Typical Day:
show up at work, earlier arrivals gets the "better/faster" machine. But wastes about 5min of unpaid time to get machine, get pallet, before you get to actually time in since the clock-in machine is out of the way. Rest of the day is to pick orders by sticking labels onto product, stack them onto pallet, hand-wrap pallet, put them away, then starts all over again. Time is calculated according to an unrealistic formula ... very hard to meet 100% without sacrificing accuracy/safety.
What I Learned:
Some things never change. Management always strive for speed, and hustles you to work faster... until an accident happens. Then they give a spiel about safety/order accuracy. Many pickers skips their breaks to try to increase their numbers. Unsteady work hours, often becomes longer 11-12 hour day. Dangerous environment, I had instances of high reach or cherry pickers drop boxes or or entire broken pallet very close to where I was picking ... so be very careful. Accidents tends to happen later into the shift, often due to lack of rest and loss of concentration from the longer than anticipated shift. My advice for anyone working here is to take your breaks, don't rush to meet the numbers, because chances are you won't make the numbers even if you do skip your breaks and you'll end up working an 12-hour shift anyways.
Management:
Can't say if it has improved or not. It has been awhile since I left the company.
Co-workers:
For the most part, the co-wor
ProsDecent wages, wage increase at 6month and 1yr, benefits is ok if hired 401k, insurance ... etc.
ConsUnpredictable work hours, mostly longer than anticipated work day.
First of all, you can't promise anyone anything on the days you work because said days are otherwise open-ended. To be fair, I was warned about this before I started. However, I wasn't aware as to how much of a toll this would take on my personal life. If you don't care when you get off work and don't have other obligations, then by all means apply.
Also, the facility I work at is relatively new and everything was set up halfway from the get-go. You would think a company that has been around as long as it has would be able to take the knowledge acquired from previous facilities and apply it to the building and operation of a new warehouse. There's barely enough room for two triple jacks to get through each aisle, making pulling orders a pain in the neck when multiple people have to get through the aisles. Sometimes half the shelves are empty first thing in the morning because no one is taking care of them at night. There is an overnight receiving crew, but they are already there sometimes more than 12 hours a night just making sure all the inbound freight is getting put away.
The starting pay is exceptional for a warehouse job considering the average in this state for such jobs is about $11-12/hr. And, if you are fast enough, there are pay incentives for pulling more than a set number of cases per hour. I've heard complaints from other employees about the incentive not being high enough. This is a dispute that went on between those employees and management and
ProsPay, incentives, reliable co-workers
ConsEveryone out for themselves, rift between employees and management
Great temporary job, far too difficult for longterm. Will get you on your feet.
The job starts out fun and exciting. The pay is very competitive for a job that requires no experience. This will be your day every day.
Show up to the warehouse, clock in, attach a "gladiator" aka mini wrist computer to your arm with a scanner looped around your finger. You will then
-Load two pallets onto your pallet jack
-Grab an order from the warehouse desk "an order will be a deck of tags ranging anywhere from 10-500" taking anywhere from 10 minutes to 3 hours
-Drive a designated path through the warehouse to retrieve the cases indicated on your labels stacking them onto your pallets
-Shrink wrap your properly stacked pallets into their designated locations at shipping.
^ this is separated because you will literally be doing this on repeat for anywhere from 7-15 hours
The management is all new to their positions "witnessed firsthand not just claiming" within their first years. The way you are graded on your performance is based on a system that the managers themselves do not quite understand though they are trained to have an answer to every question about the system. It is far too difficult to maintain the 100% standard the system sets in place for you unless you are either from a strong military background, or simply on "performance enhancement substances" that the management will never acknowledge because these are the people maintaining that percent.
Their drug test is an expired gigantic cotton swab that will absorb nothing and be rendered useless.
T
ProsGood pay. fun job at first
Consjob gets stale very quickly, management is poor, short breaks, unrealistic expectations, poor benefits
So I got a lengthy summary about this place. From the start this company sounded amazing. Long hours. Good pay. Considering for Stockton where most jobs wanna pay $11 or $12 an hour for like 12 hour shifts! When I started here I was making $16.50 working in the cooler and then the freezer a month later. Every day was 12+ hours. But just like anyone else you’ll eventually get tired of working so much and never being at home. The reason for this is because most of your co workers aren’t helpful and lazy. They turn a 15 minute break into a lunch break. Supervisors ignore the problem and don’t say anythig to them! People wouldn’t clock out right away on lunch giving them close to an hour lunch break. Again management wouldn’t say anything but they were aware of the problem. And then everyone wants to complain because it’s 12am and we’re not even done working yet. If management did their job and enforced these policies we could Be out earlier than we were. What do they do instead? They hire like 30 people. Don’t even have enough pallet jacks or gladiators for everyone. Now the hours are finally cut to 8 or 9 a day and people still do cheat the system. I can’t imagine how much money DC33 is wasting on all that stuff . When the problem was that they let the workers do whatever they want. Like I said, now they’re working 8 or 9 hours maybe 10 on a busiest day now. And you still get paid bi weekly for a not so big check now. I got my CDL A and bounced out of this place! The money was
ProsGood pay
ConsLazy co workers, no help or guidance to succeed
Working for KeHE is a confusing thing. It is a great company that prides itself on bringing your whole person to work, being faith friendly, and advancing within your career. The top level leaders are competent, fair, and trustworthy. Anyone below a VP is a different story. My manager, for example. Upper level culture and vision does NOT flow to the middle level directors and managers, leaving junior leaders often confused about expectations or lack of communication before they are suddenly fired. It is common practice to see no feedback given, no efforts to help cultivate junior leaders, and when confronted or questioned, intimidation/wrongful termination in the form of firing intelligent and capable managers occurs. One could say that Directors are threatened by intelligent ideas, all the while acting open to them on the outside. There is ZERO integrity.
Directors and similar go on vacation for weeks at a time, abusing power and company money to no limit, completely unchecked. There is absolutely no class or dignity at this level, they will do anything to get ahead. You may find yourself in a tough spot if you're a dedicated and hardworking employee because most of the directors and managers are toxic and it sometimes feels like they are in charge of your whole work existence so enjoying the company is pretty much impossible once said person trashes your name continually, blackballs you from meetings & social introductions, and publicly humiliates you a couple of times. Ke
Needs alot of work on the life/ work balance, among other things
I've been working here for about 2 1/2 years, my first half was in the warehouse working 12-14 hour days where I picked cases, loaded totes, inventory control, forklift operator, and a plethora of other jobs. All not while being paid any more for doing jobs that weren't mine to do. I did my job and I did it well, so I applied for a lead position. I was passed over for an employee who was a known predator offender and was loved by all production management, who then accepted the job and was subsequently fired for said offender status. So, as long as you can pick 250 cases per hour, they hold bad apples in high regard in most cases. Then I moved to transportation, as KeHE paid for my CDL through the shifting gears program, where after a thorough training from 2 very knowledgeable veteran drivers, I was back to working long days but I find the driving and unloading of product enjoyable if not menial. I enjoy the customers and the experience so far as this is my first driving job, although the dispatch and route creation leaves alot to be desired. DRIVERS DO NOT LIKE WORKING SEVEN DAYS A WEEK. Our management is great, very personal and try to help out in any reasonable way, as they should. The only issue I have with management is that they are often overstepped and outgunned by the dispatcher who thinks he doubles as the director of operations, if that fact were to change then this would be a perfect place to work, but none of us see it changing for the force able future.
ProsHotels on overnights, personable management, newer equipment
Good things--KeHE really believes in its mission, does its best to realize it. Management genuinely cares about employees but cluelessness about tech trumps this too often if you're in a tech role.
Bad--Leadership doesn't understand what technical roles are supposed to do. If you work in IT, data, etc I would not recommend this place as an employer unless you are junior and getting started.
I don't think this is unique to KeHE, but overall it's a pretty bad system if you want to attract talent. Sure, internal politics matter, but you can't let that crowd out basic requirements that employees expect. If the job really is "you basically will do whatever a powerful person wants" just say that in the interview process, if you think it's so common and expected and something your employees just have to put up with.
Because if that's really the case, why not lead with that? If that's how things get done, why pretend you have opportunity for growth and skill development? If "doesn't matter what we say during interview, the reality is your job is whatever the powerful tell you" was truly a system these companies were proud of, they'd simply lead with that during the interview process and let their talent attraction process follow from that. But they don't. Overall felt like a bait and switch.
ProsManagers do their best with 'soft issues', was flexible around PTO, worked on my behalf
ConsSenior leadership don't understand how to use technical employees, way too much politics
I think this is one of the worst jobs I've ever had. Management is hostile and does not support their front line leaders. HR makes situations worse, complaints to HR about how management are treating employees is met with argumentative HR representatives who do not act impartial. There is no follow up from HR to investigate claims of work place hostility or unsupportive management. I've been told multiple times I need to quit by my senior level leaders, I guess this is acceptable communication and attitude for them to have as HR did not feel the hostile work environment was real or that they needed to address that type of communication. There are plenty of companies that actually value their employees and don't tell them they need to quit, there are plenty of companies who do not approve of their management bullying and targeting their employees. KEHE is not one of them. There are plenty of companies who actually do have a way to voice concerns and complaints about hostile treatment in the workplace that DO keep it confidential and DO actually put a stop to that type of management. Apparently there's a "HOTLINE"? Been here for a few years and never heard of this until today in a comment response. Would be nice for KEHE to actually provide this information to their employees. I don't even have an employee handbook.
ConsLow pay, high stress, high pressure, unreasonable expectations, no support from leadership, benefits are also terrible
Very laid back, great job for single person with no responsibilities.
This is a very autonomous job with limited interaction with superiors unless something goes wrong. You have to have excellent self-control or else it is extremely easy to slack off. There are no set start or end times, just recommendations to keep certain stores happy, and because of this your earning potential is truly based on how many stores you can stock each day. But the risk of that is, you may easily get assigned more stores than you can handle in one day if you show you are very fast at stocking. It is an extremely physical job. In the year of working I lost 150 lbs just because of how physical this job is. If you are not in at least a little shape, it will either benefit you or cause serious injury, lol. You have to drive A LOT. Some stores may be an hour away from your home or first store, not factoring in traffic. My direct supervisor was awesome, but very hard to get ahold of at times due to the massive amounts of coverage he had to oversee. I actually hate leaving this job just because my coworkers and my boss were so awesome, but being a single mom, this is not the job for me. I would totally recommend this to someone looking for something to do before they move on to something better.
ProsMake your own hours, okay pay, easy to move up, free weight loss, great people.
ConsCommunication, some weeks might be slow, injury risk, wear and tear on personal vehicle, high risk of being worked to death.
You never know if your job is secure or not. They don't care about their warehouse employees, they claim that kehe is family but what they mean is that they want you to work there all day and night and they don't care about your real family at home or what happens to them, they only care that you show up to work no matter what. No matter the hours, they will push for production numbers that a machine can barely make. While they have so many mis picks so many broken products because they have no organization they just want you to hurry no matter the cost. They have to get their numbers even if the customer doesn't get the right product, or if you are hurt, or sick, just get the production out. The new managers don't have any warehouse experience they don't know the job, they aren't capable to understand how a big warehouse works and don't make the right decisions. They throw away all product that is broken even though half of it is still perfectly good. Example..a 12pk of soda box rips so they throw away all the soda even though 10 of the cans or bottles are still good. They change your hours at the last minute and make you work 14-15 hours, the 401k sucks! the vacations hours suck! They play favoritism, they play with peoples jobs and lives and could care less. This place was a horrible experience. I liked one or two supervisors there but they were let go...how sad
Prosno pros
Consthe whole business
Questions And Answers about KeHE Distributors
What is the work environment and culture like at KeHE Distributors?
Asked Jul 10, 2016
Do not work here.... Highly unorganized, unintelligent supervisors, you are overworked and no consecutive days off! This is for Stockton, CA location.
Answered Oct 31, 2020
It’s great
Answered Jul 22, 2019
Do you get paid weekly or biweekly?
Asked Jan 24, 2017
Hourly is weekly.
Salary is biweekly.
Answered Sep 3, 2020
It was bi-weekly
Answered Jul 22, 2019
How long does it take to get hired from start to finish at KeHE Distributors? What are the steps along the way?
Asked May 15, 2017
Interview Driving test and drug test on your first interview
Answered Aug 27, 2020
I went to their hiring event in Aberdeen Md and was given an offer on the spot.
Answered Sep 2, 2019
How are the working hours at KeHE Distributors?
Asked Jul 2, 2016
Mandatory overtime everyday. They have this incentive program which is nice if you can maintain the same backbreaking pace for 10 to 12 hours.
Answered Feb 28, 2019
Between 10-14 hour days and when its peak season, its pretty much you better camp in the lot because you won't be home. if you want to make money your at the right spot because of all the OT you get everyday pretty much.
Answered Feb 28, 2019
If you were in charge, what would you do to make KeHE Distributors a better place to work?
Asked Feb 15, 2018
I would wipe the slate clean and start hiring more qualify more dedicated employees no matter how long it took. The company needs to invest more time into training individuals who want to transition to the warehousing industry. To constantly hire forklift and warehouse personnel that's always between jobs it's not a good strategy because they never turn out to stay past 60 days.
Answered Nov 17, 2020
Fire the transportation manager and safety manager and hire better ones.
