warehouse worker

truck driver

driver

owner operator driver

forklift operator

VersaCold Logistics Services

Worked here for just under 3 months this past winter. The guys you work with are really  nice and helpful which is great because management will give you zero guidance or feedback. All my practical training came from asking my coworkers questions. I was given one day of  order picking training in the freezer and then I was basically on my own. Managers won't give you any guidance during your probation period, they'll smile and nod at you during daily role-call, but won't provide any meaningful assistance to you. Hitting the unofficial quota (1200 cases a shift) is not possible during the slow season because they're simply aren't enough orders to pick. The voice picking system they use is very old, and will cause you to make errors. The system needs to train your voice commands for it to work properly but it absolutely will cause errors for you. My headset had issues distinguishing the numbers 1/8 and 2/3, which can cause big problems for you. Some of the pick locations are in extremely narrow freezer aisles that are further obstructed by stock and pallets, and in a few locations there are no signs or markings as to what product belongs in a given slot which again can easily lead to picking errors. The layout of the aisles makes it unnecessarily harder for pickers because heavy items are placed at both the beggining and end of the pick locations, meaning you will have to stack heavy items on top of lighter items that came before it. 

I was let go about a week before my probation was to end. The reason given was that "expectations were not being met". However at no point in my time did a manager ever explain in any way what those expectations were, and when I asked what expectations I failed to meet the shift supervisors (who saw me every day and could have spoken to me had they had any concerns ) could not tell me what expectations I failed to meet.

Basically, this company is pretty classless. It also has an unclear future because they lost a sizeable chunk of their business when Nestle pulled out of the frozen pizza market which is about half their warehouse. The Milton site is unionized, but from what I could observe the union rep isn't helpful and the union generally has a bad relationship with the company. Summer is their busy season so now might be a better time to start but it's a pretty terrible company from what I could see. Sorry for writing an essay but I'm honestly just trying to help others avoid waisting time at this place.

Management is very weak, they're not bad people but they'd spend hours trying to hammer a round peg into a square hole instead of finding a better solution to the problem. They have a strong culture of "as long as it gets done what's the problem?" and only make changes when there's an inconvenience to them.

Most of the older workers on the dock have a tendency to delegate their work to newer employees, the night crew in particular often ignores their duties and leaves the day shift playing catch up. There are some great people who work on the floor who do fantastic work, but they often do so to make up the slack of other employees just so they can go home on time. In the time I've worked at Versacold I could probably count the weeks we weren't short staffed on my fingers, people come in and leave because they can see they're going to be overworked while people who get paid more do much, much less than them. Because Versacold struggles to retain new hires, it makes life much more difficult for the people who actually want to get work done on the dock.

There are some incredible people here who deserve much more than they're being given.

The pay is good, it's the main reason I stay. Great starting wage, top rate is respectable especially for younger people. Lots of opportunity for overtime if that's something you're after. 

Benefits are pretty top notch, you get 2 weeks vacation after your first year and every stat can either be paid out as a full days wage or banked as a day off.

Once you hit top rate you're left waiting for the yearly raise to ever see a bump in pay, which is negotiated in the union agreement that gets done every couple of years, there's no room to advance from the dock unless you move into a dispatcher position, often at a pay cut, and then advance from there.

When there's nothing else to do on the dock you often get the opportunity to leave early, working down from the top to bottom of seniority, and people are very understanding in the face of an emergency.

Involved in many areas within the company. Recently in the pallet department our team was productive, energetic department, quick decision making during entry of pallet forms.  Rewarding to ensure that expensive pallets were not lost and always having warehouses stocked with pallets, business continued daily.  Supervisor was very informative and supportive and assisted when needed.  Department was very focused and keen to ensure data entry was accurate.  Daily was a struggle to process all pallet forms which could exceed 500 daily.  In another position, workflow control, balanced manpower with location needs and controlled all work for the day in system. Was given the opportunity to enroll in Lean Six Sigma, and learned to become more efficient through the use of LSS methodologies.  The team on the shift was functional, able to carry out orders and remained busy due to control of work in system.  The average case picking per shift was 20K and load onto many trucks, this gave the shift a sense of accomplishment knowing that the customer would receive their product on time.  A difficult time during shift, when equipment broke down and orders still needing picking.  Reorganizing the manpower to equipment was initialized and took time.

This was my first job in trucking, had I known that other businesses weren't run like this I would never have stayed so long. Versacold is cold. Basically you work in a refrigerator all day long. There was a lot of drama amongst management, and my immediate Supervisor was an absolute drunk. Mood swings bad attitudes and an us-versus-them kind of atmosphere towards the employees. They don't want you to make much money other than with your original 8 hours a day. Raises are small and infrequent, and the work involved is tenuous. Management doesn't care about the well-being of the driver, they would rather not recharge your air conditioning in summer if it means they can save money on their budget and get a bonus for themselves. They don't understand Trucking as this really isn't a trucking company, it's a giant refrigerator that happens to have drivers. I would highly recommend you stay away from this one oh, much better places to work.

The salary of the job position of dockworker is pretty good, but there are a lot of downsides to this job. It is a cold storage warehouse with temperatures ranging from -5 to -25. New dockworkers are sometimes forced to do inventory in the freezer on a weekly basis of 8-9 hours. It is like working outside in extreme temperatures during winter. The workload is also tremendous and the amount of freight received and shipped should require more employees to be hired. The supervisors I worked under weren't the most friendly individuals either. Management also doesn't allow you to apply for a new shift unless you've been working there for at least six months, and that is only if there are open positions posted. There isn't much room for advancement and upgrading between job positions. I worked here for less than a year and saw quite a few people quit and new people get hired as replacements. All in all, a so so job at best.

I came into this company without ever having operated an electric pallet jack. The manager and warehouse supervisor were kind enough to give me 3 paid half-days during which I was instructed in the use of the machine and given the practical test. Since then I have worked as an order picker on the 4pm-12:30am shift and am so far enjoying it quite a bit. It is cold, but the fast pace of the job keeps the blood flowing and the body warm enough. I would recommend this job to anyone who can handle extreme cold while maintaining high picking volumes. Employees at this location become UFCW members with a generous benefits package after a 3 month probation period, although freezer & late shift hourly premiums are already given prior to that. 

Worked for Versa for just shy of two years. I was the 15th OM in 10 years. Of the 12 supervisors that were there when I started, only two remain. 

Met all of my year-1 objectives and was not paid my bonus as agreed; place is controlled by investment bankers and they won't spend money. 

Had one day off in May and got grief about taking that day; the next day my job was posted on several job-banks. Worked an average of 60 hours per week, and often times 70+. 

Reputation for customer service is aweful and it's well-deserved. Buildings aren't capable of doing the kind of business they are selling but they want to fill them at all costs. 

Since I left, every OM save one has been replaced in Ontario, there have been two GMs and both are gone now. The HR manager was fired shortly after they had him term all the OMs and a bunch of long-term employees.

Management is ridiculous and are useless.  It's a working environment that feels segregated in culture with miserable long term employees who feel self entitled.  The pay is good for long term work but don't expect long term work when you work in a brainless job position where you are being monitored constantly like a maximin prison with a high turn over rate.   Over an average of a dozen people have quit or been let go in a 1.5 month span during their probation period.  This place is a joke with simply miserable people who are stuck in a career of redundancy and simply having internal conflict over job pay and specific job duties.  Everybody thinks they have a rank over you and are constantly monitoring you.   It really does feel like a prison working in a freezer.  Good luck to you new fishes. 

Great place to work. A Typical day at consist of Picking orders staging pallets, Running pallets, Loading and unloading Trailers. Refrigerated warehouse Nestle Products. Complimentary ice cream, 2 breaks, 2 warm ups. Unionized facility Rotating In duties daily.
Forklift machines Walkie for Picking ice cream.
Double walkie for running pallets 2 per time.
537 forklift machine Pick Orders, Drop Pallets for Replenishment and putaways.
Raymond reach for Picking Putaways and Replenishing case pick locations.
 
My Coworkers are like family The people i spend most of my days with, outstanding team efforts.

Temp to hire 6 month Contract

Once hired Start part time at $19/hr 40 hrs/ wk no benefits until you've worked 720 hours as a part timer

Then Part time to Full time once Full time $24/ hr  40 hr/ wk with Full Benefits

It used to be a great company to work for, and I think it can still be.  However, poor higher management decisions above supervisory level has caused low morale for the employees on the floor.  Equipments are outdated and unreliable, garbage is seldom on "payment hold" so it can span on months of no pick up, and poor decisions by upper management has caused a workload unbalance between plants.  It used to be a lot better but after 8 years of working there I've seen the changes first hand, and I personally do not like where the company is taking my plant.  If you are looking for stable work with equal opportunity to grow, or at least a sense of job security after years of service, apply elsewhere if you can.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Warehouse worker 5 salaries reported	$25.02 per hour
Truck driver 1 salary reported	$25.00 per hour
Driver 3 salaries reported	$6,150 per month
Owner operator driver 1 salary reported	$91,761 per year
Forklift operator 2 salaries reported	$21.79 per hour

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