Disgusted with Frito Lay "retirement" plan

So they changed from whatever they used to call a pension plan to a 401K not long before I started here (8/13). So I've been here 2 years now. It's August and I contribute 7% from my pay to the 401K. Frito plays games with their "generous" match. They match up to 4% of your pay with a .50 on a $1. Why don't they just call it a 2% match, because that's all it is! The 4% is just pure propaganda considering it's still a .50 cent match. But anyway, back to August....I've grossed appx 53K thus far...and year to date, Frito has managed to contribute a whopping $990 to my retirement! I'm just blown away with their generosity! An entire $990!!!! Totally pathetic. Totally an insult. This has my blood just boiling. This from a "Fortune 50" company. I think it's time to (re)-organize.

First let me say a lot has changed from the Frito I worked for until November of 2002. One of my best friends may be leaving Frito 5 years before normal retirement age to come haul cars because they now will let him roll his pension money and he has had enough after 20+ years. Are you sure that the $990 they have contributed is not in addition to the amount they contribute whether you contribute or not? You may be right, but I am just trying to be a neutral party since I no longer have any skin in this game. Anyway I have always planned that my retirement check, where ever it comes from Central States, Frito Lay, UPS or whomever, will be the smallest check I receive every month if I have invested enough myself in my 401k, which thankfully I have done for the last 29 years. I still want what is coming to me but I am not counting on any one of my former employers pension plans or social security to make my retirement days good. I am not trying to minimalize your point and if I were you I would also be mad as hell, but I guess you are still on track to make almost $100,000 a year. This income should allow you to contribute the max towards a 401k, which is $17,500 a year unless you are 50 then you can do an extra $6,000 a year. Anyway my point is don't sweat it too bad, think about it for a while and if you think you can do better elsewhere, leave for greener pastures. Unfortunately in today's world very few companies have a traditional pension, but if you save enough on your own you can still retire with dignity. While you earn every dollar at Frito, you still have a much better job than most truck drivers do. Maybe the bean counters in Plano will wake up and realize there is a reason that Frito drivers need to make great money with great benefits, because it is a hard job and most truckers won't work that hard. Good luck!

Wow, so it's 3 and a half yrs later and I saw this thread I started and I want to update it. So about a month after I went on that rant about the paltry retirement plan, I got a call in the evening from a guy in HR who was in visiting our plant from Topeka. He said they had some people at Topeka who were getting screwed on their retirement contribution from the company and He wanted to check here at our traffic center if there was any similar situations. Surprise! Myself and the few guys hired after me were not getting the ARC (Automatic Retirement Contribution). Somehow payroll was not aware we weren't enrolled in the ARC. So they did all the necessary research and back paid us all plus interest and stock market advances. So everything worked out good. I'm kicking in 13%, Frito matches 2% and my ARC is another 7% and will eventually go to a max of 9%. But all told, I'm currently getting 22% of my earnings kicked in annually.

Glad to hear they straightened it out. When I was there Frito was a top shelf company to work for. I had some really good times there, made lifelong friends and made lots of money at the time. 22%of your earnings invested wisely should provide a very good income in retirement.

Banker said:

Glad to hear they straightened it out. When I was there Frito was a top shelf company to work for. I had some really good times there, made lifelong friends and made lots of money at the time. 22%of your earnings invested wisely should provide a very good income in retirement.

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My time at Frito-Lay was fantastic. I enjoyed driving for them. Lots of good people. I ran out of Orlando. During my time we were the best payed truck drivers in Florida. I was a part timer, my real job was Firefighter-Paramedic. FL payed me the same as the regulars and paid me for vacation. I was there for 12 years and I got a serious injury at my real job and I was out of work for over a year. After I rehabbed I wasn’t able to unload trailers for fear or aggravating the injury. Eventually I got another part time job driving for
ABF driving linehaul out of Orlando. ABF was also a good job.

Larry Lee said:

My time at Frito-Lay was fantastic. I enjoyed driving for them. Lots of good people. I ran out of Orlando. During my time we were the best payed truck drivers in Florida. I was a part timer, my real job was Firefighter-Paramedic. FL payed me the same as the regulars and paid me for vacation. I was there for 12 years and I got a serious injury at my real job and I was out of work for over a year. After I rehabbed I wasn’t able to unload trailers for fear or aggravating the injury. Eventually I got another part time job driving for
ABF driving linehaul out of Orlando. ABF was also a good job.

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Your career sounds like mine and I also enjoyed my years at Frito. I hired in the LFD at 19 years old with a 24/48 schedule which allowed plenty of time to drive big trucks on my days off starting at 21. Started my driving career at Consolidated Freightways and eventually went to Frito. At one time Frito in Louisville had 4 off duty firefighters working casual. Eventually Frito put several of us on the regular board so we could have seniority and bid rights. When rumors of our plant closure started I hired on with UPS. Frito closed our plant within a year of me leaving. If we had a modern plant with room for expansion I probably would still be there with 23 years seniority. I still talk to several former and current Frito drivers about every week.

Banker said:

Your career sounds like mine and I also enjoyed my years at Frito. I hired in the LFD at 19 years old with a 24/48 schedule which allowed plenty of time to drive big trucks on my days off starting at 21. Started my driving career at Consolidated Freightways and eventually went to Frito. At one time Frito in Louisville had 4 off duty firefighters working casual. Eventually Frito put several of us on the regular board so we could have seniority and bid rights. When rumors of our plant closure started I hired on with UPS. Frito closed our plant within a year of me leaving. If we had a modern plant with room for expansion I probably would still be there with 23 years seniority. I still talk to several former and current Frito drivers about every week.

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Glad to find you, brother. Our paths are very close. I hired on at Seminole County Fire Department at 18 years and 2 months. Seminole County is a northern suburb of Orlando. When I hired on we had 9 fire stations and I was the 56th firefighter. When I retired there were 660 firefighters 29 fire stations. My last year we ran about 54,000 calls (these days they are running 70,000+). We were the only EMS providers currently running 32 rescue ambulances. Everybody is dual role and we operate UH-1H Huey helicopter ambulance.

Over the 25 years that I worked at the FD and driving trucks, I worked lots of trucking outfits. I was on extra board for everybody that I could. I drove the most for FL and ABF. I started at 18 years driving for a guy that owned a huge landscaping outfit and a fence company (Orlando was booming). I drove a old GMC 9500 with a 238hp Detroit and a 10 speed. I ran to south Florida to haul back plants in a drop deck van like FL uses. I also pulled flat bed hauling chain link and wood fence panels. Also pulled a step deck hauling landscape tractors, small bulldozers, pickup trucks, water trucks, etc. When was 21 I worked for Ryder Truck Lines, the Teamsters paid better. And here are other outfits that I drove for (I grew up in a truck, third generation driver).......

Seminole County Fire Department

James B. McCuller

**Ryder Truck Lines (Teamsters Union Local 385)

**Pacific Intermountain Express

Ward Fleet (Montgomery Ward)

Southland Corporation (7 Eleven)

**Consolidated Freightways (Teamsters Union Local 385)

Global Coach and Armor / Global Race Cars

Jefferson-Ward Stores

Driver Leasing Service

*McCrory/ TG&Y Stores

*Landair/Flying Tigers

*PB&S Chemical

*Sealy Mattress

*Dade Paper Company

*Harris Corporation

*Pella Windows

*Martin-Brower

Frito-Lay

**ABF Freight (Teamsters Union Local 385)

**Yellow Freight (Teamsters Union Local 385)

I retired in November 2001. I have had a good time with retirement, went all around North America riding mountain bikes, hiking and sight seeing. I have done lots of fishing and hunting dove, quail and coyotes.
I never could get trucking out of my blood. I just got back in the business. I’m working for a farmer that also owns 5 trucks. Nice rigs, all Pete and KW long hoods. I’m driving a KW W900-L, Aero Studio Sleeper, 3406 CAT 550hp, 18 speed. We pull 42ft aluminum end dump trailers hauling fertilizer out of Coastal Alabama to Americus, Georgia turn. We pull 9000 gallon tankers hauling liquid organic fertilizer. We also pull flatbeds hauling sod, crates and tanks of fertilizer, etc. Mid summer we will be hauling sod to football stadiums
(NFL and College), Houston, Dallas, Memphis, Atlanta and Jacksonville and most of the SEC teams.

Stay in touch,
Larry