Chronicles of Grocery Hauling

Sounds like a good gig. What is the company and where is it located?

 

I'm not certain I'd get used to "timely" deliveries. Unless the shipper & receiver are in love with the trucking folks...this can be MUCH MUCH different. To wit;

1.) Arrive @ 6:00p.m. for a 2:00 a.m. delivery. Got call to dock @ 11:00. Was the FIRST TRUCK IN. Bumped, paperwork in, me happy @ 11:20.
Unloading completed @ approx. 12:30. -12:45 asked to leave the dock, & park nearby.
2.) @ 2:30a.m. after a trip @ 1:30 to ask about paperwork ("not ready'). "Hey guys, I've been unloaded and parked since 12:45. What's up? I've paid the "graft"...oooops I mean "lumpers". Looks of "ohhh sh*&^t...we're still checking it in ". translation; Uh Oh...we FORGOT TO CHECK IT IN".
3.) Aprrox 4:40...me gets paperwork.

And they don' want to pay demurrage. Not typical....but awfully close to what you best be prepared for. Big grocery, Wally-Mart..misc food places.

Check out the worst supplier thread.

That's why last week was my last OTR gig. Going back to dirt. If there's nobody to load me...I'll jump on the loader myself. THAT....always gets somebodies attention.Ha!

 

Entirely different ball game here. This guy is delivering from the DC to the store. SUPERVALU I hear is good. I deliver up there sometimes and the guys are always good to me. Are the drivers also teamster. I would think so. The receivers are. Once you ID as one of them your in like flint. Good for you.

 

I work for a grocery hauler and it is worse than conway LTL for hours. There is no such thing by us as a conventional 1st-2nd-3rd shift. Its basically start at 3am or 6pm and hope your back before your 14 is up get your 10 hour break in and just come back in because your load was supposed to leave out 2 hours ago. And you can forget having a weekend off. Since thanksgiving ive yet to have a thurs, fri sat, or sunday off yet. My only day off is either a monday or tues.

Granted it doesnt help that out company owner is an Italian that dont give 2 flying Flips about his workers. He thinks everybody here is the LIVE TO WORK type. And that nobody is allowed to have a life. But that is pretty obvious when we have over 100% turnover rate with everybody under 5 years.
This is also a teamster job.

 

Grocery business is definitely 24/7 365.

 

Its so crappy by us that we are losing about 1 driver a week, and I was the last driver they hired back in november. Right now we are 13 drivers short and Im heading out the door within the month along with 2 other drivers.

 

I deliver to supervalu, no problems ever, in and out in no time. I buy the receivers coffee when ever the roach coach pulls in, best $5 I ever spent!