Walmart Private Fleet

Turtle this is really good. I appreciate the effort and information.

For those of you unfamiliar with Turtle, this diary is his second one...

The first was his initial journey with Prime. And like this; highly detailed and very well written.

The significant take-away here for everyone is; Turtle committed to his first employer well beyond the first year and became a top-tier performer. He did everything right for 3 years. Without the benefit of those elements it’s possible WMPF would have passed on his employment application.

The concept of truck driving as performance based and highly competitive is clearly on-display here.

Please take notice and consider this fact when reading Turtle’s diary.

Turtle this is really good. I appreciate the effort and information.

For those of you unfamiliar with Turtle, this diary is his second one...

The first was his initial journey with Prime. And like this; highly detailed and very well written.

The significant take-away here for everyone is; Turtle committed to his first employer well beyond the first year and became a top-tier performer. He did everything right for 3 years. Without the benefit of those elements it’s possible WMPF would have passed on his employment application.

The concept of truck driving as performance based and highly competitive is clearly on-display here.

Please take notice and consider this fact when reading Turtle’s diary.

Also havin you G-Town and everyone else here on TT was a legendary inspiration for Turtle as well.

Turtle I know I’m not the first to say this and I apologize if I’m late to the party but...

LEGENDARY GRATZ on the WMPF job! I thought Prime was the Harvard of trucking but you my friend are now in the Harvard of trucking. Continue to be as safe as possible and as G-Town says: “Watch Your Wagon” at ALL times. 😜

It is always a pleasure to read whatever it is you have to say. You have provided great information here and - dare I say? - a little drama too.

*click*

Brilliant!

Working out of johnstown?

Great stuff Turtle. for sharing it!

Keep up the great work. You'll make this happen!

I forgot to add something important regarding the pre-trip test. All candidates inspect the same few trucks over in the boneyard.

Approaching the truck and trailer, the examiner said to me:

"These have been placed out of service, so you might find a few things wrong. There are no gotchas to trip you up, but I want you to inspect them as if you were taking them out on the road, and let me know if you find anything wrong."

This of course adds a new layer of difficulty to the pretrip. No longer can we simply recite the same checklist we learned back in the CDL exam. We actually have to look for problems, check the oil, see if the lug nuts are tight, pull the pushrod, thump the tires, etc. I love it. As professional truck drivers, a thorough pre-trip should be second nature, but knowing there are likely a few problems to point out makes me pay attention to every single thing for this exam.

"Well played, Mr Examiner. Well played. "

Working out of johnstown?

Yup, not far from your turf.

Great job detailing the hiring process Turtle, I look forward to hearing more about it and seeing if it differs in any way from what G-Town does as a Swift driver dedicated to Walmart. Maybe I missed it in this thread or your other one, but how is the hometime? Are you close enough to the DC to make it home nearly every night? Either way, I'm very happy for you, you've earned this! I hope it works out for you and your family as planned. How long is the training process to learn the Walmart way of doing things as an experienced driver?

Rob makes a really good point...

Great job detailing the hiring process Turtle, I look forward to hearing more about it and seeing if it differs in any way from what G-Town does as a Swift driver dedicated to Walmart. Maybe I missed it in this thread or your other one, but how is the hometime? Are you close enough to the DC to make it home nearly every night? Either way, I'm very happy for you, you've earned this! I hope it works out for you and your family as planned. How long is the training process to learn the Walmart way of doing things as an experienced driver?

Me too.

I know one operational aspect that is very different...WMPF drivers can run out of multiple DCs within a region. Its rare for me to venture from the territory of 7030, occasionally to Johnstown NY or Tobyhana PA (GM DC) or Smyrna DE and that is a result of a back haul destined for one of those locations. Taken lettuce and juice (Sunny Delight) to Johnstown, Kelloggs to Toby and Sugar (Dominos in Balt) to Smyrna. Other than that...

Turtle is likely to be up and down the east coast, west to Ohio. I too am looking forward to reading his diary for similar reasons. In a few years I may be faced with taking the same direction. One never knows...nothing in business is guaranteed forever. I know if the WM 7030 contract becomes a "not-for-profit" undertaking for SWIFT, Mr. Knight will shut it down in a NY Minute.

For now, I think (famous last words) I am good through 2021.

Turtle this is really good. I appreciate the effort and information.

For those of you unfamiliar with Turtle, this diary is his second one...

The first was his initial journey with Prime. And like this; highly detailed and very well written.

The significant take-away here for everyone is; Turtle committed to his first employer well beyond the first year and became a top-tier performer. He did everything right for 3 years. Without the benefit of those elements it’s possible WMPF would have passed on his employment application.

The concept of truck driving as performance based and highly competitive is clearly on-display here.

Please take notice and consider this fact when reading Turtle’s diary.

Dont forget about his Trainer Diary with Prime! Also a great one if your considering being a trainer or if you want a peek into the mind of a trainer and get their perspective.

Also im wondering how your liking that giant box behind you now Turtle? I know Old School had a thread awhile back about pulling a dry van for his yearly van experience.