warehouse worker

route driver

warehouse associate

delivery driver

warehouse/driver

Interstate-Batteries

I used to be a Route Sales Manager for this company for 3 months and then I quit. The Waco location is abound with favoritism and a clique-like nature. I was not treated fairly at all in terms of routes assigned to me, and was expected to perform at the level of the other driver who has been working for the company for over 20 years, which for me was simply not possible. I often found myself pulling my own orders/loads, offloading my own truck, while the other driver always had help with everything, barely having to lift a finger himself. 

In addition, if I needed doctors appointments, I was expected to check with everybody at the warehouse first, to make sure my appointment times were "convenient and acceptable for everyone." Not fair at all when I needed to attend essential appointments.
Also, I had to leave and self-quarantine one wednesday afternoon because my doctor thought I had COVID-19 and ordered me tested and to stay home until that following Monday. I received a phone call from the senior route driver asking if I had a negative result yet because he supposedly got a phone call stating that his Mother In Law may not make it through the night, and he wasn't sure if he should be with his family or not because of being around me, knowing that I just got tested for COVID-19. I told him I would not know until that Friday or so and we ended the conversation.

Well I returned to work that following Monday morning to get my computer terminal handheld, truck, and be on my way. Nobody at the warehouse spoke to me, in fact I was ignored. When I returned at the end of my route, I had sent my order/load in ahead of time to have it ready, but when I arrived, it was not pulled or ready at all, however the other driver was already back, loaded, and done. I approached the driver and asked him how the family was and if he had gotten to see his Mother In Law, but he stared at me, didn't say a word, gave me the cold shoulder, and walked the other direction. Nobody else said a word to me either. I am not sure why I was treated this way all because my doctor ordered my home until I got a negative test result. Well after that encounter, I cleared my car out of all uniform clothing I had, returned my company phone and all other company materials, and left without a word. Not a favorable impression of the company at all.

I worked as a warehouse worker for two years. 
Daily tasks include, but are not limited to:
Process cores
Charge old and new stock
Receive and ship orders
Deliver batteries to local shops
Answer phones
Help walk in customers
Test and clean batteries for resale
Clean warehouse (sweeping, cleaning cluttered areas, organization)
Count rout trucks
Stock racks with new batteries
...All this among other tasks (too many to list)

In a typical day, with my coworker, I easily lifted roughly 200 batteries. All ranging between 15-180lbs. 

There are safety guidelines that have to be followed. Because of these, certain tasks take longer. This is one instance where management does not pay attention. No matter how perfect you are at following the guidelines given to you by corporate all management sees is that something has fallen behind. If rotates are not the most important, adjustments are. If you're working on the adjustments they want to know why the rotates aren't done. They don't see that you are spending your time working on one of your many tasks, they just see what you haven't yet worked on. 
One big issue was dealing with phone calls and walk in customers. One call or customer can easily take 5-30 min. With that knowledge management still expects you to do the same amount of work. So, if you have a project that takes you 40min to complete and 30min of that is taken up by helping a customer the response is "I don't get why you can't get it done. It's your job. You just have to hustle more."
There is never any "reasons" why something didn't get done. There are only "excuses". This makes for a very stressful work environment because even if you feel like you have been doing a good job and keeping up with many of your daily tasks there is always a fear that you will get in trouble for something else. 

The only thing that management notices is the numbers, not the quality. You can make a customer very happy with your service but because that customer caused you not to finish your rotates, that means you're in trouble.

Overall, the work is fine. I enjoyed the job a lot. However, management made it so I felt unsafe and not cared for. I would not recommend anyone work for my location unless there are some serious changes.

This is for the San Jose, CA location. The only ONLY benefit to this job is the good pay, and it was the only thing I wasn’t lied to about in the intvw.  I was told in my intvw I wouldn’t be working more than 40-hr weeks. WRONG. EVERY DAY it was literally 12 to 13 hour days. 7am to 8pm. They demand unrealistic goals like saying u should have ur truck all loaded up within 30min—IMPOSSIBLE. Takes 3-4hours. Oh so then everyone gets another meeting bc no one can possibly do it in 30min. I wonder if management has ever even picked up a battery in their life? Or has run through the process of inputting and printing everything up in the handheld? On that note, if ur looking for a driving job this isn’t that. There is SO MUCH PAPERWORK. Ur doing about 2-3hrs of paperwork after the day ends ALONE. Then ur carrying clipboards and handhelds and separate printer to each stop. Management have only been there for a few months and are COMPLETELY disorganized and get mad at u if u try to make things more organized on your own since they clearly have zero clue. They say to do one thing one day then get mad at u for doing it that way and say to do it a different way the very next day. When I tried to be more efficient so that I could get off at a reasonable hour I was punished and instructed to do it “the interstate way”, even though the interstate way meant changing the process every single day that ultimately made the company slower and less efficient. Customers I delivered batteries to were closing their accounts every day bc they said service was awful. There are multiple meetings every day which makes ur workday even that much longer. If u do any tiny little thing wrong/mistake, be prepared for an hour-long meeting w ur direct manager, and then the exact same meeting w the next manager up the next day. I’m not even exaggerating. Oh and both managers will tell u different contradicting things bc they aren’t on the same page at all. Ur basically screwed from day one. Did I say the pay is good? GOOD LUCK!

I enjoyed my time with Interstate and would gladly return to work there. Any warehouse or delivery job at Interstate is physically demanding, especially in the summer heat, but loyalty and dependability is rewarded here - I feel I was paid more than fairly. My franchise's owner is very easygoing and treats employees with respect, and has always shown genuine interest in each employee's well-being and satisfaction at work. He is mostly hands-off as long as the job is done well and customers are satisfied.
We worked Monday through Friday, had major holidays off, and often worked short weeks around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. It was always nice to have extra time to spend with my family during the holidays and to have a set schedule with no weekends.
Route sales managers(RSM) were usually promoted from warehouse or hotshot driver positions, however an RSM position is about as high as one can hope to attain here: Interstate distributorships are small businesses, and unless the GM left there wouldn't really be any higher to go.
Interstate holds conventions every two years at resorts or nice hotels around the country. I went to three, and each was a valuable opportunity to get a glimpse of Interstate's long-term plans and goals, learn from colleagues from around the country and attend workshops during the days, then sit back with coworkers and enjoy a semi-vacation with my wife during the evenings.
Interstate sells a good product and stands behind it with warranty and continuing R&D, which obviously helps with customer relations at the individual level.

The Sun Valley branch of Interstate Batteries was not a good place to work. At first it was great but as you start to learn there was a lot of things not done correctly. A couple of things, they provide you 2 weeks worth of sick pay however by the 6th time of calling out you will get written up, and by the 10th time you will get terminated. They will threaten you with your sick time because it will "effect" your bonus which isnt much to begin with because management take most of it and leave not much left for the other employees. They allow bully's to not get reprimanded, they allow employees who steal to continue having a job so long as you were a favorite you could get away with anything. They say they live by the motto of being positive but really its anything but positive there. The pay is barely anything, they don't see you for your value because they will just fire you and find someone else. If they do not like you they will find any reason to let you go. They will even tell you they will let you go but then change their mind. What type of management does that? ON TOP OF IT, when they terminate they do not provide a final check which is AGAINST the law but continued to request for the return of the uniform. They do things so backwards and it is a hostile and negative work environment. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. 

The only good part of working there is their benefits, meal penalities, the other workers there are decent for the most part its just all root in management. They say they want you to succeed but give you absolutely no tools or opportunities to.

The corporate side of this company was great. They truly valued their employees, and showed trust and care towards all associates and managers. But, the franchise i was unfortunate enough to work for was just the opposite. 7 months into my employment we were purchased by our locally owned warehouse owner, and his wife. They DID NOT honor the raises that we were guaranteed by the corporate side of this company, that we would've received 2 weeks previous to them taking ownership. The general manager was constantly moving between the local stores, breathing down the neck of every employee...associates and managers alike. Managers were not allowed to manage their store, because anything they tried to implement was mercilessly scrutinized and degraded. As for the way associates were treated. They were paid SLIGHTLY above minimum wage in a job that requires a large amount of product knowledge, as well as an aptitude in sales, installation of batteries in vehicles, and custom battery pack assembly (welding, soldering, fabrication). Since i have left, nearly all employees from the stores under this owner have fled, for good reason. And they still don't seem to get the hint. Do not work for this company.

I work for a distributor on the central E Coast. We get 10 off a year paid and thats all it will ever be besides six holidays. It is family run and 1 member who is a driver as myself makes almost 3 times as much.. 12.24$ after almost 4 years + 1% commision. When i do take a vacation my check is in the $400 range after taxes for 50 hours.. we are expected to go by interstates policies but in return we receive only a fraction of the benefits offered on corporates website. No personal days, no increase in vacation time and no sick days are given.. i have done nothing but increase the sales on my routes but im worth no more today than i was 2 years ago.. Corporate needs to step up and make the privately run distrubutors give the same benefits as the corporate run locations.. It is a shame ive ended up working for interstate batteries with no chance for advancement of any kind at this location.. its also a shame that each year there are corporate bonuses but if theres no convention none our names go in the hat.. They only want the recognition when it suits their needs not the people who make them money... People are also treated like sh* t at times being hollored at like theyre children.. im dobe with interstate batteries by July and alot of my loyal customers will be too.. Napa is knocking on their door and because of me they wont switch but will be doing it upon my departure..

I was placed at interstate through a staffing agency, and my overall experince there was honestly not that great. The employees there were just so miserable with their lives and jobs they panned their frustrations about it towards the easiest target being me, the smallest and quitest person there. The warehouse supervisor was not as friendly as one may think when it came to customers. There were elderly women who left the building crying because of his attitude when they were trying to figure out what type of battery was needed for their vehicle. There is no advancement in the job except to become a driver, which will not happen for several years, no raises, but occasional bonuses which would be the only plus of the job. The manager of the job is a decent man and easy to get along with, which of course would be the case seeing that he is rarely out in the warehouse. Having a degree did not help here either, the only thing it got me was mocked by the drivers. So to anyone who is looking for a warehouse job, if you want to be surrounded with likeminded and helpful co works, take home a solid pay, and enjoy what you do and be proud of it, I would look elsewhere.

The job itself isn’t that bad. It is just constantly lifting 50+ pound batteries and putting them on shelves at auto body shops and car dealerships. The problem is the management. The owner is doing his best to put the most profit in his pocket. In order to do that he pays the very minimum to get an employee to stay. They say they offer benefits but have no handbook to say when those benefits kick in or how they are earned. Employees of 4+ years are getting paid less than new hires because “they need to pay that to get new employees” when paying current employees a reasonable wage would keep them from leaving. Turnover is very bad, in a shop that has 10-15 employees at a time, in 4 years I’ve seen over 10 employees quit. A problem with that is there is no training manual so training is sporadic and inconsistent so new hires do simple tasks incorrectly for months. Overall would not work there unless you are fresh out of high school or looking for a summer job, there are many many better jobs that pay better, have better benefits and better management.

Great co-workers and customers. We had the ability to serve the people of the Chicagoland area and provide our expertise in the battery industry to our retail as well as wholesale customers.
I learned so much about the battery industry. What I learned most was about myself. How to be a good leader and push myself and lead from the front. Be the example I wanted to see in my employees. I had a great group of team oriented employees who worked very well together. We all shared in the company's mission of glorifying God through supplying the Chicagoland area with the most knowledgeable & trustworthy source of portable power.
The hardest part of this job was growing into the leader that my employees, customers & business needed me to be to lead them into their own personal growth and trust to be the company that we needed to be to accomplish our mission together. This was also the greatest source of my joy, happiness and personal growth as a leader, businessman, boss, friend and battery expert. The challenges I faced every, Day in and day out made me a much better and more well-rounded God fearing businessman.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Warehouse worker 40 salaries reported	$19.81 per hour
Route driver 43 salaries reported	$23.56 per hour
Warehouse associate 12 salaries reported	$18.93 per hour
Delivery driver 23 salaries reported	$21.15 per hour
Warehouse/driver 12 salaries reported	$21.06 per hour

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