truck driver

forklift operator

local driver

delivery truck driver - cdl

diesel technician

NFI Industries

I've been working at NFI for about a year now, and have been cross-trained in most if not all positions. I suppose I should start with a few misgivings I had with the company as of late.

This company is not very skilled at properly notifying its workers of sudden changes. There are times when the schedule is adjusted in order to dedicate more time and manpower into a particularly large load. While they are swift to deliver the notice to all of their employees that are present, they do -NOT- text or call the employees that are absent. This becomes a serious issue when you consider those that have called out for illness, as an example. Since they have not been informed, they would either come in late and get reprimanded, or come to work too early and idle about in the parking lot/waiting area.

That's not the only example of their poor communication skills. My second example also relates to their management, where there are issues with keeping a clear directive on the floor. As an example, the current global pandemic has affected the facility heavily, resulting in a large amount of furloughs and causing every shift to merge into one. As a result, there are multiple managers present, with each of them possessing their own ideas of handling things. One lead would inform us to process one load, while another would tell us to process another one instead. One lead would be completely lax and loose in regards with certain procedures, while another would be strict and structured. There are too many varying perspectives in our operation, which breeds discrepancy. While the supervisor is proficient at his duties, I only wish that he designated a clear leader on the floor, or perhaps take more of an active role himself.

I think the biggest problem I have with NFI is their poor inconsideration of their employees' responsibilities out of work. Far too many times would we be informed of mandatory overtime on short notice. As an example, instead of announcing it at the beginning of the week in order to allow their employees to cancel/re-schedule any appointments or annul any other business they may need to handle, they would often wait until Wednesday or Thursday to declare a mandatory workday on Saturday .. or Sunday, even. To speak a tad impersonal, that is absolutely atrocious. Throughout my time at NFI, I've conversed with several employees that have since moved onto alternative employment, and their primary reasons for leaving all include the difficulty of maintaining a job and work balance. 

As to not make my review seem completely calumniatory, NFI does have a few qualities that makes the company stand out from the rest. The rate of pay is rather high for a temp-to-hire job that requires minimal qualifications. You are paid $13.50 for working your regular hours, while you are paid $20.50 for working overtime. They serve an outstanding benefits program, and you are also given a discount on all Champion goods as a permanent employee, provided that you shop at a certain location. 

Overall, this company deserves a three out of five stars from me. The compensation and the benefits are marvelous, but it is overshadowed by operational oversights and terrible communication protocols. To be frank, you should really only work at this job if you have no obligations or if you really need to pay the bills. But otherwise, I suggest that you find something that doesn't cut into your life, as much. At the risk of repeating myself, NFI is a good enough job to stay on your feet, but I would absolutely NOT recommend this as an actual career. At least, not until they change a few things.

A typical day of logistics Coordinator was as follows:  I came in at 5 pm to do turn over with the day shift.  They filled us in on any pressing issues.  I would sit at my desk and instantly get involved with the schedule, checking all the details and making sure the plan was intelligent.  I would check everything from drivers hours of service, truck availability, vacation schedules, major road issues, weather conditions, backhaul contracts, consignee hours, store changes, and any issues i could find.  I lived inside the schedule making sure that it ran on the path of least resistance.  I would speak with all drivers as they came in for work and made sure that started off on a positive mark.  I would give these drivers everything they needed for success that run.  I was their safety net to rely on.  Something is always changing in the world of trucking.  Every minute is different from the last and everything that can go wrong will,  so i learned how to bend and how to be creative with my solutions.  I spend my day doing whatever my company, my drivers and my coworkers needed to have a successful day.  I was not required to, but tried very hard to be the glue that held this place and these people together.  

My management was incredible to me.  Sometimes it doesn't make sense; why would you put a young man in charge of running a fleet?  All i wanted to do was work hard and earn a living, and my bosses saw that my knack for computers and my social skills made me an asset.  So they trusted me and I made sure to do everything in my power to prove them right.  To prove that I was the best candidate for the job.  I always felt that due to my age that I was the first one to go to the chopping block if the ship sunk.  So I went as above and beyond as I could for the management of NFI.  I owed it to them.  The chances that they have given have changed me for the better.  I am grateful for every last one of them.

My coworkers had high points and low points.  We lived in a difficult world.  The harsh winters of the Midwest are a nightmare to any trucking company, and some of my coworkers really stressed out during these times.  I did my best to take on the most stressful tasks and make there day easier.  

Honestly the hardest part about this job was trying not to gain weight working in the office!  Turns out, if you are genuine and respectful with truck drivers they have this natural instinct to bring you incredible food.  Any aspect of the work day that was difficult was only ever difficult the first time.  You gain an instinct for this job and learn to trust your gut and do whats best.

The most enjoyable part of this job is the people.  I noticed very quickly that truck drivers can be some of the most eccentric and unique people I have ever met.  I took so much interest in their stories and there knowledge.  They are a pleasure to work with.

Excuse my long-winded review.  I am passionate about this. I transitioned from a young man to an adult in this industry.  It has shaped the way I think.  I feel lucky to have had a part in this company, and for that I am just grateful.

There were some good people trying to do their job's to the best of their abilities but most supervisors and managers "Leaders" lacked experience in leadership to help them develop and master those skills. I took a pay cut working here because I felt that I could really help this place out and in a short time I showed my value finding many errors in the way they trained employees and lack of following procedures. Supervisors and managers would be quick to "burn" employees for their mistakes so they would ask for reports to justify termination. I find that taking the time to re-train and re-educate employees is a better approach and creates a better working environment for staff. Employees should not be intimidated or made to feel like they are replaceable, Good supervisors and managers know that having a servant leadership  approach "What can I do for you to make your job more efficient" is the best way to get results and helps the HR department stop killing so many tree's, with a high turn around rate of employees. As I was leaving we had a new incoming GM that seemed to be care about changing the negative culture, but when he would do his walkarounds no one would show him the real issues, There were damaged items in locations, items missing in locations, items in wrong locations. Inventory systems are only as good as the information you put in them so their system was not accurate because of poor training and some bad apples not caring and just putting things "out of sight, Out of mind" things might have changed from the time I was at NFI. Sometimes when things were slow they started pointing fingers at people and saying bye-bye, I would volunteer to go home early so that my-coworkers could make their hours and not have a short paycheck at the end of the month. I have multiple streams of income so I was ok taking the loss but if you can't afford to be sent home after four hours of work, some times one hour into a shift, then you better look into their current policy on early dismissals. I didn't care for the bright shirts but there were some really nice people working there so I stayed hoping I would be able to improve things for them in the future but I had a time issue before my 90day's so policy is clear on termination. Great place to work if you want to move up but you will always face adversity and resistance to change, so stay strong and don't let other employees doom and gloom rub off on you. If they don't see your value by the 90days and you don't see a raise or vest ( Supervisors and Managers wear vests) then move on.

I worked at NFI for 5 years. In the beginning it was awesome. When they moved from Bolingbrook to Minooka it went downhill, EVER since. Management changes your schedule at least 2 to 3 times a year. Pay is pretty much fixed. So that you never actually make more unless you work an extra day. I started off making $1125 a week. Which is $225 a day back in 2012. It's now 2017 and make about $1160 to $1200 a week. It's been 5 years not even $100 increase. And WORKING way harder than before. All the senior drivers have moved on to better companies. So now it's like kindergarten for the truck drivers with all the students. Their health insurance is Poor and VERY expensive. Their equipment is awesome in well kept. But theirs cameras in the truck for your safety. THEIRS CAMERAS FACING YOU RECORDING VIDEO AND AUDIO FOR INSURANCE PURPOSES TO BENEFIT NFI POCKETS. AND THEY ARE EXTREMELY SENSETIVE AND IF YOU   HIT ANY SMALL BUMP IT WILL go off smh. Their losing all their experienced drivers at a rapid rate. Dispatch their is mostly security guards, who have 0 knowledge in logistics. The only good thing about working at NFI I can think of is once you have about 3 to 6 months seniority out of 100 drivers they try in keep youll be in the 70s due to extremely high turnover and will have a dedicated route. You might have a lousy Route but you'll know exactly what's going on.  Oh almost forgot to mention trucks do 63 mph on cruise. Management said we would get a speed increase to 65 on cruise months ago I have yet to see it. If I was student I would come to NFI get 1 year experience in leave if you have experience in a clean driving record don't bother go to a company who will appreciate you or least pretend too. The drivers need to be the main focus because their the ones who interact with the customer trader Joe's their also the ones who make sure the deliveries are done on time or late. NFI is turning into a dead end job on a dead end street.

I worked for this company almost 2 years. They dont give you breaks, They ask you to clock out for lunch but ask that you continue to work through your lunch..as long as you clocked out they wouldnt take a "ding" They made me work 13+ hours with no breaks, and would get mad if i DID take a break. also weekends often. I dont mind the weekends or working the OT. As long as im paid for the hours, which there was more than one issue with my pay for the OT pay. They ran it like a sweat shop. We couldnt talk to our fellow co workers because it brought "production" down. If we talked we were told multiple times to stop and go back to our desks. They hire illegals.

I took a medical leave, and was harrassed through it. Head of HR called my dr, and argued my condition and demanded a drs note from my dr because NFI didnt "believe" i was sick , which i was told by an office co worker of mine. Head of HR broke privacy laws. I was prank called by employees, and intimidated on countless occasions about my employment due to my medical leave. I was adventually fired due to my medical condition. I complained to the Head of HR about the harrassment and that my return to work was going to be rough, due to them pranking me, and being upset that i took a medical leave. She said "well you left abruptly, they are upset"

on one occasion they messed up on my OT pay, and tried to negoiate with me, offering me a day off, instead of paying me. I was never paid for the OT and never given the day off. I asked to get paid, my boss said they would cut me a seperate check.

The hardest part of this job, Is the bullying from co workers. If they dont like you, they make your every day a living hell. No breaks. It is a fast paced enviorment. Coverage is never there. I learned a lot about the transportation industry. What to do on an overweight load. how to use Accuplus software, Fourtsite software. had a GREAT relationship with the drivers that came in. I had regulars. I LOVED what i did. I HATED working with the people i worked with.

"A Promise Made is a Promise Kept."  You will find these words prominently printed in the opening pages of the company policy manual.  During orientation you will hear from the Company President that a person's word is their bond (or essentially that).  You will further hear him make reference to his religious foundation and his faith.  You will meet some nice support staff.  You will hear from a driver liaison who touts the findings of an independent audit of the company that found and helped fix a problem with communication.  All of these things only made me more interested in working there.  The problem started the day after orientation.  I was notified that the GI Bill OJT program (that was used as a recruiting tool when I was applying and promised as a benefit) has been shut down.  They did offer a completely laughable salary supplementation as compensation for the "misunderstanding".  I went ahead and started working/training in the hopes that the company would come to their senses.  I sent an email to the Recruiting Director about a potential and reasonable solution.  After 2 days I still had no aknowledgement of the email's receipt.  So I called to get that acknowledgement.  I got it...and then I was brushed off.  I was promised a return phone call about the email...still waiting on that. (Failure to return phone calls as promised has been a bit of a thing while dealing with the Recruiting Director).  That is pretty much where we are at the moment.  I am starting to feel like they hope will I simply forget...or quit.  By the way...the Veterans OJT program is still being used on the company website as a recruiting tool.  I have already pointed this out to them with no change.  All of that aside, the training and my trainer is top notch.  Kudos to the driver improvement department.  Orientation was organized and professional.  Do not try to talk over the instructor...it is "frowned upon", and rightfully so.

Basically I took this job at NFI because it was the quickest job I could get at the time of moving. I’ve been at NFI for 2 years now and it’s actually not a bad place to work. The benefits are top notch. Blue Cross Blue Shield for medical and Aetna for dental, also you get vision insurance. Trust me when I say, the Trader Joe’s account is where the real money is. Only thing is, it’s seniority based under the Trader Joe’s account. The driver with the most years gets first bid. Bids usually start around late December going into January and you’ll be on whatever route you pick for a year. As long as you deliver to one of the Trader Joe’s , (95% of loads do deliver to Trader Joe’s) YOU WILL MAKE GREAT MONEY! I would say this account would be more for somebody without a family or kids are grown and out the house. Unless you’re willing to move up the ladder. You might start off working nights but the night guys make really good money. Runs usually start out in St.Louis and run either a trailer of returns or a backhaul up to Minooka,IL then come back to STL and deliver to 1,2,3 or all 4 stores in the area. More stores you do more money you make but it all depends on your route. Grab a hand jack and take off about 1 or 2 pallets for each store unless you only have only 1 store then you would take off about 10-12 pallets or however many pallets and bread trays are on your trailer. The physical work itself is pretty easy. The workers at Trader Joe’s are easy to work with for the most part. Overall, I can’t complain at all...

I've been here for almost 3 years. There have been a lot of changes in those 3 years. All for the positive. Management became more in touch / interactive with employees. The shift supervisors are excellent leaders. The job is easy, if you can handle doing repetitive tasks the entire shift. Picking, unloading, put away. The lifts are Crown electric lifts that have a clamp on the front. Ok,every job has its downfalls,so here are the things that aren't as good. 1st off, the way raises are given. There is a while formula that is calculated to come up with a score. Then that score is what dictates how much of a raise you may receive. Reviews and raises are an annual thing. Why not keep it simple? You do your job well,get a raise. No trigonometry problems to solve. Next, for obvious safety reasons, there is a zero tolerance for not reporting any accidents / making contact with ANYTHING while on your lift. This includes garbage cans (which are placed right next to the drive aisles), product, anything that is stationary. If you have an accident and report it, you're not necessarily going to be terminated. It's usually a re-certification for operating the lift. I've seen guys knock over a stack of refrigerators and not get terminated. Lastly, you have to watch out for inter office gossiping. Some of it, true or false, has led to terminations. Bottom line, like all jobs, NFI Industries has its ups and downs. But I've enjoyed more ups than downs. I work 2nd shift (graveyard) and the crew I work with all get along with each other and help each other out. 

I thought this place would be nice to work. I performed my job with the utmost integrity. I had trouble clocking in to work. Especially with their fingerprint scanner: some days it would read my print, some not. I did not like being told to wrap two small skids for a female employee who could bend down herself to wrap her own skids. I was told by a female employee that I would not be there long. I was told by two female employees to lift a 50 lb. box for them. They know the job requires them to lift up to 50 lbs. I was told by a female employee to go to the other end of the warehouse and break down her boxes. I was being spyed on by a female employee three ailes down. I was told to staple boxes for the packers one day, only these two pallets of boxes are not the type to be stapled. My name was constantly requested on the speaker to "the podium". I was their man who would pull their loaded skids to the loading dock. I was not introduced to the automatic wrap machine until 2 weeks into employment. I wrapped skids manually. I worked hard for them last summer in a confined warehouse. I was asked if I wanted to clean their bathrooms too and get paid nothing but my regular hours. I do not want to go back to this Company ever. I know what the difference is between carrying other employees on my back and working diligently as a team player. These women and the female supervisor try to see how far they can get a male to do there work.

A typical day here is busy. There is always something to do - whether it be helping a coworker or doing the next days work.
I learned to listen carefully to what other people had to say about the company because all of it is true (the good and the bad).
Middle management was awesome! They were always very concerned about work-life balance and they seemed to genuinely care about their staff.
There's no real way to sugar coat this, but MOST (not all) executives and VP's don't treat their employees with generic respect. It seemed like there was always some kind of chauvinism going on and that was really difficult to look past.
Workplace culture was good! Everyone always made a point to check on each other and help professionally as well as personally if the option was given. Friendships are easy to make here!
The hardest part of the job was coming to terms with anonymity. Emails would be sent out asking for honest opinions and employees would answer 100% honestly. Which is great, more companies need to do that. However, if HR or other departments with access read something they didn't like, they would do the work to find out who wrote that and use it against them in the future. Therefore, demolishing all hopes and dreams of moving forward in the company. Because of an honest opinion. That they asked for.
The most enjoyable part of the job was knowing I could do my job so well, and that was because of coworkers taking the time to train, answer questions, offer unending support, and just overall being great people.
 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Truck driver 937 salaries reported	$1,575 per week
Forklift operator 8 salaries reported	$17.95 per hour
Local driver 111 salaries reported	$1,362 per week
Delivery truck driver - cdl 139 salaries reported	$1,573 per week
Diesel technician 3 salaries reported	$35.92 per hour

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