truck driver

route driver

maintenance person

utility worker

laborer

Darling Ingredients

→CAUTION←→BEWARE←
 I began working at darling ingredients in July of 2019 as a utility worker. Immediately I began to realize that there were some pretty serious issues there.
Before I begin with the negitives, I will say this - They do offer above average, great benefits, paid time off & paid sick days. However, in my opinion, based on my 1+ year of experience at Dark Pro, the negatives greatly out weigh the positives.
·The hours·
During the hiring process your told that on average day you will be working a maximum of 10 hours, however on some days 12 hours will be required. This was very rarely the case. An average day was a minimum of 12 hours and at least 3 days a week we were required to work 14+ hours per day. They seemed to have no regard for anyone's mental or physical exhaustion level, which is extremely concerning considering the danger level there.
·Favouritism·
Another huge issue at Dark Pro is the favoritism towards centain employees. Those 'favorites' literally did almost nothing on a daily basis while the 'non-favorites' busted their butts trying to compensate for the fact that the 'favorite' employees weren't doing their share of the work.
·The work load·
Let me say this before I begin, I realize that due to COVID-19 a mass majority of businesses are shot staffed & are desperately trying to find workers.
Each & every employee was required to complete the work load of roughly 2 to 3 separate employees, which was close to impossible. Before I quit, my job was to operate the feather press. I was originally told that under no circumstances could the machine be left unattended while running due to the dangers. If I needed a restroom break, I had to radio someone to watch the machine until I returned. During the last 4, 5 months of my employment there, the rules changed. I was told to perform other duties as well as run the machine, the only way to complete everything was to disobey rule #1, never leave the machine unattended while it was running.
·Work environment·
Dar Pro is incredibly unsafe! The working conditions are actually quite shocking. There's entirely too many issues to even begin to cover in this area! I'm only going to talk about the injuries I substained while only employeed there for roughly 14, 15 months.
I was told to clean behind a certain machine, the dirt, dust and grime was so thick & deep that I couldn't see the metal wiring protruding from, what I believe was the wall - possiblity from the machine itself? I'm still not completely sure. As I stuck my arm back there to begin cleaning I received a 4 - 6 inch long, ¼in deep gash across my right forearm. I immediately got my supervisor who attempted to clean & bandage the wound. Once the bleeding stopped another one if my supervisors drive me to the local Urgent Care where I received 8 stiches.
The 2nd time I was injured; yes, there was a 2nd time, was much worse! An employee had removed the sump hole cover in order to suck out the contents. While doing so you're supposed to surround the sump hole with caution tape or orange cones to prevent someone from falling in. This however did not happen. As I was cleaning in that area the dust, dirt & grime on the floor was so thick that I could not tell the difference between the floor and the dark sump hole opening. As I backed up my left leg fell into the sump hole causing 2nd & 3rd degree burns from my knee to my foot. The covering also caused a 10 inch gash across my knee that was to the bone. If I had not caught myself I would have been completely submerged in the disgusting, boiling water.
There was no one around so, panicked, I ran to the car & was attempting to drive myself to the ER. The pain was too much, I called my girlfriend who picked me up & drive me to the local ER.
·The management·
I do believe that the above statements are enough to get my point across, so I won't spend a ton of time in this section, however there are a few things I must mention.
Based on my experience there, Dar Pro does not care nor do they have any respect for there employees. None of them are ever in the same page & a lot of them don't even completely understand their own responsibilities. They'll do whatever's necessary to pull the wool over their employees eyes in order to get the job done & get paid.
Anyone considering employment at Dar Pro, beware.
 

Where to begin, 
The work place smells horrible and it will probably take you about three showers before the smell actually comes off. If you have a phobia of cockroaches and rats then you best not even set foot inside. Lets also get to the part where you will work your behind off for whole weeks a majority of the time whether it is brutally hot, freezing cold, or raining cats and dogs and you get only one weekend off a month! So thats family time  your not going to get. Basically, when you work here, you give the impression you dont have a life outside of work.The owners/managers forget that you are human and instead think of you as a machine. Speaking of machines, the place is so raggedy and obsolete that something is always breaking down or in need of maintanence which puts more stress on you because its apparently your responsibility to figure out a way to keep things running. Forget about advancement or any kind of promotion. Do not get me even started on the pay! Working as hard as the way the make you work, you should be taking home no less than $1000 weekly but somehow, the taxes are pretty much extortionate and if you know whats good for you, dont even bother trying to get their "health insurance" or any other one of their "benifits" because that will take another chunk out of your check to the point where you take home a measly $500-$600. The work is also unhealthy and dangerous and they will cluck about cleanliness but once your done using cancer causing chemicals, the place gets dirty within no time flat and your hard work was for nothing. The supervisors and managers are practically bullies and play favorites over there and will turn a blind eye to their favorites making mistakes but will yell and write you up quickly for making the same exact one. Yes, you basically get written up for every little thing and they take away your bonuses and what not for being written up. Not to mention that you will possibly not get along with certain employees who make it their business to give you a hard time. So it will probably be little wonder why you wont be in the best of moods when you get home. You are one person with multiple things to look after and to do within your department but everyone there expects you to perform miracles but somehow that doesnt register with your superiors and they get upset with you when you dont. My advice, dont work here, its really not worth it.

Taking a look back on my journey from Valley I am very glad I worked with and left the company.  If i had not worked there I would not have people in my corner that I trust.  Which was very few from that company by the way.  I worked very hard there each and every day giving it 100 percent even when feeling bad.  This company nor the management care about their workers; which is the blood and soul of what drives and makes money.  I can recall a lityle over 5 years ago my wife had a miscarriage and i stayed out of work and upon returning 2 days later I had been written up and told the baby was of no kin to me so I had to be written up.  Strange right?  It was at that point i knew i could no linger stay there becuase I knew at that instance my worth to that company.  Being forced to work two shifts becuase they could not hire and keep people.  So when I stayed out after being worked into the groundi had been written up on my regular scheduled off days.  After all the work and life sacrifices I made to work there I was promoted only to be demoted for a guy off the street that had zero experience in that environment.  Gave him a salary and which was double what I was making. The last write up they gave me set it in stone that I would leave there was for quote sabotaging a shut down.  If anyone knows the operation how can you sweep out a cooker full of hotdogs with chicken offal?  You can not it will only turn to mush and flood out your discharge screws.  After demoting me they did not have a supervisor to start up the plant.  So when I refused to I was called all kinds pf names behind closed doors.  Basically they wanted me to have supervisor responsiblity and run the cooker for $16 hr.  I would be a fool to do that.  It takes a speacial type of characteristic to work there and the loyal hard working employees that they had will most likely never return.  And what they have now is what they dod to themselves.   I will not speak on the safety violations its just to much to list.  With all of that said dont let my experience stop you from working there.  Experiences can vary person to person.

Darling isn't bad for a short term job.  The pay is decent and the job is easily gained.  However, management does not communicate in a meaningful fashion, making it very difficult to fix problems.  For example, small things stay broken for long periods of time as long they don't actually stop production.  This might present itself as a button that doesn't communicate for a piece of equipment causing the operator to walk the length of the property to engage a motor.  This sort of thing might go on a year and these type of problems add up.  

In addition, no real training program exist at the plant.  All employees do the best they can based on running the equipment with help from more experienced hands who have done the same.  No employee in the plant understands what's really happening in the cookers nor is there any real effort to educate. 

The safety program is surface level.  It is a dangerous place to work. 

Also, because there is no communication or training, management has a poor understanding of the day to day goings on in the plant.  Some employees do whatever they want without recourse while others find themselves randomly held accountable for minor offenses.  

Lastly, the work environment is a health hazard.  Employees have a run down break room.  They are expected to stand for 12 hours.  Little to no consideration is made for home life.  Overall, you get the feeling that they find little value in the people that run their organization. 

A lack of upward mobility, training, equality of accountability, and a safe workplace make a career at darling a poor choice.  However, you can pay the bills while you look somewhere else.

Pay & Managment- VP has recently switched their Class-A drivers from hourly to "Load Pay".  This has made many if the drivers so upset they are quitting or about ready to quit driving for VP.  There are some instances where you will be making money hourly but the company will put you on unskilled labor which is a good bit lower from their past hourly pay for drivers. Unskilled labor in instances where you are driving in heavy slow moving traffic.
 The drivers were told when the switch was made they would be making the same amount of money or more with the new load pay system, which isn't the case. Drivers have ask for a meeting with management about the issue but management has only given them the runaround and refuses to meet with drivers to resolve the issue.  The company doesn't seem to care at about losing longtime experienced drivers. 

Equipment- From what I have seen the equipment at VP is in poor to fair condition.  Trailers with damaged landing gear, damaged/improper /malfunctioning lights. Tractors are not properly maintained, some are scary to drive. Plant equipment is in poor repair/condition and breaks down often. This causes drivers to have long waits to unload. I would classify VP as an unsafe working environment and unsafe to other drivers on the road due to equipment that's in disrepair. 

Conclusion - From what I have experienced, VP is either going through a serious financial crisis or is trying to maximize profits at the expense of employees health, safety, and financial stability.

Pay at Valley Proteins is on the level of fast food workers and to be honest, I'd rather go flip burgers than work there again.  You're talked to and treated like dirt. This is a company that will go out of its way to get one over on you.  It oozes with sleaziness.  They don't care about their employees one bit, but they need to realize it's the ones on the front lines, doing all the work that are the ones making money for them.
 
This company quite possibly has some of the worst management I've ever seen - there were a couple of notable exceptions who were far too good to be working there, but the good ones were few and far between.  Management will lie to your face and a lot of backstabbing goes on.  The have their favorites and if you're not one of them, you can forget about moving up in the company or getting a raise, no matter how hard you work.

They will find any reason to write you up so they can take your attendance bonus away from you.  I loved how some people managed to keep their bonus, even when they missed time.

Awful health insurance - extremely expensive and outrageously high deductible. 

Micromanagement to the point that working there just became an impossible nightmare.  Corporate was completely out of touch with what was going on at the plants and just made it a jumbled mess of red tape and trying to jump through hoops just to get a simple task done.

Safety violations out the wazoo, but you had a safety person running around obsessing about dumb stuff, instead of the major things that really put the employees at risk.

I was excited and ever so grateful for the opportunity at Darpro solutions. The job was great and the little staff they had were wonderful. It was a very laid back, comfortable space. BUT with that being said there is always that one person. Every work place has one. Unfortunately that person was the office manager. In the short time of being there I heard from many people that she was hard to work with. Apparently the other clerks before me were either fired or quit themselves. BUT I blew that off and gave it a chance, she wasn't too bad the first couple days (typical). I soon learned that the rumors were true. She was EXTREMELY rude. I was confident with my work but she was intimidating and made me second guess everything which then made me ask questions. I couldn't even finish a sentence without her cutting me off and making me feel very dumb. I bit my tongue and held back MANY words. She was just plain MEAN and always, and I mean ALWAYS right. I won't lie, I was hired and terminated within 30 business days. I don't feel that it was for the right reasons necessarily but "it is what it is." Her son replaced me, how ironic was that? I guess it worked out for the best though. It was surely never meant to be. I would have most likely gotten myself fired for exploding on her. For those who follow, please remember they don't call her "Miss Perfect" for nothing. GOOD LUCK. You will need it!

Typical day means you could start from 3am to 12noon because they constantly are changing the schedule from hour to hour.  But you will get your destination for the day driver there loaded and deliver or drive there empty and get loaded and bring product back to the plant.  And usually days run from 12 to 14 hours.  The management is a joke they don't listen to the feed back from the drivers and if they do try to help the driver out the upper management will not do anything about the issues.  There is great drivers there just ignorant management.  You cant schedule anything in your personal life during the week because your schedule constantly changes from the morning thru out the day.  You might be scheduled for one load but then they will call you and tell you now you have another load.  So you went from a 8 to 10 day to a 14 to 16 hour day.  The only positive and is your paid hourly.  But the wages are below standard and raises are poor.  And there is no room for advancement unless your related to the two families who run Mifflintown.  So bottom line is stay away from the Mifflintown plant because the pay is low and management is ignorant and worthless and wont listen to any safety issues you have.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Yearly pay raise, overtime, able to shower at the job after my shift, great benefits. Union based. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Racial tension, favoritism, no teamwork, toxic working environment, no detail to safety, lazy employees, poor training,newer employees questioning more experienced why they were  still at the job when they start their shift, more attention to making the place look good instead of safety and production, constantly working unsafely through construction, having to work on other employees times so they get their hours (clock milking)

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Terrible and toxic. No accountability, poor supervision, training and leadership. 


What is a typical day like for you at the company?
A lot of multitasking, more of other employees watching someone make a mistake instead of helping and informing. Seeing other employees on their phones while working all the while I'm working. And all the while I kept working but the same co workers would waste time trying to talk to you about random things slowing you down but at the same time wouldn't help.

Good group of folks. Been here for a couple years and have no complaints. They are safety oriented and stresses this all over the plant and on and around the trucks.. The Station Manager used to be a driver so he also fills in and runs routes as needed. He will work with you on your schedule if you gotta miss a day or change your start time. The Drivers Administrator is always there to help. Knowledgeable about the routes and always available. The drivers are good people for the most part. Coworkers will work together to get the work done. Showing up on time is important to successfully get the routes done and the drivers sometimes have to support each other to accomplish this.The maintenance  crew are competent. The trucks are run hard but serviced immediately if something breaks. The pay is decent, overtime is a given. There are lots of bonuses for attendance and performance if you don't damage anything.  And if you do make contact 
with something the management I've dealt with were all fair when addressing me about hitting to many things. The smell is bad sometimes and the weather conditions can suck sometimes but your home everyday and the drama is low. 


Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Truck driver 71 salaries reported	$27.08 per hour
Route driver 19 salaries reported	$27.83 per hour
Maintenance person 46 salaries reported	$26.44 per hour
Utility worker 21 salaries reported	$22.70 per hour
Laborer 11 salaries reported	$22.76 per hour

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