Ask a Feeder Driver, Feeder Driver FAQ

[barnyard]

Dear God I remember seeing those in our yard. Poor er you're showing your age now. No one in our feeder dept has ever drove one of those them guys are long gone.

Really???
We had one at my center for shifting, which is what I trained on. 2 guys that were on the feeder list in my building took their CDL test in it. I never drove it on road, but did ride in one during peak as a helper. 1 day, we did not have enough volume to justify a trailer, so we held everything and reloaded into the cattle car when it got back from the airport. It took us almost a full hour less to get the job done because the cattle car had power steering.

 

[barnyard]

I saw one of those trailers the other day sitting on property without the flaps on the sides.

Drop frame trailers. The flaps were on the inside.

 

[Covemastah]

The flaps would let go whack you in the head when you were in the belly

 

[brostalss]

Got qualified with one of these and an MH Mack View attachment 229632

I remember unloading those.

 

[Sweeper]

I remember unloading those.

I used to hate unloading those trailers!

 

[Johney]

Really???
We had one at my center for shifting, which is what I trained on. 2 guys that were on the feeder list in my building took their CDL test in it. I never drove it on road, but did ride in one during peak as a helper. 1 day, we did not have enough volume to justify a trailer, so we held everything and reloaded into the cattle car when it got back from the airport. It took us almost a full hour less to get the job done because the cattle car had power steering.

All the guys who may have drove those are long gone now.

 

[Mugarolla]

Dear God I remember seeing those in our yard. Poor er you're showing your age now. No one in our feeder dept has ever drove one of those them guys are long gone.

We had 2 of those and only got rid of them about 14 year ago.

I believe the one was a 7 speed International, without power steering but it did have cruise.

I think the other one was a 5 speed GMC that had power steering but no cruise.

Good sleeping tractors. Almost a full size bed between the seats.

 

[Covemastah]

I used to hate unloading those trailers!

I unloaded those ,, and then drove those. Lol.

 

[Mugarolla]

I unloaded those ,, and then drove those. Lol.

That's all we had when I started unloading. Got hit in the head more than once by a falling flap

I did like the hydraulic landing gear, though, no cranking.

 

[Covemastah]

Same hear !!
Loved pushing over handle then off you went

 

[Covemastah]

Always fun to drive through the yard and seeing some trailers leaning , because one leg collapsing

 

[Mugarolla]

Same hear !!
Loved pushing over handle then off you went

I still remember the handle positions..

Christmas tree.

 

[Mugarolla]

Jacking them up 3 foot higher than normal to let the packages slide down the rollers.

It sometimes got hairy positioning the tractor to let them down.

 

[barnyard]

All the guys who may have drove those are long gone now.

Nope. Maybe in hubs, not out in outstate buildings.

 

[Mugarolla]

Nope. Maybe in hubs, not out in outstate buildings.

We had 2 cab overs sitting next to a bunch of snub nose Internationals, older Macks and some Fords (now Sterlings).

And I am still here.

Not even eligible for retiree medical yet.

 

[barnyard]

We have guys that were on the feeder list, that took their names off when the jobs were moved to another building. Those guys all qualified in cabovers. I would think that is at least 4 guys in my building. I qualified as a shifter in one, we had a Volvo cabover as a yardbird for a while too. When I started, we had 5 tractors assigned to my building. 4 of them were cabovers.

 

[retiredTxfeeder]

Did they remove the 8 tracks from them?

Before that. 4 tracks with the little wheel that popped up and ran the tape.

 

[retiredTxfeeder]

When I started in 85, all they had were 5 speed GMC's and 2 or 3 cabover Internationals they used for spares. When I'd break down, I'd keep my fingers crossed that the mechanic didn't bring me a cabover. They were hard to shift, and it felt weird looking straight down at the road, but they rode better than the Jimmy's.

 

[retiredTxfeeder]

I also drove a snub nosed international with a Cat engine in it. Man, that thing would pull. Also drove a Sterling for a few years. (worst tractor of my career, in my opinion. Finished with a long nosed international. They had just started getting in the Freightliners when I retired.

 

[Dracula]

I also drove a snub nosed international with a Cat engine in it. Man, that thing would pull. Also drove a Sterling for a few years. (worst tractor of my career, in my opinion. Finished with a long nosed international. They had just started getting in the Freightliners when I retired.

When I started in feeders, I had a twin-screw Sterling. It had no power, but it had the greatest A/C in the fleet and was an absolute beast in the snow. I used to go to Iowa, and that thing never once came close to getting stuck.