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I thought those Haz Mat placards had to do with the Old-farts they are transporting. That is a much more lethal gas content than a few greenies contain. Plus people are prone to striking matches while that gas is releasedAnd people wondered why we had to have haz-mat placards on our trailers.
The vegans write a lot of articles about bovine gas emissions destroying the planet so we do know it is hazardous stuff!
WMT (Walmart Transportation) has started a program called A2D (Associate 2 Driver) that lets veteran drivers called CDTs (Certified Driver Trainers) train current store associates to drive the big rigs.
No experience needed, they are hand picked after a detailed selection process and then put thru a few weeks of classroom and range training, followed by OTR (On The Road) seat time with an experienced driver trainer.
The result is, the drivers are getting much younger now...and with MUCH less experience.
I've seen WMT drivers that look to be in their 20s.
It's a changing world out there now.
(BTW, the government might have invented alphabet soup 3 letter acronyms, but corporate America perfected them)
No experience needed, they are hand picked after a detailed selection process and then put thru a few weeks of classroom and range training, followed by OTR (On The Road) seat time with an experienced driver trainer.
The result is, the drivers are getting much younger now...and with MUCH less experience.
I've seen WMT drivers that look to be in their 20s.
It's a changing world out there now.
(BTW, the government might have invented alphabet soup 3 letter acronyms, but corporate America perfected them)
bullfrog !
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Scary! Giving Swift a run for their money! Lol!!!
^^^^Remember that the military is full of drivers in their 20s who are driving big transport trucks and other large types of vehicles. Plus flying fighter jets, cargo planes, helicopters, etc.
I am glad that Walmart is not guilty of agism and is willing to give younger persons positions of responsibility. As well as provide a way to learn while you earn. I can see the influence of a former military officer in their corporate decision making team!
I am glad that Walmart is not guilty of agism and is willing to give younger persons positions of responsibility. As well as provide a way to learn while you earn. I can see the influence of a former military officer in their corporate decision making team!
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bullfrog !
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Age isn’t the problem, experience is. I believe Walmart had an employment requirement of several years of over the road experience with no tickets or accidents at one time if I remember correctly. I was a not so good Swift driver, there is a reason we got kidded a lot! Lol!! I destroyed a small town in New Jersey by taking out all ten of their new shinny power poles because the mayor prematurely put up truck route signs without widening the intersections. Rookie move on my part to not realize it.
bullfrog !
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They will soon all be self driving. The human if anything will just be a safety backup.
Happy Camper
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Let's see if they can get it figured out. Tesla won't on their passenger vehicles because of their reliance on camera only.
I think for their big rigs they are implementing lidar. That would help them be competitive on the self driving rig front.
bullfrog !
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Freeway is already safe for me as I refuse in most cases to use them! Lol!!! Now if bikeways included a few more rest stops and all allowed electric bikes I’d be good!
bullfrog !
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Bound to be safer than walking on the rail road tracks! Lol!!!!
Swifts bar is so low it would be hard to stoop that far… I did hear of a Swift truck making it to a destination on time. But upon further review it was because the Swift guy missed a couple stops.
In Walmart's case, its because of the acute driver shortage. It has nothing to do with agism or lack of it. It's all about getting the freight to the stores. EVERTHING else is secondary.
HAVE TO HAVE TO HAVE TO...get that freight to the stores. Period. No ifs, ands, or buts.
Customers do not like to see empty shelves. Remember the pandemic? No toilet paper....no meat on the shelves..no soup for you!.....and lots of experienced but yes, older drivers retiring, or getting covid.
The private fleet was struggling to move product. The answer? Tap into the store associates....hello Shoe Department manager, wanna triple or quadruple your income?
We can train you to hold a steering wheel!
Hello Deli worker today, be a truck driver tomorrow. Cashier? Oh no problem. See this? It's an airbrake pedal. Push that and you slow down.
All of the new trucks coming in are 2 pedal trucks. Automated Manuals. In other words, select 'D'...then push the go pedal. No shifting required, no clutch....so the young people of today can hop up into that seat and get the freight from the warehouse to the stores with minimal training.
I guess i'm on my soapbox again...dangit...how did that happen?
Argh.
bullfrog !
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I got a mean call from dispatch once wanting to know how I managed to make in a truck governed at 62 MPH a delivery they knew I should not have been able to make stating safety concerns. I told them they shouldn’t have sent me over the Pennsylvania Turnpike in a standard transmission truck with a blown fuse. They kicked it up to a supervisor and he immediately started giving me emergency on time deliveries! Lol!!!
Just because someone is working as a clerk in their twenties does not mean they are too stupid, too scatter brained, too immature or too uncoordinated to learn to drive a truck. Some people will be, others will not. But equally important is having a real desire to have that kind of job. It is absolutely not for everyone, especially not for me!
I did not mean to imply that anyone was too stupid just because they were in a different line of work. That's far from reality.
But it has to do with experience.
Back in the days when I did that job, potential applicants hoping to drive for WMT had to have a minimum of 300,000 verifiable accident-free miles over the road in the last 5 years, and no more than 1 ticket in the last 5 years, and no accidents...at all.
But in reality, there were so many qualified applications on file (more than 8000 when I worked there) that someone with less than 500,000 accident free miles was just laughed at. A speeding ticket 3 years ago? Get lost!
It was a high paying job and the bar was set high for a reason.
Liability in truck accidents is HUGE. So the company made the investment in attracting drivers with proven track records with a half million miles or better, accident free, on time, good references from previous employers, no tickets, no accidents... instead of paying higher premiums out for frequent accidents to insurance carriers, which were often in-house companies.
But things have changed...and not all for the better.
But it has to do with experience.
Back in the days when I did that job, potential applicants hoping to drive for WMT had to have a minimum of 300,000 verifiable accident-free miles over the road in the last 5 years, and no more than 1 ticket in the last 5 years, and no accidents...at all.
But in reality, there were so many qualified applications on file (more than 8000 when I worked there) that someone with less than 500,000 accident free miles was just laughed at. A speeding ticket 3 years ago? Get lost!
It was a high paying job and the bar was set high for a reason.
Liability in truck accidents is HUGE. So the company made the investment in attracting drivers with proven track records with a half million miles or better, accident free, on time, good references from previous employers, no tickets, no accidents... instead of paying higher premiums out for frequent accidents to insurance carriers, which were often in-house companies.
But things have changed...and not all for the better.
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Grandpa missed his nap time and drifted out of his lane is as dangerous as a driver in their 20s. I vote for all truckers being over 30 and under 40. Technically it is pretty easy to be a grand parent at 40. But it does not explain how a person becomes an experienced driver by the age of 30 
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You can make $100k here as a truck driver with no 4+ years of university & no student loans to repay. We switched to Allison automatic transmissions over 20 years ago, no more clutch jobs.
The average OTR truck driver working in the USA is making around $50,000 to $60,000 a year.
But the average starting pay for WMT drivers is hovering between $80,000 to $100,000 depending on location and their particular preferences, such as working holidays, weekend differentials, part time/full time, etc. Every year the pay goes up and after 5 years it's possible to make $120,000 per year.
With quarterly safety bonuses, stock purchase matching, paid yearly training and retraining classes, paid sick days, vacation, safety days, maternity leave, short and long term disability pay, 401k matching, associate discounts, and various other incentives, the total package is really good. But I put in my 26 years there....I'm done and retired.
Now I say: Let the young-uns have it!
But the average starting pay for WMT drivers is hovering between $80,000 to $100,000 depending on location and their particular preferences, such as working holidays, weekend differentials, part time/full time, etc. Every year the pay goes up and after 5 years it's possible to make $120,000 per year.
With quarterly safety bonuses, stock purchase matching, paid yearly training and retraining classes, paid sick days, vacation, safety days, maternity leave, short and long term disability pay, 401k matching, associate discounts, and various other incentives, the total package is really good. But I put in my 26 years there....I'm done and retired.
Now I say: Let the young-uns have it!
