Peak Vehicle Breakdowns

[MrFedEx]

Your station may be different, but mine is full of old junkers, and they've been breaking down at an alarming rate. Just how does one fulfill the hallowed Purple Promise when you don't have a working truck?

Just another consequence of being overly cheap. I see new FedEx LTL vehicles as well as new FedEx Freight trucks. Apparently, FedEx Express isn't worthy of an investment in replacement vehicles. I also see new or newer UPS trucks on the road, both package cars and feeder tractors, which makes the rusty and dirty crap we drive look even more unprofessional. I would guess the average vehicle age at my station to be approximately 12 years old.

I'm sure there are some exceptions out there where FedEx has invested in an all-new hybrid fleet for (one) a station for PR purposes (being Green), but I'm guessing the vast majority of the stations are similar to mine.

Just like with employees, you get what you pay for.

 

[Dagoof]

guess you guys might be delivering out of planes after all.

 

[MrFedEx]

guess you guys might be delivering out of planes after all.

Yep, according to Fred S, that's just what we do. The plane lands on your street, the pilots jump-out of the cockpit door, and they deliver your package right into your waiting hands.

That's why we should have an "Express Carrier" exemption. I guess UPS planes don't have the special avionics that allow them to land on streets like ours do.

 

[FedExer267]

Mr Fed Ex look on the bright side atleast your trucks do not have over 400,000 miles on them and everyone can see the RPS threw the cheap 100.00 paint job. LOL!!! I have to use a bunjee cord to keep my doors shut when I am driving out to my route and I do not have a working heater nice huh!!! Gotta love contractors!!!!!!!

 

[brownrod]

I saw a broke down express truck just a couple blocks from the express terminal this morning. They were unloading the truck into an empty one.

The fedex express building in my town puts the ups center to shame. I'm embarrassed by our crappy little building when I see their deluxe building. They have a customer counter that actually looks inviting. I'd want to ship my packages there.

 

[MrFedEx]

Mr Fed Ex look on the bright side atleast your trucks do not have over 400,000 miles on them and everyone can see the RPS threw the cheap 100.00 paint job. LOL!!! I have to use a bunjee cord to keep my doors shut when I am driving out to my route and I do not have a working heater nice huh!!! Gotta love contractors!!!!!!!

We have several trucks with over 400,000 miles. The oldest was built in 1985 and has over 500,000 miles. I hear from the RTD's that most of their tractors are over 1,000,000 and falling apart, although it's not unusual for tractors to go well over a million miles.

I see a lot of Ground trucks that look better than ours at Express, although the ex-RPS rigs almost always look worse.

 

[FedExer267]

We have several trucks with over 400,000 miles. The oldest was built in 1985 and has over 500,000 miles. I hear from the RTD's that most of their tractors are over 1,000,000 and falling apart, although it's not unusual for tractors to go well over a million miles.

I see a lot of Ground trucks that look better than ours at Express, although the ex-RPS rigs almost always look worse.

hahaha yes they do and you got to love the high maintenance bunjee cord door locks...lol All we can do Mr Fed Ex is keep on trucking til they blow up..

 

[DOWNTRODDEN IN TEXAS]

Yeppers, gotta love a P.O.S. that's just old enough that ANY part short of a wheel/tire combo is a SPECIAL ORDER PART!!

The starter went out on my Beast, it'll be sometime in January before the new one shows up, and Junior (Beast's twin brother..lol) has a back door with a broken lock (been on order since May of this year) so you can only open it from inside. This wouldn't be a big deal except for my having a bulk route that blocks out the bulkhead door...yesterday was fun, fun, fun.

Did I mention that when you hit bumps in the road, it feels like the body goes to the right, the frame's going left AND up and down at the same time??

 

[DOWNTRODDEN IN TEXAS]

On a side note, why is it when you're helping with P2's, already an hour behind from your own route, plus a 45 minute drive to the new area and you tell dispatch that you're not going to be able to make it to a pickup on time, that they won't put it off on one of the SEVERAL pm drivers that WOULD have made it with absolutely no problems?

I asked for help 5 times and my response was "break off". I'm not going to do that simply for the fact that I was making stops in a freaking MALL at CHRISTMAS with all the kids out EARLY!! It took forever to get there...lol On the upside, I did have a dandy rental minivan, with power everything and a radio, oh the luxury...lmao!

 

[bbsam]

Yeppers, gotta love a P.O.S. that's just old enough that ANY part short of a wheel/tire combo is a SPECIAL ORDER PART!!

The starter went out on my Beast, it'll be sometime in January before the new one shows up, and Junior (Beast's twin brother..lol) has a back door with a broken lock (been on order since May of this year) so you can only open it from inside. This wouldn't be a big deal except for my having a bulk route that blocks out the bulkhead door...yesterday was fun, fun, fun.

Did I mention that when you hit bumps in the road, it feels like the body goes to the right, the frame's going left AND up and down at the same time??

I feel your pain and all, but parts on back order are huge even for newer vehicles. Had a 2006 Freightliner that we couldn't get the right radiator for. Apparently with the economy taking a hit parts manufacturers scaled back on replacement parts.

 

[DOWNTRODDEN IN TEXAS]

I hear that from my brother who's a mechanic at Freight. But the moneypit assigned to my route is a low mileage (under 300,000) 23 year old Freightliner. We have several that are knocking on the 400,000 plus door.

 

[bbsam]

I hear that from my brother who's a mechanic at Freight. But the moneypit assigned to my route is a low mileage (under 300,000) 23 year old Freightliner. We have several that are knocking on the 400,000 plus door.

You sure it's a Freightliner? Most from that era were Internationals with the 7.3. My favorite truck for durability are actually the '98 to '03 Internationals. Very dependable and there is absolutely no reason to get rid of them at 400,000 miles if maintenance is kept up on them. Especially like the position of the fuel filter during cold winter months. Up in the valley of the engine where the fuel can't get cold enough to gel. Freightliners have them on the frame rail where all the cold and wet crap hits them.

 

[SmithBarney]

Guess you guys need better mechanics. my 93 W700, has 290k, and runs like a top.
I think there is one truck in our whole lineup that smokes.

Although I did hear that our mechanic is one of the top 10 at FedEx however they rank em. Then again when you work on the same truck everyday(95% of the time) you should get pretty dang good at diagnosing them.

 

[SmithBarney]

I hear that from my brother who's a mechanic at Freight. But the moneypit assigned to my route is a low mileage (under 300,000) 23 year old Freightliner. We have several that are knocking on the 400,000 plus door.

Just realized 300,000 and 23 years old... thats pretty light use. I drive a 95 with 291k on the clock, and it never leaves town.

 

[MrFedEx]

Just realized 300,000 and 23 years old... thats pretty light use. I drive a 95 with 291k on the clock, and it never leaves town.

I ran out of hours this morning...what a shame. Anyway, all W700's and 900's are built on the Freightliner chassis. As far as I know, they're good trucks and I love the Cummins motor. My 900 has just over 200,000 on it and still runs great. The problem children at my station are the old gas 600's and 700's plus the few Econolines they have left...pure crapmobiles.

The W700's and 900's would look at lot better if they'd at least paint the rusty wheels and clean them up a bit.

 

[Washu234]

Ha I thought of you guys today when I walked in and there was one truck... one left for my 10:30 run into the ghetto and deliver everything that was left behind job.

This truck was in awful shape. It had a tire that was slowly leaking (went from full to half through my day) the transmission slipped from drive to neutral randomly (you'd give it gas and then the engine would just roar and you'd have to shift from N to D while rolling to get it to take) and occasionally the engine would just stall. Amazing.

Ha. Yeah it was a 600' series truck. Pure garbage. Least the back door locked. Even the people in the hood were laughing at the sorry state of my truck. Oh well.

 

[MrFedEx]

Ha I thought of you guys today when I walked in and there was one truck... one left for my 10:30 run into the ghetto and deliver everything that was left behind job.

This truck was in awful shape. It had a tire that was slowly leaking (went from full to half through my day) the transmission slipped from drive to neutral randomly (you'd give it gas and then the engine would just roar and you'd have to shift from N to D while rolling to get it to take) and occasionally the engine would just stall. Amazing.

Ha. Yeah it was a 600' series truck. Pure garbage. Least the back door locked. Even the people in the hood were laughing at the sorry state of my truck. Oh well.

Our 600's always smell of gas and yes, the transmissions slip too. I'm waiting for one to catch in fire and then have the driver "forget" where the fire extingusher is. Do your 600's have the long pin on the rear door that will knock you out if you accidentally slam it on your head?

 

[SmithBarney]

I ran out of hours this morning...what a shame. Anyway, all W700's and 900's are built on the Freightliner chassis. As far as I know, they're good trucks and I love the Cummins motor. My 900 has just over 200,000 on it and still runs great. The problem children at my station are the old gas 600's and 700's plus the few Econolines they have left...pure crapmobiles.

The W700's and 900's would look at lot better if they'd at least paint the rusty wheels and clean them up a bit.

hah, yeah they are good machines..
The wheels our mech. is replacing all the wheels on the trucks with new powdercoated ones
with black powdercoated lugnuts. Even though the trucks are less than 10 years old and the current wheels are fine.
Now they are replacing the rear bumpers with flat bumpers, which is really gonna suck for my route I have 3 bulk docks I back up to twice a day, and the current bumper protects the truck...

 

[Washu234]

Our 600's always smell of gas and yes, the transmissions slip too. I'm waiting for one to catch in fire and then have the driver "forget" where the fire extingusher is. Do your 600's have the long pin on the rear door that will knock you out if you accidentally slam it on your head?

Ha. I can't tell you how many times I've hit my head in the 600 series. I'm 5'11" tall so I should just clear but that damn pin your talking about (or the latch as a whole) always seems to catch me when I least expect it. Ha.

No worries though. I'm back in my Freightliner this week.

 

[Washu234]

hah, yeah they are good machines..
The wheels our mech. is replacing all the wheels on the trucks with new powdercoated ones
with black powdercoated lugnuts. Even though the trucks are less than 10 years old and the current wheels are fine.
Now they are replacing the rear bumpers with flat bumpers, which is really gonna suck for my route I have 3 bulk docks I back up to twice a day, and the current bumper protects the truck...

I actually really like the flat bumpers. When you back into a dock you do have to be a little more careful but the trucks here with flatbumpers have cameras too. When they really come in handy is when you do two trucks back to back for a sweep. That flat bumper makes it a lot easier to get in.

Oh and they bolt the bulkhead door at our station (don't get me started) so no I can't just go through the cab.