I think I may be done with Walmart loads.

[Electric Chicken]

Customer: "we don't want that freight."

Me: "oh okay. Where's your dumpster?"

 

[Mike]

Screw any kind of distribution center. Not worth the hassle.

In the end, it's not so bad.

Like I said, I pushed the rate up $200 to deal with assumed detention. Bitched my way to an additional $400, so $600 to sit here today basically.

My biggest irritation is that I had planned to have trailer in shop this afternoon to make sure I got it back on Friday. Spoke with Great Dane today, pretty good chance i will get it back by Friday anyway. If not, pick it up Monday, as I will likely take the weekend off anyway.

Every industry has it's issues. I learned to hate flatbed very quickly in the short couple of weeks I messed with it. Doing it without tarps? Might consider learning the securement if that was the case.

Then, there seems to be an increased deadhead involved with flatbed from all I have talked to. I'd rather bounce a few minutes and occasionally deal with stupidity like this I think.

My fault for playing with fire (walmart)

 

[Mike]

Customer: "we don't want that freight."

Me: "oh okay. Where's your dumpster?"

I actually ended up with the option of returning it to the shipper, which wasn't feasible, since I have no interest in driving back to St. Louis.

Options to offload it at a warehouse today were being searched for, then let Walmart figure out when and how to get it picked up, but the additional money talked me into keeping it.

 

[mndriver]

Then, there seems to be an increased deadhead involved with flatbed from all I have talked to. I'd rather bounce a few minutes and occasionally deal with stupidity like this I think.

Dead head is nothing if the monthly revenue is there.


I've bounce 600+ miles for a load and been paid for the time.

 

[Mike]

if the monthly revenue is there.

That's the key for every situation.

 

[Electric Chicken]

That's the key for every situation.

Church!

 

[Rigjockey]

previous delays have been at the main DC in Bentonville. This one is in Sanger, TX.

They have resumed the role of not giving a crap about the carriers/drivers who service their facilities.

I have been to Sanger TX Walmart DC. They made me late for my next delivery that happened to also be a Walmart DC in Texas.

Walmart shot themselves in the foot on that deal.

 

[MichaelJT]

Why I quit pulling trailers with doors long ago. When I quit I told the terminal manager of one refrigerated carrier I was leased to that the idea of going to prision because I pulled a loose board off a pallet and beat a forklift driver or receiving clerk to death with it didn't appeal to me. I wasn't kidding about getting violent. Who needs that?
Walmart is so big they do what they want and you either take it or just don't deliver to them. Hell, they tell their suppliers how much they are willing to pay for an item. Or rather, ten or a hundred million of them. That's some juice. Your wants and needs aren't important.

 

[Electric Chicken]

I really don't know how they stay in business. I mean, I singlehandedly almost never shop there.

 

[Steelersjunkie]

It used to really suck getting a Walmart load. Appointment times always messed up, product rejections for the silliest of reasons, and you could plan on being there all day.

Then it got better, at least with my experiences. Over the past couple years, I have been to Walmart DC’s multiple times, always in and out within two hours.

Once again, things changed back for the worse. My last three deliveries have all been in excess of 5 hours to deliver. Twice out of those three times, product has been mysteriously missing. Even a fully loaded trailer with nothing but full pallets of child seats just happened to have one missing. Every pallet was completely full, once car seat just magically disappears.

Today, I arrive at 0600 for a 0645 appointment, because we all know that you aren’t considered as arrived until you get passed security, drop your trailer, and check in with receiving.

According to Walmart, my appointment is for 0715 tomorrow.
2 1/2 hours later, broker and Walmart still working with his out while I should have already been unloaded and on my way home to get some work done on my trailer. Appointment made with the trailer shop days ago.

Walmart.

What you just described is exactly verbatim everything I've experienced since I started trucking. Walmart started out as awful, became amazing (for a small time) then became worse than before. Someone has to haul that crap I guess, but it'll never be me. My last time in cost me 5 hours. Screw you Walmart. I never shop at your stores for a very good reason. Stop screwing drivers on dock times. It's ridiculous.

 

[Injun]

Dropping and hooking out of there with huge appointment windows isn't bad. Especially at night when you roll straight up to the first stop sign.

With Swift drops at WalMart, there was always plenty of dropping, not much hooking. I could count on hauling out one empty for every three loaded I took in. WalMart, Target and General Mills: Black holes for Swift vans. No idea what they did with those trailers.

 

[ironpony]

Black holes for Swift vans. No idea what they did with those trailers.

Repainted 'em orange, and sold 'em to punkin.

 

[Sinister]

I really don't know how they stay in business. I mean, I singlehandedly almost never shop there.

This is how.

 

[Nomad1]

With Swift drops at WalMart, there was always plenty of dropping, not much hooking. I could count on hauling out one empty for every three loaded I took in. WalMart, Target and General Mills: Black holes for Swift vans. No idea what they did with those trailers.

They actually use them as warehouse space. Back around the turn of the century they told us how much they saved by using other people trailers to warehouse products.

 

[Duck]

They actually use them as warehouse space. Back around the turn of the century they told us how much they saved by using other people trailers to warehouse products.

Supposedly they don't have to pay taxes on inventory that's in a trailer.

Like at the end of the quarter they have to do inventory and pay a tax on whatever is in their store or warehouse. But they don't have to count it if it's in a trailer.

Back in the 90's my sister's first victim husband was a forklift jockey at a Toys R Us warehouse and he had to work late loading as much stuff as possible into semi trailers before New Years Day, then unload them and move everything back into the warehouse after the new year.

That might've just been a line of bullshit he fed her to get out of having to hang out with her obnoxious friends on New Years Eve though.

 

[ironpony]

That might've just been a line of bullshit he fed her to get out of having to hang out with her obnoxious friends on New Years Eve though.

Quite creative though...

 

[GAnthony]

I really don't know how they stay in business. I mean, I singlehandedly almost never shop there.

for every non-shopper at Walmart, about 3 thousand do. (give or take a few)

 

[Rigjockey]

They actually use them as warehouse space. Back around the turn of the century they told us how much they saved by using other people trailers to warehouse products.

Many places think nothing of using trailers as warehouse space with no consideration that there are monthly payments on those trailers, with a note or leased.
I was in the office one day when the dispatcher called up this auto parts place.
Is my trailer empty yet?
No.
Okay, I am sending over my driver. (me) to pick up the trailer. It's autoparts on there right?
Right.
Okay, that should fetch some good money at the scrap yard, Click.

 

[Sinister]

Supposedly they don't have to pay taxes on inventory that's in a trailer.

Like at the end of the quarter they have to do inventory and pay a tax on whatever is in their store or warehouse. But they don't have to count it if it's in a trailer.

Back in the 90's my sister's first victim husband was a forklift jockey at a Toys R Us warehouse and he had to work late loading as much stuff as possible into semi trailers before New Years Day, then unload them and move everything back into the warehouse after the new year.

That might've just been a line of bullshit he fed her to get out of having to hang out with her obnoxious friends on New Years Eve though.

walmart actually has a million ancient trailers for storage. ones that are no longer road worthy but still say Walmart on them.

I can’t see why they’d be interested in risking merchandise on potentially leaky pumpkin junk trailers. Or anyone else’s besides Walmart’s.

keeping stuff in trailers does count as in transit though. Lots of companies do it.

 

[Steelersjunkie]

walmart actually has a million ancient trailers for storage. ones that are no longer road worthy but still say Walmart on them.

I can’t see why they’d be interested in risking merchandise on potentially leaky pumpkin junk trailers. Or anyone else’s besides Walmart’s.

keeping stuff in trailers does count as in transit though. Lots of companies do it.

There is a company Landstar hauls for, and the name is escaping at the moment. As far as I've been told, we no longer work with them. I had a drop and hook at their DC, no empty trailers available. Six other drivers besides me waiting on a trailer. They were using ours for storage. Messed up thing is they eventually started emptying our trailers, but immediately filled them with freight. The only way I could get out of there was to take one of our newly loaded trailers to one of their stores. Man, you wanna talk about some dirty pool. Lost a significant amount of money because I had to drop my following loads. If anyone else pulled that kind of crap in life, it would be considered criminal. This is a messed up industry we work in.