these dedicated accounts. What I'm wondering is, do you typical get back to the DC everyday? I've drove the northeast for a majority of my year on the road, and I don't mind it much. I think it will be easier delivering to Walmart vs lumber yards and paper mills in the north east.

Welcome to the forum. I run Walmart dedicated in the Northeast. Although assigned out of DC7030 in Gordon Pa, I've frequently shuttled vendor back hauls to Johnstown NY and run store loads in their territory.

I will offer a more detailed reply later in the day when I can individually address each question.

In the meantime search on Walmart Dedicated (upper left hand corner) and you will find numerous threads on the subject.

Welcome to the forum. I run Walmart dedicated in the Northeast. Although assigned out of DC7030 in Gordon Pa, I've frequently shuttled vendor back hauls to Johnstown NY and run store loads in their territory.

I will offer a more detailed reply later in the day when I can individually address each question.

In the mean time search on Walmart Dedicated (upper left hand corner) and you will find numerous threads on the subject.

Thanks for the Welcome G-Town, look forward to reading your reply. I'll look around on the fourm for a few threads thanks! 👍

Be the bat, not the ball!

ROFLMAO

My husband was called in to help with the holidays and we loved it. Not only the town you pass thru (small town, nice people) but the more modern walmarts are truck ready. Getting loads more towards the city was totally different. The closer you got, the more crowded and more unfriendly people were. The people at the dc were excellent and I noticed everyone had real decent home cars and pickups. Really nice rides. That tells me they are happy in their job, confident in their position and making enough money to live above the line. And we didn't go to the same place every day. So it wasn't boring. We probably could have stayed but we missed otr.

Upstate...

I think you are making a really good decision to try this out. The Johnstown NY DC is a Grocery DC managed almost entirely by Swift on the transportation side. You will be running both dry and reefer store and Sam's loads, typically 2-3 stops (last stop is typically drop and hook) on a loaded dry van and up to 5 consolidated store stops on a reefer. Reefer deliveries are 100% live unload. About 50% of the time you will have a vendor backhaul to return with to the DC. I agree entirely with Nancy's assessment, nice people, tightly run operation, but be prepared to run Long Island and at times the surrounding suburbs of New York City. Totally different driving experience, store lots tend to be congested, older, and at times more difficult to dock. You will also cover Binghamton and Elmira. Running in the country is beautiful although hilly and circuitous. Unlike OTR , with Walmart you will rarely be waiting for a load. Be prepared to run hard, typical 12 - 13 hour days.

I think the recruiter got some of it right; 6 days per week, 1 day off per week (34 hour reset) is typically what they expect. It also pays $20 flat dispatch rate each time you take out a load. Advantageous when you are dispatched on a second load during your shift. They may also pay a safety CPM bonus for zero camera events.

The primary thing that differs between this and OTR; although Walmart freight is no-touch, the driver always supervises the live unloading process, especially important for consolidated reefer load where you have freight requiring different temperatures to keep it from spoiling (3-temperature zones). The driver is responsible for what is taken off the trailer by a store and what is returned (only in the case of a reefer load). Most of the time on a consolidated reefer load of 3-5 stops, pallets for different stores are intermixed and might may require temporary removal to clear access to another pallet located in the adjacent temperature zone. Each zone is isolated and sealed with a movable bulkhead on a track system, hoisted up, and out of the way with a friction-lock pulley system. There are two sets of bulkhead doors, 2 equally movable halves for each door. The paperwork includes an overhead trailer map displaying the position of each store's pallet in a specific zone. I use 5 different color markers to highlight an individual store's pallet. Matching the color to an individual store. This helps to keep track of and manage the unloading process.

Your overall goal is to return to the DC each day and start with a stopped clock. There is a small TS less than a mile from the DC that many Walmart drivers will use for their 10 hour break and only move once their load is ready. The only time you might be caught out-of-hours is for a longer, 4-5 stop reefer run or if you took out a second load. As a Walmart driver you are entitled to take your 10 at the majority of the stores and some of the Sam's Clubs. The trip-plan contained in paperwork will specify if it's a no-break store, of if allowed, where it's okay to park. Some of the stores in the more urban surroundings will have a noise ordinance specified on the trip plan.

I recently wrote a diary of a Day in the Life of a Walmart Dedicated Driver . This was recorded following a particularly satisfying day this past Labor Day weekend.

I enjoy running the Walmart account for a myriad of reasons. Although it's not for everyone, once you learn the account your income potential is way above average and usually void of many stress points typically associated with OTR.

Hope this helps. Good luck and be safe.

G-Town, I really appreciate you taking the time to give me the run down on this account. I'm really looking forward to it. I'm heading down for orientation in Syracuse on Tuesday and I can't wait. Your post has been extremely helpful and informative. Maybe our paths will cross one of these days. Thanks again!

G-Town, I really appreciate you taking the time to give me the run down on this account. I'm really looking forward to it. I'm heading down for orientation in Syracuse on Tuesday and I can't wait. Your post has been extremely helpful and informative. Maybe our paths will cross one of these days. Thanks again!

Always a possibility. You are joining at a great time,...very, very busy. Tis the season. Enjoy!

Especially happy time for me, ride along wife, got to go shopping ALL the time

My husband was called in to help with the holidays and we loved it. Not only the town you pass thru (small town, nice people) but the more modern walmarts are truck ready. Getting loads more towards the city was totally different. The closer you got, the more crowded and more unfriendly people were. The people at the dc were excellent and I noticed everyone had real decent home cars and pickups. Really nice rides. That tells me they are happy in their job, confident in their position and making enough money to live above the line. And we didn't go to the same place every day. So it wasn't boring. We probably could have stayed but we missed otr.

Did yall operate out of the Johnstown DC?