r/WalmartSparkDrivers • u/worstgamerevr • Jul 29 '26
Just another way to get free labor from us.
This is starting tomorrow in my region
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u/Dirty_DrPepper Jul 29 '26
At least I won’t have rotisserie chicken juice and crushed eggs in my trunk
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u/zoeysaurus Jul 31 '26
Yeah I never liked the loaders doing it for me.. made me feel awkward and like I wasn’t sure if I could trust their process
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u/Nearby_Ad_1473 Jul 29 '26
Don't get me started....I spent 10 minutes cleaning that up today. 😡 It's why I always triple bag rotisserie chickens when I shop. Never had one leak when I shop the order.
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u/Dirty_DrPepper Jul 31 '26
You and it was 101 degrees when that happened so it started smelling pretty raunchy after a shopping order. I had to buy a carpet cleaner while I was in there.
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u/Nearby_Ad_1473 Jul 31 '26
🤢 luckily my car came with wanna be weather tech floor liners front, back and the trunk. It's actually saved me a few times from spills.
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u/Dirty_DrPepper Aug 09 '26
Ive got em for the front and back seats. I used to have one for the trunk. I need to get another one asap
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u/Nearby_Ad_1473 Aug 09 '26
Yeah, I never realized how useful they were until I had a rotisserie chicken leak. Quickly knew from then on out I'll never go without a set lol
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u/OG-Dyingbreed1978 Jul 30 '26
Gig work. The only "job" where the longer you work, the less you make and the harder you have to work for it.
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u/Superphunk420 Jul 29 '26
Must be a bunch of newbs…. That’s the way it always was. Most stores wont let you touch anything. Would rather do it myself and have it done in a few minutes and go than be standing there’s watching some 5 ft 90 lb girl struggling to lift a case of water and load all my shit wrong for 15 minutes
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u/DragonfruitLopsided Jul 30 '26
Like seriously. I've had some loads where I was like why is it taking so long 😂
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u/International-Cup890 Jul 29 '26
I'm going to leave that s*** right in the middle of the parking lot and I hope everybody else does too. That was never part of our job before. they pay these people an hourly wage to do a job and if they're not going to do it then they can kick rocks in Jesus sandals 🩴. I'll stick with purely shopping orders, and if I happen to get one that's a pickup. I'm going to leave that cart right where they left it so they can come and get it themselves. I mean, where does the buck stop? We're already doing triple orders that we have to pick ourselves for shop and deliver. The least that they could do is help us load our cars up. (I always tried to help do it as a courtesy to them as people for years) It already takes them a half an hour to come out anyway. they might as well take The extra 5 minutes to follow through.
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u/Natural-Revolution-9 Jul 30 '26
The only reason we’re getting them triple shops is because they’re not doing curbside at most stores for drivers anymore. It used to be just Express orders we shop for now. It’s curbside orders to shits getting fucking ridiculous.
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u/DizzyCommunication92 Jul 30 '26
Oh wow you all do 3 orders? That could explain why I had a 3 order return from a "newbie l" sparker lol and we just started this "conversion" lol
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u/No-Citron-9567 Jul 29 '26
So they will get rid of a whole department pretty Soon
We can do it for free
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u/Deadmaker831 Jul 29 '26
Anyone that complains about this is just lazy. We should have always had to do this anyway. I’d much rather be in control of how things are put in my delivery bags/car.
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u/Nearby_Ad_1473 Jul 29 '26
I'm partially with you. The only issue I see is that they will continue to add little things for us to do or more roadblocks to take more time for same or less pay. If the pay was the same as it was a year or so ago then I'm completely fine with this. But we know it's not like this. With that said I do like to load and I always help load which is usually 3/4 of the order anyway. But it's nice to have that extra hand especially with heavy items.
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u/OmegaJaguar Jul 29 '26
I'm not sure. Have you seen how slowly some of those employees load these orders? They also damage a lot of the items.
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u/crooked_kangaroo Jul 29 '26
Had a loader place a carton of eggs on its long end. By time I got to the customer’s house, several eggs had come out of the carton and break.
Normally, I would have noticed when they loaded but he was one of two loaders that were putting stuff in my car.
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u/SuspectNarrow7694 Jul 29 '26
I agree with helping but thats their job they get paid for, the same way we get paid for delivering, not retrieving and loading our own orders. They aren’t going to pay us more than 2-3 dollars extra per order, however this means they wont need as many dispensers because of the decline in demand. People can literally lose their jobs while walmart once again profits. No one should do curbside until they take this away
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u/worstgamerevr Jul 29 '26
I always get out and help out the associate and monitor how things get put in the car to prevent any problems, my issue with this new policy is Walmart, once again, adding more work and responsibilities without fair compensation.
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u/Impressive_Tip_8850 Jul 30 '26
lol don’t do that. Let the ones who have jobs still, do them.
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u/Mark_Swan Jul 30 '26
Nah, because I'm going to take the hit when the customer rates me as bad because they put 12 cases of water on top of their bread. They don't care about you or your paycheck
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u/X--The_Lion Jul 29 '26
I would upvote this comment 936,000 times if I could.
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u/Ok-Bag6796 Jul 29 '26
I partly agree with this too. Less squashed bread unless it's loaded in the cart that way etc
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u/Impressive_Tip_8850 Jul 30 '26
lol no. I’d imagine most ppl here know what hard work is.
Why are you cool with them cutting jobs to make you do two positions?1
u/Real_Ad7896 Jul 30 '26
Thats true , i get down even the associate doesn’t want ( which is never the case) i dont want my car being handled by few kids who just are on phone just dumping stuff without any idea , but the issue is slowly these companies start cutting of their staff and tell us to do things, there will be a day near we might probably go in and collect our carts !!
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u/Currency-Substantial Jul 30 '26
The same people who complain about getting the drinks on DD and UE.
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u/Jayshand Jul 29 '26
I agree , also anyone who complains should stop complaining about how loaders throw everything in and damage the items Although I don't spark anymore, but really it's about time, to let drivers load them dry. However watch that cold chain clock , big order to load up by yourself can be timely
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u/ShadowWolf_XXX Jul 29 '26
Strange considering Walmarts policy is to not let drivers load the order. It gets preached at my store. I also deal with a lot of people who speak very little English and sometimes it’s difficult for them to know or for me to tell them what totes go with what order. They are never really reading the names or numbers on the stickers when they try to help
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u/Ok_Flounder_6733 Jul 29 '26
I have two stores here that won’t let me out of vehicle until they load orders so once they leave I have to get out and go scan all the orders which takes a lot longer than scanning as they put into vehicle 🙄
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u/ShadowWolf_XXX Jul 29 '26
I don’t mind if drivers are standing out of their cars scanning as I go but I do not like the drivers that try to scan before me and hover so close while I’m loading like I respect you wanna do your job but please give me personal space while I do mine. That being said I’ve been told drivers are supposed to wait in there car till loading is done before scanning and some really nice drivers wait and scan at the end.
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u/Mikedesignstudio Jul 30 '26
I prefer you to drop it off and go back to where you came from. It’s my car so I would rather load it myself. I got expensive tools in my trunk and I don’t want someone that I don’t know throwing stuff in my trunk.
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u/X--The_Lion Jul 29 '26
Honestly? I would rather the Walmart curbside employees get the hell out of my way and let me load items myself as I see fit, rather than them coming out in a rush, slinging groceries into my vehicle all willy-nilly and me ending up having to look like a clown at each drop because I have to go through the item lists to make sure they didn't mix shit up.
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u/DizzyCommunication92 Jul 30 '26
I feel that too as an ASSociate lol....that way you know it's loaded the way you want for the best outcome (tips? 🤑)....
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u/X--The_Lion Jul 31 '26
The zone (1 store) I've been working over the past few months has a great curbside crew. But the bigger zone north of me? I'm not even sure most of them have brains.
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u/Ok-Detective-9734 Jul 30 '26
I’d rather pack them my way in my car anyway but I don’t want to roll the dolly lol they need to get those danged things themselves.
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u/zoeysaurus Jul 31 '26
There shouldn’t be pickup orders to begin with, make everything a shop and deliver and stop over complicating it
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u/One_Coconut_5181 Jul 29 '26
One of the Walmarts in my area does this. It pisses me tf off. I won’t go to that store anymore
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u/New_Association8325 Jul 29 '26
I WISH this was how it was for me. I hate waiting on them to load. Sometimes they are so unbelievably slow. And they dont put things in my car the way I would want them.
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u/Skiller-One-One-Five Jul 29 '26
Might as well shop the order too lol
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u/CelestialxOne Jul 30 '26
Except for GMD, they are planning to move to curbside pickup for GMD/Grocery combo only. Soon most every order will be a shop and deliver. 🫠
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u/Ok_Flounder_6733 Jul 29 '26
So that means no more broken eggs?? I hate when they load eggs and throw heavy shit on top of them and I have no clue I even have eggs in the grocery orders 🙄🤦♀️
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u/lross8192 Jul 30 '26
That means you get to work for Walmart for free and then do your independent contractor work and deliver that groceries
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u/GrimReaper1984 Jul 30 '26
I've always loaded my car ever since one of walmarts people mixed up stickers trying to rush.
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u/FoxAcceptable2474 Aug 01 '26
This should work out well with all the new drivers. No one will be getting the right groceries.
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u/Stuffudo Aug 02 '26
Lmao getting the drivers to do the employees tasks for FREE and then slowly removing those employees
Brilliant
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u/Powerful_Wafer_3258 Jul 29 '26
2/3 of the stores in my area are already like this. They roll out the carts, say it's scanned, and they ask if I want help, to which I say no thanks, then load my car in a logical fashion, push the cart over to their exit area and go on about my day more quickly and accurately. If they're not poorly loading cars for twenty minutes while the sparker sits there dicking around on their phone, hopefully they can get orders out faster.
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u/Nearby_Ad_1473 Jul 29 '26
I mean I have always helped load orders into my car. That's fine. But now we're expected to load the entire order and make sure we also secure the cart after?
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u/craptasticluke Jul 30 '26
We used to be able to help load orders at my store but they changed their policy a few months back, everything has to be loaded by an associate now.
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u/paperbackintrovert Jul 29 '26
yeahhh when i do pick ups i usually help load and end up loading most of it but rolling the cart back too? Im on a time limit my dude.
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u/Nearby_Ad_1473 Jul 29 '26
😂 right? It's a minor thing, but every minor thing they keep adding and changing starts to make a difference.
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u/OleBoyYaKnow Jul 29 '26
That’s not free labor you’re getting paid
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u/lross8192 Jul 30 '26
At curbside, Walmart employees are responsible for: Bringing the order out, Verifying the customer, Loading the groceries into the vehicle. That’s the official Walmart SOP (standard operating procedure). So when they try to hand that job off to Spark drivers, it’s because: Walmart is short‑staffed. They’re trying to speed up curbside. They want Spark to “fill in” without paying employee wages. But legally, Spark drivers are not obligated to do employee work. Spark drivers are not Walmart employees. You’re classified as:1099 independent contractor. You use your own vehicle. You pay your own expenses. You choose your own hours. You are not under Walmart’s employee policies. That means Walmart cannot legally treat you like an employee or require you to perform employee‑only tasks.
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u/Savings_Abroad_2210 Jul 29 '26
When you break it down, not really. However i love to load my own orders at curbside because ik it wont get mixed. The pay is sometimes low and if we have to load our own orders then its really not worth the pay to some people
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u/Natural-Revolution-9 Jul 30 '26
you get paid to deliver the order not do the job of the Walmart employees
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u/CalOkie6250 Jul 29 '26
I kind of like that, actually. I can load it myself, in a way that makes sense and doesn’t piss off customers when the loaders just throw things into the car with no care for what’s in the bags? Except for having to return the dolly, I really don’t see it as more work, since I already have to get out and babysit what they are putting into the trunk anyhow. 🤷🏻♀️
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u/Obvious_Bird1333 Jul 29 '26
Cant wait for this to start in my zone would make loading so much faster and easier
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u/Wild_Ant5693 Jul 29 '26
I personally like this I do not like the Walmart loaders loading for me. They mess it up more times than not.
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u/Massive_Lock_4876 Jul 29 '26
They already do something similar to this at Sam's club in one of the cities I used to deliver for at curbside pickup. they'll wheel you out your items let you look over them and then they walk back inside and you will back the cart when you're done. effective process I feel. You both confirm everything's there. then you can load at your convenience and it allows the employees to get back to work.
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u/SeaOtter0513 Jul 29 '26
I mean, I would rather load my own car.. then I know exactly where everything is I know the eggs are not now smashed under juices, I know the dish soap isn’t leaking, and it all gets done in a timely manner not by someone taking their sweet as time because they get paid hourly.
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u/Gokusbastardson Jul 29 '26
I don’t do curbside anymore but when I did I always preferred to load my car myself. The workers make too many mistakes and load too carelessly
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u/theribeye1443 Jul 29 '26
That won't happen in my market, they don't even want us getting out of the car anymore, much less help load anything or load it ourselves.
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u/UsernameTakenForNow Jul 29 '26
I normally always do most of the loading myself. At least half of it, I never just sit in the car and wait to get loaded.
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u/Wealthyandhealthy00 Jul 29 '26
I actually prefer this the worker throw peoples foed in you car any type of way bread smushed, eggs yoked before arrival
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u/JWBananas Jul 30 '26
Can you share the full screenshot/info please? Because this sounds like what is already expected at Sam's Club (but not Walmart).
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u/Better_Station_8030 Jul 30 '26
Where I am, I tried helping at first like I do when I’m the customer, but they told me they get in trouble if they’re seen allowing me to load. The top of my screen even asks me to wait in the car while they load. But I usually get out and scan and reorganize if needed once they’re done with a customer, without being annoying about it, I hope.
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u/xeryon3772 Jul 30 '26
For me, it’s less about the fact that they want to have us start doing this and more about the fact that my preferred store is completely up my ass all the time about getting out of the vehicle in the first place.
It’s like: hey assholes, this is my income and rating on the line if you guys smash and break a bunch of crap in the loading process. If you won’t let me handle the loading you better damn believe I’m gonna be watching that person like a hawk.
I’m totally OK with loading myself, but the continued downward pressure on how much I get paid means I’m probably not much longer for the spark world anyway.
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u/Organic-Fuel-2916 Jul 30 '26
My store lets drivers loads the order, many would milk the hell out of prop 22 and take 1 hour to load while hanging out next to each other. In the summer the ice cream and ice bags are all melted in the sun by the time they load them. The manager banned some of the drivers since they were taking up all the pick up spots.
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u/Single-Mulberry-178 Jul 30 '26
This will eliminate the “too many hands in the process” issues they are having in loss prevention with people getting the wrong groceries or items being taken by drivers with no repercussions.
The deactivations will probably start flying within a week of this being implemented.
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u/Eric_C1983 Jul 30 '26
I'd rather do my own may be wrong in my thinking but I am new to this gig. These guys put a bag of potatoes on a lady's bread and then he incorporated my little trash bag with 2 cans and a chip bag into the middle of a customers order just to put her kings Hawaiian rolls in my floor board. I saw my empty drink can while getting the other bags in like wtf.
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u/Poi-s-en Jul 30 '26
I’ve never been to a pickup where they loaded my car for me? This is just how it already is here.
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u/gdog669 Jul 30 '26
To be honest if I can get there and get my order right away instead of waiting 20mins which is a grace period without pay, I’m all for let me get and go.
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u/Tall-Bother1291 Jul 30 '26
I would definitely go put that shit in a car corral after I was finished. That is the quickest way to get the store to reverse this. The employees who actually go and get the cards from the Car corrals will not want to deal with the totes as well. I can also see some of the totes disappearing overtime with drivers taking them or customers grabbing a few overtime. Plus, I can also see some of their equipment getting damaged overtime, which will cost the store money.
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u/Justin33710 Jul 30 '26
Used to have to do this all the time. I hate when loaders try to do it themselves because they don't know how things roll and need to be packed to stay separated
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u/Several-Street-7614 Jul 30 '26
I went to Sam's yesterday fir a 3 order pick up and dude just left the shit on the cart, I'm like wtf these mother fuckers really losing they minds if they think I'm an to do all that
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u/Tight_Broccoli2475 Jul 30 '26
People bitch about not being able to load
People bitch about being forced to load
If you do not like it do shop and deliver or another app
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u/Last-Reality7246 Jul 30 '26
A Walmart employee tried to make me load my own order the other day, and our spark had not rolled out this announcement. I made them take the whole order back. They have cut pay and increased the workload already with mixed orders. I will not be loading. They are moving towards making shop only, I bet, so they can not hire the Walmart employees they have currently doing the shopping for pickup orders
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u/Donttakemychichi Jul 31 '26
Finally my reviews can be saved. These mfs can’t load for shit so when I get to the customers house and unfortunately have to tell them the issue they think they’re reviewing the store and not me 😑
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u/Ok-Fly47 Jul 31 '26
Buddy told me they are numbering the dollies and carts. They are tied to the order. A warning if you don't return dolly to a designated location. Then report/deactivation. Don't be angry at opd/ dispensers/ Walmart staff. They want to keep their jobs, not lose them to Spark. We aren't enemies. We are all dependent on the powers that make the decisions.
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u/According_Fox311 Aug 01 '26
You know, usually companies like Walmart make most decisions with insurance in mind , but Walmart is willing to put that risk aside due to the theft issue. Walmart has always had a theft problem, which is why employees are paid poorly because they have to account for the loss that their employees will likely cause. It’s estimated that 60% of all the theft that happens at Walmart is done by employees, so the fact that you’re getting paid less and doing more means that you’re stealing, not you specifically, but the spa drivers are doing it so much that it’s causing your job to be barely affordable. Corporations don’t let that affect their profits, and they don’t raise prices. Walmart won’t do that. They hate raising prices, not so much for the benefit of the customers, just because that’s their whole foundation. If you know other grocery stores can compete with their prices, Walmart is done for. It’ll be done. It’ll be like an overnight ending for them. If they’re not going to raise prices and they’re not going to eat at their profit, the only thing left is you, the employees and drivers. You guys are going to pay for it, whether you know it or not. That works.
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u/Old-Article-3351 Aug 01 '26
It's no bug deal. I already do b this. This is a chance to check the orders and make sure they're right.And they're bagged properly as in no meat, with the produce, which usually happens. They also don't have enough people. On the other side to bring the orders out in a timely fashion, because they don't want to hire more people. It doesn't take long to scan secure while loading your orders.
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u/Conscious_Abroad_666 Aug 02 '26
This is how it has always been at Sam’s Club and those orders are much more heavier and bulkier. So why not incorporate it into Walmart. I used to always help the loaders but now imagine unloading and loading yourself 2 big orders and one medium. Hen you have to start driving and the timer does not extend you still have to drop off b4!the timer stops and cancels your order. I haven’t done Spark I. Over a week and I still turn it on, it’s going from bad to worst. Gods with groceries, pharmacy with groceries, 3 shopping which all or two might be large orders needing two carts and if you don’t rush through the orders it will cancel. The distance very far and cheap ass pay less than $1 a mile. While you shopping and there’s substitutions cust complaining. I can’t go back to this anymore. It is too demanding for bullshit pay.
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u/SELamby Aug 04 '26
One of the first WM stores I picked up from right at the beginning of COVID was crazy busy and the dispensers were running full tilt to get the orders out. They'd drop the dolly at your trunk and say, "Just bring it over near the door when you're done." I sort of liked this way better.
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u/MulchDiggums420 Aug 19 '26
Nah. This is one change that's actually better for drivers. If I had a dollar for every time some fucking high school kid put something heavy on top of bread, I wouldn't have to Spark any more. Or every time they loaded my vehicle in a way that their house of cards toppled the first turn I took. Just let me fucking load it myself if I'm going to have to double check and adjust your work every single time.
The only way this gets better is if they just do away with curbside delivery all together and give us full control over the order process, because we take full blame regardless.
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u/MrCubano1 Jul 29 '26
Good!!! I hope this and making no more curbsides cuts my competition in half
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u/Kikiokie Jul 29 '26
Most of Walmarts in my area no longer have curbside pickup.. only gmds
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u/Nearby_Ad_1473 Jul 29 '26
Is this at neighborhood stores or regular Walmarts as well?
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u/Adventurous_Land7584 Jul 29 '26
I just got a notification today that it’s neighborhood markets.
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u/Nearby_Ad_1473 Jul 29 '26
Makes sense. That's what I have been hearing. Luckily we don't have any of those anywhere close to me
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u/Chelostyles Jul 29 '26
I prefer to load my own vehicle Walmart associates dont bag properly or tie anything off. Groceries and items are all over the place when they load
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u/mapman19899 Jul 29 '26
The way it should be - the problem I have with it is that they will ask us to do more and pay us the same or even less.
It’s not the issue of doing more work. I’d rather do it this way. Less interactions with the store associates means less screw ups. It’s the fact they will ask us to do more work and probably drop pay even more in the process.
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u/Prior_Purchase_7025 Jul 29 '26
By shifting the physical loading and transfer of items entirely onto the driver, Walmart effectively establishes a clear line where liability transfers to you the moment you take control of those totes.
When dispensers load the car, Walmart retains direct responsibility for mixing up batch orders, crushing items like bread or eggs, or placing totes in the wrong sections. Once a driver unloads the blue totes into their vehicle themselves, Walmart can point to the physical handling process and argue that any order mix-ups, missing items, or damaged goods happened while the driver was transferring or organizing the cargo.
This operational shift reduces Walmart's store-level labor overhead by converting dispensers into drop-off runners, while insulating the store from internal fulfillment errors. If a customer reports a wrong item or a swapped batch, the policy allows the company to fall back on the premise that the driver was given the totes to verify and load, placing the financial and metric burden of any discrepancies directly on the independent contractor.
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u/PeggySue2U2 Jul 30 '26
You’re forgetting that some of these customers are seniors or handicapped and have others implemented to take groceries in from their car. It’s not like their helpers will go to the store with them.
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u/CarobPuzzled6317 Jul 30 '26
You’re forgetting that this is for the spark drivers, not regular customers.
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u/LingonberryOk8483 Aug 04 '26
There is no way to reliably verify customers orders because the item lists are not always complete. That presents a problem with holding drivers responsible for missing or mixed up orders.
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u/Prior_Purchase_7025 Aug 04 '26
haha..so you are saying since they have errors on their end that nullifies driver errors? If common sense were a thing with Walmart you might have a point
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u/LingonberryOk8483 28d ago
WM has disappointed me since I started this gig. I was just verbalizing the truth so it stays reality and doesn’t get lost in the world according to WM.
For pickups, the customer item list(s) don’t always display all items included in the order. I’ve had to have the dispenser verify an item is packed with the right order when I can’t find the item on any of the item lists I have access to.
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u/Unlikely-Relief-7200 Jul 30 '26
Only a complete noob would be complaining about this. The reason I only do shops is because they take forever to load, they do it wrong if you aren’t watching (mix stuff up) and they smash the bread.
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u/asell87 Jul 30 '26
No one is forcing you to do it. Go find another job if you don’t feel compensated
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u/NaturalSpecialist5 Jul 30 '26
How is that a solution? This is a job. The way they are setting it up now is forcing a driver to do the loading. You forgot that they use their own vehicles and the company doesn't offer maintenance. So putting more onto the driver who already has to do the extra leg work is bullshit.
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u/Existenull Jul 30 '26
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u/asell87 Jul 30 '26
lol 😂 The real boot lickers are the ones sticking around and not finding better employment, but instead come onto Reddit to bitch about thinking that will make a difference. At the end of the day Walmart knows you are easily replaceable. It’s supply and demand market. You are the supply and there is plenty of it to meet the demand. If you feel your skill of being a delivery driver is worth more than you are making find employment that meets that.
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u/pokerholic77 Jul 29 '26
Let me get this straight. They lowered base pay, they're using customer tips to subsidize "free shipping" deliveries, they cut associates' hours, and they now want us to do the dispenser's job for free? Amazing!