Kirstee’s passion for engines and trucks helped her land exactly where she wants to be.
Kirstee Kruse joined Walmart in 2018, working as a staple stock receiver at Distribution Center 6709 in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. It was a good job that helped her support her three children, but she wouldn’t exactly call it her passion.
She didn’t know it yet, but Kirstee would eventually discover — and land — her dream job. And it would happen right there at DC 6709.
A now-or-never moment
Kirstee had always loved engines and trucks. She grew up around them, inheriting her passion from her dad — a mechanic and truck driver.
So when she learned that Walmart has its own garages, it got her wheels turning…Could she make her lifelong interest into a career?
After much thought, Kirstee decided it was “now or never.” She enrolled in a diesel technician program and for the next year and half, she spent weekdays at school, weekends at Walmart and hours every day on the road — shuttling her kids to daycare and driving to school or work.
Her incredible 120-mile daily commute came to an end in July 2020 when Kirstee completed the diesel tech program.
Something new and different
She started as a preventive maintenance technician working on trailers then moved into a repair technician role, performing scheduled maintenance like oil changes and filter replacements — and she fell in love with her job!
"There's a feel-good when a driver comes to you and appreciates the work you've done on their truck to keep it running,” Kirstee shares. "There's something about it that I just love."
But her favorite days are when something unexpected rolls in. “I really like doing anything outside of a normal service, like something different that we don't work on very often,” she says. “Maybe a water pump is going out on the truck or it’s a problem we have to work on solving. I love when we get to do something new and different.”
And when it comes to taking on new and different things, Kirstee’s an expert. She’s currently working toward Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) Master Certification, which involves passing seven exams covering all aspects of heavy-duty diesel repair. She’s definitely not one to idle in neutral.
For now, you’ll find Kirstee in the garage at DC 6709, working on Walmart’s private fleet, maybe standing on a tire or tucked in behind it to reach a repair. “If I don't have to reach too high in the engine, once I open the hood of a truck, I can fit between the frame and the tire to get closer to it,” she explains.
“I really, really love what I do,” she says. “Working on trucks was always where I wanted to be.”
