route driver

order picker

machine technician

warehouse worker

room attendant

Canteen

Worked for canteen for several years. Honestly, I loved my co-workers and they were the only thing keeping me at the company. The money was okay, while working in the warehouse and then moving into counting the money. But after a couple years of doing that, I moved into a route position.
The money wasn't bad honestly, but don't let the application or the manager giving you an interview fool you. There are several routes within the company that YOU CANNOT GROW. (and that's being optimistic!) 
It all depends on your route and if you're lucky to have a good one or not. I'll just say this with out being too informative of money) 
You get paid commission rate depending on how long you've been with the company. Some routes were making 20,000 +, whereas others were making 6 - 9000.

Number 1. High turnover rate should tell you something about this job and company. In 3 years I was with the company of 23-26 individuals, I saw 25 leave. (only 2 were fired) 

Number 2. Management is poor. (Run by 2 cousins who are great people but poor leaders.) The company can only go as far as it's leaders will take them. 

Number 3. Office and warehouse are set at 40 hours a week. No Overtime! Which is good for people that like a set Mon - Friday bankers hours job with most holidays off.

- BUT, as a route driver expect to start your day early, anywhere between midnight - 4:30 and expect to run a usual 10 hour day or longer. and over half the drivers work 6 days a week.
- Also, as a route guy, be prepared to work holidays (you will get Christmas, Thanksgiving and one of the eves off)

Number 4. If you want to progress you can do 1 of 2 things: Forget about it, or suck up... and suck up some more and it still won't get you very far. 

Number 5. (back to the family being in management thing) There was a position open for a customer service position sometime last year or 2 years ago and NUMEROUS people applied for the job. Guess who got it? (The managers step-daughter!)

Number 6. If you're sick, suck it up buttercup and come to work because either A) They're short handed and can't have someone run your route. B) Manager doesn't feel like getting up at 2:30 in the morning to come run someones route.

Number 7. If it's icy and there's 17 inches of snow on the ground. If you're a route driver you better come to work. (here's the answer they'll give you: Start a little later in the day) I once came in at 330 am worked till 430pm. They were calling for a huge snowstorm that next day early morning so i came back in at 730 and worked again till 1AM to avoid the snowstorm. I've also had to travel the backroads of Kentucky at 5 am in the morning when the snowplows haven't touched the road yet because a company that would only have 5 employees there that weekend would die if they ran out of mountain dew.

Number 8. Christmas bonus? Here's a 20 or 25$ Walmart gift card
Bonuses? Here's a 10$ walmart gift card. 

I didn't hate my job at Canteen. I really didn't. The people who were beside me for the most part were great people. I no longer work here but still keep in touch with a couple of them. I was loyal to the company, but reached a point in my life where i was working 55-60 hours a week, 6 days a week getting up at 3am was just tiresome, and the pay was minimal at best for the hours you worked. 

The main problem was there's no growth there. I switched positions 3 times to try and better myself and make myself more rounded but it didn't avail to anything. The management are good people, but they're yes men and women. They listen to everyone's problems, tell them they'll fix them and forgot about it. The company would be greatly improved with better management. (and no i didn't get fired)

If you're willing to do things and try to go beyond and above what you're asked to, they'll take advantage of it (IE: management will). I was always taught, always be willing to lend a helping hand. But, after 3 years with the company I stopped because it was always... GO do this, can you work late today? Can you come in early tomorrow? Can you take these extra stops? adding to another 10 hours a week? Can you work this weekend for me? 

This place is a good job... but it's not a CAREER, and please understand me on this. There's people that's been there for years miserable and feeling trapped there because of age making not too much more than working at McDonalds or Burger King. 
-Money is there in the routes, but only if a good one is open or you're blessed to obtain one.

Working at Canteen for one month was a significant career change for me. Before I started, a longtime employee told me, “Good luck working with those two managers.” I chose not to let someone else’s opinion influence my own experience and wanted to form my own impression.

Unfortunately, I struggled with the support and leadership I received during my time there. My direct manager, Nancy Marshall, was not the type of trainer I needed as a new employee. From the beginning, I often felt uncomfortable asking questions and did not feel welcomed or supported while learning my role. I was told it would take approximately two months to learn everything, yet during my 30-day review I was informed that I needed to show significant improvement within the next two weeks.

While I genuinely felt that I was making progress, most of the feedback I received focused on what I was doing wrong rather than what I was doing well. This made it difficult to feel confident or successful in the position. I also noticed a change in interactions with upper management, which contributed to feeling discouraged and unsupported.

Another thing I noticed during my time at Canteen was the difference in culture between departments. I observed other teams communicating openly, collaborating, and helping one another when needed. There seemed to be a genuine sense of teamwork and support among those groups.

Unfortunately, that was not my experience within my department. The environment often felt very rigid, and I felt as though we were expected to remain glued to our desks and focused solely on our work at all times. Rather than encouraging communication, collaboration, and learning, the atmosphere felt more restrictive and intimidating. As a new employee, I believe a balance of productivity, communication, and support is important for both employee development and overall team success.

Seeing how effectively other departments worked together reinforced my belief that a positive and collaborative work environment is possible at Canteen. My concerns were not with the company as a whole, but with the leadership style and culture I experienced within my specific department.

One of the biggest challenges was feeling as though mistakes were constantly being watched for rather than being coached through. As a new employee, constructive guidance, encouragement, and patience are essential. Instead, I often felt criticized and anxious, which ultimately affected my ability to perform at my best.

That being said, I want to recognize Cynthia and Reaksmay for being incredibly supportive, helpful, and approachable throughout my time there. They consistently answered questions, offered guidance, and made me feel comfortable seeking help when needed. Their professionalism and kindness made a difficult situation much easier to navigate.

Overall, I believe Canteen is a good company with opportunities for growth. However, my experience was negatively impacted by the lack of support and encouragement I received from leadership. Strong leadership should create an environment where employees feel respected, developed, and set up for success, and unfortunately that was not my experience.

I start at 3 am or earlier Monday through Friday working on average 12 hours a day. I drive around Rockford and surrounding towns maintaining vending machines for many different types of businesses. Everything from manufacturing plants, educational facilities, and retail stores are on my route. I have to wear proper clothing to meet some of the standards that my customers require. Standards such as steel/composite toed boots, hair/beard nets, safety glasses, and pants/shorts.

I have learned to maintain the inventory within my machines and on my work truck. Everything has to be accounted for each day, as well as doing a weekly inventory on contents of my truck. I have lo learned that all my customers have different tastes. Having the ability to take accurate notes and provide the product that customers want is  crucial part of this job.

The branch manager does a good job of being supportive while also being able push you to be better and keep you accountable.  Most of my co-workers are friendly. They help provide a fun and cheerful environment while we are back at the shop preparing for the upcoming day.

The hardest parts of the job would have to be three things. First, the long days you can work. Sometimes you will put in 14 or more hours resulting from machine and/or truck problems. Second, getting paid commission is difficult, especially during holidays when employees take vacations. Third, having to wake up so early and essentially working a hybrid shift. Starting at 3am and not getting off until 4 or 5 in the afternoon can be difficult.

The most enjoyable part of the job is the independence that you get. The company trusts you to properly manage and maintain your route, as well as taking care of your customer's needs.

So if this branch ever sees this they will know who exactly wrote this and quite frankly it is what it is. Not  saying they are bad people but the leadership ability is subpar. 

Management is absolutely one of the worst and most selfish I’ve ever worked for. They say we have worked with you, we are trying to make things better and they don’t. You can’t say change is coming if for months the same stuff is happening. You tell them things and they tell you okay we will get on it. Then won’t fix the issue so it’s now the drivers fault. They say communication is key, but will do whatever they want without telling you. They say they know the routes and what needs to go in machine but they don’t work them everyday, they stare at a computer and still mess it up. So just beware and be ready to tell management problems several times before getting fixed. One last thing that got under my skin that happened was that I had a personal matter come up midday and the first question that was asked is can you finish your day? Struck a deep nerve in me that something personal happened was going and they said can you finish your day. Then told me it was going down as an unexcused absence. I started at 5am and I made the phone call about 130PM.

The pay(depending on route) is good. The drivers you work with are really good people here. There are good people at this place, just management skills are way off. I was also blindsided for them letting me go. They made me work all day, then come in and do it. It was cause I didn’t tell them I was missing a machine that day, which was my fault but when you get busy sometimes you forget thing. It’s human nature.

Great place to work. Full time positions and hrs aren't available. Great people to train  and work with, but the hours available are minimal. Great job for high school kids. 3 to 4 hrs a night. 23 hrs or less a wk. Full time positions and hrs are just not available. All in all, great company, friendly and helpful employees. Training was thorough. I don't really have much more to say about the job. IT was an easy job, the job duties were easy to learn and the location of product was easy as well because it was all located in one general area. Personally the job wasn't for me because I needed full-time hours however it be great for a student or you know a parent that just need something part-time they're very flexible with the hours if you need to get done early you work faster your shift ends quicker the supervisor been there for a while so I felt like the quality of training was good as well it was also nice that on break if there was any damage product we were allowed to indulge in it otherwise it just went in the garbage. This job definitely would be a great introductory job to order picking simply because it's small scale in regards to order picking gives you a experience with the tools that you generally use when order picking and like I said it starts you off small with products that generally just go in vending machines versus pallets full of product that you have to use machine to get

I underwent three weeks of training that did not accurately reflect the responsibilities associated with the position. I discovered that the promised sign-on bonus was entirely misleading. The compensation offered does not correspond with the job's requirements. There is no indication in the job application regarding the payment being distributed over a 90-day period. The pay structure is inconsistent with the duties expected, and it appears that management prioritizes their own interests, showing little regard for the drivers' perspectives on operational efficiencies or the necessary tools for the job. The work culture emphasizes diversity, equity, and inclusion from the top down, yet the remuneration is significantly low in relation to the job responsibilities. When I fell ill, they refused to provide compensation, even with proper medical documentation. Generally, the Customer Service Managers were satisfactory. However, the role of a route driver lacks enjoyment. The daily stops assigned must be completed, or they will carry over to the following day. The most gratifying aspect of the job is the autonomy experienced when away from management oversight.

I started working for Canteen and little did I know I was hired by the village idiot. I do not even have enough characters to describe how absolutely incompetent this man is so I'm gonna sum it up. In the almost 2 years I worked there, I was given the bare minimum in tasks and things to do to the point where I had to keep asking my moron of a manager for things to do and he barely knew how to do his own job so of course he had no clue what to give me either. On top of that joke show, he was creepy and constantly harassing me even though I did my absolute best to stay busy and do my job to the best of my ability. I even had to go as far over the course of the first year to write a FOUR PAGE complaint to HR about him describing every incident that occurred (one of which included him Standing in a dark office for like 5-6 minutes listening to a conversation between another coworker and myself looking through the one way glass at me) and they did absolutely NOTHING except "have a talk with him about it". When I say this place is a joke, I mean it. When I say they condone harassment and lack of accountability, I mean it. The only enjoyable part of that job was the wonderful coworkers I had. I wish I could say the work but I was given hardly anything to do and then told I wasn't using my time wisely. If I could put zeros and no stars I 100% would. 

I would start by coming in around 1:30 am. I would check what my stops for the day were to determine how much milk I would need to bring with me to fill machines with. After that I would grab all the sandwich product that I ordered online for that day an put those in order according to what stops I would go to first. Once I was done with all of that I would start my day by driving from Fitchburg to Waunakee, DeForest area. Depending on the sheets that I had I would go to my stops and either just fill or collect machines. When collecting, I would have to collect the sales money while filling the machine with the product that we sell. After that I would have to do an inventory count on what was sold and what was filled. So in general I had about fifty to sixty different machines I had to go to in a day. After I was done with all my stops I would drive back to our warehouse and restock what product I was low or out of and be ready for the next day. On a normal day I would get done around 3:30-4:00 pm. So I learned very quickly that I this job was very stressful and time consuming. But other then that my co-workers and management were nice. Our supervisor were not the greatest cause they didn't really know how to do our jobs so in general they couldn't train us very well.

I've worked at 4 different vending companies, this was by far the worse. You will work at least 10-12 hours a day and be paid approximate $350. No overtime pay. Most of the machines were junk. The trucks that you are given to use are junk and don't have nearly enough room for the amount of product you are expected to carry. The management and the warehouse people went out of their way to make it harder on you instead of trying to be helpful. All the management cared about was your inventory and the amount of money you brought in. You are expected to count everything 50 times and log it all into a handheld computer. Count how many of each individual items you are putting in the machines. How many of each individual item is there when you're done filling the machine. Count every single individual item on the truck everyday. You are expected to turn in your order for the next day in the morning before you leave the day before, before you have any idea of what product you're going to use that day. No heat in the winter, no air conditioning in the summer. Your personally responsible for carrying around  thousands of dollars and if any gets lost or stolen you are responsible for it they will deduct it from your pay until its paid back. You don't have time to take any breaks or lunch.

Biggest problem is no help. They get in a bind and expect employees to work ridiculous hours with no concerns that you may have life other than trying to make their crazy deadlines. They or corporate trained machines that do not see you as people  you are a tool in the tool box that makes them lots of money. They want to dictate you're vacation time to suit them due to lack of help. It's like you're all alone trying to take on the world. When you ask for help it's like talking to a log. It's like they cant speak you're language or they play dumb. No one stands up for you your supervisors are only concerned about what puts checks in their pockets so if you think we're going to go to bat for you and talk to corporate about your problems they're not you will just do it or have to leave. I've worked here for 20+ years and sadly I have watched it go totally down hill. I'm totally dumbfounded by the things that have happened like letting service calls set for three and four days at a time because there's  maintenance guys to go  repair them. And then tell the maintenance guy he has to work crazy hours to catch up like it was his problem and they are already frustrated and trying their best. Totally disgusted.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Route driver 8 salaries reported	$20.00 per hour
Order picker 24 salaries reported	$24.70 per hour
Machine technician 14 salaries reported	$19.15 per hour
Warehouse worker 4 salaries reported	$24.49 per hour
Room attendant 1 salary reported	$21.50 per hour

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