Indecisi0n
Well-Known Member
Us rookies.
Ask a Feeder Driver, Feeder Driver FAQ
- Thread starter 104Feeder
- Start date
Dracula
Package Car is cake compared to this...
Google Maps is all you need. There is no need to spend money on GPS when you can have a free version that is as good, or better than the $250 option.
Dracula
Package Car is cake compared to this...
Yeah, when I went into feeders, I bought one of those fancy, expensive Fleshlights, and then I remembered my palm was the best I ever had.
Dracula
Package Car is cake compared to this...
I check it every time. It's part of the pre-trip. And, on separate occasions, I've had DOT inspections, and had empty kingboxes. And so, I always check it.
Dracula
Package Car is cake compared to this...
The kingbox just has to have the registration with the trailer number. Check that every time. But what it more important, is the FMCSA sticker with the inspection date, on the opposite side of the kingbox. NEVER leave the yard with a trailer with an expired FMCSA sticker.
trickpony1
Well-Known Member
...not even if your dispatcher tells you it's a "hot load".
olroadbeech
Happy Verified UPSer
they absolutely love it when you tell them on the phone you have to go to the shop for an inspection with a hot load. they made me drop the trailer and take another load and i found out later they just gave that expired trailer to one of the runner-gunner drivers to take it without an inspection.
that's the integrity of management for you.
retiredTxfeeder
cap'n crunch
I've got an integrity story for you. I was new in feeders. I'm in the office about to punch out, and the dispatcher tells me "I've got an overflow for you to run to Buffalo, Tx meet point. (about 2.5 hours one way.) You're already 30 minutes behind. Here are the keys to a tractor. It's fueled and ready to go. don't even take the time to pre-trip." It was a newer tractor. I did as I was told. Drove up to the meet point, and there were already 3 other drivers from my building waiting for Dallas drivers to swap with. I dropped my trailer, then TO'd over to where we all waited. Guy says to me "did they fix the flat on that tractor?" I said what do you mean? He said "they tried to give it to me, but I refused to drive it because of the flat, so they gave me another tractor." We got out and bumped the tires, and sure enough, one of the inside duals was flat. I said "who did you tell it had a flat?" He said so and so. It was the same guy who told me not to pretrip. There was a 24 hour tire service across the freeway, and I went there to have it fixed. I stewed for the 2+ hour trip back. Of course, the guy who had sent me out was gone for the day. Next day I SW, and I light into this guy's arse. Not only did he endanger my life, but everyone on the highway as well. He got into a lot of trouble for that, and I learned a lesson that night about what management will tell you to make themselves look good on paper.
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Bratty Brown
We Want Beer
Yearly Feeder Bid Question
Do your yearly Feeder bids get delayed often? If so, by how much?? 14 years in Feeder and I've only seen seen the bid start on time 2-3 times. We're going on two months of delay right now and they put a freeze on our progress last Thursday while UPS and the Teamsters argue over more stuff. I'm in SoCal and we have about 650+ drivers and several buildings affected.
Do your yearly Feeder bids get delayed often? If so, by how much?? 14 years in Feeder and I've only seen seen the bid start on time 2-3 times. We're going on two months of delay right now and they put a freeze on our progress last Thursday while UPS and the Teamsters argue over more stuff. I'm in SoCal and we have about 650+ drivers and several buildings affected.
retiredTxfeeder
cap'n crunch
That doesn't sound right. You're still working under a valid contract, right? Our bids started at the same time, every time, every year.
olroadbeech
Happy Verified UPSer
your second sentence says it all " I was new in feeder". I bet you always pretripped after that no matter what because the driver is ultimately responsible.
Bratty Brown
We Want Beer
Yes, we are under contract but there always seems to be issues with the bid that take time to resolve.
jaker
trolling
Are you in 396
Bratty Brown
We Want Beer
Yes I am. You?
Obviously Randall Stromland Championship playing cards are not as coveted there as they are here.
Coldworld
Well-Known Member
WTF???!!
Dracula
Package Car is cake compared to this...
Absolutely.
You're the captain of the ship when you're driving. Try going into the scales with a violation, and tell them, "my dispatcher said it was fine".
Let me know how that works, and also tell me how much your ticket was.
A hot load doesn't take priority over DOT laws, or safety. You need to get comfortable with the idea of planting your flag and sticking to it. Because you WILL be tested. Dispatch cares about dispatch, not you.
I used to butt heads with dispatch and on-road about leaving late because I wouldn't leave until my trailers had load bars or the straps secured, as the law requires. I would tell them if they could get the hubs to do their jobs, and secure the loads, I wouldn't be late, and for a week or so, the loads would get secured and I would be on time.
And then it would go back to normal, no more secured loads, but they stopped asking me why I was late, because they knew and they knew I wasn't leaving until my loads were legal.
In typical UPS logic, they seem to prefer me leaving late than making the hub do its job. Whatever.
Dracula
Package Car is cake compared to this...
Typical. The sad thing is there are drivers that will do it.
Dracula
Package Car is cake compared to this...
This is why I like posting what I know and I've learned. A lot of it is what senior drivers taught me.
retiredTxfeeder
cap'n crunch
I said that tongue in cheek. Of course I checked the kingbox. Everyone should. I will say this. In my 29 years in feeders, maybe because I stayed local about 50% of the time, I never had a DOT check, and a majority of the time, they wave us through at weigh stations down here. Unless things have changed, they used to use peel off numbers on the kingbox to let mechanics know when the inspections were going to run out. Do they still do that?
