Ask a Feeder Driver, Feeder Driver FAQ

[Indecisi0n]

I know someone who attempted a "carrier landing" into a truck stop but there was a slight problem...

He forgot to turn on the service air to his back trailer.
Luckily, he realized the problem and diverted to run off onto the shoulder.
He said the brakes on the front trailer were still stinking when he came out from the store.

I joke and joke buy I appreciate all the information.

 

[olroadbeech]

Yes that is correct and when that happens you will know as soon as you come to the first traffic light if you're pulling a full load.

That blue glad hand maybe popped off on me 3-4 times in 30 plus years. It usually happens because of a very tight turn or back and there is not enough slack or the glad hands would click together right because of a defect.

when you are going slow with window down you can hear the air coming out and it feels like you have spongy or weak brakes. some drivers with zip tie or tape the glad hands together when they won't lock. I have done that in a pinch to make it back to the shop. Technically you can get a ticket for that from a DOT inspector but it happens so rarely it has never become an issue.

 

[olroadbeech]

But how do you know that the service brakes on the dolly and rear box are 100%? If I'm building a set I can tug test the front box before hooking up, if the wheels drag with the trolley bar down I know that the service brakes are working 100‰. Once I'm built doing the same thing for the whole set how do I know the dolly and rear box have 100% brake strength

you need someone to show you. another feeder driver or an on road.

like trickpony said it is part of your pre=trip. once you have hooked the whole set together set the parking brake and push in your red button to supply air to the whole set. pull down your trolley handle so you can check brake lights.

on your walk around , do your pre=trip from the front as usual. check all air line connections. you have already turned the valves on from the back trailer to supply air to the back , right. you should hear the air go. plus you are pushing in your snubber.

at the back of rear trailer , open up your valves one at a time and air should come out. this is a simplified version that you really can't learn from reading this. Have an experienced feeder driver walk you through it or ask an onroad to help you with it. There are a couple videos on you tube but they are not as good as UPS training.

This should be no problem for a professional truck driver to help you with this. We want you people to ask us questions if you are not sure. Remember you are driving a deadly weapon and you want to be completely sure you have it right before going on the highway. don't be pressured to hurry up by dispatch or anyone else.

ask, ask , ask . the best way to learn is watching a someone in person. a couple weeks of training is not enough and it's impossible trying to remember everything they throw at you in those two weeks.

a good driver is ALWAYS learning. everyday , every month , every year for 30-40 years. the day you think you know it all is the day you should quit.

 

[olroadbeech]

We were taught to only do that but I guess that doesn't tell you if it's the tractor only brakes stopping you or both the tractor and trailer brakes.

anytime before you leave whether with one trailer , 2 trailers , or 3 you do the exact same thing.

before leaving

supply air to trailers , pull hand valve , and try to go. you shouldn't be able to go. if you pin is not locked you'll find out so don't be gung ho about it.

then release hand valve and move forward slowly and push in brake pedal. you should stop. if you hear air then that blue glad hand is either not connected, not connected properly or the rubbers in the glad hands are not sealing and may need replacing. always carry extra's.

you can't pass the DOT test if you don't perform these tests.

some drivers , when they are breaking up a set , for some reason only close one valve on the back of the trailer. you'll find this out on a proper pre-trip on your walkaround. if you happen to miss it , you'll find out before you leave , pulling down your hand valve and wondering why you hear air blowing out that open valve and watching your air gauge go down.

 

[Indecisi0n]

anytime before you leave whether with one trailer , 2 trailers , or 3 you do the exact same thing.

before leaving

supply air to trailers , pull hand valve , and try to go. you shouldn't be able to go. if you pin is not locked you'll find out so don't be gung ho about it.

then release hand valve and move forward slowly and push in brake pedal. you should stop. if you hear air then that blue glad hand is either not connected, not connected properly or the rubbers in the glad hands are not sealing and may need replacing. always carry extra's.

you can't pass the DOT test if you don't perform these tests.

some drivers , when they are breaking up a set , for some reason only close one valve on the back of the trailer. you'll find this out on a proper pre-trip on your walkaround. if you happen to miss it , you'll find out before you leave , pulling down your hand valve and wondering why you hear air blowing out that open valve and watching your air gauge go down.

The hand valve was never mentioned or used during my DMV test. Service brake was only tested by moving forward and applying the tractor brakes.

 

[trickpony1]

Another helpful hint:

Anytime you meet another driver at a meet point OR someone else hooks up your equipment always, always do a thorough pretrip before you leave.

I was at a meet doing my pretrip, pulled the hand lever down and heard the air gush. I walked back and there was a hole in the service line going to the dolly big enough to put my little finger in. This means my dolly and rear trailer wouldn't have brakes.

I drove it back at highway minimum speed with 4 way flashers on.

 

[Hadjabear]

you need someone to show you. another feeder driver or an on road.

like trickpony said it is part of your pre=trip. once you have hooked the whole set together set the parking brake and push in your red button to supply air to the whole set. pull down your trolley handle so you can check brake lights.

on your walk around , do your pre=trip from the front as usual. check all air line connections. you have already turned the valves on from the back trailer to supply air to the back , right. you should hear the air go. plus you are pushing in your snubber.

at the back of rear trailer , open up your valves one at a time and air should come out. this is a simplified version that you really can't learn from reading this. Have an experienced feeder driver walk you through it or ask an onroad to help you with it. There are a couple videos on you tube but they are not as good as UPS training.

This should be no problem for a professional truck driver to help you with this. We want you people to ask us questions if you are not sure. Remember you are driving a deadly weapon and you want to be completely sure you have it right before going on the highway. don't be pressured to hurry up by dispatch or anyone else.

ask, ask , ask . the best way to learn is watching a someone in person. a couple weeks of training is not enough and it's impossible trying to remember everything they throw at you in those two weeks.

a good driver is ALWAYS learning. everyday , every month , every year for 30-40 years. the day you think you know it all is the day you should quit.

I was 99% sure I already knew the answer to my question, asked to be sure, onetrickpony answered it, there is no way to know. Just because you hear air when you open the rear valves doesn't mean your brakes are going to work, you could have slack adjusters out of adjustment, warped pads, caged brake chambers, probably other things I don't know about that could cause service brake to not be at top performance.

 

[Hadjabear]

Another helpful hint:

Anytime you meet another driver at a meet point OR someone else hooks up your equipment always, always do a thorough pretrip before you leave.

I was at a meet doing my pretrip, pulled the hand lever down and heard the air gush. I walked back and there was in the service line going to the dolly big enough to put my little finger in. This means my dolly and rear trailer wouldn't have brakes.

I drove it back at highway minimum speed with 4 way flashers on.

Why would you risk your safety and the publics to bring that load back?

 

[trickpony1]

Why would you risk your safety and the publics to bring that load back?

Because it was late at night, it was the end of my day, the traffic was light and I extended my space and visibility for the conditions.

I know when to let a load sit.

Thanks for asking.

 

[olroadbeech]

I was 99% sure I already knew the answer to my question, asked to be sure, onetrickpony answered it, there is no way to know. Just because you hear air when you open the rear valves doesn't mean your brakes are going to work, you could have slack adjusters out of adjustment, warped pads, caged brake chambers, probably other things I don't know about that could cause service brake to not be at top performance.

i used to drive the shop crazy bringing my set over to have the brakes adjusted. went over and down Donner Pass every night which has 40 miles of various downgrades and two runaway truck ramps. before the state put those ramps in a lot of drivers were killed when they lost their brakes.

anyway , it was rare if all the brakes were in proper adjustment. usually 2 or 3 were out and sometimes a dolly or trailer had to be red tagged because they found something.

 

[Space8323]

So I’m going into my second week of feeders school. I was curious to know, what is the feeders pay rate? There is 2 or 3 different ones in the contract. Also, what is an average weeks pay before taxes hit?

 

[Johney]

So I’m going into my second week of feeders school. I was curious to know, what is the feeders pay rate? There is 2 or 3 different ones in the contract. Also, what is an average weeks pay before taxes hit?

Here it's 10 cents per hour above p/c driver rate for singles and 45 cents for sets. Average will vary by hours or runs we have guys who only do 40 hours a week and some who work 55-60.

 

[olroadbeech]

Another helpful hint:

Anytime you meet another driver at a meet point OR someone else hooks up your equipment always, always do a thorough pretrip before you leave.

I was at a meet doing my pretrip, pulled the hand lever down and heard the air gush. I walked back and there was in the service line going to the dolly big enough to put my little finger in. This means my dolly and rear trailer wouldn't have brakes.

I drove it back at highway minimum speed with 4 way flashers on.

we have a lot of meets like that . halfway points in the middle of nowhere. that is why some of us would carry an extra small line with glad hand and a big wrench to replace .

I have brought several questionable sets back under the speed limit with 4 ways on if i thought it was safe to do so. like you it may be a Saturday morning or low traffic etc. the shop was real appreciative if you did not call a tow truck.

it's a judgement call that comes with experience.

 

[Indecisi0n]

we have a lot of meets like that . halfway points in the middle of nowhere. that is why some of us would carry an extra small line with glad hand and a big wrench to replace .

I have brought several questionable sets back under the speed limit with 4 ways on if i thought it was safe to do so. like you it may be a Saturday morning or low traffic etc. the shop was real appreciative if you did not call a tow truck.

it's a judgement call that comes with experience.

I hate having sets built for me because I don't trust other people. I'd rather just do it myself.

 

[Dracula]

I was 99% sure I already knew the answer to my question, asked to be sure, onetrickpony answered it, there is no way to know. Just because you hear air when you open the rear valves doesn't mean your brakes are going to work, you could have slack adjusters out of adjustment, warped pads, caged brake chambers, probably other things I don't know about that could cause service brake to not be at top performance.

You also need to remember that even if the dolly brakes weren’t working, they’re one part of a five part system of brakes when you’re running a set of doubles.

I once forgot to turn on my service (blue) lines on the front box. When I got on the road, I noticed the brakes weren’t working as good as they normally do. When I stopped to do a safety check, that’s when i noticed. The brakes still worked, just not as well.

That’s what happens when you only have anchors on the tractor and front box.

 

[olroadbeech]

I hate having sets built for me because I don't trust other people. I'd rather just do it myself.

I didn't like it either because i may check 3-4 or more dollies before picking one out of the pile to build my set. most drivers would just grab any dolly without looking at it.

I would look at the inspection stickers and usually the best ones were the most recently inspected.

 

[Indecisi0n]

I didn't like it either because i may check 3-4 or more dollies before picking one out of the pile to build my set. most drivers would just grab any dolly without looking at it.

I would look at the inspection stickers and usually the best ones were the most recently inspected.

Always grab the dollies from the front!

 

[Sweeper]

So I’m going into my second week of feeders school. I was curious to know, what is the feeders pay rate? There is 2 or 3 different ones in the contract. Also, what is an average weeks pay before taxes hit?

Post what supplement you’re under or go talk to a feeder driver in the group you’re going into

 

[Space8323]

Post what supplement you’re under or go talk to a feeder driver in the group you’re going into

Southern supplemental

 

[ManInBrown]

Just wanted to share that it was a long nerve wracking first few months in feeders, but I’ve started to settle in and feel more comfortable. I just have two things to say.

I cannot believe this is the same company I’m working for.

And this move I made, might be the greatest thing that’s happened in my life. No kids. I feel like I won the lottery every day I go to work. Aches and pains completely gone. It’s utterly amazing. Working way more hours now than I did in package, making more money every week, and I’m not lifting a finger.