A Seasonal Warehouse Job Experience for Full-Time RVers
After wrapping up a beautiful summer Workamping gig in South Lake Tahoe, Lisa and I started looking for a winter job not too far from where we were already parked. We fired off a few applications to places in California, Oregon, and Nevada, but honestly? Nothing really caught our eye.
That is, until JCPenney’s Distribution Center in Reno, Nevada, reached out. They’d seen our resume on Workamper.com and were actively recruiting RVers for seasonal warehouse jobs during the holiday rush. The timing was right, the pay looked decent, and Reno was just over an hour from Tahoe—so we hit the road.
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Location & First Impressions
We didn’t want to move too far, especially with COVID still lingering in late 2020. Thankfully, Reno, Nevada, fit the bill. It’s close, accessible, and filled with distribution centers—Amazon, JCPenney, and others—which makes it a great winter Workamping hub for full-time RVers.
We crossed our fingers that we wouldn’t see too much snow before our contract ended. Lucky for us, the weather mostly cooperated. We only got one snow day, and the roads were clear by noon.
The JCPenney Distribution Center itself is massive—over 2 million square feet with more than 7 miles of conveyor belts. While the scale was impressive, the tech wasn’t flashy. This was a boots-on-the-ground kind of job: tickets were printed, products picked, and boxes shipped. Good, honest labor.
Our Workamping Roles at JCPenney
We’re flexible workers and happy to jump in wherever needed. Lisa moved around quite a bit her first couple of weeks—picking everything from general clothing and shoes to towels, toys, and jewelry. Her favorite area ended up being toys (and I think she secretly wanted to play with some of them).
I got assigned to stocking, which meant unpacking and organizing over 100 cartons a day. It was physically demanding—lots of squatting, climbing ladders, lifting boxes, and scanning items. I was logging 25,000+ steps a day on my Fitbit, and my legs were toast by the end of each shift.
Sometimes the scanner would tell me to shelve a large item into a tiny location, which made the job a little frustrating. It wasn’t always efficient, but hey—that’s warehouse life.
Prep & Misc Jobs (aka The Tough Stuff)
When things slowed down, we got reassigned. One day we landed in “prep,” and I’ll be real with you—it was awful.
We were prepping heavy kitchenware for stocking. Lisa got stuck with knife sets while I got a workout from dishware boxes. Later that day, we were cramming Sonic Toothbrushes into bubble mailers. Sounds easy, right? Wrong. Those mailers were just barely big enough, and every single one had to be forced in like stuffing a Thanksgiving turkey. It was aggravating and tedious.
We also explored the shipping area on a slow day and accidentally got roped into helping load conveyor belts. The full-timers quietly disappeared, leaving us to do the job solo. Classic.
T-Class – Toys, Shoes & Holiday Chaos
Just before Thanksgiving, JCPenney opened up T-Class, a high-volume area dedicated to fast-selling items like toys and shoes. This ended up being our main gig for the rest of the season.
Each day, we’d get a stack of pick tickets tied to specific rows. We’d fill big red carts with items, take them to packing, and then start all over again. With 10–12 Workampers on duty, we were moving 4,500+ items per day. It was go-go-go from the moment we clocked in.
T-Class was high energy but efficient, and we appreciated the rhythm once we found our groove.
Schedule and Hours
We started with a sweet schedule: four 10-hour days (5:00 am to 3:30 pm) with three days off. Plenty of time to relax, explore Reno, or rest our sore feet.
But as the holidays approached, the game changed.
A couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, I was asked to work five days a week. Then right after Black Friday, we worked 12 straight 10-hour shifts without a single day off—followed by another stretch of seven more 10-hour days. Whew.
Pay, Campground Stipend & Benefits
Here’s what the 2020 Workamper pay package looked like:
- $16/hour (included a $1/hour COVID bonus)
- $100 weekly campground stipend
- Pay dropped to $15/hour after Dec 26—but we were long gone by then.
As for benefits, JCPenney gave us access to some seasonal options. Lisa checked into healthcare, but only dental and vision were available. I’ve got Tricare through military retirement, so I didn’t dig too deep.
What to Expect in Reno
If you’re thinking of taking a similar seasonal job:
- It gets cold in Reno. A heated water hose is a must-have for winter RV living. We use this one on Amazon.
- The elevation and weather are manageable, but snow is always a risk.
- Plenty of RV parks and campgrounds nearby, but spots can fill up quickly during the holidays.
- Bonus: You’re just over an hour from Lake Tahoe if you want to ski, snowshoe, or escape to the trees on your days off.
Final Thoughts: Would We Do It Again?
Absolutely—under the right circumstances.
The job wasn’t easy. It was hard on the body, and some days felt endless. But the pay was solid, the housing stipend helped a lot, and the team at JCPenney was professional and friendly. If you’re a full-time RVer looking for seasonal income during the holidays, this is a gig worth considering.
And if JCPenney’s not your thing, Reno also has an Amazon Distribution Center and other warehouse jobs that might fit the bill.
There are jobs all over the country looking for full-time RVers like us to come work for them for a few weeks, a season, or longer. Regardless of how much you’ve saved to start the RVing adventure, you may likely need or want to supplement your income while on the road. You can easily do this with just a little creativity, a lot of flexibility, and an adventurous spirit with regard to jobs for RVers and Workamping! Workamping can be a great way to travel and see the country while earning a living along the way. We highly recommend giving it a try.
Learn about Workamping here. If you sign up, there is a box where the new member can enter our name and number as the person who referred them. Please put that Rob & Lisa Member Number: 212855 referred you. You’ll get a great deal on the subscription, and we’ll get a small commission. Thank you.
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Hi, I’m thinking of working at JC Penney’s this October, Just wondering what campground you stayed at and if you liked it. Thanks for any info.
Hi there, Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, it’s been a busy summer. We stayed at Sparks Marina. It’s the nicest park we found in the area. We thought about going back this year but they have made some changes where they now charge for dogs. We have 2 so it was going to add a lot to the cost for us. We’ve now decided to go to Texas for the winter but we would have looked at Bordertown RV Park if we came back. Best wishes!, Rob