Ask a Feeder Driver, Feeder Driver FAQ

[retiredTxfeeder]

No twin screw tractors in the building where I worked. Also, those first GMC's had retrofitted Kysor AC units, mounted between the seats against the back of the cab. Every one of them drained the condensation back into the cab and the carpet was wet all the time.

 

[Dracula]

In fact, my avatar pic is from the worst snow storm I have ever driven in. That picture was after the snow storm, driving back in daylight. The wind was still howling though, which is why the picture makes it look like the visibility looks close to zero. It actually wasn't as bad as the picture indicates. But at night, during the storm, it was horrible; absolute, white-out conditions.

A truck had jack-knifed on the highway, ahead of me, so I sat on the interstate for over 3 hours. Once I got going, the conditions were awful. I had no one in front of me, and the visibility was maybe 20 feet ahead of my front bumper. I could've stopped, but I just went 20 MPH because that Sterling never, and I mean never, lost traction. Although no one was in front of me, I had a huge line of trucks and cars in my mirrors. It kind of drove me nuts, having people on my ass, but after wondering why no one would pass me, it dawned on me, they just wanted someone's taillights to see. I think I drove for 40 or 50 miles in third or fourth gear.

When it was all said and done, they had to come and pick a bunch of us up, because we ran out of drive hours. I ended up working over 18 hours that day, and there was one guy who worked even more...22 hours, if I remember right.

Yeah, that Sterling was no hard charger, but that dude OWNED the snow.

 

[Dracula]

As far as these new tractors go, if I hit that same storm, I park it and wait until the plows clear the road. No question.

 

[Johney]

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

I was talking about my building.Not a hub either.

 

[Johney]

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.

I have never seen a twin screw Sterling ever.

 

[Mugarolla]

 

[Coldworld]

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

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.

Surprised that ups even wanted to mess with hydraulic systems in those trailers....is that why they moved away from them... just too much pain in the ass???

 

[Johney]

Surprised that ups even wanted to mess with hydraulic systems in those trailers....is that why they moved away from them... just too much pain in the ass???

I was told they were prone to failure far too often that's why they got away from them.

 

[Coldworld]

View attachment 229905

That tractor looks like it’s in good shape actually...

 

[Indecisi0n]

View attachment 229905

Are your headlights siliconed in yet?

 

[retiredTxfeeder]

I was told they were prone to failure far too often that's why they got away from them.

Every one of our buildings was required to have a giant pry bar made by the shop. Sucker must have weighed 40 pounds, to pry the stubborn legs up.

 

[Covemastah]

I was told they were prone to failure far too often that's why they got away from them.

They were made like this to raise trailer at angle so pkgs would flow out quickly, before the days of the extendos in the primary

 

[Jones]

I have never seen a twin screw Sterling ever.

Used to see one in phlpa all the time, but that's the only one.

 

[Indecisi0n]

Used to see one in phlpa all the time, but that's the only one.

Fake news

 

[ManInBrown]

Sterling’s are pieces of garbage. Glad that one got you thru the snow. They are complete junk, and we have a ton of them. They’ve been saying for years they’re ADAing them after peak, and year after year they’re still here.

 

[ManInBrown]

Used to see one in phlpa all the time, but that's the only one.

I saw one in Meadow a month or two ago.

 

[Dracula]

Sterling’s are pieces of garbage. Glad that one got you thru the snow. They are complete junk, and we have a ton of them. They’ve been saying for years they’re ADAing them after peak, and year after year they’re still here.

I just got used to mine. The dash was taped up, the headlights—even the brights—barely lit the road and it bucked like donkey when I backed up under a trailer. One of old timers said they were great when they new, but that was history by the time I got into feeders.

 

[Dracula]

I have never seen a twin screw Sterling ever.

We used to have a bunch of singles and about 10 or 12 twin axles. But they’ve been gone for a few years now. I still see a few coming in from the small, outlining buildings every now and then.

 

[Dracula]

In fact, my avatar pic is from the worst snow storm I have ever driven in. That picture was after the snow storm, driving back in daylight. The wind was still howling though, which is why the picture makes it look like the visibility looks close to zero. It actually wasn't as bad as the picture indicates. But at night, during the storm, it was horrible; absolute, white-out conditions.

A truck had jack-knifed on the highway, ahead of me, so I sat on the interstate for over 3 hours. Once I got going, the conditions were awful. I had no one in front of me, and the visibility was maybe 20 feet ahead of my front bumper. I could've stopped, but I just went 20 MPH because that Sterling never, and I mean never, lost traction. Although no one was in front of me, I had a huge line of trucks and cars in my mirrors. It kind of drove me nuts, having people on my ass, but after wondering why no one would pass me, it dawned on me, they just wanted someone's taillights to see. I think I drove for 40 or 50 miles in third or fourth gear.

When it was all said and done, they had to come and pick a bunch of us up, because we ran out of drive hours. I ended up working over 18 hours that day, and there was one guy who worked even more...22 hours, if I remember right.

Yeah, that Sterling was no hard charger, but that dude OWNED the snow.

One of the strangest/funniest things about that night was I was coming up from Missouri to Des Moines. There was absolutely no weather until we crossed the state line and got a few miles into Iowa. Then, all hell broke loose.

I remember thinking, well, no matter how bad it gets, this is Iowa, this should just be another day for them. It snows all of the time up there. They should be on top of the roads.

Then, we got up to Des Moines proper, and the roads were a complete disaster. The roads just had foot-deep trenches from other trucks, and the only plows I saw were in ditches.

We were just thinking, what the eff? You would thought it was a snow storm in Miami, Dallas or New Orleans, not Des Moines.

 

[Dracula]

The really pathetic thing about it, was this night was my Thursday, so I ran out of hours and couldn’t run on Friday. But a buddy of mine ran my job on Friday, and he said, 24 hours later, the roads were still not cleared, and by then, the layer of the snow on the road had turned to ice.