shifter info

[tre305]

im pretty sure this has been answered plenty of times on here and myabe someone can point me in the direction of the right thread for it.

but i recently went up to our early AM driver who also shifts when he comes back to the building and inquired about becoming a shifter. there's already 2 preloaders in front me he's training this week and early next week. he said it takes about 2-3 days to train em.

but my question is...for any other shifters out there. is it hard to push around those trucks? if i remember correctly from a guy at the Hialeah, FL building telling me those things had 16-32 gears? 0_o.

right now im getting 5 hours maz everyday as an inside ECS clerk/damage clerk/Hazmat responder, etc etc. if i do get on as a shifter....after i do my 5 hours and i go to move trailers around in the yard....is that considered OT for me?

any other info would be helpful as well

thanks in advanced.

 

[pickup]

im pretty sure this has been answered plenty of times on here and myabe someone can point me in the direction of the right thread for it.

but i recently went up to our early AM driver who also shifts when he comes back to the building and inquired about becoming a shifter. there's already 2 preloaders in front me he's training this week and early next week. he said it takes about 2-3 days to train em.

but my question is...for any other shifters out there. is it hard to push around those trucks? if i remember correctly from a guy at the Hialeah, FL building telling me those things had 16-32 gears? 0_o.

right now im getting 5 hours maz everyday as an inside ECS clerk/damage clerk/Hazmat responder, etc etc. if i do get on as a shifter....after i do my 5 hours and i go to move trailers around in the yard....is that considered OT for me?

any other info would be helpful as well

thanks in advanced.

I can't answer the OT question. But I'll take a stab at the other ones(the one you asked and the ones you didn't ask) . In my neck of the woods in new jersey and other places, I have never seen a shifter that wasn't an automatic: . 1,2, D, R , N. The guy from Hialeah /Fl might have encountered something different than what I have seen. But 16-32 gears. You need gears for power and going up hills, and even so, I have never heard of so many gears for a tractor or power unit: doesn't mean they don't exist but I would bet good money if they did, you would not encounter such a unit at a ups facility. Why not ask one of the preloaders who are training right now what they are driving, i.e. automatics or stick shift(and if so, how many gears)?

As for the job itself, at some point after you hook up, you will back trailers into a slots(bay doors, parking spaces,etc), and backing is one of the hardest and counterintuitive tasks for a driver to learn to do. I do not mean to discourage you, but to encourage you to be up to the task. Once you learn how to do it, it is one of the easiest and intuitive things to do. You're going to sweat doing it at first and you will have a knot in your stomach, but if ye be of good courage, you will the better man for doing it.

I'll add more as I see fit.
Anyone else care to grab the baton and run with it?

 

[tre305]

thanks for the help pickup. it might of got it confused with what that guy said but if their usually automatic then thats good enough for me lol. but yeah backing those trailers up is the only part i know thats going to get me. but the preloaders that also shift during our sort that i see doing it....the way they just whip those things around in the yard....its just a breeze to them so i hope i can pick up on it the same way but ill definitely ask one of them monday morning when i go in to work.

 

[feederdriver06]

The wagons are automatic. No gears to worry about.

 

[pickup]

The wagons are automatic. No gears to worry about.

no slang feederdriver for we have a newbie. He might think the wagons you refer to are the trailers and the horses that pull them are the shifters.

Translation: the wagon he refers to is indeed the shifter.

Take no offense to my correction, former monkey slave, for none was intended.

 

[pickup]

im pretty sure this has been answered plenty of times on here and myabe someone can point me in the direction of the right thread for it.

but i recently went up to our early AM driver who also shifts when he comes back to the building and inquired about becoming a shifter. there's already 2 preloaders in front me he's training this week and early next week. he said it takes about 2-3 days to train em.

but my question is...for any other shifters out there. is it hard to push around those trucks? if i remember correctly from a guy at the Hialeah, FL building telling me those things had 16-32 gears? 0_o.

right now im getting 5 hours maz everyday as an inside ECS clerk/damage clerk/Hazmat responder, etc etc. if i do get on as a shifter....after i do my 5 hours and i go to move trailers around in the yard....is that considered OT for me?

any other info would be helpful as well

thanks in advanced.

can't find any other threads that are specifically about this, so check in on this thread after you talk with one of the shifters in training and if you wanna go through with it, we'll try to give you some more good advice that should get you over the hump , so to speak

 

[trickpony1]

tre305-
Backing a trailer isn't difficult.

Two rules to remember:
1) the steering wheel turns to the right and to the left.
2) the end of the trailer can only go to the right or to the left (or straight if no steering wheel input).

Turning the wheel to the right causes the end of the trailer to go to the left.
Turning the wheel to the left causes the end of the trailer to go to the right.

Avoid the habit of sticking your head out the window. Use the mirrors and train your brain to respond to what it sees in the mirror.

The shorter the trailer the quicker it will respond to any steering wheel input. That's why you see alot of new drivers "oversteering" when they back up because they are "chasing" their trailer.

Be patient, don't get in a hurry and it will happen.

I sometimes have trouble backing my car up because it doesn't wiggle in the middle.

 

[NEFARIOUS]

In most yards the shifters are autos but in a few they just use the feeder to shift. (like our yard) just a 9 speed.

 

[JonFrum]

For many years we shifted using a real shifter, a vehicle specifically designed for shifting. The first one was yellow; the second one, white. Both were automatics, could de-couple from a trailer just by pushing a button on the dash, and had fifth wheels that you could raise up about two feet with the push of a lever. Very convienient for quickly moving trailers, and elevating trailers with built-in rollers so the unloaded packages would roll down hill.

The only time we used regular brown tractors to shift was when our shifter was in the shop. Unfortunately, we now use a tractor all the time. Tractors are unpleasant, but you only use one foreward gear and reverse. The trailer yard isn't that big, has a 10 MPH speed limit, and you are going in reverse half the time, so I wouldn't worry about all the other gears.

 

[robot]

The bigger hubs I've been to use Shifter tractors that are automatic. Usually turn on a dime so backing trailers is pretty easy. Drawback is, it feels like you're sitting on top of a stove! Those things get hot!!

I noticed the smaller hubs will use a road tractor to shift. Probably won't need to go past 2nd gear on the yard.

 

[Mr Shifter]

Just do it! Heck maybe one day you could use the skills and geta CDL

 

[NEFARIOUS]

All the shifters in Sac have CDLs because they have two trailer yards both just down the street from the Hub.

 

[City Driver]

good luck on usin those mirrors, all of ours shake so bad all you see in the mirror is a giant blue, even if youur off the brake and on the fuel

and yes they are all automatic with hydraulic 5th wheels