Pros
Some positives include: *Initial compensation is competitive with other grocery brokerage firms, although still not great by any means and raises are almost nonexistent. *Fairly laidback environment, lunches/breaks are usually not strictly adhered to. If you're a few minutes late here or there, nothing is ever said. *Mid-level managers are usually well intentioned and easygoing, albeit not very informed on new initiatives, projects, and the day-to-day operations in the field due to a very heavy workload. *You will almost always have weekends and nights off on most of the teams.
Cons
The negatives include: *Benefits for part-time associates are absolutely worthless. It is purely supplemental coverage that isn't remotely worth paying for. Benefits for full-time associates will run you more than what you'd most likely pay for an independent plan. *Mileage reimbursement is not sufficient for part-time associates at all. You will find yourself generally driving to 2-3 locations a day, with your first and last usually being around 15-20 miles from your home. You will only pocket around $5-7 a shift for this amount of driving, and with gas at $4/gallon, it's simply not enough. The reimbursement for full-time associates is better but you have to drive over a certain amount of business miles a year and they WILL send you everywhere. You will NOT be able to turn down work even if it's over 2 hours from your home. Again, BOTH of the reimbursements are fixed rates and do not go up or down to correspond with increased fuel costs. They are also not close to the IRS minimum for standard mileage reimbursement. It's also not uncommon for full-time territories to consist of upwards of 30-50 accounts that need to be serviced weekly. *Communication is, suffice it to say, AWFUL at every level. Supervisors are not adequately informed about new projects rolling out in stores, and have such heavy workloads that they can't possibly keep track of the client/store demands. You are regularly given very vague instructions and sent into accounts to obtain the majority of the information at store level. Any questions posed to your supervisor will likely result in several calls up the chain and a delayed response. Many times a new client initiative will be rolled out with little to no planning at all, and you either won't receive the materials needed or you'll receive the wrong materials. This generally results in several unnecessary return trips to accounts using YOUR vehicle and puts you behind on other assignments. *Hours can be cut with zero notice for part-timers. A team I was on experienced a literal 50% reduction in hours across the board with no notice. In fact, the cut in hours was decided upon in the MIDDLE of the week and we had to adjust our schedules accordingly for our remaining shifts. This reduction also did not correspond to any apparent business need, we had actually picked up clients and responsibilities that quarter. Meanwhile, full-timers on certain teams are actually "fronted" work that they haven't even completed to hit the 40/hour benchmark each week. *Flexibility and work/life balance is minimal, at best. Your schedule will fluctuate quite profoundly with little notice and it's very difficult to coordinate a second job because of this. It's not uncommon for part-timers to receive 10-15/hrs for several weeks in a row, only to be told to schedule 40 one week for a mandatory meeting or large assignment. The wrong request at the wrong time or failure to attend a meeting can easily result in a major reduction in assignments/hours.
