Costco Van Buren Distribution Depot — Local services in Van Buren Charter Township

I was the second guy here at 4 PM yesterday. Second guy in line this morning at 0500 hours.

And to be duped, the pager they gave me says door 143 the number 143. Why wouldn't that make you think to go to door 143 as my flashers were there waiting for them to move the trailer? The guy driving the truck in the yard and knocks on my door and acts like I'm supposed to know that that's the pager number . I don't understand it now I slowly drove in front of all everybody trying to get in their doors back to the bullpen getting in their way, trying to make it back to the bullpen. Please change this. Why would you put a number on the pager? Makes people think that that's the door. Yes, I'm a little frustrated. Yes, I've been awake since 0440 hours preparing to get in the door a lot of hustle here for nothing. It made me part of the problem today. I don't like that.

Please take note there's a number on the pager. I guess it's a number. It doesn't mean you're at a door and it's lit up like you're at a door. Go figure.

All right now I'm in the bullpen back to waiting again.

0759 hours update I guess you're supposed to pull into a lane and they cut your seal off once your buzzer starts buzzing mine today was 203. Yes the difference between this place in West Palm Beach Florida and other Costco's. I've been to they cut it off in an aisle you open your doors and you're ready to back in your door depending on the temperature outside this sometimes can work if it's temperature sensitive that could be a problem. I've been at the door now For a half hour. One skid has to be unloaded. My doors would've been open the whole time.

I believe Costco has a good system, but the thing is they're not cutting the seal off at the gate. That is the key. Just have somebody out there cutting the seal off and checking the seal while other people check the paperwork in.

This is the longest I've ever been at Costco. I've never never been to this Michigan one the yard dog guy had a attitude I found out he's the skinny one he would not even tell me where 203 was after earlier. I was waiting at door 145 which I thought was door no it was the pager number. Wait for your pager to buzz

Thank you darling and the gentleman that cut my Seal off for taking note that I was frustrated. We are out here some of us trying to do a good job and be efficient and not be in the way I was able to turn around and get in my door pretty easy

Thank the Lord, I have never started my clock yet. I'd be screwed.

By the way DeAndre as I was on my way, looking for the bathroom was taking a break outside. He acknowledged that I was a truck driver and pointed. The bathroom is down at the end without me even asking. And when I was coming back, deborah was checking on me to make sure my load got unloaded. She is out directing traffic. She cares about making things work like the other people do except for the Dolly driver with the attitude lol...

Costco, in general, already sets the gold standard when it comes to reefer/grocery deliveries. At no Costco DC ever have I been there long enough to even be eligible for detention pay. This particular location stands out even more than the other Costco DCs that I've been to.

As usual, the check-in process is very quick and easy. They have a staging lot straight behind the guard shack, though I don't know how early before appt time they'll let you into there. I did see several drivers walking their bills up to the shack from the staging lot while I was coming in though.

One of my huge pet peeves about other truckers is how they block through lanes to open or close their trailer doors while docking in or out. At this Costco, that won't happen. In the crossover area that separates the staging lot from the dock doors, there are 3 lanes. It is mandatory for all trucks to stop in this area and open their trailer doors before they are even allowed to proceed to the dock area. That means no possibility of getting held up from getting to or from your dock door because some inconsiderate drivers don't care at all about what you have going on.

Dock area has enough space that all dock doors should be able to get straight back setups into. Even the door that I docked into most recently was able to get me a straight back setup in spite of the fact the Costco yard mules were parked straight across from my assigned door.

As for BOLs...the guard shack will put your bills in a sleeve. Just throw the sleeve into the back of the trailer while opening your trailer doors, then bump the dock. When unloading is complete, the unloader will put your bills back into the trailer. In my case, the unloader was even so considerate that they took care to leave my load locks at the back corner of the trailer so I could easily grab them without climbing in after docking out. They also used one of my load locks to secure the BOL sleeve. It may seem trivial, but to me...that's great attention to detail that impressed me. And to make the experience even better, I was only in the dock door for 35 minutes before my buzzer started going off telling me to dock out.

I will very gladly come back to this DC as often...

These people have the best setup I've seen for this large of a place. Great job, thank you CostCo. For checkin just remain in the left lane and pull forward. Someone will come out level with your window to grab your BOL. They'll quickly go in and get you a sort of transponder box that will say, "GO TO DOOR #" Pull forward and to the left and there's some stop signs. It's easy to miss, but painted on the ground there is, OPEN DOORS, this is where you'll open your doors and a good time to place your bills in the back of the truck, which are now in a plastic sleeve from checkin. I had plenty of room to maneuver. Is NOT necessary to slide tandem. 1hr and 37min later my transponder beeped, flashed red and now said, "unload complete, proceed to checkout." Pull grab your bills out of the back, close one door and proceed to checkout which is the same procedure. They want you to have the bills out of the sleeve, which you will hand to them and return transponder. That's it. A camera will check the inside of trailer. There's a lot of traffic here. As you pull forward, pull to either side where you can find a spot to close your door and turn your reefer off lol. Y'all be careful, and have...