[dieselgrl]

Anyone running this fleet around here? (Or any current Crete drivers hear anything on it?) Their website shows to be hiring for Walmart dedicated in my area. This would be ideal, but like anything there'd have to be freight. I don't see Walmart hurting any time soon, but I remember running Target freight for Swift and when it would be lean, it would get ugly quickly. I figure I'll give recruiting a call in the morning since I wasn't informed until pretty late today that I need to keep looking for a job.

[jonp]

Not that one but a Wal-Mart dedicated grocery account. Wal-Mart stays pretty busy year round. I started this spring in one of the worst economies you can imagine and they work us a 5 day/70 hour week. Seems pretty steady to me. Wal-Mart opened 5 new Super Centers in my area this summer. My pay has remained fairly constant every week in the $850 - $950 range with a few lower and a couple higher. Lowest was about $700 Highest around $1150. This may not hold true for the dry goods side but I think that the worse the economy is the more people peel off of higher stores like Target/Macys and switch to lower ones like Wal-Mart. All of the parking lots have been pretty full all summer long down here in NC

[Hawkjr]

Hmm... when i use to run out of Gordonsville, VA i use to have brief chats with Wally Drivers and i know he did say that out in the Midwest the General Merchandise side was booming.. It was mainly the Southeast and The Mid-Atlantic that was slow.. I took a load to the Grove City,OH Wal Warehouse and there was about three different carriers pulling out of there from Convent to Paschall (PTL) and i think US Express so i would jump on it...

[dieselgrl]

Thanks for the input guys. I think I'll give Crete a call and see what they have to say on it.

EDIT:

Turns out regardless of what the website said, they're full on the Walmart fleet at the moment but could offer me a Mid-South regional run with a spot on a Walmart Dedicated waiting list. A little longer out on the road than I was really hoping for (8-12), and I'm not in love with the idea of getting a no-inverter policy optimized idle truck back, but it's something to think about.

[robertt]

tndieselgrl, I see you are from Tulsa. If you're talking about the Wal-mart DC in Bartlesville I drove there for a short time. I would still be there if not for unforseen circumstances. The short time I was there everybody seemed to love it, including myself. The terminal manager there is top rate. Her name is Penny if she is still there. I was treated super by everyone at Crete. From the orientation in Lincoln to the yard in B-ville.

Lots of driving/delivering at night. All you do is bump the dock, the employees of the store unload it and you just pull the stickers off of the pallets. When you get to the store their is no waiting because they know you have another Wal-mart to get to. When you get backed in and check in a call goes out for all available people to come unload. Everybody I ran into was super friendly and glad to see you. You might have one stop or 6 or 7. Your radius is pretty much Elk City Ok to the west, Salina Ks to the north, Springfield Mo to the east and Mcalister Ok to the south. It could vary a little. Pretty much 6 day's a week and it was for me just starting, .39 per mile. It's been a couple of years so I don't know what it is now. Trailers are pre-loaded at the DC and you come back empty. I never had a back haul but I'm not saying it couldn't happen.

Their is a guy on here from Tulsa also, I think he goes by Okie on here, but he drove for them for a while and might still be with them but I think he was looking for something else. Their is also a guy on here from Crete, if he is still with them, I haven't seen him in a while, he goes by Blue Beetle, a top notch gentleman. I met him while I was in Lincoln.

Anyway, a little long winded but if you have any questions just ask, I'll answer what I can.

[Joey Shabadoo]

Originally Posted by robertt

Lots of driving/delivering at night.

You might have one stop or 6 or 7.

Pretty much 6 day's a week

.39 per mile.

Ugh!!....NO THANKS!!!!!!!!

[geargrinder]

Isn't that dedicated waiting list a JB Hunt trick?

[repete]

I filled in down there a couple of years ago and they ran my butt off!! If I had 30min left they would figure a way to use it! but I did make some good money and with a daily guarantee (prolly cause they're hurtin for drivers) I pulled lots of back-hauls and a lot of miles. I also ran a Wal-mart in the NE for JB and darn near starved to death, but that was pulling a reefer I sat allot and getting unloaded in some stores was so that might be the diff.

[Hawkjr]

Originally Posted by Joey Shabadoo

Ugh!!....NO THANKS!!!!!!!!

Believe it or not Mr. Shabadoo, guys was making 60,000 year on those type of accounts... Just saying..

[dieselgrl]

Originally Posted by geargrinder

Isn't that dedicated waiting list a JB Hunt trick?

Most companies have that for the best dedicated routes. I was on a Walmart Tire waiting list with Swift while I was running Target Dedicated. On runs that make money AND give you hometime there's usually more drivers than there are open spots.

robertt - good to know. They actually had the Bentonville, AR fleet listed on the website when I called, but the recruiter said that had been filled and she would see about them updating that listing. Bartlesville would be beyond perfect for me, even if it is a lot of nights (ugh, I'm totally solar-powered....but I can deal if I need to!), so I might just see about getting on that Mid-South Regional to see if I can eventually scare up a spot on the Walmart run before I graduate this pain of a community college and get out of trucking at last. :whistle: Though I don't think the words "I'll never go back on the road again," will ever escape my lips again....I always end up back here asking about a company or two.... :banghead: