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food or freight?

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newblue87

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currently I work for con-way freight some days we are slammed others we sit at home. the pay is good when we are busy. I am not scared of hard work. at con-way we are home everyday even if its just enough to sleep lol is food more steady is the pay better? what can i expect at a food place such as hometime and pay and is it worth the switch from freight????
 
Food is more steady because people gotta eat. Pay can be better. Ive always made more money doing food. Also when you get set routes for the most part you know around a time you will be done on those routes. Atleast on my routes I knew roughly what time I would be done every week. With the way the economy is Ive stayed with food and I enjoy it for the most part. How long have you been at Conway?
 
It's just a roller coaster day to day not knowin when you call of ur gonna work I have a family to provide for improve drivin and love hard work and the home time at Conway is great but it's just not steady what can I expect to make a year doing food?
 
Id say go for food. Your young enough yet. Im 25 and been driving almost 7 years and mostly in food. Im guessing your on the flexboard at Conway to. Should make 60k a year to start doing food especially sygma
 
Sygma in Columbus is union which for me I like I just want a steady job and good home time...do you know much about sygma are they a good place to work?
 
Im not sure if there a good place or not. I use to work with a guy that worked there and he had nothing bad to say. You will probably be gone 1 or 2 nights a week. There owned by Sysco so theres probably cameras in the trucks to
 
newblue87,

I have done freight with Fedex Freight, 7 wasted years, I went right back to food, I don't ever want to go back to freight, food is really steady, Sygma will probably be more steady than Sysco due to the fact that they do chain accounts, they never slow down. Its said that broadline slows in the summer, but I have only been with one food company where that was true, and that was only because they put all their eggs in one basket with the schools.

I say go for it, your young, you can make a great career out of food, its interesting and rewarding work, you get much closer with your customers than in freight, also you can always transfer to Sysco from Sygma if you get sick of doing the customized stuff. :)

Good luck to you, keep us posted on what you find out and what you decide to do!
 
Given newblue87's age, I'd definitely say go with food for now. Just remember, anything can happen. I put many years in at Supervalu and watched the boom and then, unfortunately, the bust. Wal Mart pretty much killed them in my area, so I had to look for another job after trying to stay alive on the extra board. Actually, I worked SV's extra board AND UPS's extra board for over a year and got burned out so I found the Lipari gig. Also remember that my situation was grocery stores and not restaurants.

GT is right, there is nothing like servicing the same regular customers in food. Almost ALL of my steady customers greet me with a smile, a cup of coffee, a donut (like I need it), or an offer for a sandwich. It's extremely satisfying for me to know that the businesses I service are actually happy to see me - this industry is largely what YOU make of it. Sure, it's ball busting work but you know that going in everyday. Put a smile on your face and the day is much easier...good luck to you.
 
Go with food. Freight slows down way to much.m I've been in food for 10 years, before that was 4 years of HHG and commercial moving. Food will also be there, everyone has to eat.
 
Job security in food. Money is good but with the economy in bad shape the companies seem to have went from begging for people to throwing them away like dirty tissues at times.

All in all, a good place will treat their drivers great because in many ways they are the face of the company to the customers. Treat you good less chance you'll be out there bad mouthing them and taking good care of the product.

I say food.
 
Thanks for all the help it's been a tough decision I hate changing jobs but I have to do what's best for me and my family so hopefully all go well in the interview
 
I've been at conway since march and I'm in the same boat. I've been driving for 7 years, all in grocery and foodservice besides my time at conway. Unsteady work/scheduling/pay and the lack of 401k contribution have me reevaluating my options. I'm thinking about sticking around until the rebid in nov/dec that isn't set in stone either.

Keep us updated.
 
I work at US Foods, I came back to food service after 6 years away trying freight. I worked at Con-Way and you
Made good money but I made a dollar more per hour starting at US Foods. Freight isn't bad but takes years to get good runs and avoid layoffs. My first 7 years driving was food service, it's always steady and good overtime. Sygma just got the Ihop account, today was my last day delivering to the one in town so you should stay busy :)
 
Not to mention the Con-Way barn I worked at was run like a damn military camp. Straight up ******* zone supervisors on line-haul when you worked the dock.
 
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