DOLLAR GENERAL, FAMILY DOLLAR TYPE ACCOUNTS, Whats the Real talk!!!

Werner unloads at the store, yeah not everyone can handle it drive to the store, unload and drive again it's just like too much work for a driver

 

Don't do it. Its back breaking work. There is a reason these accounts are always available. Plus, you ever seen where some of these stores are located ? Not fun backing into a lot of these places. In the USX section, a driver had posted his experience. To sum it up.... he said it was like unloading a bottomless pit.

Names like DOLLAR General & Family DOLLAR should be warning signs that in order to keep their products a DOLLAR.... the driver will be screwed.

The recruiters pitch these accounts because of "better" home time & "more" money.

You won't get paid enough to put up with all the non-sense.

 

not to mention what a pain it is to get the truck to the dock on postage stamp size store lots.

 

even some of the larger chains have tight docks in places, you would think they would design it better....

 

If you want local jobs that pay good, get your tanker/hazmat endorsements. Those Dollar General, beverage, etc. accounts will ruin your back, no matter how tough you are. McElroy has a terminal in Birmingham with weekends at home. Melton Truck Lines works out of Birmingham a lot also. Get those endorsements and some drive time, then switch to local tanker/hazmat in a few months. Careerbuilder website may show some tanker jobs to watch in Birmingham.

 

Leaving 8/4/13 for Melton Orientation in Birmingham, AL

 

yes werner has dedicated drivers for Dollar General, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree. The store loads are all 100% driver unload. All three are very physical but i would say DG is the best due to the rolltainers but that #### lift will get you hurt if you arent careful. FD and DT use rollers and everything is floor loaded font to back, floor to ceiling. At werner these are the accounts were you are actually able to make a good living, that is, if you can handle it...

Dollar Tree account out of Windsor,CT is $1000 Min for the first 4 weeks. About $.50/mi (not that it matters, you only get about 1200mi/wk). $100/LD unload pay. No stop pay, no NYC pay. They expect 500/pc /hr unload rate and atleast 4 lds/wk.
In my opinion it's not even close to worth it...

I ran one load for DG out of S Boston, VA as a favor. I don't know all the details but it was a hell of alot easier than DT and got paid stop pay and unload pay. Was still pretty hard work but most of the truck is loaded on roll tainers which eliminates most of the bending and lifting. The FM there showed me most of the guys are making close to $90k/yr on that account.

 

I did an account even worse, masterbrand cabinets, which delivers to little houses and lumber yards in the northeast, I used to drive over the George Washington bridge at least twice a week, sometimes three times. I didnt have any of the fancy rolltainers or lift gate, or rollers, ect. But I still made it.

That said, I am not the most fit guy, I can run a couple miles at a decent pace, but Im not an athlete any more. Anybody who is in any kind of shape can do Dollar general if they really want to. If they live nearby, or if they dont want to spend a year getting low pay until they can get their experience....

And I dont get how the backing is so hard, its not. The parking lots are shaped like an "L", and so you pull in and back into the other half of the L, not hard at all. If you can back into a spot in a truckstop, why would you think backing into a lot 60 feet wide would somehow be hard???
In fact, I had a student who trained with the trainer of the year on a DG account, and he could back into dollar generals....but he could not back in a truck stop...and he couldnt get the thing anywhere near a dock. His excuse? "Well, at dollar general stores, you dont have to dock. You just kinda get it in the lot and roll the containers. You dont have to be precise."
The mile pay at werner is not impressive, you get something like 29cpm, and like 15 bucks a stop, 50-60 bucks a trailer, but after 70 hours it adds up. If you have half a nut, you can bring home $600 a week. If you are single or can get up and move, you can be home every day if you grab a place near the DC. My good trainer went home a few times a week, and he lives in an entirely different state....

For new drivers, its great experience to get ready for some real work at an LTL or foodservice....

Working for masterbrand was a badge of honor. I worked the hardest account, tightest spots, and learned every detail about how a truck works in the city. Was the smartest thing I ever got screwed into... Driving van is so easy, I dont know what to do with myself.

 

$90k? The trainers make that, not sure about solo unless its another company paying much better. By 50cpm, do you mean including the unload pay?

 

Hi,
You better be in shape to do this acct. 53' trailer full to the back door with rolltainers, bulk boxes thrown on top to the ceiling. First you unload the top boxes off onto a cart not designed for this task, then you have to unwedge the rolltainer from the others because it has a net on one side that catches on the other rolltainers. Each stop is between 700-1200 pieces which takes about 2-3 hours. After that is all done then you load on the stores rolltainers that are full of cardboard and the empty ones. Which at your next stop you will have to remove them in order to access your next stores freight. Repeat for every stop and your done. I did it for a week and got tired of touching the same piece two or three times. The stores are sometimes tricky to get into having to back across busy streets, not to mention they are in the worst neighborhoods. If your in good shape and don't mind sweating to death in the nose of that 53' trailer it may be for you. Just know I was not cut out for this job. If you have any questions let me know, I didn't do it for long but I get the program