Is Delivering To Dick's A Much Better Gig Than Dollar Stores?

It'd be great if anyone here has the knowledge to weigh in on it... I've read lots of cautions on this and other fora about how the dollar store chains tend to present a poor fit for big-rig delivery. Such a helpful caution...so no way am I gonna go that route. But the job I'm up for instead that sounds best is a dedicated Dick's Sporting Goods (over 700 U.S. stores) deal. It'd get me home on weekends. Primarily southern states. Middle-of-the-night delivery times. No driver unloading. This would be as half of a team, which I do want to go with at first, partly cuz the company offers relatively little OTR training, which seems like not enough to go solo right afterward but doable with a similarly trained co-driver... Overall I find all this particular scenario to be the most appealing I've looked at so far. And I've looked at a lot.

But!, again, a hugely important thing to be learned from TT in particular is that any apparent trucking job scenario depends as well on stuff you can't see soon enough without help. And it seems that seldom is anyone at a company inclined or able to show you the whole "coin", including the darker underside of your near-future job. Instead it's mostly just a sketchy surface that's visible till you've actually made the commitment and gotten out there and done it. Fairly understandable, yet then it's sort of too late, compared to getting the inside scoop from those who've already traveled that route. So...anybody here been there done that much at Dick's?

I'm gonna go check out my local store to confirm my assumption that they're set up relatively well for truck deliveries... Very UNlike most dollar stores. But that's just one store in one town; I've been to others, but haven't gone around back with an eye for what I care about now. My sense is that they're all pretty similar, have a lot of space, are located on outskirts, and it's be a relatively smooth process, in and out. Oh, experienced drivers in the know, am I wrong or right...or both? E.Z.

Sounds like it must cover a large area if it's set up for team driving? With teams, the truck stops very seldom other than loading and deliveries.

I haven't done either but I would say D's (to get around the filter) and dollar stores are very different. Dollar stores are relatively small and seem to be in more rural areas. Due to the size most don't have loading docks and require lift gates or hand unload on rollers. With D's you're going to have loading docks and have a designated dock area at 99% of the stores so you're not trying to move around crowded parking lots.

I'd say go for it. You'll be presented with challenges for team driving and maneuvering in heavy traffic more frequently when you get on the city streets to make your deliveries. Keep in mind loading docks at these retail establishments get a little crazy the later in the day you get but middle of night deliveries would help avoid that unless you're delayed for weather and breakdowns.

What company would this be with if you don't mind sharing?

Thanx for the quick replies, guys... By the way, Pack Rat (off-topic here but we'll see if you catch it), I've been meaning to ask, how the heck (I can say that here right?) do you find time to be such a high-mileage trucker AND weigh in so articulately and helpfully (sometimes curmudgeonly ;-) , as a "moderator" at that, on so many posts and topics?.. All the while, as you've said, NEVER missing delivery deadlines? It's clear you're a rare paragon of time-management, but unless you've got a reliable time machine in your top bunk or a bionic brain chip or an undisclosed robot as the ultimate team-mate or something else science-fictiony going on, I don't see how it's doable, man. How does one drive full-time for years amidst all we're warned that can and will go wrong to basically everyone at some point, without EVER being late? I think there are other regular industry veterans here who make at least a somewhat similar claim, so I've been increasingly wondering how that's not an all-but-impossible record to maintain, much less for rookies to aspire to come close to?! Wait I get it, you all secretly hire personal assistants, right?

Aside from avoiding "preventables" (do a bunch of you have a daunting record of NONE of those too?), my main dreaded stress is gonna be getting a record for missing deadlines. Is there a "Pack Rat's Masterclass on Time Management" that I've missed coming across? I mean, apparently it's not like he wouldn't have been able to find the time for it.

As for covering a lot of area as evidenced by it being a team position, yeah they do "****'s" deliveries to like 11 states out of one terminal alone, with probably at least one of their stores being in the burbs of nearly every significant city.

Rob, naturally there may be others who contract to deliver to ****'s, but this job would be with Schneider. Say, that's another "btw" question that I realized I may have to cross-post on its own to get the best answer to, but you're such a smart sensible fellow---how does an industry titan like that get away with such a major deviation from the conventional wisdom here; i.e., they only OTR train for a little over a week, then send so many off solo? I mean, clearly they're one of the most successful carriers! They claim the most varied job options, etc. I haven't heard of and would very much doubt they could have a relatively poor safety record. In fact, they seem to be all about safety in their training, but it looks like 2/3 of that is at the training terminal, not "real-world", so I guess that must be how they compensate. For sure, front-facing cameras. Excellent training on site, then way above average communication support while their trucks are rolling? Am hoping that, along with a co-equal co-driver, it'll work better for me and my non-"Type A personality"... Cuz though all the rest feels ok, I haven't been able to "get to an inner yes" about the specter of three or more weeks mutually cooped up under the stressful scrutiny of an on-board trainer.

No, nothing special. I just use the clock to benefit my schedule. I run recaps every day, so a day of 10 hours driving/on duty is a long day. I leave early and show up early for loading and deliveries. I'm on the phone with customers, always trying to get the appointment moved up. Run hard when I'm working, then goof off a lot when I'm not driving. Today is day 46 since I had hometime, with three more weeks to go. The period before this one, I was out for 62 days.

Only thing so far that's made me late were beyond my control: breakdown, accidents blocking traffic, weather shutdowns, sickness, or the business was closed when I showed up.

Most days I only sleep about five hours, but several days each week, I will stop for an hour nap. More than once some days. My heart is only 26 years old, so I have plenty of energy for a senior citizen. My soft goal is to do this maybe 15 more years, or two million more miles than I have now, whichever happens first. What happens after the votes are counted today may have a huge impact on things, though.

It'd be great if anyone here has the knowledge to weigh in on it... I've read lots of cautions on this and other fora about how the dollar store chains tend to present a poor fit for big-rig delivery. Such a helpful caution...so no way am I gonna go that route. But the job I'm up for instead that sounds best is a dedicated ****'s Sporting Goods (over 700 U.S. stores) deal. It'd get me home on weekends. Primarily southern states. Middle-of-the-night delivery times. No driver unloading. This would be as half of a team, which I do want to go with at first, partly cuz the company offers relatively little OTR training, which seems like not enough to go solo right afterward but doable with a similarly trained co-driver... Overall I find all this particular scenario to be the most appealing I've looked at so far. And I've looked at a lot.

But!, again, a hugely important thing to be learned from TT in particular is that any apparent trucking job scenario depends as well on stuff you can't see soon enough without help. And it seems that seldom is anyone at a company inclined or able to show you the whole "coin", including the darker underside of your near-future job. Instead it's mostly just a sketchy surface that's visible till you've actually made the commitment and gotten out there and done it. Fairly understandable, yet then it's sort of too late, compared to getting the inside scoop from those who've already traveled that route. So...anybody here been there done that much at ****'s?

I'm gonna go check out my local store to confirm my assumption that they're set up relatively well for truck deliveries... Very UNlike most dollar stores. But that's just one store in one town; I've been to others, but haven't gone around back with an eye for what I care about now. My sense is that they're all pretty similar, have a lot of space, are located on outskirts, and it's be a relatively smooth process, in and out. Oh, experienced drivers in the know, am I wrong or right...or both? E.Z.

The four or five ****'s I've been to don't have available docks. Their dock is always occupied by a storage trailer. Not sure how you'd deliver without rollers or a liftgate if that is true for most of them.

PackRat you are quite the intriguing guy, to say, "My heart is only 26 years old, so I have plenty of energy for a senior citizen." Wow, I'm gonna have to search your posts for more on that! Great to hear such a heart transplant success story. And thanx for the other info about how you do it all. No one waiting impatiently at home, I must assume. That's gotta help.

Not at all sure what huge impact the prez vote may have on what you/we do according to you, but I'd like to, and we'll sure see...

Auggie, I much appreciate the reality check about the ****'s deliveries you've done. That's really good to know, even if a bit discouraging, but gives me the sort of info I need in order to further grill those who would hire me for the job. It's mostly drop and hook , or so they say, which if true would mitigate a lot of that issue for the trucker, right? Still, my recruiter said the "mostly" is only like 60/40. --E.Z.

Better gig i don’t know. Easier for starting out, I would assume so. I have only worked dollar general and it has treated me well but I have def had some sphincter clenching moments. As far as time management just remember to communicate with your dispatch and do your best to pre plan your routes. A wrong turn can cost a lot of extra time. (Believe me I know) No matter the store chain always take your time in loading areas or any place that is tight and G.O.A.L.

I’m only weighing in on the Schneider short orientation period. I.e. one week with trainer.

They weed a lot of people out before you even get in the truck. Then you spend a few days driving local and lots of backing. It’s AFTER this week you go out with your trainer. In my case, four days of Atlanta traffic and backing practice might’ve been equivalent to more time somewhere else. Add to that, the trainer does one demo drive and the TrainEE drives the rest of the week with the trainer in the passenger seat. They can learn a lot about you in that time, like whether you need more time or not.

It might be good to ask Schneider if those loads are drop and hook or live unloads? Whether you unload at a dock or roll off dollies?

I found Schneider recruiting to be very honest. But you gotta ask the questions you want answered.

Good luck!

Much appreciated feedback, guys. Papa Pig, sorry I don't recall, do you have to deliver in the middle of the night much? How hard is that when you’re sleepy, folks? (****’s sounds like always that...a mixed bag, no doubt.) I've made time to read most of what you've written in your own thread, still haven’t come across the origin of your humble moniker, and can't be sure what your most "sphincter clenching moments" have been...nor the most “zany”… But it's all good input for us newbies, especially those getting into the most similar gigs to yours (which I shall never aspire to).

Steve L., great to read that your recruiter experience with Schneider was so “honest". Their training protocol as you relate it is pretty much my understanding too…good to know you don’t find it wanting.

So this morning I woke up too early to be up for doing much of anything at home, so I took the local research cruise in my pickup... Checked out the observable delivery layouts at the two local ****'s stores while it was still dark, since that’s what my deliveries would be. (Then went to the local racquet club for a couple fun healthy hours of pickleball to recharge the body-mind batteries)…

Auggie, both of the stores in the county here did have good docks. I wasted several minutes at the first trying to find my way to the back of the building at a shopping mall, to no avail. Hmm, must be there isn’t one. Drove around to the front again and discovered a convenient dock right there. Backed into it just for unrealistic practice, but hey it was my first dock backing ever in ANY truck. Easily accessible, even by day, especially with the malls mostly shut down. So that one’s dock was empty with no trailer visible or anywhere to picture putting one, so I’m not sure how that would work in practice…assuming they’d unload if for me in the middle of the night, IF I got there in the required timeframe.

The other store’s dock was in back, assuming I located the right one (the only one back there) and felt like that’ll be a problem until I knew from memory or a photo or door code number or something, to be sure I wasn’t dropping at the wrong dock. (Yikes!) Hard to tell sometimes at these big malls when the rear of the stores aren’t labelled by name.

As Auggie led me to suspect, there WAS a trailer backed in there. But is that my “hook”? (Drive away with the wrong one? Extra embarrassing and impactful, Yikes!) So I assume in practice (allegedly 60-40 drop-n-hook), with no evidence of any human help there or a bobtail to move it, that my job would be to: un-couple my full trailer, couple to the docked one and move that, re-couple to the full one, back that in and drop it, then finally re-couple to the empty... The extra driver work just cuz they have no other place to park the empty? (I could be wrong here, right guys?...maybe that empty ain't empty after all?)) Then take off…hopefully first to one of the numerous nearby parking spaces to grab a nap, before getting out of the city (the stores being not as “outskirts” as I pictured) before rush hour, then off to wherever the next supply warehouse is..?

Overall, looks like it’d be a pretty doable OR tough job, depending how sleepy one would be in the middle of the night, looking for these places without perfect clarity of what’s what and where’s where…but once ya get used to it.?! And like P.P. said, get max clarity with dispatch, pre-plan, and when backing, G.O.A.L., GOAL, GOAL. Rookies can never hear this stuff too much! —E.Z.