Newbie here, dedicated routes....

Most of the people on this thread write that dedicated routes are very tough to get for a newbie. They also report that Walmart is very, very, tough to get in with anywhere.

So although most will tell you it won't be easy, I am sure you could do it with the right amount of determination.

 

truckergrl you live out us50 by oleney right?? any way dedicated accounts vary by the company and the account. i run for schneider on there chrysler account im home every weekend and run to the same place every week. on the wal mart account from what i have heard from other drivers, you run from the wal mart dc to stores around the area making upto 3 stops, the stores unload the truck so you wont have to touch the freigt. as far as how hard they are to get on, when theres an opening it goes on a board and drivers who want it toss there names into the hat and the one with the most experience gets it. so depending on how many other drivers want that account will depend on how long it takes you to get it.

 

As always, the phrase "dedicated account" has a lot of meanings and a a lot of misinterpretation. And a lot of the companies love to fling around the phrase dedicated account, simply because they can make it sound different from what it really is.

In the strictest sense a dedicated account is one where you go to the same customer each trip, pick up the load, and take it to the same few delivery points. I have a neighbor that works for Schneider, did that for years, hauled washing machine parts from the Detroit area to south of Chicago on a daily basis for about 12 years nonstop. Pulled a 13,000 pound load, knew his weekly mileage and income to a "T" each week. That;s a true example of a dedicated route.

Then, there is something else, which happens a lot more at the big companies. The Dedicated fleet simply is dispatched to the customer and the customer has complete control over what the trucks do. You pull their trailers and go wherever they send you, with te only thing dedicated about it being that fact that you are working for the same customer. But you can be dispatched to anwhere they have a shipper or a receiver, and really are no more a dedicated hauler in the true sense of the word than anyone else running general freight over the road. Companies like to tout this as being a "Walmart Dedicated fleet" but in essence it's not dedicated in any true sense of the word.

You need to find out what type of work is actually going on out of the DC near you and what type of work Werner is doing there. Walmart DC's have a pretty lousy reputation as places to have to be a lot, so if you have to live load and wait, it could be a pretty miserable experience. If you can drop and hook, spending as little time in the DC as possible, it may be a bit better.

Just as an example of how lousy a Walamrt DC can be, they are all "green" meaning that they are trying to save the environment. So in summertime, to show their commitment to saving the planet, the folks in the air conditioned offices will send out one of their employees in an air conditioned car, to tell you to shut off your truck while waiting for a load since idling the engine for air conditioning is bad for the planet's future. So if you have to wait, you will wait out in the sun, no cooling allowed, no heating in the winter time. A very driver friendly place, and if they complain about you, do you think Werner will risk the contract to back you up?

 

since your single i would advise against a dedicated right now, put in a year or 2 over the road while you have no strings to home otr is normaly 2-3 weeks out or more if you want then home for a couple of days and depending on the contract werner has with walmart the pay might be slightly lower than running otr. thats my 2 cents walmart is a dedicated fleet from talking to a werner driver on the family dollar account who also had been on the wal mart account, home time might be every weekend but you could be out all weekend. starting out it would probly be better to run a couple weeks then have a couple of days off, it might work out where your actualy home more often that way.

 

Your best bet would be to talk to someone at Werner (i.e. a dispatcher/fleet manager) and find out what dedicated accounts would be available to you. I had a friend who lived near Joliet, IL and was home every weekend from day one with Werner. I think he just ran regional as opposed to dedicated. Some food for though for ya.

 

Am I not understanding something? Why would they give a route like this to a newbie?

Mind you, I hope she gets it, but unless many of the vets have been messing with us, this is not an easy route to get as a rookie.

What are the chances?