forklift operator

senior material handler

material handler

shipping and receiving clerk

warehouse lead

APL Logistics

This was my first foray into International logistics after many years in Domestic. While it was easy to get hired on due to their large turnover, and it was a great training ground to learn International, this is basically a Call Center job without the calls (emails and Excel spreadsheets instead). You are nothing more than a warm body in a cold chair. Inexperienced and immature people were promoted into Lead positions because of personal favors done for the Manager, and their willingness to cover for her professionally.
 The 3 Leads' only job was to literally spend 8 hours a day pulling nonsensical reports with bad data, and send out emails to the entire department with your personal KPI numbers in order to humiliate and shame you into "working harder". These same Leads took pleasure in demoralizing you on a daily basis, while they sat at their desks having all day conversations about golf (while telling you they didn't "have time" to assist you), or standing in the middle of the aisle spewing unsolicited political commentary. One was made Lead over her own brother-in-law (the person who got her the job....no nepotism or conflict of interest there, eh?), and would come in late every day without repercussions,  while other agents received chiding emails and write ups for their excused tardiness. One of these abusive, incompetent Leads was eventually promoted to Manager after the previous Manager was dismissed, if that gives you some idea who advances and why.
The pleasure in working there was bonding with your coworkers who were equally harassed, shamed, degraded, overworked and abused. I can honestly say that most of the agents in my department were the most hardworking, professional people I've ever had the honor to work with. I left there having made some excellent contacts, been recognized by my customers and truckers, full of joy for having left such toxic management behind, and sad for my coworkers still having to endure it.


1. Poor management - When a customer needs a solid solution to an existing problem, to pacify them, they put a bandaid on an issue that clearly needs stitches. Bad decision making. Not very customer driven. Don’t care about employees unless you’re a favorite or you smile in their faces all day - ain’t nobody got time for that...I’m busy taking care of my clients! 

2. Managers lack coaching skills and opportunities. This is very important to the growth and success to your employees which in turn benefits the company. 

3. Managers constantly try to find fault. When an employee makes the least amount of mistakes, and finally makes one, they take that as an opportunity to throw you under the bus! And make a big deal. One mistake every now and then...not even a pattern.

4. Managers don’t follow through with what they say. They talk but don’t improve. 

5. High turnover rate! Four of the strongest, most knowledgeable employees quit within a 3 week span. Dedicated hard workers. Why? Not valued by management. They don’t care about hard working individuals. they care about butt kissing. I will not compromise my integrity to advance my career that way. I will prove that I’m qualified by the work that I do for my clients. Not by kissing butt. 

6. Toxic culture! Managers will talk about their employees behind their backs as if the employees are not aware. I laugh in the faces of stupidity and ignorance. Also, managers should never tell others that their own staff makes them feel uncomfortable!! How immature and unprofessional. A sign of weakness in management is not a good one. 

7. I truly enjoyed my job. But management will make you hate it. 

8. It’s good to know that Upper management is trying to get involved to make improvements. I appreciate that.

As an employee of almost 4 years. The company is an ok place to work at short term. Pay is pretty competitive compared to most of the places around the area. There are clear signs of favoritism among management and employees. Benefits such as dental and vision insurance are pretty good but health insurance is rather lacking. Training in some areas is lack luster at best due to high turn over rate and attempting to keep up with the current demand. Overtime varies with production but there will be times that 10 hour day, 6 day work week mandates will happen and on rare events 7 day work weeks. People on the floor are easy to work with but management is known to be very fickle especially when it comes to matters related to the floor of the warehouse which often leads to a lot of misscomunication. Long term benefits for anyone not of supervisor or upper management level positions are not that great either, you get a few extra increments of pto a week every few years and that's about it. Attendance policy is pretty liniant though and for the most part they are pretty reasonable and understanding in terms of absence as long as you explain your situation and give them a heads up. They do give out free lunches on occasion.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The pay is decent, but that's all.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Everything!!!  They don't give enough training, don't have enough supplies or equipment- in part, because the shifts over-lap. They only give ONE 30- minute lunch break (paid), but that doesn't make up for the fact that you do NOT get any other breaks for the 8-9 hour shift. God forbid that you have to get water or use the washroom. That is apparently why I was let go. It gets very warm working in the back aisles picking. There are no fans or air-flow back there. There are only fans where the full-time permanent people work up front. There are no fans, upstairs, where it is also too warm. This place is a sweatshop-literally and figuratively. Also, if you are not brown, then good luck, because you will be a minority there. One of the seniority people there said that Bobcat just recently got rid of a lot of temps and that they want more PERM employees. Well, good luck with that, because there is a LOT of turnover there.


What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Terrible!!! They have no regard for the employees. This place is like a sweatshop.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I was only there for 2 days. That was enough for me.

I was hired as a CSR to check loading manifests to make sure that any hazardous material was documented and the container given a placard indicating hazard level. I preinted out the final manifest to be given to the warehouse to be loaded on a container and taken to a ship to be delivered to Middle Eastern countries.  I was asked to become the Admin Asst. to the GM when the position became vacant. I accepted the position and had to learn a lot in a very short period of time.  My duties were too many to list but included company payroll, temp agency payroll, HR, new employee orientation, workmens comp claims, generating invoices to go to our customers, helping employees with problems they were having, end of month accounting and accruals, mail etc. The position was very challenging but I enjoyed it.  Unfortunately 9/11 had a very negative affect on the business and I was laid off and not long after the Maryland facility was shut down.

This place is not a good place to work at. Supervisors all talk about employees and if you do not kiss butt forget about advancing, they also believe they are above you and can talk to you with no respect. The hardest workers don’t get acknowledged and the ones who do bare minimum get the acknowledgment. During the meetings when employees are acknowledged only one group gets rewarded where as the other group of the warehouse gets runner up or nothing at all. People rarely get vacation time because you’re constantly using your pto to cover a full 40 hrs a week. Also say you have a funeral/wedding/ etc if the company is behind on production and they request you to come in they will not acknowledge what’s going on in your personal life and will allow you to not come in but you will get a point and your pto which you have saved will be taken away to cover the hours you couldn’t make, make that make sense. Your PTO which you’ve earned can be taken away. This place is a joke.

Drove forklift most the time.  Clamp truck most the time, sometimes regular forks.  Propane powered.  Worked with group of people on ground who stacked product in boxes, (electronics),  so I could use lift to pick up and put down to be wrapped then pick up and stage for put aways in warehouse proper. I work on receiving dock  normally, but helped pick orders and stage for the shipping department a couple of days a month using RF key pad on lift to pick from warehouse floor locations. Nice manager.  Nice fellow workers.  A bit immediate when needed to work overtime as far as fair warning. But not too bad until last 3 months of my employment.  Learned more from this job then any other, especially the forklift operation.  They are no longer at that location and did not provide us with any contact info for future employers which I found strange. I had to get a list of past employers from social security to show and prove I worked there.

The money isn’t bad, so that’ll pull you in. It’s a trap. You’ll soon realize that the money isn’t worth it. Be prepared to never see your friends and family because you will be too beaten down/exhausted to do anything outside of work. You won’t have the time anyways because you will only be getting 1 day off. Been working mandatory weekends for 1 year now. They even had us working mandatory Sundays for a while! 
HORRENDOUS supervisors who are totally useless. They will never help you when you need it and only serve to make the workplace toxic. 

NO GROWTH! NO RIGHTS! You are not treated as a human. You are a worker first. That is it. THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOU. 

I only came here because I was desperate for money, but it’s not even worth it. This place will break you. Don’t do it. RESPECT YOURSELF BY NOT WORKING HERE. 

My time at APL Logistics was marked by instability in leadership and a workplace culture that often felt unhealthy. There were frequent management changes, which created confusion around expectations and made it difficult to build trust or maintain consistent workflows.

My direct manager displayed very hot‑and‑cold behavior, and even minor questions or respectful pushback could lead to escalation or formal write‑ups. This unpredictability, combined with noticeable mood swings, had a significant impact on team morale.

Upper management often overlooked or tolerated bullying behaviors, contributing to a toxic environment where employees didn’t feel supported or safe raising concerns. While the company may be a better fit for others, my experience was defined by inconsistent leadership and a constant change in leadership.
They are experiencing massive layoffs of very capable people and moving positions to Costa Rica.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Forklift operator 53 salaries reported	$21.41 per hour
Senior material handler 15 salaries reported	$20.84 per hour
Material handler 6 salaries reported	$20.86 per hour
Shipping and receiving clerk 3 salaries reported	$18.96 per hour
Warehouse lead 14 salaries reported	$23.93 per hour

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