Wal-Mart Outside Carriers...

[Hawkjr]

Lately, i've been seeing alot of Outside Carriers (Werner, Swift, Star Transport, Abliene) pulling Wal-Mart trailers and with that i'm seeing more Wal-Mart Daycabs... Is this just a coincidence or is Wally-World just finding ways to cut costs to keep those prices low??

[VPIDarkAngel]

I've been wondering that, too. I heard that the Werner guys aren't doing store deliveries, just DC-to-DC crap. It *could* be that those private fleet daycabs (most of which that I've seen have been 387's with some square device the size of a hydraulic tank behind the cab) are just doing store deliveries and that Wal-Mart is having the outside carriers hauling between DC's.

[Tobytob]

It's that time of the year again, so Walmart is outsourcing the freight the lanes to get the freight into the DC and stores, trust me they are not giving up that private fleet. it to cost beneficial to the company. Ive seen a lot of day-cabs also. I can assume that they're for the local guys who run out about 200 miles to stores and come back. You will always see the top five companies pulling wally world trailers (SNI, Werner, Swift, US.Xpress and JB hunt.), All have longterm contracts. Any other carrier you see pulling their trailer is probably owned by one of the major 5 carriers (i.e Abilene, Smith transport, and Arnold are all subsidiaries of US.xpress)..

[GMAN]

Walmart uses small independents and owner operators to pull their trailers around along with major carriers. They have been doing it for years. It is much easier to bring in new carriers rather than buy more trucks and recruit more drivers. I am sure that they are outsourcing for less than it would cost them to run their own trucks or they would not be doing it.

[Steel Horse Cowboy]

My father has been driving for Wal-Marts private fleet for 25yrs. Just over a year ago, Wal-Mart changed their policy and instead of the carriers using their own trailers (Swift pulling swift, werner pulling werner and so on) ALL TRAILERS ARE TO BE WALMART CORP TRAILER, hence why you notice them more now. If it's WalMart freight from a DC then it is on a WalMart trailer.

I ran for them as an Independant out of the Garrett, IN D.C. for 3 years, wasn't a bad gig till Weener came in a F'd it all up.

[VPIDarkAngel]

My father has been driving for Wal-Marts private fleet for 25yrs. Just over a year ago, Wal-Mart changed their policy and instead of the carriers using their own trailers (Swift pulling swift, werner pulling werner and so on) ALL TRAILERS ARE TO BE WALMART CORP TRAILER, hence why you notice them more now. If it's WalMart freight from a DC then it is on a WalMart trailer.

I ran for them as an Independant out of the Garrett, IN D.C. for 3 years, wasn't a bad gig till Weener came in a F'd it all up.

That makes sense. I dare say that Wal-Mart's trailers are in MUCH better shape than any piece of junk blue box I've pulled lately (Ok, so I've only pulled two Werner trailers in the past year). As for hauling stuff TO the DC, I wouldn't give ya two cents and a buttonhole for that.
On a somewhat unrelated note, I just read an article where Wal-Mart just got a hybrid Cascadia. That oughta be interesting...

[Hawkjr]

yeah that makes plenty of sense...

[monale770]

i heard that the day cab trucks with the boxes on the back are used for store returns and the drivers sleep in hotels every night. the box on the back is for hazmat (paint, chemicals, or anything they dont want with regular freight) returns.

[VPIDarkAngel]

i heard that the day cab trucks with the boxes on the back are used for store returns and the drivers sleep in hotels every night. the box on the back is for hazmat (paint, chemicals, or anything they dont want with regular freight) returns.

That makes sense. I never thought about that. When I was working at a Kroger store, we used to hold that stuff and had a dedicated company that would come pick those up every few months.

[Chunker]

2 years ago, the company I'm with had to help out with the dc to store loads pulling walmart trailers. One thing about the walmart trailers- they're all roll ups so you can drop the loaded and pull the mt out and never wait for a live unload. I've done a ton of deliveries to the dc's using company trailers.

[Steel Horse Cowboy]

I have my 3rd (and hopefully final) interview with Wal-Mart the 1st week of January. Hopefully after 7yrs of trying, I can get on. It made a major help that they now process all their apps thru an outside company and corporate now hires the drivers instead of a driver commitee at each location...... I got my fingers crossed

[Luzon]

I have my 3rd (and hopefully final) interview with Wal-Mart the 1st week of January. Hopefully after 7yrs of trying, I can get on. It made a major help that they now process all their apps thru an outside company and corporate now hires the drivers instead of a driver commitee at each location...... I got my fingers crossed

Congratulations & best of luck... That's definately one of the top company jobs out there as I understand it. They even pay when you're parked for the night in the truck. Don't forget us little people.

[Truckn00b]

Hmm..I'm new to the world of driving, but I've never known Wal-Mart to outsource deliveries. Product creation is one thing (although I think all the products are manufactured in Arkansas), but Wal-Mart is a multi-million (billion?) dollar company. They're constantly making money, hiring on new people and providing incentives. I would be totally shocked if Wal-Mart pulled a move like the one you assumed. I realize that it's not completely impossible, but I think Wal-mart is a better company that what a lot of people say.

In short, never fear. Wal-mart is here!

[Steel Horse Cowboy]

Hmm..I'm new to the world of driving, but I've never known Wal-Mart to outsource deliveries. Product creation is one thing (although I think all the products are manufactured in Arkansas), but Wal-Mart is a multi-million (billion?) dollar company. They're constantly making money, hiring on new people and providing incentives. I would be totally shocked if Wal-Mart pulled a move like the one you assumed. I realize that it's not completely impossible, but I think Wal-mart is a better company that what a lot of people say.

In short, never fear. Wal-mart is here!

Wal-Mart has it's own Private Fleet, but also outsources to contract carriers such as Schneider, Werner, and Swift. Mainly for their grocery division, and all of their reefer division is outside carriers. The main reason for doing this is that Wal-Mart only has to pay the outside carriers for their delivery miles, the deadhead back to the DC is all out of the carriers pocket as wal-mart does not pay for this. In the long run, they save money by using outside carriers.

As I stated, my father has been with Wal-Mart for 25yrs (of his 45yr career) and he has been the transportation and saftey administrator up until 2yrs ago when he went back on the road (daycab driver) I know all the ins and outs, the little secrets and hidden features they offer. While they are a great company to work for and about the best paying in the biz (avg $80k yr) they also have their set-backs such as bad health insurance and 401k isn't too great either. But like my dad stated, he is treated well and paid equally well, so he doesn't mind finding outside sources for his health and retirement.

[Hawkjr]

and all of their reefer division is outside carriers, the deadhead back to the DC is all out of the carriers pocket as wal-mart does not pay for this.

Not true.. they pull reefer's out of their Pottsville PA warehouse and out of a warehouse in Maine... and wal-mart must pay for all miles with their trailer's.. at least in the grocery department..

[Chunker]

Hmm..I'm new to the world of driving, but I've never known Wal-Mart to outsource deliveries.
Let's see, Great Wide runs loads out of the McCarran terminal, England runs out of the Cheyenne terminal, Swift out of the Red Bluff terminal. There's probably a few more I'm missing here on the west coast, yes, Walmart out sources.

[Ronin]

Greatwide also has the Paul's Valley, OK grocery DC (and AWG in OKC,OK)

[VPIDarkAngel]

Hmm..I'm new to the world of driving, but I've never known Wal-Mart to outsource deliveries. Product creation is one thing (although I think all the products are manufactured in Arkansas), but Wal-Mart is a multi-million (billion?) dollar company. They're constantly making money, hiring on new people and providing incentives. I would be totally shocked if Wal-Mart pulled a move like the one you assumed. I realize that it's not completely impossible, but I think Wal-mart is a better company that what a lot of people say.

In short, never fear. Wal-mart is here!

All their products made in Arkansas? Wake up and smell the sweet-and-sour chicken! Wal-Mart used to pride theirselves on American-made products, but I doubt that many of their non-food items are made in the US anymore.
As for outside carriers, I'm surprised they even have a private fleet anymore, rather than doing like DG and outsourcing ALL their transportation.

[feederfred]

I have a good friend that works at the Apple Valley, CA. Wal-Mart DC as a driver. Over the past couple of years, they have seen a steady decrease in their miles driven, as more DC to store trips are performed by Schneider and Swift. In addition, Walmart is in the process of building a new grocery DC in the Barstow, CA area. All runs out of this new DC will be operated by Swift Transportation. My friend seems to think the days of Walmart operating it's own fleet are numbered, due to the constant rate cutting by the Swifts and Schneider's, among others. As much as they may like to have their own fleet, with their store profits not where they used to be, and the closing of a lot of Sam's Clubs, they may be looking at just that.

[TruckingGuy]

I was wondering the same thing seeing all those Swift tractors pulling WM loads up and down the 5 frwy. Thanks for the new insight on what is really going on boys.