Ask a Feeder Driver, Feeder Driver FAQ

[Coldworld]

do you keep your cab clean

 

[Jkloc420]

yes you are correct

 

[Indecisi0n]

do you keep your cab clean

Do you want to come into my cab?

 

[Jkloc420]

Do you want to come into my cab?

@Future

 

[Johney]

Why do you guys like to drag the trailers off door and bend the legs?

We have had several feeder drivers come to the shop with a leg bent at at 20 plus degree angle thinking we can fix that on a loaded trailer.

If you can’t get to the crank to raise the legs can’t you call for a shifter to pull the trailer off the door a little?

What do you do when the shifter leaves them so close together in the MT lot you can't squeeze between them to raise the gear? Our MT lot is like this all the time. And the reload shifter is long gone and the preload shifter doesn't start for two hours?

 

[trickpony1]

What do you do when the shifter leaves them so close together

You drive your tractor over to the ready line and jump in a shifter.

Rocket science.

 

[Jones]

What do you do when the shifter leaves them so close together in the MT lot you can't squeeze between them to raise the gear? Our MT lot is like this all the time. And the reload shifter is long gone and the preload shifter doesn't start for two hours?

Sometimes you have to drag them little bit just to get to the landing gear, but I've seen guys drag them 20 feet or more for no particular reason

You drive your tractor over to the ready line and jump in a shifter.

Rocket science.

Or call dispatch and let them figure something out.

 

[Indecisi0n]

Are your car washes as bad as ours where the water causes more spot and dirt than the damn dirt that was there before I went it.

 

[Redtag]

Not every building has a shifter working there..... and I have seen drivers pretty much drag the trailer with legs down 30 feet or more so yes if I were you I’d be mad too.... it’s called a test tug not a rip the legs off of the trailer test ...but to be fair, it’s not a DOT requirement to have landing gear on a trailer...lol

I understand in that situation you do what you have to do, but we have many shifters in our yard and we have done thousands of dollars in damage pulling the landing gear off of loaded trailers because that’s all we can do at that point.

What do you do when the shifter leaves them so close together in the MT lot you can't squeeze between them to raise the gear? Our MT lot is like this all the time. And the reload shifter is long gone and the preload shifter doesn't start for two hours?

Our lot can get like that too, maybe you can use the shifter to move it a bit?

 

[Dracula]

That's why I always check them.

Yep, part of the pretrip.

 

[Redtag]

I actually will look to see that the trailer number matches what is on the registration..... I guess I’m working too hard!

That’s a good idea.

We shouldn't have to, seems like that should be taken care of with the yearly inspection.

We do check them when doing a FAI or a PM but it’s a good idea to verify.

We need more trailer mechanics in my area... I am a package mechanic but have been working a ton of OT for trailer work, because of a backlog of trailer FAIs or redtags

 

[Johney]

Our lot can get like that too, maybe you can use the shifter to move it a bit?

I’m not shifter qualified.

 

[Johney]

Sometimes you have to drag them little bit just to get to the landing gear, but I've seen guys drag them 20 feet or more for no particular reason

Or call dispatch and let them figure something out.

The tires just spin on the dirt covered concrete. Call Dispatch? That's funny!

 

[King Of The Mountain]

I’m not shifter qualified.

Biggest joke cert at UPS by a mile.

 

[Dracula]

I’m not shifter qualified.

It’s just not my job. I didn’t run 22 years in package car to come back here and get in a shifter. No sir.

 

[King Of The Mountain]

It’s just not my job. I didn’t run 22 years in package car to come back here and get in a shifter. No sir.

Till you gotta setup a couple dozen doors or help keep a primary staged at a smaller hub and your shoulders take the brunt of it

 

[Dracula]

Till you gotta setup a couple dozen doors or help keep a primary staged at a smaller hub and your shoulders take the brunt of it

I don’t do that.

 

[retiredTxfeeder]

When I first came into feeders, I didn't adjust well initially from going from a day job straight into nights. There was a shifter job available that everybody passed on at bid time. (start at 11 AM, work till 4pm, take meal, then jump into a tractor, make a CPU, come back, get back into the shifter and do the rest of your job. It was rough in the summer in the Texas heat, but I was a young buck. I sure learned to back and build sets on this job. I think it should be mandatory that new feeder drivers do some kind of shifting job for at least a small amount of time.

 

[Dracula]

When I first came into feeders, I didn't adjust well initially from going from a day job straight into nights. There was a shifter job available that everybody passed on at bid time. (start at 11 AM, work till 4pm, take meal, then jump into a tractor, make a CPU, come back, get back into the shifter and do the rest of your job. It was rough in the summer in the Texas heat, but I was a young buck. I sure learned to back and build sets on this job. I think it should be mandatory that new feeder drivers do some kind of shifting job for at least a small amount of time.

I did. The week after my 5 day ride I worked in the yard. That was 7 years ago. That one week answered my questions about whether or not I wanted to work in a shifter.

Here, we carry our package car seniority into feeders with us, so I grabbed a road job immediately.

Hey, you can question my intelligence for staying 22 years in the bread truck, but it paid off for me when I finally wised up and went to feeders.

Besides, I learned everything a shifter would, I just did it in an elderly 264 single-axle Mack.

 

[King Of The Mountain]

When I first came into feeders, I didn't adjust well initially from going from a day job straight into nights. There was a shifter job available that everybody passed on at bid time. (start at 11 AM, work till 4pm, take meal, then jump into a tractor, make a CPU, come back, get back into the shifter and do the rest of your job. It was rough in the summer in the Texas heat, but I was a young buck. I sure learned to back and build sets on this job. I think it should be mandatory that new feeder drivers do some kind of shifting job for at least a small amount of time.

Here if you go in and load to get your 8 when you are on the bottom of the list they will throw you a bone and shift you for half the time in a tractor or take a trip the the rail yard or build some sets. It really allows the newest guys to get some production practice in without being under the gun.

When weekly bidding for shifting coverage jobs here I get the pick of the litter and time of day since no one else wants them and 8 hours or 14 if I want to stay.

I did. The week after my 5 day ride I worked in the yard. That was 7 years ago. That one week answered my questions about whether or not I wanted to work in a shifter.

Here, we carry our package car seniority into feeders with us, so I grabbed a road job immediately.

Hey, you can question my intelligence for staying 22 years in the bread truck, but it paid off for me when I finally wised up and went to feeders.

Besides, I learned everything a shifter would, I just did it in an elderly 264 single-axle Mack.

Yeah when you have an established run it's easy to say that but if you are called in on a job and there is shifting and a yard bird its a sight to sore eyes.

I'm a hound for hours so I'll take 60 hours in a week with a bird than an 8'n'skate cpu or drop and hook meetpoint.