How much do feeder drivers make per year?

[MR_Vengeance]

I have been thinking about going into feeder for a while now and its not for the money. My knees are shot and i was just wondering how hard of a transition was it for wny of you feeder guys/gals? How hard is it to get used to the hours? And how long before you get the hang of drivig/ backing up the semis? Do you encourage other to go for it? Any of you out there that tryed it and didnt like it? Ifso why?

the first few months are the hardest, but once you are use to not sleeping at night time then you should be ok for awhile.Backing up is not as easy but once you get some pratice, you'll get the concept of how it's done. if you have a family and wants to spend time with them then feeder might not be the right place for you. sure the money is good, but at 56-60 hours of work you no longer have a life!!

 

[raceanoncr]

Wow! feeders a 100k. They make just about as much as our pilots. I believe/I know their over paid at a 100k a year. Rocky are you sure about that?

Uh, hate to give out too much personal info here, but, yeah, it's easy to make over 100 in feeders. Was on sleeper for almost 5 yrs and went over that figure often but had to take xtra runs to do it, all on overtime or overtime miles. Took xtra Brown runs also on days of when asked, not mandatory but easy $.

Every year, we also had to go out on Thanksgiving day and run all w/e. Was part of regular run and Louky doesn't sleep so had to take it. All overtime miles. One of the last yrs, had cover partner with me. Had lots of delay time, lots of miles, grossed about $4700 for the wk! That's EACH ! Manager did payroll that wk and said to steward, "These guys made more in a week then I make in a month!" Steward replied, "Yeah, but you were home with your wife that week too and they weren't".

 

[yeldarb]

Triples follow you pretty well, except the last box bounces around on the freeway a little bit. Its the double 45's that are more difficult. If you turn to sharp, your trailers will pinch. LCV pay is about a buck more an hour over package.

 

[over9five]

"Took xtra Brown runs..."

What is a Brown run, Race?

 

[diesel96]

Triples follow you pretty well, except the last box bounces around on the freeway a little bit. Its the double 45's that are more difficult. If you turn to sharp, your trailers will pinch. LCV pay is about a buck more an hour over package.

What states allow triples ? I know in Fla. it's not allowed,and double long boxes are only allowed on our turnpike systems not our major inter-state hwys .And also what size trailers are used for triples?

 

[raceanoncr]

"Took xtra Brown runs..."

What is a Brown run, Race?

When we were on sleeper, on days off, there were xtra feeder runs that came up that no one was available to cover so alot of times I or partner would volunteer to cover those for a day...whatever our DOT hrs would allow.

To me, sleeper is "white" run and feeder is "brown" run. See how clever I am? I may have been born yesterday BUT NOT LAST NIGHT!!!!

 

[yeldarb]

triples are allowed in different states. They are 28'. It all depends on local laws.

 

[MR_Vengeance]

What states allow triples ? I know in Fla. it's not allowed,and double long boxes are only allowed on our turnpike systems not our major inter-state hwys .And also what size trailers are used for triples?

oregon, indiana, nevada just to name a few.

 

[brown67]

Great stuff. My center runs about 60 cars a day and we have 3 feeder drivers plus 1 package feeder driver. One of our feeder drivers just retired and his route is up for bid. The bid comes down at 6am Monday and as of Saturday afternoon I was the one with the most seniority to have bid it. I've talked to the feeder drivers in our building and they all say take the bid. If you can handle night work your body will love you again. I'm 39 and have been driving for 14 years and I'm worried about my body breaking down over the next few years. I've been lucky so for and still have my health, but I don't want to be like most drivers with 20 plus years. Just hanging on with bad knees, backs, shoulders, and feet trying to get to retirement.

 

[RockyRogue]

oregon, indiana, nevada just to name a few.

Colorado also allows triples. As this is a mountain state, I'm not sure if there is a limit on how far they can go as triples. I would have a coronary trying to drive a big rig down a mountain in this state!! I was nervous enough in a sedan!

Triples follow you pretty well, except the last box bounces around on the freeway a little bit. Its the double 45's that are more difficult. If you turn to sharp, your trailers will pinch. LCV pay is about a buck more an hour over package.

These double 45's scare the outta me!!!! I don't even drive the blasted things and I'm still scared to death of 'em! The one time I was driving with a double 45 nearby was a Target distribution load. I let off the gas and gave the guy twice the space I would for a normal 18 wheeler. Cautious? Yes. Excessively? NO! 18 wheelers do strange things, particularly in wind. Feeder drivers know what I'm talking about. -Rocky

 

[rushfan]

Here if you pull triples, you get $1.00 more per hour. A few cents more per hour when pulling doubles and single. Most of the money is made in winter, when the roads are bad.
Our roads here are so rutted. I was driving one night, and all of the sudden, my tractor began to move side to side. It was the "crack the whip" effect. I let off the fuel, and drove that section of interstate 15 under the speed limit. I'll do so until that section is fixed.

 

[diesel96]

I'm also curious ,when driving triples do you build the set on a exchange pad off the h'way?Are you allowed to drive off the h'way on public streets?

Can't imagine driving down a mountain during a snowstorm,or hitting a patch of black ice.

I deal with fog,tropical storms,fires,and oh yeah bad drivers(seniors,tourists,moms on cell phones in big SUV's)

 

[hoser]

Wow! feeders a 100k. They make just about as much as our pilots. I believe/I know their over paid at a 100k a year. Rocky are you sure about that?

a first officer of a wide body aircraft makes well over $130k a year at the very least. anything less, and they're getting horribly ripped off.

The UPS Pilots make $500 a week for the first year.

Or to put it another way, if you make more than $12.50 per hour/ 40 hours per week, you are making more than a first year pilot.

But ... they are "living the dream"

what, working 60 hours a month as a friend/O is too much?

I'm also curious ,when driving triples do you build the set on a exchange pad off the h'way?Are you allowed to drive off the h'way on public streets?

Can't imagine driving down a mountain during a snowstorm,or hitting a patch of black ice.

I deal with fog,tropical storms,fires,and oh yeah bad drivers(seniors,tourists,moms on cell phones in big SUV's)

Where I am, you can drive anywhere with triples, and they do it in the snow, too (albiet friend'n SLOWLY)

 

[area43]

Great to hear from a pilot. I remember you were looking for a crash site,lol ( I might have used the wrong pilot lango) a while ago. Is everything a thumbs up. ( : A43(not bingo)

Correction, crash site should be changed to crash pad, lol, my bag. A43(Bingo)

 

[p-dale parts man]

It takes a long time to get a day run in the georgia district. but, watch out. i think on the next contract the only runs feeder does is center to center and freight will be pulling all the OTR runs since ups is backing away from using rail.

 

[brown67]

In Colorado you can refuse to drive triples if there is any kind of weather. Rain, wind, snow, ice. Also, you have to wait 6 months after feeder school to to drive triples.

 

[RockyRogue]

In Colorado you can refuse to drive triples if there is any kind of weather. Rain, wind, snow, ice. Also, you have to wait 6 months after feeder school to to drive triples.

The union backs that???? WOW!!! I could see that in New York or a union bastion state but I'm floored it happens here. -Rocky

 

[xracer]

Here in Upstate NY a feeder driver makes $0.15/hr more than a package car driver and in addition to that you receive an additional $0.35/hr for hauling doubles, triples are not allowed where I am from and the doubles are only double 28's, that gives a feeder driver a pay difference of $0.50/hr over a package car driver. The real difference in pay comes from the extra overtime that you get, a package car driver gets maybe 48 hours on a good week while most feeder drivers are in jeopardy of going into violation on a weekly basis by pushing 60 hours this slight difference in pay scale combined with the additional hours worked means approx another $30k a year for the feeder driver. In our center we have 20 feeder routes and just shy of 30 package car routes. Day routes are possible here in feeders if you are within the top five in seniority of which I happen to be number 4 so if you don't mind the additional hours yes you can be knocking on the door of making a $100,000/year as a feeder driver and with the next raise in Aug clearing that amount. The job is much easier than that of a package car driver but can be excruciatingly boring if you have an over the road route and not a CPU route.

 

[UPS Lifer]

The UPS Pilots make $500 a week for the first year.

Or to put it another way, if you make more than $12.50 per hour/ 40 hours per week, you are making more than a first year pilot.

But ... they are "living the dream"

Where in the heck dod you hear that a 1st year pilot made $500 a week! That is the first time I have ever heard a statement like that. The pilots lounge was less than 50 feet away from my office!

The UPS pilots make $150K plus. A Captain will make more than $200K plus, probably closer to $250K!

One of the most prestigious jobs in the industry is being a UPS pilot. They also have the best equipment out there. They deserve it!

 

[Triples]

I pull triples at an extra .75 cents per hour and work about 55-58 hrs per week. I made 86k last year and was home every night/day. I have
a night run right now, and like it. No bosses around and no one to answer to. It is great. I am a FNG to this site so hello everyone. Hope to make around 90 this year with dollar raise next month. GL!!!