Running On Cretes Walmart Dedicated Fleet

So after seating around for two days basically, while I was picking up my last load I dropped off my asset manager said I was being routed to North Platte, NE to run on their Walmart Dedicated account, which is a one week commitment. So starting tomorrow morning, I will be doing this for the next 7 days. lucky I had that one experience at Schneider, which its basically done the same way at Crete.

I did watch a training video just to be sure I dont mess anything up, but pretty excited. This will allow me to stay busy during this slow time we are apparently having.

Congratulations Jamie.

Any chance you could continue after the week?

Congratulations Jamie.

Any chance you could continue after the week?

I'm actually not sure about that, but if I like it, I'm going to bring it up. I know I can't be on the account permanently due to me living outside the hiring range, but maybe I could commit to another week or something like that.

Got assigned my first load which doesn't leave out until a few more hours. 677 mile round trip with 3 stops, one in Nebraska and two in Kansas. It's a refrigerated load.

They asked me if I prefer to run days or nights, I told them that I've been running days but I can run nights as well. This load will require some night driving for sure.

If you wouldn't mind Jamie, would you be able to take pics of the docks you're delivering to and any issues you run into? I'm interested to see how the docks differ in this region compared to what Turtle and G-town have seen in the Northeast.

I know you said Walmart dedicated isnt an option due to hiring area but is dedicated like that something you're interested in or are you loving OTR too much to be more regional?

If you wouldn't mind Jamie, would you be able to take pics of the docks you're delivering to and any issues you run into? I'm interested to see how the docks differ in this region compared to what Turtle and G-town have seen in the Northeast.

I know you said Walmart dedicated isnt an option due to hiring area but is dedicated like that something you're interested in or are you loving OTR too much to be more regional?

Sure will do!

I actually want to run on a dedicated account but they only have one in my area for Unilever, which isn't bad. Because it'll be the same setup as of now stay out for 21 days minimum earning one day off every 6 days on the road.

Well it's been a busy two days, but loving the account so far. The docks at most of the stores have been rather easy and generally the same as what G Town sees. I took a few pictures last night of one that was different then the others I seen so far.

I ended up pulling up and blind side back into the dock, as there wasn't enough room for me to make a u turn to driver said due to the snow. But was simple and had no trouble.

Here is a satellite picture of how I got in:

Looks normal but it had some tight turns. But so far they are keeping me busy, first day I ran 580 miles and yesterday I ran 607 miles that included a drop and hook , fueling, two stops and being delayed 20 minutes at the DC guard shack since they couldnt find my route or something.

I did get the chance to talk to someone in the office about the one week commitment, he said they are always looking for help and ai can stay longer if I want. The one week commitment is due to people not wanting to stay here. Makes no sense at all, its simple and has good miles. You literally pull up to the store, back into the dock, either call the store or ring the little buzzer outside and they generally start unloading you asap and then you're off to the next stop. I guess people dont like long days?

All the trips are round trips, so we start and end our day at the DC unless of course we cannot make it back to the DC due to running out of hours then we just inform them of our ETA on getting back.

Forgot to mention, I did meet another driver on the account who has been driving for Crete since 1985, 35 years with the company. He has been on the Walmart dedicated account for 6 or 7 years I believe.

Also it seems they ship more reefer loads out of here then dry loads. If you're willing to haul both dry and reefers loads like me, you'll stay real busy. But if you're only willing to haul dryvan , you might be waiting around longer. Also being able to run days and nights help out a lot.

So my reset is almost over, I'll be heading out tonight around 2am to start my 720 mile round trip which includes two stops.