I work at the Wal-Mart Distribution center in Arcadia, Florida, and I am an order filler there. An order fillers duty is to drive around a palet jack that can fit 2 palets on it, and then we build the palets up with whatever the computer tells us too. We wear headsets that tell us what to pick and where to pick from, and we also talk back to the computer telling it what we picked. The palets are then shrink wrapped with a giant machine, and are shipped to the Wal-Mart Super Centers around our area. If your a freezer order filler (which I am), then this job requires you to work in sub-zero temperatures ranging from -20 to -10, while breaking your back at the same time. Most of the boxes in the freezer are 50 plus pounds, and over a shift we approximatly lift 2500 boxes. Our shifts range from 10-12 hours of being in the freezer. Wal-Mart provides proper gear, so your dressed from head to toe working in ski masks, with only your eyes being visible. There is also a catch. You have to make production. Each trip the computer assigns you has a "standard time" to it. Lets say a trip is supposed to take 30 minutes, you have to make atleast a 95% to keep your job. This means you have to complete the trip in 28.5 minutes or better. But the plus to that is if you make more than 100% then Wal-Mart pays you more money based on the percentage. If you pull a 130% (which is the most you can get payed for due to safety reasons) then that means you get 30% of your payrate added to your hourly rate for every standard hour of orderfilling you did. The Distribution center itself is amazing in that it is almost one million square feet, and the freezer has 3 floors to it. If your not in the freezer, then your either in the "fridge" or dry room. The "fridge" ranges from 28 degrees to around 50 degrees, and it contains the meat, produce, and dairy. The dry room is outside temperature and contains all other food items that dont need to be cold. The job is so hard that they told us that 80% of new hires quit within 3 months. The first 3 months are the worst just because your body is getting used to all the lifting and walking. This job would definatly make Mike feel like he went through training with a navy seal. This would be a great addition to one Mikes resume and a dirty job show. Thanks for your time and hope to make the show!
at least you have computers telling you what to do, at my distribution center you get "trips" that have a number of cases in the trip for a certain RDC.and you have to go to different locations around the warehouse picking these boxes, and sometimes you have to get a slot replentished,and that requires finding a driver to tell them what slot to fill, and they take their sweet time getting it and you put your pallet(s)aside and move on,but if the slot is still empty after your done with all your trips.then you have to find out what happened,and that requires looking for the driver again,and if the driver tells you its a "chase"its not there and you have to chase it yourself on the computer when you drop a trip.this, as you can imagine is very time consuming.but my DC doesent care,if you dont make 95% or better than you get written up. even for things out of your control,you get written.now if thats not a violation of wal marts ethics policy,then i dont know what is
I work on the dry side of Walmart's Warehouse. It's pretty much as described above but 2x as hard on our side. Why? Well on the perishable side product is easily stacked. On the dry side you have packages of all different sizes, weights, strengths and volumes to pick and fill your pallet with. You're given the typical 3 months to learn/adjust to the amount of work required to make production on a daily basis; however, on our side of the warehouse, 3 months to learn how to 'stack' as we refer too it is a joke. I've been working on the dry side for almost 2 yrs, yet I remember trips where I learned new techniques to improve my performance even after 9 months of previous training. It's not a job for the faint of heart; however, I can't say it's the most exciting job to put on television.
