probably blew my chance.
Posted by Ricemunchr@reddit | Truckers | View on Reddit | 35 comments
applied to sysco and I suppose i was a potential candidate since they called me for a phone interview. they left me a voice message to call them back for a phone interview. I called them back went to voicemail left them a message and i have been calling back 3 days in a row now each time goes to voicemail.
safe to say they are no longer interested or just flooded with applications?
peffer32@reddit
Worked for them for 30 years. You may have dodged a bullet.
Ricemunchr@reddit (OP)
I have heard it’s very physically demanding and extensive hours but probably one of the more secure jobs besides garbage people gotta eat. on top they pay pretty good with good benefits though right?
however i was just gonna tough it out for the year get my experience and look into ltl companies.
peffer32@reddit
I was at a union shop so the money and benefits were great. Last ten years I made well over 100K with free healthcare, six weeks vacation and a great pension I'm now retired on. The problem with the company is they went very top down in management style. When I started, they worked kind of like a franchise model where each house could run the way they saw fit. Now it's all run through Houston and dictated down to the individual houses. It's a very anti-worker company philosophy where you are looked at as disposable. If you are going in short term, it looks good on a resume. Nothing else you do in trucking will be as physically demanding.
Ricemunchr@reddit (OP)
congratulations on your retirement hope it’s going smooth. plenty of corporate companies often lean towards that ideology and employees just become numbers. I partly think because of the high turn over rates in the industry and hard to hold employees. it doesn’t help that they started implementing driver cams in their trucks, i watched a video of a driver talking about him getting fired for using a headset.
how do you compare food service to say like a dollar gen accounts or any touch freights lol.
peffer32@reddit
The first challenge is the driving. Lots of alleys, crowded parking lots and tight delivery areas. Combine that with being scheduled in and out by the minute and it's a recipe for accidents if you're not on your toes.
Foodservice is going to make you touch every case at least once and usually several times. At Sysco, the pallets are loaded with numerous stops on each so, although they have a system of building pallets correctly, the guys in the warehouse are under the same time gun as the driver so you're going to be digging alot. Combine that with a tightly packed trailer and the awkward position you're going to get into and it's hard on the body. Everything goes on a two wheeler and is rolled into the drop. I've had stops that went down twenty steps or up twenty steps. Sometimes 300 cases.
My last five years, I had an overnight route that averaged between 1200 to 1500 cases a night. I had a 48' trailer and I had to put my wheeler in the cab some nights because it wouldn't fit in the trailer. Add in running up and down the ramp hundreds of times a day and walking several miles and it all adds up to a beating. I got lucky and only tore some ligaments in my knee once but there are lots of shoulder, back, knee and hip surgeries in the guys I worked with.
Ricemunchr@reddit (OP)
that’s rough. on here a guy worked food service he told me the same thing but he beat himself up for the job and he had to quit because it definitely was taking a toll on his body.
were the time frames strict on deliveries? i’m sure they expect you to finish a location in a certain time frame but you wouldn’t have to move like you’re in a race do you? i’ve been watching videos of sysco drivers and some do move fairly quickly but not stress inducing pace.
theused5703@reddit
Where are you located?
I worked for Gordon Food Service for 8 years before finding a better smaller food service company. Depending on which warehouse your near they could be floor loaded or pallet loaded. Pallet loads are really dependent on your picker/loader giving a shit. Floor loads are so much better.
Ricemunchr@reddit (OP)
i’m in SoCal LA area.
what’s the difference other than pickers prepping the load? are floor loads self loaded or they are forced to be more thoughtful when loading lol. as the guy mentioned above pickers are on a time clock prepping loads as well so everyone is stressed and well i do realize most warehouse workers could careless with their low wage.
theused5703@reddit
If you have any more questions you can always shoot me a message. I’ve been in food service for 10 years. Only worked for 2 companies but I’ve known people at every food service company in the Midwest basically.
Ricemunchr@reddit (OP)
thanks! i appreciate it! Are you still in food service?
theused5703@reddit
Yes sir!
Run 4 routes a week. Range from 120 miles to a 1200 mile overnight route. But I’m home daily on my current 4. Made 92k last year base and cracked 98 with bonuses by not hitting shit and showing up to work 🤷♂️
I honestly don’t think I can do anything else. I’m built for this work…it’s just how I work best. Physical labor is my therapy and getting paid sweetens the deal 😂
Ricemunchr@reddit (OP)
that’s nice dude haha! it is crazy how some of you guys can do such a long stretch in this line of work haha. i figured most people might stick around for 2-3 and hop into line haul or something.
But if you love what you do that’s all that matters the pay is just the bonus. I know some people prefer to work with their hands more than others for sure.
theused5703@reddit
I knew a few guys who took transit jobs after lumping groceries for a few years. They just take empty trailers back to the hub and bring back full trailers. Some of them love it.
I also know guys who did it for 35 years injury free. Or guys who crippled themselves doing it. It’s just how you work
Ricemunchr@reddit (OP)
ahh reminds me a lot of this driver youtuber named inji rodriguez she does nothing but drop and hooks for shoprite what a gig haha.
peffer32@reddit
The warehouse guys are union too and pulling down 100K a year. At least at the union shops. You're probably not interested in warehouse work but if you are, I know they are always hiring order pickers. If you are set on Sysco, they will hire you out of the warehouse if you have driving experience and put in six months in the warehouse. They always prefer inside people.
Ricemunchr@reddit (OP)
woah really? warehouse is netting 100k? where you from? lol unheard of really here in cali 😂 I once tried to apply to a line haul company but they rejected me because them required minimum 6mo’s I did ask them about dock work and eventually work my way into a drivers seat, which they had a program before to do so but stopped doing it.
peffer32@reddit
They get paid activity pay just like drivers. The faster you go, the more you make.
Ricemunchr@reddit (OP)
ooh its very similar to those freezer picker guys that zoom inside the warehouse on pallet jacks. those guys definitely make money.
theused5703@reddit
It’s easier to throw a few cases to the side to find what you need than have to jump over pallets to find something misloaded. Pallets seem to fall over more commonly in food service, but that could all be driver related as well.
I’ve done both ways. I way prefer floor loads but my current job is palletized but it’s all stop specific. Like this entire pallet goes to stop 1. These 2 pallets go to stop 2. This pallet to stop 3 and so on. I have to deliver everything down a ramp with a cart, no lift gates. It’s the only way I’d take a palletized food service job. Just seen way too many loads that would frustrate the shit out of me 😂
Ricemunchr@reddit (OP)
oh yeah that makes sense. Yeah i’ve been watching sysco drivers on youtube and I think it’s great system that the pallets are loaded for specific locations/stops. Makes it way easier/efficient for the driver.
i’ve also watched dollar general accounts and boy that looks like hell lmao.
peffer32@reddit
You're scheduled from leaving the yard to return down to the minute That said, it's not something they hold you to unless you get really out of whack on the times. Less than an hour behind is considered within the time frame. Lots of places don't take deliveries between, say, 11 and 1 PM so if you get hung up there, you can really lose your day.
I moved pretty fast but that was just how I worked. When you know where you're going and get the stops down, you'll move more efficiently. I was usually four hours or so ahead of schedule by the end of my route but that was pretty rare. Sysco pays activity base pay so the faster you go, the more you make. I could avg. around $50/hr on a good day. The most important thing is to stay healthy and don't wreck equipment. Do those two and you'll have the job as long as you want it.
Ricemunchr@reddit (OP)
Ah yes i used to work in a restaurant and would remember during lunch rushes we would reject a drop off due to that reason.
and yeah ive heard about the incentives some drivers say it’s not even worth it but I think especially as you put it once you’re in the flow and know exactly what you’re doing and is organized everything becomes easier, just like everything we do in life. only gets easier the more we do it. I’ve always thought if you didn’t meet the time frames they’d let you go because well you’re just slow.
peffer32@reddit
Oops. Forgot to hit post. I was in a union shop so getting fired was a little more difficult. Too many accidents, stealing or harassing customers and phone usage while driving were the big three. If you're slow they'll do alot of coaching and they really seemed to ramp up the new guys slowly. I've been out for almost a year now and from what I've heard, they have tightened up hiring standards due to the job market and aren't taking anyone that walks in like they were towards the end of my time there. They seem to be posting a lot of ghost jobs now and just collecting apps. Not a practice that is confined to Sysco but is very typical of their thinking at the corporate level.
Ricemunchr@reddit (OP)
I feel you on the ghost postings. I’ve applied to other companies and haven’t been contacted. There’s this baking company local to me i’ve applied for and it seemed like an easy touch freight gig and was hiring no experience drivers.
I read up reviews on the company people say it’s a great place to work for experience but that’s it benefits are crap and well of course management, one of those companies where employees rely on other employees for guidance and support lol.
SpecialSeparate6028@reddit
Don't do Sysco everyone I've talked to hates their lives there.
SpringTop8166@reddit
Why do you think you ruined it? You did nothing wrong, they didn't even talk to you.
Ricemunchr@reddit (OP)
well i did miss their call, i guess i saw it as i lost my spot in line by missing the call.
GlitteringGap2903@reddit
This exact situation happened to me. I called back for like 4 days, multiple times a day and left at least two messages a day. After not hearing anything back, I went down to the (very small) hub I applied for. Nobody was there so I left a note on the door explaining everything and left my number. Next morning I got a call from the manager there and he appreciated my effort but apologized because the position was already filled. The same ad stayed up for another solid month with my application on the website in the “being processed” stage. He said they are very bad with updating things like that as positions are filled. I’d call the hub, or go there, try to talk to the manager or whoever is in charge of hiring.
Ricemunchr@reddit (OP)
you’re right I’ve applied for multiple jobs and while some were pretty good at emailing back about the status of the applications some just don’t respond at all or any status update. I’ve thought about going in person to this bakery i applied to because i never heard back from them but my application was updated to “viewed”.
How’s everything now though? you working for sysco? or a different company?
GlitteringGap2903@reddit
Yeah, seems more often than not places are bad with the communication- in my experience anyway. Never hurts to go in and talk in person though, most employers would look at that in a very positive light.
Didn’t work out with Sysco, I ended up taking a class B position at a plumbing company. Luckily though I just had a great opportunity fall into my lap through a family member. I have one week left with this company and then I’m on to hauling propane for the highest dollar amount I’ve ever received, with as much overtime as I want lol. I’d say everything worked out in the end
Ricemunchr@reddit (OP)
nice happy for you! i seen a lot of class b jobs hiring as well and the pay is very similar i want to submit my application but i feel i need to get some tractor trailer experience on my resume.
GlitteringGap2903@reddit
Thanks, I appreciate it! I had 7 years local class A experience prior, and no class B. It wasn’t bad being in a box truck tbh, but I wasn’t very happy with the pay. Knew I could make more in a class A truck. I also heard from another employee in this company who holds a class A but has been doing class B for 4 or 5 years, he was not having ANY luck getting hired for class A jobs. He said his prior experience didn’t matter because he’d been away from them so long. Keep that in mind in your future endeavors, friend! Best of luck to you
Ricemunchr@reddit (OP)
yeah it’s true holding a class a and driving a class b counts nothing towards operating a combo which kinda sucks but understandable. I wonder if dump trucks who haul doubles are considered combinations.
Thanks like wise! thanks for chatting.
EducationalWay7036@reddit
Yep your have to weight for them to call you back on there terms
One_Attempt_3652@reddit
If its not union stay far away or that bullet will hit something you love