So whats a typical day as a feeder driver?
- Thread starter dosmastr
- Start date
bleedinbrown58
That’s Craptacular
I'm not a fan of Dunkin coffee anymore. Panera bread's coffee is much better.
oldngray
nowhere special
not White Castle coffee? Thats where all the cops go.
cachsux
Wah
Anything White Castle comes out too fast for the feeder digestive system. You don't want to be leaning against your tank in -20 weather.
bleedinbrown58
That’s Craptacular
I didn't even know they sold coffee...lol. Haven't been to a White Castle in probably 10 years....can't eat that garbage anymore.
bluehdmc
Well-Known Member
It sounds like you're in South Jersey, different rules than North Jersey. I think you'd be on the bottom of the list for quite a while. Talk to some of the feeder drivers in the building where you work.
Every place has different rules, in Local 177 they have classification seniority for job picks. I've talk to drivers in Lawnside and they have a "Q" list that once you make that it goes by company seniority.
I know some drivers with 20+yrs seniority and they just want to shift, either because of the hours or ????
Some guys start in the afternoon, do some CPU's and maybe (to use your example) a LAWNJ to WILPA and back to LAWNJ.
Some want to do or get the long distance run which would probably be LAWNJ to NEWPA.
It's lots of fun bringing a set of doubles back and forth to Hartford, CT in a blizzard. (Actually its and adventure and you feel rather proud of yourself that you managed to do it without chaining up or getting stuck.) Plus in the New York to Washington DC corridor you have such wonderful, courteous drivers. (Like someone remarked to me once, "they all want to be first").
As far as money, yes some people make 100K or better, 80+ is more like it with a reasonable amount of OT.
As far as a life.... well it's mostly nights, so you don't get much of one. Weekends, if you get a job that starts after say 7 or 8 at night maybe you can have dinner with the family but then it's tough to sleep when everyone is home on holidays.
I would say it's the best hourly position at UPS, but big brother is watching too, GPS and virtual OJS whenever they want to.
There is one definite benefit if your are going from part-time sup back to hourly employee, you get your soul back.
Every place has different rules, in Local 177 they have classification seniority for job picks. I've talk to drivers in Lawnside and they have a "Q" list that once you make that it goes by company seniority.
I know some drivers with 20+yrs seniority and they just want to shift, either because of the hours or ????
Some guys start in the afternoon, do some CPU's and maybe (to use your example) a LAWNJ to WILPA and back to LAWNJ.
Some want to do or get the long distance run which would probably be LAWNJ to NEWPA.
It's lots of fun bringing a set of doubles back and forth to Hartford, CT in a blizzard. (Actually its and adventure and you feel rather proud of yourself that you managed to do it without chaining up or getting stuck.) Plus in the New York to Washington DC corridor you have such wonderful, courteous drivers. (Like someone remarked to me once, "they all want to be first").
As far as money, yes some people make 100K or better, 80+ is more like it with a reasonable amount of OT.
As far as a life.... well it's mostly nights, so you don't get much of one. Weekends, if you get a job that starts after say 7 or 8 at night maybe you can have dinner with the family but then it's tough to sleep when everyone is home on holidays.
I would say it's the best hourly position at UPS, but big brother is watching too, GPS and virtual OJS whenever they want to.
There is one definite benefit if your are going from part-time sup back to hourly employee, you get your soul back.
Old International
Now driving a Sterling
In my area, you NEED AT LEAST 18 MONTHS in package cars before you can be selected for feeder school. You MUST HAVE two years clean MVR, and 18 MONTHS clean record driving package cars. You must also show responsibility, as you may be given keys and alarm codes to buildings. You will work nights, weekends, holidays, and are subject to being called in on rest(10 hours). Over time is not a problem, as you will get plenty of it.
My current run is an avg 8.5 hours long. However, I am always asked to do "other stuff" like shift trailers at a customer, or move empty trailers to balance out loads.
Start:1930 on Sunday, 2030 the rest of the week.
Finish- anytime after 8 working hours.
Off days- Friday morning late to Sunday afternoon.
Would I do it again? Damn right..........
My current run is an avg 8.5 hours long. However, I am always asked to do "other stuff" like shift trailers at a customer, or move empty trailers to balance out loads.
Start:1930 on Sunday, 2030 the rest of the week.
Finish- anytime after 8 working hours.
Off days- Friday morning late to Sunday afternoon.
Would I do it again? Damn right..........
MaceFremonti
Well-Known Member
Little bit different Feeder perspective as I went in after 20+ in delivery. I am very fortunate as I was only on the Q list for 2 weeks before I bidded on an open job.
I have a 4 day run T,W,T,friend off S,S,M. 3 day weekend...every week! Punch in at 4:30am drive 4.25 hours through the mountains of Pa, Md, & Wv, wait for my meet guy for about an hour or so and take 45 min lunch (and a nap if he is late). Swap loads and drive the 4.25 hours back. Punch out 4:30pm so about an 11.25 paid day 4 days a week for 45 hours total.
friendg Awesome!
Extra day off compared to delivery.
Slightly more $$$ than delivery.
New equipment compared to delivery.
Home by 5.
No nights.
No traffic on my run.
Literally only the UPS people I deal with is my meet guy. I havnt seen my direct supe or manager in 4 weeks.
Only bad thing is winter in the Alleghany Mountains can be pretty bad at times. Only have had one bad day so far. I made it through fine but one of our guys jackknifed that day and seeing that happen really makes you realize it's not all fun and gravy in Feeders. You trade the physical abuse for a huge amount of responsibility that requires constant focus and attention for an extended period of time. It's not for everyone but if you are up to the task it is the shizzle!
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I have a 4 day run T,W,T,friend off S,S,M. 3 day weekend...every week! Punch in at 4:30am drive 4.25 hours through the mountains of Pa, Md, & Wv, wait for my meet guy for about an hour or so and take 45 min lunch (and a nap if he is late). Swap loads and drive the 4.25 hours back. Punch out 4:30pm so about an 11.25 paid day 4 days a week for 45 hours total.
friendg Awesome!
Extra day off compared to delivery.
Slightly more $$$ than delivery.
New equipment compared to delivery.
Home by 5.
No nights.
No traffic on my run.
Literally only the UPS people I deal with is my meet guy. I havnt seen my direct supe or manager in 4 weeks.
Only bad thing is winter in the Alleghany Mountains can be pretty bad at times. Only have had one bad day so far. I made it through fine but one of our guys jackknifed that day and seeing that happen really makes you realize it's not all fun and gravy in Feeders. You trade the physical abuse for a huge amount of responsibility that requires constant focus and attention for an extended period of time. It's not for everyone but if you are up to the task it is the shizzle!
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Feeders101
Well-Known Member
Your worst day in feeders is still better than your best day in package!
Amen.
104Feeder
Phoenix Feeder
The Dispatch board is a sign up sheet that goes up two weeks prior where dispatch drivers (minimum 13) sign up for vacation/disability coverage and a smattering of WAD times. Then the week prior on the day the schedule is finalized those with WAD times are able to call in to select runs that became available within that time. So they get a "second bite" so to speak. They can elect to stay on their WAD time, taking whatever work comes up when they come in or pick a run. So you can have a semblance of a set schedule by being in the right position on the Dispatch board or by being "first out", "second out" etc (first person out scheduled in Package but likely to be called in to Feeders all week). Dispatch positions are bid every year along with runs and they have a minimum of 26. That's just how we do it here, your area may be completely different.
As to your other post, generally high seniority drivers take day work although there is a decent distribution throughout. The top guys have Sleepers & layovers, then day local work, Vegas runs which are mostly nights but pay well, long out of town runs, night out of town runs, more local work that is afternoons or nights, then mostly shifting which is about half days, half nights. Some people pick based on their preferred start time, some on the work. There really are no rules except we pretty much know the first dozen or so drivers rarely change their bid.
Managing the sleep schedule is probably the hardest part of Feeders. If you have to have a normal night sleep schedule it's not going to be the job for you. Some guys like to work then go to sleep as soon as they get home so they can sleep without setting an alarm. Some report that if they don't they end up not sleeping all day. Some stay up a few hours then sleep right up til they have to get ready to leave for work. If you are working nights then you will either maintain the same schedule over the weekend or figure out how to swap back and forth. Some will power through their Friday or Saturday to get on a normal sleep schedule then power through their first night back at work (which is typically the longest) then get back on the night schedule. I've had a few guys drop out because they just couldn't get used to the sleep patterns, but if they had stuck it through they would have been on day work by now, or at least an afternoon start time done by midnight.
If your relationship isn't strong enough to handle separation Feeders will only exacerbate that.
In my area we call a lot of drivers in from Package on Mondays & Tuesdays tapering off by the end of the week.
Yes it was smart to get that withdrawal card, as you never know where life will take you. It's rare now to find drivers who were former supervisors but it does happen. It would be smart to make that transition now into friend/T package rather than keep waiting for friend/T management. You can always make either choice later.
MaceFremonti that does sound like a pretty sweet schedule if you ask me. After 20+ years you earned it.
Forgive me if I said it already but I'm just worried about seeing my lady, she will be a teacher in a couple years.. working 10pm to 400am now I only see her in the evenings. just fearful I'd get a schedule for a while that would be directly opposite.
Secondly, its far from a sure thing, I found out my hub has 60-70 feeder drivers typically, and if I did my math right, close to 600 package cars.. so say half of the feeder drivers want to get out under the old contract (which I thought was technically done because everything with the new one will be retroactive... bet you all will have a nice back-pay check) but back on topic, if 30 retire which I'm sure is a stretch, only 5 in every 100 of the package car drivers need to be interested and all the slots are eaten. best case they could put out 2 supe's right? 1 for every 13?
an now an entirely new can of worms. I didn't mention I would fail a whisper test on my left ear. cursory research indicates that the federal government is beginning to relax those requirements but its a 2year waiver that must be renewed.
anyone know anyone who has hearing loss but drives?
Forgive me if I said it already but I'm just worried about seeing my lady, she will be a teacher in a couple years.. working 10pm to 400am now I only see her in the evenings. just fearful I'd get a schedule for a while that would be directly opposite.
Secondly, its far from a sure thing, I found out my hub has 60-70 feeder drivers typically, and if I did my math right, close to 600 package cars.. so say half of the feeder drivers want to get out under the old contract (which I thought was technically done because everything with the new one will be retroactive... bet you all will have a nice back-pay check) but back on topic, if 30 retire which I'm sure is a stretch, only 5 in every 100 of the package car drivers need to be interested and all the slots are eaten. best case they could put out 2 supe's right? 1 for every 13?
an now an entirely new can of worms. I didn't mention I would fail a whisper test on my left ear. cursory research indicates that the federal government is beginning to relax those requirements but its a 2year waiver that must be renewed.
anyone know anyone who has hearing loss but drives?
pretender
Well-Known Member
Real fun would be if you had a set of empty doubles.
PT Car Washer
Well-Known Member
If you have a serious hearing lose you can get a hearing aid to correct it. Just like wearing glasses. Yes I know drivers that do wear hearing aids. Barely passed my last DOT physical because of hearing lose.
104Feeder
Phoenix Feeder
They let you use both ears on the whisper test, and I don't recall him moving around to try and single out one side over the other.
The ratio is 6 to 1 (Art 22.4) unless your local supplements have better language. The intent for that language was to hire into full time package driving, as there is usually separate language for transfering from Package to Feeder.
The ratio is 6 to 1 (Art 22.4) unless your local supplements have better language. The intent for that language was to hire into full time package driving, as there is usually separate language for transfering from Package to Feeder.
QKRSTKR
Well-Known Member
I know you keep saying you are worried about family time. If you can't handle not sleeping in bed with your wife all week then yes it would be tough. I work nights, 930p.m. Till whenever, usually till 7am or 8am. I can still take my daughter to school, and pick her up. I sleep as soon as I get home. If I can get to bed by 830am, up by 3pm, I'm good to go. My girls school gets out at 330pm, and I have all afternoon and eve. With her till I leave for work which is usually 845pm.
Sometimes sleeping during the day is tough. Like 104 said, 1st night back is usually toughest. For me sleeping tues. is the hardest. I get off Saturday morning. I usually take a short nap, 3-4 hours and have the rest of day plus all day Sunday and most all day Monday till 930. So it s almost a 3 day weekend. I do sleep at night on weekends but try to go to bed as late as possible and sleep in as late as possible. Like yesterday I went to bed at 4a.m. And slept till noon.
Sometimes sleeping during the day is tough. Like 104 said, 1st night back is usually toughest. For me sleeping tues. is the hardest. I get off Saturday morning. I usually take a short nap, 3-4 hours and have the rest of day plus all day Sunday and most all day Monday till 930. So it s almost a 3 day weekend. I do sleep at night on weekends but try to go to bed as late as possible and sleep in as late as possible. Like yesterday I went to bed at 4a.m. And slept till noon.
