chauffeur livreur

chauffeur classe 1

local driver

commis d'entrepôt

truck driver

Food Service

A typical day: mindless rush from Milton, waiting for loads to be done up to 3 hours waiting a day for runs that take 14 hrs to finish = 17 hrs. Nobody cares if you exceed your hours.
You have to use company equipment, cart, scanner, logbook, circle check, report sheets to fill out prior departure and after arrival. Occasionally unload your own trailer.
Your shift going to start between 2 -8 am. 
You'll have 5-20 calls a day, average 18 for good with long walks and hard to access entrances, deliver through live kitchens walking by 2 inches from flames as high as 2 feet; some quick drop offs as well.
Forget lunch break, eat whenever you can - while driving, delivering, but can't stop. It's the "war room" mentality.
How it works? Senior drivers 10+ years at GFS will have average 10 calls a day, new drivers will have average 18.
You'll have to scan every single cases as of scanning time 0-20 second/item plus the investigation of missing bar codes that cannot be scanned.
Your pay is good, but the value runs will be assigned to friends and buddies and seniors, and who are blending in. However the good pay does not measure up with the job we demand you to do.
Great thing for new drivers we have automatic tractors, that are slow to enhance delivery speed.
Manifest has a time limit for each call, and the time is underestimated in most cases, always. The addresses are mostly correct, some are not, so good luck finding it!
Over the years I did learn that whoever criticises the management, will be dismissed from work soon enough, although we say that we are open to listen, but only to save our butts, not yours.
The job we ask new hires to do is extremely exhausting that is why the turn over rate is nearly 70%, and on that level guys quit sooner than they would reach the level of seniority. The real seniority of the drivers is about 5-10%, the rest is new hire and temp agencies.
The problem, I mean the success is that we are expanding more than we can cover.
Business friendship works with some of us. You make friends with us, and some of us will give easier runs for friends than the regular ones. This friendship will lasts till we feel our jobs endangered by you.
Management will listen and then we explain why your new idea to make it better will not work - the idea did not come from us, and we want to be the top of everything. We can't even propose your new idea as our, because every one of us will gain enemies among supervisors if any of us comes up with a new idea. If you have personal issues with one of us- you'll have-granted; and you approach any of us, well, we are going to team up, and defend ourselves against anyone to keep our job intact and steady. For you, new hires, there is no job security: you either quit or get laid off quickly if can't adopt to our ways, no matter if you die on the field to make the calls. Everyone is expandable, till reaches a certain level or establishes friendship on business grounds. that is why many good former co-worker supervisors fed up and went to other companies.
Co workers, on your level are 50-50, some are good, and some aren't.
Customer comes first, always. Customer really is our first priority, not you. If customer complains, then we use courier to enforce order. If someone compliments you, then you will be removed to replace another guy who got complaints, because customer really is king and our service to prevail is the first priority at all price. Customers who are telling drivers otherwise, are wrong. 
The hardest part of the job is to blend in, hold your mouth and don't complain about the management, us. Although we are going to make you feel precious from time to time, you are not that much valued, will learn it quickly.
The most enjoyable part of the job is when you are going home after all this, living for the moment and not thinking of you'll have to come back here in the next morning/evening.
Please come and join, it really is a good place!

Pay is good for the back breaking work we do. 
Company events are great, see you all at the Rodeo. This will be my 2nd year attending. Drivers all have a good working relationship and we all help each other out. We all work very well together like a good oiled truck.  BUT Supervisors and Management need a lot of work. Very much to negative on every angle. We have to rely on the clerks or cleaners for smiles and respect. Too much gossip and rumour spreading mainly by supervisors and why do we have so many supervisors on one shift it confuses things when we call in to get our issues deal with we speak to a different person every time there were 5 on at one time. Better training plans to be put in place for new folk instead of rushing them through and hoping for a good turn out. Management needs to do a better job of being more understanding and caring of the new people coming in and being more present to them instead of making them feel like they don’t belong and that they have to figure out things on there own. New drivers need more on road training and cart building training. To many injuries are hapening because improper handling practices. Pre-shift exercises should be enforced and followed through with. I think we should have senior lead drivers for all shifts including freshex and coffee company not just the downtown team.  Give a chance for us older ones to take on more responsibility and let us take the lead on dealing with our drivers issues while out on the road. Been here almost 7 years I think I earned my shot at taking the lead.  Added services has been taken away. This has left a negative impact on us and when we have them once in a while now we are asked questions for it. 
More transportation events would be great, like morning breakfast again by Management or bagged lunches for the road or theme days. It’s the little things that make us keep going. We are what the customers see afterall.

It's true that the job of a sales-service delivery driver at Gordon Food Service is really physically demanding; but the compensation is beyond fair. I would even say it's extremely generous considering the work we do. I have been in the trucking industry for years and am aware of what else is out there. I do not believe I could earn more money anywhere else in trucking, unless I decided to take on the responsibility of buying my own truck, and ran it constantly. I make more money as a company driver at GFS than a few of my friends do who are owner-operators without the stress. Although our schedule is four days on/three days off, there are currently unlimited opportunities for overtime as we continue to grow and expand. I cleared six figures in my first full year at GFS. I definitely worked extremely hard to earn that; but it is possible. A big differentiator between us and our competitors is that GFS rewards drivers for their performance. We do not get paid hourly. All of our routes are designed to take 10 hours and every driver is home everyday. Our compensation formula takes into account number of kilometres driven, number of stops, etc. While safety is always our number one priority (safety bonuses are even paid to drivers quarterly) and our second most important priority is maintaining a high quality customer service experience, we do not miss out on any money if we are finished our route in 8, or even 6 hours. The drivers who do really well at GFS are those who are hardworking and self-motivated. The work is difficult but is very rewarding! Our benefits are top notch, RRSP contributions are matched, and we are appreciated and supported. I am happy with my job at GFS and don't see myself doing anything else.

It's a really hard job, they don't give you walkies, they give you pump trucks, on top of it most of the pump trucks are hand me downs, they don't actually work. They don't give you ramps for docks, so if the dock doesn't have one its cool they give you a handcart to break down the whole skid and stack the boxes on the handcart then roll in to the businesses for them. They make you go up and down steps. Majority of the time you are by yourself offloading these 36 footers with one tiny hand cart, full trailer, and really tight schedules. They have you rushing all day you never really get a break but you are allowed 40mins break a day but no one usually uses it because they use that time to catch up to the tight schedule, otherwise you'd be out all day. Pay is good but no where near worth all the work they have you doing, and it says $30 here but you start at $28 and make it to 30 after a year. Also you don't get paid hourly.. you have a set pay depending on the load that you have for the day. The older guys have the good loads at about $340 a day and you will be at like $270 a day or less never more. Also the only way your paid hourly is if your a driver helper or not doing a broadline load which there really isn't much else of other than broadline or rider or van.. rider and Van are short hours. They don't care about you or your family at all, they just care about their product, you express problems your having to them they don't listen. Very weird work culture. One thing they don't mention in the application process is you need to maintain a 98% scan rate on their scanner or they WILL fire you no if ands or buts no questions asked. Tractors are bad if you are in Ajax, alright if your in Milton. One thing that's cool is they have 4 day weeks and the drivers are cool. Only want yes men. Ohh and you get free food from customers sometimes.

As a sales service driver, you start very early in the morning.  Come into the office, get your paper work, keys, fill out forms etc then get the tractor and hook up to your trailer.   Or you might get a straight truck(body job).   Your trailer or truck is pre-loaded with your deliveries and its your responsibility to deliver the total load to your customers. Usually 8 to 14 stops.  This varies.  
I learned a massive amount in my time there about food service, product and logistics.   I cut my teeth here as an AZ driver and driving in the GTA.  The training here was thorough and excellent.
The Ontario upper brass are all seasoned vets and have tremendous amounts of experience.  They come from all over and from different company acquisitions.  The company runs like a well oiled machine and they have a proper pay structure with excellent benefits.  
Most of the guys there I found to be really good folk and there is an awesome company culture there.
The delivery job is almost all hand work, case by case, up and down stairs sometimes.  In all types of weather year round.  Days are long and hard and exhausting and physically demanding.   The work is known to damage the body, it did quite a number on my back.  
I enjoyed working with competent management and well maintained equipment.   I got to participate in food shows and the company puts on a spectacular Christmas party.  The pay is very good and I had stable, dependable year round work.

I want to start off saying that things used to be better when I started working here a number of years ago. The pay is still the same, the work is the same, the 
change has been in Warehouse Leadership.

There was a time when we were staffed properly and leadership helped out the employees. If you're interested in working here, you'll find that they expect you to work until you drop from exhaustion and those same people won't move from the computer to help. 

Their aim now is to get as many people in there, no matter what quality of worker you are. This has led to more injuries, more unsafe practices and more conflict in the workplace. This, coupled with the fact that you're already separated from normal people who work days, has led to more instances of open hostility between coworkers than I've ever seen anywhere else.

A couple of years ago, I would have absolutely recommended this place to start out a career. As it stands right now, I wouldn't wish this environment on anyone.

I was told when I first started that out here that our turnover rate about 1 in 3 people. Meaning 1 person in 3 new hires will not make it through the probation period. This was a flat out lie. The turnover rate is more accurately sitting around 4 in 5 people. Meaning that if you're new, no one who has been there for any amount of time will talk to you. 

I could be writing this review all day. So in conclusion, I would like to just tell people to be wary of the lies they feed you and if you value your own happiness, just stay away. There are so many better career paths to take instead of this one.

The work at Gordons is a fast pace environment. Its a busy facility. Customer is King and we need to meet and exceed their expectations and get them their quality product on time. Food service is essential. Through covid and atmospheric rivers that paralized our province we all came together as a team to serve our valued customers. The challeges are never ending but I see management rise above and we move forward doing what we do best. Food Service. The wages and benefits are very fair. The equipment is the best provided for warehouse and fleet. Management goes above and beyond with their appreciation. Hard work is rewarded. Hard work is needed to do what we do. There is lots of room for opportunity and movement within the company. New Job Postings are very common. I think one thing that stands out in my mind after being with the BC Division 35 years is my work/life balance. My time off is refreshing. Balance makes a better me at home for family and at work. I have had a paycheque in my bank account every 2 weeks for 35 years. Money never being a stress. As I said food service is essential. My hard work at Gordons has been rewarding. They have always provided a comfortable living wage on which ive been able to support my family. And when im at work I feel like I am a part of the Gordons family. It is an equal opportunity employer. The Gordons workforce represents diversity and inclusion. Bullying and harrassment has never been tolerated here. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Lots of physical labor so I kept in great shape.  Customers were overall great.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
As with most other GFS reviews, management can't help but steal defeat from the jaws of victory.  Always looking for ways to cut driver pay, make workers use broken or worn out equipment, and plainly if OHS ever visited and saw how we did what we did, there would likely be a forced work stoppage.  Management was the VERY worst part of this job.  You go from 5ton or class1 to a supervisory role or manager role all with no training no credentials and no skillset.  It's no surprise that untrained unqualified people in manager supervisor roles do all the wrong things and it's no surprise why the worker retention rate is so poor.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
There are some great coworkers and I had an excellent shift supe.  The culture is 'if I have a free worker bar b q will all of you guys quit asking for tires and good equipment?'  That is the culture.  Hope free hotdogs and burgers will make the worker forget they need tires with tread and tire chains in spring and winter that aren't bargain bin junk.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Start early grab truck grab paperwork, find trailer, look to see if trailer is running properly, see if unloading equipment can be put into trailer safely or on top of customer food, then drive to first stop.

Pay is good for the back breaking work we do. Drivers all have a good working relationship and we all help each other out. We all work very well together like a good oiled truck. BUT Supervisors and Management need a lot of work. Very much to negative on every angle. We have to rely on the clerks or cleaners for smiles and respect. Too much gossip and rumour spreading mainly by supervisors and why do we have so many supervisors on one shift it confuses things when we call in to get our issues deal with we speak to a different person every time there were 5 on at one time. Better training plans to be put in place for new folk instead of rushing them through and hoping for a good turn out. Management needs to do a better job of being more understanding and caring of the new people coming in and being more present to them instead of making them feel like they don’t belong and that they have to figure out things on their own. New drivers need more on road training and cart building training. Too many injuries are happening because improper handling practices. Pre-shift exercises should be enforced and followed through with. I think we should have senior lead drivers for all shifts including freshx and coffee company not just the downtown team. Give a chance for us older ones to take on more responsibility and let us take the lead on dealing with our drivers issues while out on the road.  

Gordon Food Service is the best company I've had the pleasure of working for.  Starting as a temporary worker, I worked to obtain a permanent position, and have now been here 8 years, with time spent in a number of positions.

Throughout my 8 years, I have been given professional development opportunities, opportunities for advancement, and have received recognition for the work I do.  The pay is competitive with market, there are great opportunities to earn bonuses and/or incentives, and there is a very comprehensive benefits package, plus company matching RRSP and Profit Sharing programs.

You get out of the company what you put in.  Yes, you work hard for your money, but isn't this the case everywhere?  It is called work for a reason!  Yes, our driving position is very physically labour intensive, but this is made clear from the time of application to the time of interview, and again when the offer is made.  Those that are not interested in performing physical labour are given ample opportunities to self-select out before they are hired.  Those that don't want to do the work and start with the company anyhow are doing it to earn a quick pay cheque and likely not interested in working hard, regardless of the job.

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