Ask a Feeder Driver, Feeder Driver FAQ

[barnyard]

1 of the hubs that I drive into has feeder guys that had less than 2 years of company seniority. Really does depend on the building.

 

[over9five]

We have 3 off the street Feeder drivers with about a year seniority now. It really does depend where you are!

 

[Coldworld]

Yep.

Even though it would not be linked to the rental tractor, the GPS in the phone can keep track of miles and locations when stopping for a break or meal.

Should not have to run a log or paper time card with the new phone/IVIS.

I thought the dot was going to start requiring drivers to be on some kind of electronic logs????

 

[Coldworld]

Yes you have to go to feeder school and you will be surprised how much you will learn even though you have been driving for 8 years. UPS feeder training is very good.

Regarding how long it will take to get into feeder, it depends on your hub. At our hub it takes an average of 5-8 years. sometimes more, sometimes less depending on economic conditions.

But every hub is different. It's best that you ask some of the senior drivers. Check the last person on the feeder list and see how many years they have with the company. also look at the list and see how often new feeder drivers were added.

Your best bet is ask feeder drivers at your hub.

Ups feeder training is good.... I have learned so much from other drivers and from watching in the yard than anything else....yes there driving methods and space and visibility are good but the training???? We only backed a zzz once during training...wth???

 

[olroadbeech]

Ups feeder training is good.... I have learned so much from other drivers and from watching in the yard than anything else....yes there driving methods and space and visibility are good but the training???? We only backed a zzz once during training...wth???

My training was excellent and I already had 12 plus years under my belt from other trucking companies. My trainer was top notch. Rick K. from Redding .CA. Most drivers from there will agree.

like I said , every hub is different but I have heard a lot of drivers agreeing that UPS feeder training is very good. I agree , you can only learn so much in 2 weeks of training and most of what you will learn is from experience and from other drivers.

Ask drivers who were trained like I was from truck driving schools and trucking companies that do their own training. UPS training is better than just about anything else out there. One exception is the training that our on roads go through in Chicago. From what I heard in truck stops , Landstar training is excellent. There are others of course that may be as good as UPS or better.

Overall , our training is very good compared to most.

 

[Mugarolla]

I thought the dot was going to start requiring drivers to be on some kind of electronic logs????

They are. But there are exceptions.

If the electronic device fails, you can still run using a paper log.

Rental units, I believe, can be run without an electronic log if they are run for short periods of time.

UPS sometimes installs a temporary IVIS in rentals, but with the phone version, there will be nothing to install.

 

[Coldworld]

They are. But there are exceptions.

If the electronic device fails, you can still run using a paper log.

Rental units, I believe, can be run without an electronic log if they are run for short periods of time.

UPS sometimes installs a temporary IVIS in rentals, but with the phone version, there will be nothing to install.

Those temporary ivis units in my experience from last peak never worked... They were good for hanging a vest off of

 

[Coldworld]

My training was excellent and I already had 12 plus years under my belt from other trucking companies. My trainer was top notch. Rick K. from Redding .CA. Most drivers from there will agree.

like I said , every hub is different but I have heard a lot of drivers agreeing that UPS feeder training is very good. I agree , you can only learn so much in 2 weeks of training and most of what you will learn is from experience and from other drivers.

Ask drivers who were trained like I was from truck driving schools and trucking companies that do their own training. UPS training is better than just about anything else out there. One exception is the training that our on roads go through in Chicago. From what I heard in truck stops , Landstar training is excellent. There are others of course that may be as good as UPS or better.

Overall , our training is very good compared to most.

I believe the sups that go back to Chicago get to go on one of those courses that imitate driving on ice and dealing with A jackknife rig and trailer which would be very cool to experience in a controlled environment

 

[silenze]

I believe the sups that go back to Chicago get to go on one of those courses that imitate driving on ice and dealing with A jackknife rig and trailer which would be very cool to experience in a controlled environment

Its a blast when you bobtail. The first time you do a 360 is amazing
The trailers are strapped so they wont come around.

 

[over9five]

Yup, the sups who go to that driving school come back better drivers than guys who have driven 30 years....

 

[silenze]

Yup, the sups who go to that driving school come back better drivers than guys who have driven 30 years....

Yeah most of the sups are pretty bad at driving. They drive total maybe 1 week a year. Its the underlying fundamentals that ups teaches that make good drivers

 

[olroadbeech]

I believe the sups that go back to Chicago get to go on one of those courses that imitate driving on ice and dealing with A jackknife rig and trailer which would be very cool to experience in a controlled environment

I think I have mentioned this before in this thread. I found a very wide and long spot on the side of the road near the yard that I practice on before I go on the big road. For example I'll go about 15-20 mph and hit the brakes hard to see what happens. sometimes it goes straight, sometimes not and I may have to have brakes readjusted. Then I'll go faster and do it again or put myself in a small skid on purpose and right the rig.

But, you're right , I would love to do this in chicago. my supe told me the training costs a lot for the 5 or 6 weeks of training. he told the amount but i can't remember how much it was. I went to truck driving school in 1980 and it was 1200 dollars. ( which was a lot of money when you are making 200 a week )

 

[Coldworld]

I think I have mentioned this before in this thread. I found a very wide and long spot on the side of the road near the yard that I practice on before I go on the big road. For example I'll go about 15-20 mph and hit the brakes hard to see what happens. sometimes it goes straight, sometimes not and I may have to have brakes readjusted. Then I'll go faster and do it again or put myself in a small skid on purpose and right the rig.

But, you're right , I would love to do this in chicago. my supe told me the training costs a lot for the 5 or 6 weeks of training. he told the amount but i can't remember how much it was. I went to truck driving school in 1980 and it was 1200 dollars. ( which was a lot of money when you are making 200 a week )

Shouldn't the drivers union who are actually going to be put in that situation be the ones going through that kind of training.... Not management a paper pusher and occasionally behind the wheel???

 

[Coldworld]

Its a blast when you bobtail. The first time you do a 360 is amazing
The trailers are strapped so they wont come around.

What fun is it if they truly won't jackknife.... Just use a rig and beat up trailers just for this .. Additionally, have always been told to speed up when a trailer starts to jackknife...any other things drivers should know when dealing with this kind of scenario ??

 

[Dracula]

My training was excellent and I already had 12 plus years under my belt from other trucking companies. My trainer was top notch. Rick K. from Redding .CA. Most drivers from there will agree.

like I said , every hub is different but I have heard a lot of drivers agreeing that UPS feeder training is very good. I agree , you can only learn so much in 2 weeks of training and most of what you will learn is from experience and from other drivers.

Ask drivers who were trained like I was from truck driving schools and trucking companies that do their own training. UPS training is better than just about anything else out there. One exception is the training that our on roads go through in Chicago. From what I heard in truck stops , Landstar training is excellent. There are others of course that may be as good as UPS or better.

Overall , our training is very good compared to most.

Compared to most, I suppose, but I wouldn't call 4 days of feeder school "very good". Maybe adequate, but everyone I've ever talked to, and myself, felt at 2 weeks would've been better. The only thing, IMO, that prevents us from becoming like a SWIFT or CR England driver is the vast amount of knowledge you learn from other drivers. Our supervisors claimed that the feeder training school in Illinois gave them 7 years of driving experience in 5 weeks, or however long it lasts.

And yes, they say this with a straight face.

Something no one tells you, is that most drivers don't get really comfortable until a year or so. That is, if they are new to tractor-trailers. As I've said in the past, this can actually help, because your fear tends to keep you running especially safe and tentative. But there is no training for ice or snow, because most sups don't have experience doing it. And I've always been amazed when I've had a question about something that I've never dealt with before, they often don't have an answer for me.

Again, good thing for experienced drivers.

 

[olroadbeech]

What fun is it if they truly won't jackknife.... Just use a rig and beat up trailers just for this .. Additionally, have always been told to speed up when a trailer starts to jackknife...any other things drivers should know when dealing with this kind of scenario ??

The worse thing to do is put the brakes on. I wouldn't speed up even though I have heard some drivers do that. In practice I pull the hand valve down just a little bit and that will usually straighten you out if it hasn't gone to far. It has only happened to me a couple times. One time I looked in the mirror and all I saw was trailer so I pulled the hand valve just for a second or so and started to see the trailer straighten out and let up. It takes practice and luck. Unfortunately the only way we can learn is from experience.

 

[olroadbeech]

Compared to most, I suppose, but I wouldn't call 4 days of feeder school "very good". Maybe adequate, but everyone I've ever talked to, and myself, felt at 2 weeks would've been better. The only thing, IMO, that prevents us from becoming like a SWIFT or CR England driver is the vast amount of knowledge you learn from other drivers. Our supervisors claimed that the feeder training school in Illinois gave them 7 years of driving experience in 5 weeks, or however long it lasts.

And yes, they say this with a straight face.

Something no one tells you, is that most drivers don't get really comfortable until a year or so. That is, if they are new to tractor-trailers. As I've said in the past, this can actually help, because your fear tends to keep you running especially safe and tentative. But there is no training for ice or snow, because most sups don't have experience doing it. And I've always been amazed when I've had a question about something that I've never dealt with before, they often don't have an answer for me.

Again, good thing for experienced drivers.

I asked the feeder bosses for years why they don't let the new drivers go with an experienced driver for a couple weeks or a month after their 2 weeks of feeder training. Of course they said that was an excellent idea and I wasn't the first to suggest it. They said the union wouldn't let them. asked the union and they said the company wouldn't allow it due to costs. It was one of those deals. each blaming the other.

A little while before I retired they started the "mentor " program where they would let a new driver go with an experienced driver for 1 to 3 days. Only after the newbie got in an accident. go figure. The first 2 days would be with 2 different veteran drivers and the third day would be with an on road supe.

I was lucky to be asked to be a mentor and it was very rewarding and satisfying to help a new driver. The drivers I helped all said they learned much more in one day than they had in 2 weeks of training minus the actual practice. I showed them all the tricks I learned over 30 years and the things to watch out for. Things, of course, they were not taught in training.

I'm not sure if this program is a success as I retired about 6 months or so after it started but I believe it is a step in the right direction.

 

[Covemastah]

You know your in the shop spare when the cracks on the dash are zip tied together !!!

 

[olroadbeech]

You know your in the shop spare when the cracks on the dash are zip tied together !!!

In the winter a lot of drivers take the keys home if they don't share a tractor. they don't want anyone to break something and then use a spare in a snowstorm. It was funny some nights, there might be 30 tractors on line and no keys. management started making 5 sets and the dispatch manager kept them under lock and key in his office.

when he wasn't around , it was funny because no one could get into the key box. Then they started renting more tractors. I started making spare keys for every tractor I drove and kept them in my locker. most times I was able to take a regular tractor on a snow night if mine was out on in the shop.

It was a dog eat dog world at my hub especially in the winter.

 

[Coldworld]

You know your in the shop spare when the cracks on the dash are zip tied together !!!

Or riveted....266xxx....!!!