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Strategies to get faster at USFOODS two weeks from 90 days.

donvineland said:
Thanks to all of you that replied. Here is an update. Yesterday i was really pushing it on both sides especially the driving. I had a few near missies . I was trying to keep up with the Xata or planned times. I will have to calm down and put things in perspective. A accident or life is not worth this bull****. On the hand truck side i was also running. I may have lucked on to something. I cant prove if its faster but it sure felt easier. The scanner had a very weak battery so between chargings in the truck,i had to use it as few times as possible. Due to this fact, i made several upright stacks on the truck floor and was able to scan as many cases at once. Afterwhich, i would shut the scanner power off and then scoop these individuals stacks on my handtruck and run. This process felt faster but i am not sure it was. When i checked the Xata it said i was falling behind even more. However, later in the day when the scanner was sufficiently charged; i went back to the process of throwing stacks on the handtruck, scanning and running. it did not feel faster but the Xata said i wasnt losing anymore time. So now iam pondering which process to stick with. I was very surprised to see ,that the Xata said i was on time as i was only behind by fifteen minutes behind rather than the hour and half it had me by all day. Due to the dispatcher being very busy i was unable to get a break down of the stop times and drive times.
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Well I think your are missing a major point here..running fast doesn't make you faster no kind of way sometimes it cost you time with mistakes,the biggest key to
work on is how u load your two wheeler always take in mates atleast try too.. If your are running fast and not taking in good loads and I am taking in quality loads
and moving slower most time I will finish faster jus something for you to think about...Just remember running fast while you are new to this you make mistakes and u spend 15 extra minutes at 4 stops your are a hour late..Just work at a steady pace and it will all fall in line..good luck
 
donvineland said:
Thanks to all of you that replied. Here is an update. Yesterday i was really pushing it on both sides especially the driving. I had a few near missies . I was trying to keep up with the Xata or planned times. I will have to calm down and put things in perspective. A accident or life is not worth this bull****. On the hand truck side i was also running. I may have lucked on to something. I cant prove if its faster but it sure felt easier. The scanner had a very weak battery so between chargings in the truck,i had to use it as few times as possible. Due to this fact, i made several upright stacks on the truck floor and was able to scan as many cases at once. Afterwhich, i would shut the scanner power off and then scoop these individuals stacks on my handtruck and run. This process felt faster but i am not sure it was. When i checked the Xata it said i was falling behind even more. However, later in the day when the scanner was sufficiently charged; i went back to the process of throwing stacks on the handtruck, scanning and running. it did not feel faster but the Xata said i wasnt losing anymore time. So now iam pondering which process to stick with. I was very surprised to see ,that the Xata said i was on time as i was only behind by fifteen minutes behind rather than the hour and half it had me by all day. Due to the dispatcher being very busy i was unable to get a break down of the stop times and drive times.
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Quick .02 on the "near misses" you had. In my experience here slow alone won't get you fired as long as you're showing progress and want to do the work...good help is hard to find. Don't try to make up for lost time driving, because while slow alone usually won't get you fired slow + accidents or injuries will. At least here it will. Relax and control what you can. 90% of "being fast" is knowing what the heck you're digging for, once you start recognizing the product you'll be able to put off the cases without running (till they change the damn boxes).
It's frustrating at first, but one day everything will just kind of click together.
 
I worked at USF and I was in the same predicament. I was frustrated looking at that xata. That thing is BS. Don't look at it. It doesn't account for traffic, waiting on customer to pay you or count their stuff, things that consume time that you have to wait on. If you worry on that your gonna mess up and hit something or do something unsafe and get yourself fired or hurt. Just do it as fast as you can you'll get faster as you get experienced. Unless your a lazy turd that takes 10 min to walk to the back of your truck which it doesn't sound like it( I've seen new hires like that). It's all about taking care of the customer and their product not speed. If your hurrying and crushing products then instead of taking care of it then your not doing your job right. That's what they want ppl taking care of the customer and working the best they can. I did it to the best of my ability and if the company needed help I was there. They know your trying trust me. You'll make it. Plus if your on extra board unless you know the route your gonna be late. When they put me on a route I was beating that xata unless customers slowed me down by having to come back or wait on them. Just keep putting the effort in, take care of the customer, and be safe and you'll be alright. Good luck.
 
Donvineland, one of our fastest guys here is the most layed back, he had a big hand at training me at Sysco, I worked with him on key drop for a year before I got bid out, he talks and listens to his customers, the thing is he works smart, he loads his wheeler good, and he moves, he don't stand around looking at the pallet saying to himself, I can't believe they put this together like that!

We have all types here, the runners, the very organized, one of the guys told me that sorting the pallet is cool and all but don't sort what you don't have to, to get the stop your on done, in other words, don't finish sorting that pallet, this guy is who I learned the most from. I worked for 3 different food companies before I came here and I learned so much at Sysco, everyone is different, talk to the guys and take from them, they will be glad to share their methods!
 
This is my final update. I was let go three days before my ninety days. It may have been a summer hiring thing; 10 was hired three were kept. However life is still good. Six weeks has flown by and i am ready to get back in the saddle. I am trying to stay on the food service side of trucking.Sadistically i enjoy pushing a hand truck and driving a stick shift. Yes,i bought my own hand truck and own three stick shift vehicles. Maclane and PGT no call backs after application submission. Dunkin Donuts and Goya are not hiring right now. Papa Johns and Albert Organics or UNFI both called back. I reside in the South Jersey, Philadelphia area. Do you guys have any info or suggestions about these two or other food service companies?
 
donvineland said:
This is my final update. I was let go three days before my ninety days. It may have been a summer hiring thing; 10 was hired three were kept. However life is still good. Six weeks has flown by and i am ready to get back in the saddle. I am trying to stay on the food service side of trucking.Sadistically i enjoy pushing a hand truck and driving a stick shift. Yes,i bought my own hand truck and own three stick shift vehicles. Maclane and PGT no call backs after application submission. Dunkin Donuts and Goya are not hiring right now. Papa Johns and Albert Organics or UNFI both called back. I reside in the South Jersey, Philadelphia area. Do you guys have any info or suggestions about these two or other food service companies?
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Sysco, Samual and Sons, Novick Brothers, J&J Snack Foods
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I did the road test ,medical,and physical test for Albert's Organics. Lifting up the fifty pound box had me blowing like a train. I have gotten high on the hog in these six weeks; wife is a real good cook. Anyways, its mostly New York City and surroundings with a 48 footer. Its starts at 19.5/hr goes up to 25 after five years and the benefits are pretty decent. The major drawbacks are non union and automatic transmissions. Papa Johns is two guys in a sleeper doing New York and surroundings. Pay is by load split; four days on three days off. I am wondering if the drawback on this one is a " KILLER"! How does one person unload if the other is on sleeper for H.O.S? Does anyone have any experience doing food service delivery as a team operation? I would be very appreciative for any info or knowledge about your experience.
 
donvineland said:
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I did the road test ,medical,and physical test for Albert's Organics. Lifting up the fifty pound box had me blowing like a train. I have gotten high on the hog in these six weeks; wife is a real good cook. Anyways, its mostly New York City and surroundings with a 48 footer. Its starts at 19.5/hr goes up to 25 after five years and the benefits are pretty decent. The major drawbacks are non union and automatic transmissions. Papa Johns is two guys in a sleeper doing New York and surroundings. Pay is by load split; four days on three days off. I am wondering if the drawback on this one is a " KILLER"! How does one person unload if the other is on sleeper for H.O.S? Does anyone have any experience doing food service delivery as a team operation? I would be very appreciative for any info or knowledge about your experience.
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One is NOT in the sleeper while the other unloads at Papa Johns ;) It's justed logged that way ;) Spent six months doing that job out of the Pittsburgh DC. 6 months of pure hell. If you can't sleep in a moving truck and/or not use to team driving, don't do it. You will spend your days off doing nothing but catching up on sleep.
 
Sysco philly is not is not hiring now . That's what the security officer at the gate told me. Yes it sounds like one of the team drivers will be running on empty coming back.
 
STILE.P said:
I dont think i could do a team foodservice job.. it sounds rough
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Better have a co-driver who you can work good with. My first foodservice job was team. My co-driver and I thought alike, go out, get it done, go home. Paid salary, so the faster we got done, the more we made an hour. Our routes were 3 16 hour routes a week. This was before the HOS change that allowed 15 hours on duty and had options to stop the clock. My co-driver and I normally turned the run in 14.5-15 hours. Very rarely did we ever use the sleeper.

At Papa John's, the routes ranged from 18-31 hours, good luck sleeping in a moving truck and if you are the one driving back, your sleeping on the way to the first stop. After that, you both unload and you drove back. Log sleeper but help unload.
 
donvineland said:
Sysco philly is not is not hiring now . That's what the security officer at the gate told me. Yes it sounds like one of the team drivers will be running on empty coming back.
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Go to Sysco's website and submit an app. Also, I know it's a haul but how about AFI-PFG in Elizabeth and Ferraro in Piscataway.
 
donvineland said:
Sysco philly is not is not hiring now . That's what the security officer at the gate told me. Yes it sounds like one of the team drivers will be running on empty coming back.
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The security officer is a moron, he is nothing but a security guard, Sysco takes applications on line and they do look at them, apply on line if your interested!
 
You may be right gt..no way a security guard could come between me and job If I was out of one..try to call and speak directly with the transportation manager..
since you have work for us foods for a stint you pretty much know what to say and the ins and outs. All of these places are pretty much the same, just a little
pay difference here and there.. most foodservice companies just want hear that you a have little foodservice experience and you will probably get hire.
 
The team stuff sounds like it sucks. I couldnt do it. Stile p is right. You know what the job is all about you could get a job just about anywhere doing foodservice. That new york stuff sounds scary to me lol. I can barely do the twin cities lol.
 
Another thing. I dont think its a major drawback that they are non union. Not many union companies left. Especially here in MN. But 19.50 a hr isnt bad. I make 19 a hr pulling flatbed locally for a steel company and we are non union
 
Today i saw a unique job opportunity then called the company. I have never done tanks before but they would be willing to give me a look. They asked some basic back ground info questions. He then informed me about the wages and benefits. Its a union job with company sponsored pension and all. They specialize in a niche : liquid food in a tank . It's a otr job ;stay out for four days get back on the weekend .He even provided the number of the local they are affiliated with. I was given a number to submit the relevant paper work. Now after finishing that conversation. One hour later i received a called with a job offer from Organics . I have one week until i have to choose. The job with P.E.Kramm sounds like something i could retire from. Right now i am a bit perplexed.It would take another four or five weeks sitting before all the tests and checks were done. Its really difficult to turn away a bird in the hand for one in the forests. Financially i could sit for another 12 weeks without really worrying. The thing is what if i turn down one but do not get the other. The lady of the house said to go for the union gig. OK, you guys can sound off and let me know your thoughts!
 
I would take the union job to. But you could start at organics to find out what its like. If its not something you like then the tanker gig would be for you. I know it might not be a good thing to do but it happens
 
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