Dairy Fresh Foods
Slave labor for hire @ less than $400 after taxes!

Dairy Fresh Foods located in Taylor, MI, sure they will hire that new guy who just got his CDL-A/B or the guy who is desperate for a local driving job. But that will probably be the best day of your career at Dairy Fresh let me assure you.

Day one of my training at one delivery, we had at one paticular market, one of the deli-counter managers gave me a breif history of Dairy Fresh and how they were on the local tv and news for sellling outdated food (and still does) some years ago and how the owner Joel is such an assho... Needlesss to say day one of training was not all that bad as I had a trainer who has been there for years and did the same route on a weekly basis.

During your 5 days of training you will only work with people that have the gravy routes, meaning no Detroit city no downtown, no Southwest Detroit area. Nothing agaist Detroit city I love Detroit, hell I live in Detroit. However the disrespectful Arab-Americans, the over half a dozen one way streets and the low bridges in southwest Detroit pales in comparission to the surburban routes with ample dock parking for your 28 ft trucks, hi-lo's to lift your pallets off your truck.in about 2 maybe 3 years you will eventually get that gravy route.

After all the discoragement from past employees who would literaly stop me in the streets and tell me "get away as soon as you can, Dairy Fresh is full of it". Some of the things I've heard from ex-empolyee's from working there is that only their favorite drivers get overtime, Joell the owner disrespects and talks to the employee like their peasants, (I beleive Joell is sheltered from new drivers because of this behavior)

Even after all of the bad stories discouragement from past and present employees I tried to stay optimistic about my employment there. But that old saying is true, if everybody is saying the same thing it must be some vadity to it, right?

First of all the starting rate of pay for a CDL-A driver is 11.50, CDL-B 11.00, in my opinion grossly underpaid for the work you must do. Unloading a 28 ft truck by hand only equipped with a 2 wheel dolley, up to 10,000 lbs some days and no less than 7000 lbs.By yourself with no helper. You are the driver and the unloader of your truck. Other drivers for other companies I've talked to like Lapari, Sherwood, Country Fresh received 16.00-18.00 starting off doing the exact same thing.

Secondly, the terrible working conditions are slave-llike, at every delivery you are required to turn off your inside cab air-conditioner or heater. Joell does't care if its 100 degrees outside or -50 outside. REPEAT DO NOT LET THEM TRUCKS IDLE, so you can stay comfortable. (the cost of fuel supercedes the driver comforts no matter the tempureture) They even have a device installed on every truck called Discreet Wireless, to monitor idle time, speed, location amonst other things.

Lastly when you do start with the company be assuered all new drivers get the inner city routes and the old beat up trucks, not the 2004's, but the 1996 1,000, 000 miles dinosaurrs. And if you gratuate to your out-of-town run (usually 4-7 weeks) you will be out of town 2-3 days per week.

Now the good things about Dairy Fresh, no weekends period, weekly paycheck (no direct deposit they refuse to go papperless), a one way cell-phone that only receives calls, health and dental that you pay for after 90 days and to be in a Teamsters Union. (in my opinion they have a sweetheart contract) I can go on further with the $100 you must pay for when you start your own route or the drivers who get robbed in the inner city, but why should I degress.

Dairy Fresh Foods has been around for over 3 decades and is making millions and that one must one admire how they cornered the Michigan market as they have and continued to grow to Illonois, Indiana and Wisconsin, however this is not about money, this is about the low wages and slave-like working conditions and how they treat there most valuable asset the people who make it possible for Dairy Fresh to operate day to day, the employees.

As I have moved on from Dairy Fresh, my best advice to you would be preceed with caution. As with any company check there turn-over rate if it's high theres a good rason behind it, and lastly by all means if you have to work there make it your last option after McDonald's turned you away, in my opinion the $50-$75 pay cut is well worh the humiliation, aggrivation and headache you will endure at Dairy Fresh.

Company: Dairy Fresh Foods
Country: USA
State: Michigan
City: Taylor
Address: Trolley Industrial Drive
Phone: 3132956300

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