Treegrower
Well-Known Member
Good question. I never really paid all that much attention to it. I’m not sure how it works for them. They are full time drivers with all the safety training and such.
Ask a Feeder Driver, Feeder Driver FAQ
- Thread starter 104Feeder
- Start date
A laid-off tractor-trailer driver who has never driven a package car or route shall be considered not qualified as a package driver. Such tractor-trailer driver will be trained to be a package driver. If more than one tractor-trailer driver is laid off the senior laid off tractor-trailer driver will be trained first. When that training is finished, the next most senior tractor-trailer driver on layoff will be trained. This training will occur provided the laid-off tractor-trailer drivers have more seniority than package drivers still working in the center. After completing package training and regular work becomes available in the tractor-trailer classification, the laid off tractor-trailer driver must return to his original classification. While training, this employee will be offered no work in tractor-trailers unless full-time work becomes available. After training, he will work in package and retain his position on the Super “Q” List
burrheadd
KING Of GIFS
around here they have to qualify just like a pkg driver
Made brown
Well-Known Member
That would make sense. But if it makes sense, UPS would probably do the opposite.
I’m a FT RPCD now and got the call from feeders this week inviting me to take a road test.
I have my CDL with doubles/triples already, but I got it on a military waiver. I’m gonna be blunt, I suck at a 10 speed. I can drive a standard car, I shift my Harley fine, I'm self taught enough to shift the yard with the standard tractors, but have minimal experience with a standard tractor out on public roads. I explained this to the feeders supervisor and the feeder trainer when they called that I was concerned about running a stick and they both said not to worry about it because we mostly only have automatics.
Fast forward two days later half of the feeders in my small center have been replaced with 10 speeds. I have about a 2/3 chance of taking a standard truck in this test now.
My center manager let me practice in the yard this weekend, and I can run up the gears fine, but really struggling with getting the RPMs right for downshifting. I called one of our feeder drivers and he said he thinks it’s more the truck being old and worn out than it is me not being capable of figuring it out, but that doesn’t help me for this road test.
I have no concerns at all about being able to drive a tractor trailer on the roads, be it long box or doubles set. I’m a drivers trainer teaching new soldiers how to operate tractor trailers for the National Guard now, and have won our truck rodeo every year that I’ve competed in it. I can drive, but can’t shift. I know it’s pathetic but it’s my reality.
Feeders really is my end goal here at UPS, and I’m not feeling great about this chance I finally have. Any suggestions on what I should do? I thought about reaching back out to the feeder department but I don’t want to sink my own ship here by telling them how bad im struggling. I also don’t want to waste anyone’s time by failing the test either. We do have one or two automatic tractors in my center that I could road test in if UPS is willing to train me on the 10 speed. I called my shop steward and he said I should just ask to test in the automatic. He mentioned there might be some kind of language in the master or our supplement that we are supposed to have all automatic tractors anyways, but that doesn’t sound right to me.
Any advice you guys can give would be much appreciated here.
I have my CDL with doubles/triples already, but I got it on a military waiver. I’m gonna be blunt, I suck at a 10 speed. I can drive a standard car, I shift my Harley fine, I'm self taught enough to shift the yard with the standard tractors, but have minimal experience with a standard tractor out on public roads. I explained this to the feeders supervisor and the feeder trainer when they called that I was concerned about running a stick and they both said not to worry about it because we mostly only have automatics.
Fast forward two days later half of the feeders in my small center have been replaced with 10 speeds. I have about a 2/3 chance of taking a standard truck in this test now.
My center manager let me practice in the yard this weekend, and I can run up the gears fine, but really struggling with getting the RPMs right for downshifting. I called one of our feeder drivers and he said he thinks it’s more the truck being old and worn out than it is me not being capable of figuring it out, but that doesn’t help me for this road test.
I have no concerns at all about being able to drive a tractor trailer on the roads, be it long box or doubles set. I’m a drivers trainer teaching new soldiers how to operate tractor trailers for the National Guard now, and have won our truck rodeo every year that I’ve competed in it. I can drive, but can’t shift. I know it’s pathetic but it’s my reality.
Feeders really is my end goal here at UPS, and I’m not feeling great about this chance I finally have. Any suggestions on what I should do? I thought about reaching back out to the feeder department but I don’t want to sink my own ship here by telling them how bad im struggling. I also don’t want to waste anyone’s time by failing the test either. We do have one or two automatic tractors in my center that I could road test in if UPS is willing to train me on the 10 speed. I called my shop steward and he said I should just ask to test in the automatic. He mentioned there might be some kind of language in the master or our supplement that we are supposed to have all automatic tractors anyways, but that doesn’t sound right to me.
Any advice you guys can give would be much appreciated here.
Can't believe you guys still have so many standards! Almost all autos here.
Anyhow, I agree with asking to road test in an automatic when you show up to be tested.
If they won't, oh well, take the test anyhow and do your best. Nobody's gonna expect you to be perfect on day one. Drive safely, shift the best you can!
Good luck!
Anyhow, I agree with asking to road test in an automatic when you show up to be tested.
If they won't, oh well, take the test anyhow and do your best. Nobody's gonna expect you to be perfect on day one. Drive safely, shift the best you can!
Good luck!
DriveInDriveOut
Inordinately Right
That's interesting, probably close to half ours are still manual. Obviously we're not getting any more but they're mostly assigned to the runs that go to low seniority drivers.
Last edited:
DriveInDriveOut
Inordinately Right
This tells me you're gonna be just fine.
They didn't care that I still sucked at that at the end of training.
Just don't let it stall or coast out of gear for a ridiculous amount of time. Seriously, if you're really struggling downshifting just rev it up and grind it into gear as the rpms fall.
If they feel safe riding with you then they should pass you.
whatcanbrowndo
Member
^^ this.
just let the rpm go to about 10-11 hundred rpm and pull it out of gear kick rpm up to 1600 and down shift it should fall in to gear if it doesn't slightly rev some more and try again.
when i took my road test i was stressed out and stress makes things worse. just relax and you will do fine.
Yeet
Not gonna let ‘em catch the Midnight Rider
Everyone grinds or rubs a gear here and there. The trick is knowing how to fix a gear when you miss it. When I was new at it, I watched the tach and speedometer a lot to figure out my next gear. In a 10 speed, you add the two numbers on the speedometer together to figure out what gear it needs when downshifting. Ex: 25 mph -> 2+5 -> 7th gear, 35 mph -> 8th gear. Eventually you won’t need your gauges anymore and you will know what gear the tractor needs going by the sound of the engine. The onroad doing my test told me I “couldn’t shift gears for smile*” but passed me because I nailed the pre trip and backing and I was safe on the road. Bottom line is, you’re going to suck at first, we all did.
My hub absolutely will not let you take your state exam in an auto. If you do that, you will have an automatic only restriction on your license and you will be “no good to us” to quote our feeder manager. We still have a decent amount of standards in the fleet but every tractor we bought past 2015 is an auto. Eventually we will be all auto because standards are going to way of the dodo, no one even makes them anymore. Maybe when that happens my hub will allow drivers to have an auto only license.
Thank you all for the advice, it’s reassuring.
Just to clarify, I have a Class A CDL already. This is not a state exam, it’s just a road test for the company, presumably to establish wether or not I’m worth pursuing as a possible new feeder driver IE: am I worth training.
Shifting up I was fine. Wasn’t forcing the shifter, letting it fall into gear. Grinded 2nd a few times and noticed that it felt like I was pulling REALLY far back and slightly to the right to get it into 1st, but 2nd through 5th I was fine and smooth. Being limited to our yard, I couldn’t get to the upper range. I did go back to my bad habit of shifting without the clutch and didn’t notice any issues but I’m sure the trainer is going to want me use the clutch and probably start in 1st.
5th to 4th was easy. 4th to 3rd was a nightmare. I know the shift pattern. Clutch in a few inches, pull down from 4th to neutral, let the spring push the shifter back to center, clutch in the same few inches, tap the accelerator to bump the RPMs, then pull straight down into 3rd. COULDNT GET IT INTO GEAR TO SAVE MY LIFE. All it wanted to do was grind and go back into 4th.
The feeder driver I called said I need to keep the RPMs around 1250, I was shifting around 1300 even though the sticker on the tach said it wanted to shift at 1100. He asked the mileage on the truck and when I told him it had 800k on it he said it’s worn and I’m gonna have to just mess around with it until I figure it out. The truck is a 274 series Mack ten-wheeler. We had another Mack with the M-Drive auto shift, wish I had that truck to use.
Just to clarify, I have a Class A CDL already. This is not a state exam, it’s just a road test for the company, presumably to establish wether or not I’m worth pursuing as a possible new feeder driver IE: am I worth training.
Shifting up I was fine. Wasn’t forcing the shifter, letting it fall into gear. Grinded 2nd a few times and noticed that it felt like I was pulling REALLY far back and slightly to the right to get it into 1st, but 2nd through 5th I was fine and smooth. Being limited to our yard, I couldn’t get to the upper range. I did go back to my bad habit of shifting without the clutch and didn’t notice any issues but I’m sure the trainer is going to want me use the clutch and probably start in 1st.
5th to 4th was easy. 4th to 3rd was a nightmare. I know the shift pattern. Clutch in a few inches, pull down from 4th to neutral, let the spring push the shifter back to center, clutch in the same few inches, tap the accelerator to bump the RPMs, then pull straight down into 3rd. COULDNT GET IT INTO GEAR TO SAVE MY LIFE. All it wanted to do was grind and go back into 4th.
The feeder driver I called said I need to keep the RPMs around 1250, I was shifting around 1300 even though the sticker on the tach said it wanted to shift at 1100. He asked the mileage on the truck and when I told him it had 800k on it he said it’s worn and I’m gonna have to just mess around with it until I figure it out. The truck is a 274 series Mack ten-wheeler. We had another Mack with the M-Drive auto shift, wish I had that truck to use.
Sweeper
Where’s the broom?
@HFolb23
There is roughly four hundred rpm between each gear depending on the tractor. If your road speed increases or decreases during your downshift this will factor in as well. If you were at 1200 rpm you should be able raise the rpm to around 1600 and get transmission into the next lower gear. You learn to “hear“ the transmission. If it is grinding fast like a dentist drill your rpm is way off, or you’ve selected the wrong gear. If it grinds slower your rpm is close. One of the main things when I was road tested was to be able to recover gears while at speed, if we could not demonstrate how to recover they would fail us. @Yeet had good advice above on how to figure out which gear you should be selecting when you find yourself in a recovery situation.
silenze
Lunch is the best part of the day
The transmissions in ups tractors are all maintained very well. The only thing usually worn is the clutch brake from all the new guys.
Now in package car that transmission would be worn, loose and a nightmare to drive.
Your obviously worth training. And you should be trained as any other package driver transferring to feeders. They should be following the contract language.
9.5er
Well-Known Member
You want to test in a manual. Don’t worry about grinding. You just need to be able to get it into gear. Don’t want to coast too long. As long as you can safely handle the vehicle you’ll be fine.
I’m pretty sure I left part of the tranny down by the college while doing my test. Instructor said you’ll get it after a few days on road alone. Two years later I still grind the old international we have but am smooth on the Mack’s.
I’m pretty sure I left part of the tranny down by the college while doing my test. Instructor said you’ll get it after a few days on road alone. Two years later I still grind the old international we have but am smooth on the Mack’s.
Buffet Master
FEEDAH FATTY
If you miss a gear up or down, you just move the shifter into the position in the pattern you want but don't put much pressure on it. Just put enough pressure where you feel the slightest resistance. Stab the rpms and when it synchronizes, it'll fall right in gear. Key is not wrenching on the shifter trying to force it in. Hitting a missed gear is still just floating the transmission but doing it a second time.
HEFFERNAN
Huge Member
Here's a trick to help you driving a standard.
Just look at the numbers on the speedometer.
15 MPH, add the 1 and 5, get in 6th gear
25 MPH, add the 2 and 5, you should be in 7th gear
35 MPH, add the 3 and 5, you should be in 8th
45 mph, 9th gear
Obviously 55 MPH and over in 10th
The RPMs work themselves out.
Then use the speedometer while downshifting to know which gear you should be at.
Well-Known Member
Back From Break
If you got the call, you are obviously the highest senior employee who signed a feeder intent sheet. It is up to UPS to train you. They probably want a road test to see where you are at at and to see if they need to train you on how to drive a tractor.
If you pass the road test, they go from there. If you fail it, they will train you on how to drive a tractor, the same way they train employees who do not hold a valid CDL and have never driven a tractor.
barnyard
KTM rider
We had a guy in our building that had his CDL w/doubles and triples. He did not do a road test, he went right to feeder school. The only difference between his training and mine was that he did not take his state road test on the last day, I did. A couple of weeks later, he did his productive week and is now a qualified cover driver. He has more seniority than me, so he also worked a peak job. In his 1st year of covering, he has worked more in feeders than I did in my 1st 3 years on the Q list.
Indecisi0n
Well-Known Member
When I leave @8 I feel like I am doin something wrong.
