No stability: never really know where you’re going to be or if you’re covering a route until last minute; Routes start from 2am - 7am so you could run a 7am route one day then be assigned a 2am route or support the next day. There have been days where I’ve worked over 15+ hours. Very little work/life balance: VERY few routes are M-F rest are M-Tu-Th-Fri-Sat. DOT regulations require 10-consecutive non-compensated hrs before driving a DOT regulated vehicle; any DOT driving over 14hrs is a violation and can result in fines or disciplinary actions, so working part-time elsewhere is challenging. The routes you’re covering are (most of the time) a mess: The reason the Route Sales Reps (RSRs) are quick at their job is because most of them just throw product anywhere they see fit with little to no regard to planogram or even date rotation, even when the placement is literally laid out in front of you (ex Family Dollar/Dollar General). An account that SHOULD take you 20-30min can take you an hour or more to fix the issues left for you to deal with. Fellow RSRs will tell you that “all” they expect you (the RSAs) to do is rotate, check for credits (damages & **stales - this where the “ ‘Free’ Chips” come in), and “make it look pretty” however if that Rep doesn’t keep up with any of that, *you’re* stuck dealing with it. Little-to-No Incentivizes to Get Promoted: When working support for the RSRs you take your vehicle and meet with them to assist along their route. Doing so you get the opportunity to chat and ultimately learn that they really don’t have it better. Managers on high set targets for the RSRs and if you exceed the target (usually by 20%) congratulations, you get a bonus! Oh, and expect next month’s target plan to be increased by 25-30% as well. RSRs will tell you to “play the numbers game” but from what I’ve observed RSRs will make their target plan one month and intentionally tank the following month just to make the month after that. It also doesn’t necessarily matter how much you “sell” in either. A route that does $100k/mo can make less than a route that does $70k/mo if the RSR with the $100k route doesn’t make their plan.
