Do This BEFORE You Commit!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ต.ค. 2024
- Count The Cost BEFORE You Commit! My thoughts on the value of becoming a truck driver. #trucking #truckdriver #trucker
If you are interested in driving for Walmart, please consider using me as a referral. It will put you at the top of the list to get a callback sooner! The info is below.
drive4walmart.com
My name: Donald Smith
My employee number: 14609
My DC: 6026 Red Bluff, CA
You have any questions email me at don@20plustrucking.com
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Thank you sir
You're welcome
They say if you love what you do, then it doesn't feel like working. You have to love driving trucks. It's a lifestyle, in the same way that some people go hunting and fishing, why some people endure training for a marathon, and why some people ride a Harley. The only difference is that I get paid for my hobby.
Exactly because you like how you spend your time just like I do.
💪🏾💨🔥
Thanks I appreciate it
Trucking in Florida definitely fits my lifestyle. Especially driving for Walmart and enjoying Walmart perks, I get to go to the gym after my shift, you can always find a Walmart with a gym near by to layover.
Having time to do other things as a perk this job has compared to others.
Thank you driver for your suggestion based on your long years experience .. I work for Amazon as a yard jockey I also do drive outside but because Amazon has a third partnership don’t have routes so I being driving for 2 years.. I’m looking for the future drive for Walmart… questions how much do you paid for medical insurance. I also have a part time job in ups. Is a hard job being there for 16 years 9 more years I will my pension and we don’t pay for medical insurance if I quit and go for Walmart how much is deductible every week? Thanks…
@@geronimo913 Walmart doesn't have the greatest insurance It's pretty basic. As far as how much they deduct out of each paycheck it all depends on which plan you pick. If medical is extremely important to you Walmart won't be a great choice if you've got other options like UPS or some sort of union thing. Luckily for me medical is not a big deal to our family other than a catastrophic health problem. So I just get the very basic for the family and I think it's something like $130 a paycheck every two weeks.
Thanks for the video Don. It’s a slick slope to commit to truck driving to make money. I heard drivers say that they’ve wanted to work for themselves. They gotten themselves in deep debt after not realizing that being an owner operator and the expense involved becoming that type of driver. Someone who thinks about driving for a career needs to consider their family, have kids or not, do they need to be home after a shift.
I drove for 8 years working as a semi delivery driver. I was home daily although, I was completely exhausted from my workday. I thought that I was going to break my back one of these days. I came to Walmart in 2021. Like other drivers tell me “ I should have came to Walmart years ago “ I feel the same as them.
I did my time driving for Walmart starting my shift on a weird schedule (Thursday-Monday) having my home days off was Tuesday and Wednesday’s. A couple of years now. I’m now on a Monday-Friday schedule and I’m loving this schedule and I will not try for another shift any time soon. So, there are many different schedules that you can try to get here at Walmart. They traditionally have weekly shifts. But some DC (distribution centers) offer a bonus of .7 cents on top of your miles pay if you work both Saturday and Sunday’s. I do miss that extra pay but having my weekends off makes me happy. There are a lot of perks driving for Walmart. Talk to Don. I know he has a ton of information. If you need to listen from someone else I’ll talk to you too.
I think a lot of drivers who became owner operators don't realize you're actually running a business and you have to ask yourself can I do that and am I good at it. Also that is a full commitment that will totally screw you up if you back out of it too late after going into debt and losing everything. Although some are very successful and know what they're doing. I almost signed the dotted line and went into that life but I took 24 hours to sit and think about it and decided that was not for me. As far as I can tell working for Walmart gives you more choices than any other trucking job not to mention it's pretty darn easy lol at least after you've done it a few years. I had a Thursday out for years and I didn't like it at all. Mainly because back in those days they would send me to LA on Thursday and then I would drive out of LA on Friday with all the horrible traffic. Everybody's different but I found my work life balance with the five on five off. It's pretty awesome to have 5 days off every other week. Even if I didn't work extra I would still make way more money doing that compared to most trucking jobs. In the end I feel like if you're going to commit to being a truck driver Walmart is one of your best choices out there. I appreciate the kind comments thank you.
Thanks for the awesome insight
Thanks I appreciate that.
Well said!
Thank you
I used to watch his videos. He has a bad work ethic and it seems like he got into it thinking he'll make tons of money, but yet he keeps going to mega carriers because it seems to make him comfortable. When someone stays in their comfort zone they limit what they can achieve.
Right! That's what I was trying to tell him that he needed to get away from the McDonald's and Taco Bell of trucking lol and get serious but I guess he cracked a running light on a trailer when he worked for CR England and Walmart wouldn't have him because of that supposedly. When I started I was planning right from the beginning how I was going to get away from mega carriers and cheap jobs. It's frustrating when you're brand new and you want out right away into a better job but you just got to hang in there and keep pushing forward to a better place to work.
This is an excellent rebuttal to Augustine Ramos truck hating career video.
True and I tried to be nice too.
This post is needed for drivers questioning going OTR. I’m currently local making 34 an hour. It’s decent but I’m looking for more. The question I ask myself…what am I doing with the time I do have off? The answer for me is that I’d rather be spending that time making money. Opposed to sitting on my recliner and watching TV until my next shift. Some people may value daily time off as being productive. I personally wish my time off was as better spent.
Exactly! That's why I work 5 days on 5 days off because I want to work for myself and I do printing apparel. I still have to keep up paying the bills in the meanwhile as I get things off the ground. It's really hard to get your own business going with two days off a week but I have five in a row every other week I can do a lot and I have so far. Working for other people was never the original plan when I entered the workforce at 14 years old. The sad thing is partying and hanging out with my friends distracted me for way too long and the next thing I know I had a family that I had to support. We only live so long on this Earth so you have to make the most of your time and sitting back in a recliner is not it for me anyway.
Hey Don, what is the transfer policy for a truck driver at walmart? for example if I get hired in March, how long do I need to be working out of that DC before I can transfer to another DC?
I think it's one year provided there's an opening where you want to transfer to.
@@20plustrucking thank you
@@RollingxStone you're welcome
Don, does Walmart have the 5x5 schedule for new hires or is it a seniority type of schedule? I am sure it depends on what DC you are working at. Thinking about coming over to Walmart when I get my 30 months experience in but I want the 5x5 schedule.
I think you have to wait at least 6 months or maybe it's a year I'm not positive. After that it is based on seniority but I've seen some pretty new drivers get it. I don't think a lot of drivers are that excited about the five on five off so it depends on your DC and the interest that those drivers have for it.
There is a definitely a trade off when it comes to trucking OTR that is hard to really define in clear terms. I think long term it is not the best job because being a truck driver takes a toll in your buddy like no other job. It is hard to find a balance when you work 14 hours a day to squeeze exercise like a regular 40-50 hour job a week. If you do it with a purpose for a limited period of time to then perhaps do your own thing the it makes sense. I have seen what trucking does to people after a few years. Even eating healthy becomes difficult when you are on the road. I worked at a law firm and while I hated sometimes some of the office drama from time to time, I miss my time off, and my weekends, and go to the gym. I think perhaps doing it regional where you are fine Monday through Friday would be a better trade off instead of spending 3 weeks out on the road. As a job I enjoy seeing new places and listening to audiobooks and TH-cam videos. And having very little drama of the type you get on an office job. I want to see if I call it quits by the end of the year and get out of trucking, even if I get a job that I make less. I need to get out of debt first.
I think that's what's kept me in trucking so long because there was a period of time we got into debt and we finally paid it off. That's why I'm working 5 days on 5 days off because I'm trying to make a different way of living now that we don't have a bunch of debt to worry about and maybe I can work for myself full-time instead. Right now we've been printing apparel but ultimately it would be nice to get a shop going and pay someone else to do it for us.
Very good video. Your channel, your perspective, and your advice is wisdom. Its unfortunate that Ramos is chasing for what I call the "get rich quick" far fetched dream that most of my and younger generation have made popular. I listen to your videos while driving so sorry for not commenting enough lol
Nowadays generation wants it all right now but don't realize that the struggle in life no matter what you do is what shapes you and makes you into the person you want to be.
Before calculating how much you're making per hour otr I think some perspective is necessary...some jobs dont pay u while u have to stay at a hotel for a job out of town.. likewise..u shouldn't count your 10 hr break or your 34 hr reset..yes ur with the truck but ur not working ..u might not like the place ur stuck at it or the conditions inside the truck once ur off work but that's a diff issue ..now if ur making 1200 a week average over 70 hours then it's around 17.50 an hr...the problem becomes in a place like California where minimum wage is 16$ an hr...so yes ur working more hours but u gotta subtract that 17.50 with all the expenses on the road...even if being away from family isnt an issue..some people would rather work 40 hrs at minimum wage job plus a second minimum wage job..also this comparison is for an average truck driver not Walmart or a hazmat driver..I agree that u should love what u do as a job as u spend a lot of time doing it..but for some people 17.50 an hr minus ..not seeing family..not getting showers everyday ..poor dieting...all the dot regulations...all the costs over the road...the dangerous nature of the job..it makes sense how it can wear on u when a lot of minimum wage jobs have such low standards and mostly care that u just show up : )
I think the main thing is he just didn't like doing it so he was saying whatever to justify what he was saying.
@@20plustrucking that's true...especially if the money's the only reason u like trucking
How many hours a week do you work @ Walmart ? Thanks in Advance
I'm kind of an oddball compared to everyone else because I choose a lesser schedule to have more time for myself. With that said I work 5 days on 5 days off. So on the 5 days I do work I put about a little over 60 hours in for a 5-day period. Most of the Walmart drivers work 5 days on 2 days off or something close to that. Also I noticed a lot of the drivers want to work every bit of that 70 hours they possibly can and I'm definitely not one of those people lol after 22 years I really don't care to work more because I got other stuff going on in my life.
Great videos Don, I am curious about a cost of living comparison between working a local minimum wage job and truck driving. Specifically, as it relates to auto ownership, food, showers, etc..... I know cooking can be done in the truck but it looks limited or more difficult than a typical kitchen. Do you find yourself eating at fast food restaurants a lot as a truck driver? Also, I would think you save a ton by not having a daily commute to work and putting gas and wear/tear into the personnel vehicle. I guess each person is unique in their life situation and their financial obligations as it relates to home life but maybe if you have not already done a video about this, then this would make for a great video topic. I am starting my trucking career with Swift and your videos have painted a good picture of driving for Walmart. So if I can keep a good driving record for 30 months then I will use you as a reference. Have a good day Sir.
Back in the beginning I used to just go to restaurants at least once a day but the cost is too much compared now to back then. So now I do most of my shopping at Walmart and I stock the refrigerator up in the truck with food that I don't have to cook. Things like salads, chicken wraps, sandwiches, fresh fruit and vegetables and lots of stuff to drink. I'm only in the truck for 5 days so it's pretty easy to get through 5 days without cooking in my opinion. It's really easy to just to pick something up at the truck stop but the cost is through the roof so I try to prevent that. As far as driving goes I'm a little bit of an oddball compared to everyone else because I'm willing to drive 155 mi one way to work every other week because I'm on a 5-day on 5-day off schedule. With today's current fuel prices that cost me about $80 round trip for one week. About 7 years ago I used to live 15 minutes from the DC but we would prefer to live up north where we are now and I figure we can afford that. Before Walmart I used to extremely cook in the truck. I had a barbecue, stove top, multiple ice chests, and all the utensils like frying pans, pots, spatulas etc... I was in the truck back in those days for like a month or more at a time. Looking back on it now it really was a lot of work especially when it came to the cleanup. Believe it or not I started out working for Swift because it was the easiest job to get and I got to admit it was okay but I only stayed there for like 4 months and then landed up getting another job. Between now and the time you apply for Walmart you can email me if you have any questions or need any help I like helping. My email is don@20plustrucking.com
Thanks Don@@20plustrucking
@@EdMcMuffin00 You're welcome