Werner Dollar General

I spoke to a Werner recruiter today and he said they would be able to get me on a Dollar General account. He said I could expect $50 - $53,000 annually, more than OTR (I don't remember that figure, but $.30 per mile).

I've been shying away from Werner but this seems like a good deal. Is this claim accurate? I can handle the labor, infact I think I might perfer it. Is this a good deal?

I know a driver well who did this while working for Hogan. His comments most definitely suggested to me this is very labor intense. He said the trailer would be loaded from top to bottom and almost always to the door. I remember him also saying some stores were very hard to get in to and have no docks, said some of them he'd unload from the street. I think those were older stores in a downtown area and would do them like at 5 AM. I could tell from his comments he wasn't very impressed with being inside the trailer when it was 90 plus degrees outside. If you like the labor aspect of this it sounds like there is plenty of it. Best thing to do is talk to some drivers who are on the DG account.. Best of luck to ya!

I was on a similar account for Dollar Tree stores at US Xpress. It's a pretty brutal job. In fact it's by far the toughest trucking job I ever had. Everything Chris said is correct - the stores are often very difficult to get in and out of, the labor is never-ending, and there are a fair amount of injuries to drivers from things falling on their heads, back issues, and things of that nature.

I did it for a year and that was 10 months longer than most drivers last on that account. It's really tough. Give it a shot if you think you might like it. You can always switch to a different division within the company if that job doesn't suit you.

The labour sounds great to me, I've gotten soft in my current jobs.

Beluavir, there's a reason why this account pays so well. Unfortunately it's the same reason why they are constantly needing drivers on it.

It's army boot camp times ten, and a very rough spot for any rookie.

Nothing can prepare you for this account you think you have an idea but you have no idea. I remember one of the first times I posted on this site about this account and said well why not go ahead and do I'll stay in shape right? Get use to it after awhile right? Brett was telling me about getting smacked in the head by glass jars of pickles falling from the very top of the trailer and old school was saying you are brave. But I went into as a rookie drive and it is an animal. Now I know dollar general has a little better system than dollar tree but either prepared be ready to unload that 53 feet of trailer I mean loaded to the door. To the point that the load bar is almost ready to pop out the back of the trailer with more boxes stuffed in. First store is almost always except for some cities a 7 o'clock appointment so be ready to wake up earlier get outside in the cold and get unloading. Every stores takes a few hours some longer but at a minimal 2 hours. If you have any kind of back problems, muscle, or joint problems this account is not for you. I will say though that the first I'd say 3 weeks are the hardest because you are still new at driving and on top of that now the backing required in some of these stores. My first store was a 90 degree blind side back with power lines on one side and dumpster on the other. And tread carefully on that 50,000 dollars.

Also keep in mind this is on average 1500 boxes a store sometimes less almost always more

The following are excerpts from two local newspapers in my area in regards to an old Dollar General when they were making plans to build the new one:

"The existing store is not large enough and its location does not lend to delivery by 18-wheeler trucks that cannot get into the parking lot on Chattanooga Valley Road in front of the store, and [the parking lot] must be closed to traffic while they unload"

In addition, said Howard, the store manager has to make a current practice of stopping traffic on Chattanooga Valley Road each time a delivery truck comes into the Dollar General store, as the space is too narrow to safely accommodate both the truck and residential traffic.

The car entrance had a deep drainage ditch on either side. The driver would have to maneuver just right to get in or risk ending up in the ditch. Which happened to multiple Werner drivers I might add.

That's a great find Anchorman!

Indeed those stores are a nightmare to get in and out of. Not only are they usually in tight, crowded parking lots but they're usually in the busiest parts of town.

At a store in the Indianapolis area It was so tight in the back alley that they had a tow a car so I could get back there. Now one pro I will say is I was never out usually more than 3 days at a time and since I lived right by the DC I was home often.