Pepsi MidAmerica Reviews

Current Employee – been working at Pepsi MidAmerica full-time

Pros – The people who work at the Effingham depot are among the best I've ever worked with. I can honestly say that if I didn't like my immediate co-workers/management as much as I do, I would have quit long ago.

Cons – Everything else.

The minute that you have to involve Marion in any equasion, expect trouble. From the loading of trucks, to the dreaded Recon department constantly threatening to short your paycheck, everything that involves marion is a nightmare.

Here is an average day as a Pepsi driver now.....

Arrive at 0600. Trailers probably aren't on time. Can arrive as late as 0930. Once you do get started, be prepared to fight the other drivers for a truck that might concievably pass a DOT inspection.

And since you got a late start, all of your customers are mad now, and some of them have cutoff times for deliveries. Heaven help you if you have Wal-Mart on you! And I hope you don't have plans this evening, because getting a 3 hour late start thanks to Marion's incompetance is not a valid excuse to miss an account. Don't bother asking your manager to redispatch it either, because Marion will reprimand both you and your manager for missing said stop.

It is not unusual for a driver to return to the depot as late as 1900....

When you're out on route, depending on your area, your customers will treat you with wildly varying degrees of respect. But they ALL hate Pepsi Midamerica. All of them. Most of them are smart enough to realize that you aren't solely responsible for the poor service. Others... not so much.

Also, your sales rep (the guy who makes the orders that you're delivering), has to reach his sales goals, or he can get fired. So be prepared for some severly overstocked backrooms and angry customers.

Then you have to fill out a stack of paperwork when you get back, and you better pray that everything balances out. They have even started deducting pay for the pallets! And it's really hard to get your PALLET count to balance when -

 A) we leave pallets at some customers, and we may not pick up as much as we leave. It's just the nature of the beast.

And B) The start of day load paperwork from Marion has the wrong pallet count. Every day. 100% of the time. Never seen it right since I started, never heard of it being right from anyone else.

And I haven't even mentioned the fact that they routinely short you actual product as well. So you have to catch and fix every piddly mistake that should have been caught and fixed by the loaders. And if you don't, expect a notice from Recon within a day or so.

Don't even get me started on the equipment either.... Of all the trucks on our lot, I'd say only 50% are safe to drive. And the trailers we get from Marion are a joke. The liftgates barely work. Turn signals work when they want to. Some of their brakes are so badly worn that they would be more useful as hood ornaments. And you can write up DVIR slips all you want - if the truck is capable of running, it won't get serviced.

Advice to Senior Management – Sell the company to PepsiCo. You've had your fun, now take the big check and let some real men come in and do things right.

If you don't want to do that, then my next suggestion is this : Stop treating your employees like thieves. We all live in constant fear of the Recon department, because if anything goes wrong, Marion's first and only response is to dock the driver's pay. I almost got my paycheck docked because a customer closed their business and their last check bounced. How is that my fault??

Pay your employees a livable wage, and knock off all the bullying and scare tactics, and maybe you could actually keep a decent crew. And someday, Pepsi won't be the laughingstock of the DSD industry.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Pepsi MidAmerica full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Hours of work, stready work with no fear of termination unless you complain about treatment

Cons – Treated like a slave, You sign a noncompete that is straight out of the 1920's and uses common knowledge as protected information. Total lack of respect for the employee to quote "Person is not important, just make sure a body can put the product on the shelf".

Advice to Senior Management – Wake up, employees are your most valuable asset. They are the ones that are the face of your company and build relationships with the customer.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Pepsi MidAmerica full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – I cant think of anything..I got free parking, but then my vehicle was vandalized by another employee. Annual Christmas Party/business meeting. Stable long term work.

Cons – Harassment by management on non issues. Management allowed to break rules that are write ups for workers. Management forbid the cleaning out of trucks that were filthy and contaminated...This is unacceptable for a food and beverage producer. I was removed from my job of cleaning out trucks. (not allowed).

Advice to Senior Management – Wake up ,and smell the coffee and dont treat your employees like slaves and take notice to the suggestion box, instead of harassing for valid complaints.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Pepsi MidAmerica full-time for more than a year

Pros – ,i guess maybe one made some good friends because of the way we are equally treated like garbage thank you pepsi

Cons – everything the only people that like their jobs are the ones making money full line vending pay is about 10,000 dollars below the state average for the same job. hours yeah they would like you to work 60 hours a week for 40 hours pay no overtime , no commission its a lie the say keep working it will get better it dont they just keep putting more work on you if you want a life you wont have one here they pay everybody the same it dont matter how hard you work or dont work its all the same so why do any more can not afford the insurance was told by senior management like the third in charge to get insurance were my wife works yeah no bonuses, no profit sharing ,was told i was just a number a sheep they will replace me tomarrow not a big deal then they put on this bull crap face to the public that they are one big family ha ha h ha ha ha

Advice to Senior Management – talk to use we are the heart of this company pay us a fair wage for a fair days work this is not the marines most of us were not in the service thank you for your time but if you dont we will and have talked to a union rep if you are not going to treat use with respect, being honest, dont think we are all dumb some of use are very smart just here because of the economy when it changes most of the smart ones will be gone untill then beware union union union if you wont watch out for us or care for us we will find somebody that will

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Pepsi MidAmerica full-time for less than a year

Pros – Worked with some good people. Turning in a letter of resignation.

Cons – Never know what to expect from management, it seemed to be flavor of the month combined with a propensity of management to continue shooting themselves in the foot. Personally witnessed a trend of losing customers due to lack of concern by upper management. Upper management doesn't have a clue about customer service and communication to prevent problems falls on deaf ears ensuring reactive measures are taken instead of preventative measures.

Advice to Senior Management – Take care of your customers.
Have genuine value of your employees and do not treat them simply as a commodity to be constantly replaced. Analyze your massive turnover rate.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Pepsi MidAmerica

Pros – Good Christmas party although the company picnic was moved out of the area. They claim no layoffs in 75 years. Clean facilities to work in.

Cons – Hardy any benefits at all, pricey insurance and poor treatment by management. Not friendly to empolyee's family. Only 2 weeks vacation per year for as long as you work there. Blackout dates through the summer months. Equipment is filthy and unsanitary for a beverage/food producer.

Advice to Senior Management – Bring in competent and knowledgeable managers. Current management is not functioning effectively. Listen to knowledgeable employees who know whats going on at ground level. Provide sick days and accrued vacation instead of fixed time allocation.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Pepsi MidAmerica

Pros – If you can pass a drug test, don't steal, live within 15 miles of a facility, are a long time local and will give up drinking Coke you will likely be hired. Be ready to start the same day. Paid weekly or semi monthly on a current basis but will be deducted for undelivered items arbitrarily loaded on your truck - depending on whatever rules corporate feels like instituting.

Cons – Work environment - looks good on the outside but downhill from there. Broken equipment, laborious tasks, and a sense that management is always out to get you. Cameras on all work areas. Management is contradictory of each other. Hourly employees generally stay under 90 days, but never any overtime. Salaried team members virtually on call 24/7. Sales team works Saturdays and holidays. Most paid below average with insufficient benefits.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Pepsi MidAmerica

Pros – You have a great opportunity in meeting a diverse range and type of customers. as well as a hands on approach to dealing with issues.

Cons – Senior management does not tolerate creative thinking. They want soldiers that do what they are told. Personal life is secondary to working at PMA and if you have any personal tragedies it may be the end of your career with the company. Ownership only cares about the profit and employees are just cogs in the wheels that can be interchanged at whim. Professionalism is unheard of though management think they are very professional. They suffer from group-think and have no outside experience to compare their organization with (other than the Marine Corp.)

Advice to Senior Management – Sell your franchise back to PepsiCo.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Pepsi MidAmerica

Pros – i get good hrs thats it

Cons – every dam thing i can think of

Advice to Senior Management – very poor management

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Pepsi MidAmerica

Pros – The pay is good but don't get comfortable. You won't enjoy it for too long.

Cons – Presentations worthless. Management only cares about themselves. Ideas fall on deaf ears. Care only for $ & who is accountable. Customer service is a lost art for them but it is definately a high end need for the full line vending they are failing at so brilliantly.

Advice to Senior Management – Listen to the employees. Stop stabbing people in the back. Service their accounts should be their number one job. Not $$.........Good service will reward them with record profits but they need not worry about that. Full line vending will be lost soon.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend