route driver

truck driver

maintenance technician

laborer

general maintenance

Prairie Farms Dairy

Starting there things were pretty positive. Management seemed to like me because I catch on, am detailed, and quick at my work. Most people have worked there for 20+ years and can get away with anything on the job. Senior employees would sleep while running machines, not do proper cleaning, yet always got opportunities to leave early and not have to work overtime even if it means a less senior employees had to work 16hrs. Management and supervisors watch you heavily sometimes for no reason. They like to pick their favorites and give them breaks on everything. If you have opinions about anything supervisors and managers laugh at you and are rude to you because they think they’re better than you. Supervisors will let senior employees and their favorites take extra time on breaks sometimes 10 extra minutes without saying anything, but if you’re not one of them they’ll hound you if you spend an extra minute or two in the bathroom. On weekends they purposely understaff to keep senior employees from complaining, and instead will make others work a two person job by themselves. Some jobs you get little to no training from people who aren’t even willing to train you. While training my trainers would take off and go on multiple smoke breaks or take hour long lunches and leave me by myself. Onetime I was scheduled to be on a job I had never worked before, and was just expected to figure it out by myself with no training. Upper management and the union don’t work together well. Sometimes the union will cause you more problems than good with the rules from their contracts. I went through an extreme life crisis, which management was aware of. I kept them informed of everything along the way. They refused to work with me or help me in anyway. I managed to keep things together, but was high on points. Even in the middle of my crisis where I was fighting with the state of Missouri over custody of my nieces and nephews I managed to get my points to start going back down. Management and HR don’t give you a reliable way to keep track of what you have against you, but will tell you it’s your responsibility to keep track. I was fired for going over on points, but they couldn’t prove I deserved the ones they were giving me. They have a faulty time clock, faulty time keeping system, and delete video evidence of your time punches. I had not a single infraction for over a 7 month period managing to stay under, and then suddenly I was being fired for going over with 4 missed punches. HR and management both acknowledged that on those times I had been at work. The HR secretary who did our time for us paid me for the hours, yet still punished me as if I hadn’t been there. I asked for video of me not clocking in and they were unable to provide it because their cameras didn’t go back far enough. If you can’t prove that I did something wrong then how can I be punished for it? The union I paid to be a part of did nothing to defend me. Overall, management is bad, supervisors are rude, walk all over you, and treat you like you’re stupid, union reps don’t help with anything, senior employees are lazy, untalented, and don’t do their fair share, maintenance workers are lazy, and do as little as possible, machines constantly break down or have extreme issues that cause loss of time and product, most coworkers act like high schoolers and spread rumors, bad training, management picks favorites, if management doesn’t like you they’ll find a way to fire you even if it means lying and the union that sponges off of you will offer no help. 

Typically come in before the start of the shift to get into uniforms, go to pass down meeting with management and supervisors about the operations and their issues during the previous shift.
 The location doesn't really offer much beyond the state mandated, job-related, information. Often limited to chemical / ppe safety training and standards.
 Anything else mechanically related will be from day to day experience, often along with the maintenance team, and technicians that are often needed to be called in for issues.
 The management often changes, due to many factors, but primarily, the ineptitude. Too often the new people that are brought in, focus on the unimportant issues and topics, which often leads to bad communication, and complaints. Often leading to the management being viewed negative by the rest of the staff. Try as they may,  they often fail to address and resolve the issues that are important, instead focusing on the mundane.
 Culture in the job has often been separate between office people and those that are on the work floors. Often leading to personal gripes and frustrations within the work areas in production.
 The hardest part of the job is usually the standing on your feet for extended periods of time. Along with the amount of cleaning that is needed in the facility. And often as well, operators need to learn above all else, how to be self sufficient in calibrations and minor repairs. And more recently, staggering work hours, the scheduling has suffered significantly for staff as well, leading to loss of pay and work due to inconsistent orders for the product they sell.
 The most enjoyable part, as mundane as it is, is the benefits to the job. They are somewhat generous with retirement and pay. But this is only recent.


My responsibilites at Prairie Farms involved sales and customer service in an assigned region in southern Michigan along with servicing one-half of a large grocery chain in Michigan and Indiana. Activities included cold call and courtesy visits to restaurants and small grocery and convenience stores. Servicing existing customers would include courtesy phone calls and visits, new product introductions and promotions, sometimes offering to do product demonstrations/sampling to the public, and problem solving.

My managers and co-workers were all just "good people," most of them having been a part of the company (formerly the family-owned Roelof Dairy) for years. Sales people were not micro-managed but help/mentoring from senior sales staff was always available when needed.

The hardest part of the job was, of course, dealing with the difficult customer. Even though these situations were always a bit trying, with each incident, I found myself more at ease, trying to understand the problems of the customer and looking for and suggesting solutions.

I enjoyed getting out and talking with customers and trying to figure out what products would make a win-win situation for them and for my company.

They completely bluffed during the interview. They don't stick to their words. They don't care about you or your personal life. They cry when you ask for a day off way in advance. There is zero training. Don't count on getting any bonuses. Their contract is wack. The fill in their full time positions and throw away good help for the swing positions. Rinse and repeat. They keep you long enough to use your time, promise you the sun, moon, and stars then term you right before your probationary period is up. Most of the management has no idea what is even going on. Their biggest fear is getting audited. They know ZERO about being DOT compliant. You could have 7 break downs in 1 day and they still ask why you didn't get your work done and also expect you to take a 30 minute break and 2 ten minute breaks sometime in your 16 hour day. Slap you with 17 stops with huge orders then get mad when you don't finish your stops. Their equipment is horrible. They don't tell you how you are doing. They wait until months later to inform you of your performance as they walk you to the door even though their evaluation of you was 80% + efficient with productivity. It's a trash company. Don't waste your time. 

Once your in full time, jobs come available on different shifts and in different departments. Its union so first shift takes years of seniority to get. 
Work is not bad, some jobs are very light weight and other very strenuous.    
Pay is fair to great for work being performed. If you are a hard worker some stuff will bother you. There is lack of OFF shift supervision and workers take full advantage. If you keep your head down and do your job you will have no problems. If you need something to do your job better and it is not available, if you say something you may or may not get it.  Do not take it personal. There is a lot of moving pieces to the puzzle and your needs and wants get put on the back burner a lot. The environment on the floor is relaxed witch is not always a good thing, but know one here is going to be barking orders at you. A high percentage of the people are all friendly and find to be around. Good 401 K with match. If you do not mind working 2nd or 3rd shift for awhile and making $12 - $22 an hour then give it a try. There is way worse jobs out there.  

Pros: Lots of jobs to choose from. good 401 K - good pay.

Cons: Lack of supervision that care about correct GMP's and employee accountability. special people get special treatment.

What is the best part of working at the company?
There is no best part. they gave me an opportunity that was unmacthed as I was a stellar employee.  That is now in the past....I would reccomend for a young person trying to build a life.  For an older person like me ...NO!

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The FACT that you are considered in no uncertian terms a "Domestic Employee"  That means you are an indentured servent.  You, after your first week are bound by that idea.  You are only allowed 36 hours off in any given week.  If a holliday falls during the week...12 days before you are eligible for a day off.  I loved working there!  I do understand it has taken a major downturn!

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Make bags...Make bags... Train someone fore 3 weeks...mabye ready maybe not, no matter they make bags. weather they are ready or not


What is a typical day like for you at the company?
It is a last call  Sweatshop!  it is commonly known as indentured serivitude.  As they are "Farmer Owned"  You are known as a "Domestic " employee...AKA SERVANT!   One is only ENTITLED to one day off in 7.  If a holiday falls during the week...One day off in 7.  12 to 13 days before you are eligable for a day off.

Prairie Farms is, at its core, a company that anyone would be lucky to work for.   The pay scale generous provided you perform well on a skills assessment.  The test is mostly comprised of math, reading comprehension, and common sense mechanical knowledge. 

The management is largely incompetent, to say the least.  I can count on one hand the amount of people sitting at a desk who are actually worth their job. There’s no quality control to speak of, and quite literally no safety department.  Almost everyone in charge of anything is brand new, the average tenure being less than a year. 

The work is fine, it’s a factory.  You’re expected to be accountable for massively consequential things while not being allowed to take charge in the smallest of ways. However, it is not without perks, if you’re capable and willing to get your work done you are largely left alone.

Overall, I think management should take the time to understand the processes that exist and why they exist before trying to take control and manipulate those processes.  Get your hands dirty and people might respect you a little more.  If you can’t do that, then go back to selling used cars and let someone else step in. 

I have never seen any place dedicated to production breakdown as frequent as this place. It's like you leaving the auto mechanic only to stop at 3 others on the way home. I would have thought any facility who's purpose is mass production would have a vested interest in keeping things moving and working. It's like some old beater car that's looking for a mechanic to put it out of it's misery. The pay isn't bad if you could actually and efficiently do your job.
I would bet a few hundred dollars that these are the last gasp of breath and the end isn't far off. You can only delay the inevitable for so long. 
It's literally torturous in how this place is trying to suicide itself. It's like picking up a Glock and proceeding to repeatedly bludgeon yourself to death.
I'm actually sort of annoyed / interested in the lackadaisical management style as the world around them crumbles. Do they think they can get a similar job elsewhere and get hired after they literally ran the place into the ground. I'm sure it would look great on a resume. At least the regular slob hasn't much distance to fall when it goes under.

I have worked at Prairie Farms for many years. It  is a great company with many opportunity's for career advancement. If you are looking for a company that will allow you to raise a family and live a very comfortable life, then you have found it, go to work here. I have saw many people who were struggling financially when they started working here, in a very short period of time, were living the American dream, driving nice cars, owning their own home, and later on, they could retire very comfortably. It is more than just a paycheck, it is a career with benefits that allows people to rise up to a better standard of living.   I say this with 100% confidence, I have saw this over and over, so don't believe the reviewers who were only looking for a paycheck. They quit too soon, or were unwilling to see the bigger picture. Usually after a while, they try to get rehired. 

Working at prairie farms is great if you don’t have a social life and need money. I have been working here several years and am still getting forced to work 10-12 hour days 5 days a week. They do not reward you with hard work and a passion to learn, instead they take advantage of your knowledge and use it against you while people who refuse to learn or get trained get the benefit.  Every day my desire to learn and improve myself comes back to bite me.  Management does not see the hard work you put in every day and quite frankly does not care about the employees.  Management disregards the importance of work-life ratio and does not see how it impacts their employees. Prairie Farms in Fort Wayne is currently struggling to find employees to stay because of this. Employees that leave are not getting replaced and the responsibilities of them fall on to the few people who have taken the initiative of learning. Oh and the only 2 holidays you get off if you are lucky enough are thanksgiving and Christmas. Many people still have to work thanksgiving and Christmas. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Route driver 2 salaries reported	$23.15 per hour
Truck driver 2 salaries reported	$20.76 per hour
Maintenance technician 6 salaries reported	$28.11 per hour
Laborer 1 salary reported	$25.20 per hour
General maintenance 7 salaries reported	$64,296 per year

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