Feeder drivers

[trickpony1]

Boonie-
It is thought alot of people will retire before the current contract ends in Aug. 2013.

I imagine any accredited truck driving school would also arrange for your road test also.

Will having your class A CDL assure you get a feeder bid? I don't know. It would depend on how many others sign the bid sheet and if they have more seniority than you. Everything is done by seniority.
Good luck.

 

[MrFedEx]

Boonie-
It is thought alot of people will retire before the current contract ends in Aug. 2013.

I imagine any accredited truck driving school would also arrange for your road test also.

Will having your class A CDL assure you get a feeder bid? I don't know. It would depend on how many others sign the bid sheet and if they have more seniority than you. Everything is done by seniority.
Good luck.

I drove seasonal feeder for UPS for 4 years, while delivering for FedEx Express during the day. I got about 3 hours of sleep per night in my car during each of those peaks. I had hoped to get hired-on at UPS but quickly found out that you needed 20 years of seniority just to hold a feeder job, and that I'd have to work as a loader for years before I even got into a package car. They wanted to hire me, but I couldn't afford to wait that long.

I already had CDL experience, and went to RTD (feeder) at FedEx Express within one year. Not nearly as good a job as UPS, but nowhere near the wait. If I were you, I'd stick it out at UPS and try to get into package cars. FedEx, and most other transportation companies these days, tend to be non-union and not that great. For example, it takes about 22 years to get to top wage at FedEx.

In retrospect, I wish I'd waited and just worked for UPS. One thing you can look forward to at either FedEx or UPS is weird hours, generally all-night long at UPS and/or super early in the AM at FedEx. I did it for 10 years and went back to being a courier (package car) so I could have some kind of family life.

Good luck, and always know where your trailer is. If it's next to you, that's a really bad sign.

 

[Boonie]

Thanks for your reply, MrFredEx. Did you try to get a transfer to another terminal?

 

[2Slow]

The only way that getting your cdl early would help you (as a UPS employee) is to make it a little easier to pass the UPS feeder training. Period.

The way training works here: 2 week full time training period. The first week is in empty equipment (non-productive) and you are not paid. The second week is paid. Then you go take your test at an independent place. If you make it all the way through your 30 working day probationary period, you are then paid for that first week. If you can't do it, or if you crash anything, you go back to where you came from and you eat that week.

 

[What'dyabringmetoday???]

Hoffa supports expanding the part-time work force. Part-timers run feeders all the time. Seniority is a thing of the past, so you will be all set.

 

[Boonie]

Huh? Are you serious?

 

[menotyou]

Huh? Are you serious?

He's only half kidding.

 

[What'dyabringmetoday???]

He's only half kidding.

No, he is very serious.

 

[menotyou]

No, he is very serious.

I don't want to believe it. If I pretend it isn't happening, I can sleep a little better. I don't sleep well when I think about our lovely little local. I don't sleep well with some of my own choices.

 

[MrFedEx]

Thanks for your reply, MrFredEx. Did you try to get a transfer to another terminal?

No, it wouldn't have made any difference where I live. Plus, when you're in seasonal feeders you are not an employee, you're just a temporary worker. Your first step is to actually get hired as an employee.

 

[Boonie]

Do feeder drivers ever interact with customers? How isolated are they? Is driving feeders lacking in physical activity (looking to keep in shape)?

 

[cachsux]

Do feeder drivers ever interact with customers?

Yes

How isolated are they?

Only if something we have is comunicable.


Is driving feeders lacking in physical activity (looking to keep in shape)?

What I don`t do during the corse of the job is made up for in free time that can be spent in the gym of my choosing.

 

[dilligaf]

I really wish you wouldn't use that shade of red, it is very difficult to read.

 

[old levi's]

I really wish you wouldn't use that shade of red, it is very difficult to read.

With those big beautiful eyes you should be able to read things from the future!

 

[dilligaf]

With those big beautiful eyes you should be able to read things from the future!

Honey, these old eyes need glasses for reading.

 

[old levi's]

Honey, these old eyes need glasses for reading.

I love it when she calls me honey.

 

[cachsux]

Honey, these old eyes need glasses for reading.

That`s called being color blind.

 

[dilligaf]

That`s called being color blind.

​Not color blind. I can tell that that was red.

 

[cachsux]

Are you sure?

 

[dilligaf]

Are you sure?

​Ya! Quite...................