Thinking of going into feeders.

browndriverguy2015

Well-Known Member
Are there any feeder drivers on here that used to be package car that could give me their advice on the transition?

1- are you glad you made the switch and would you do it again?

2- what are the average working hours of newer feeder drivers?- time of day and hours worked.

Some guys at the center say it takes 30 years to get a steady mon- Fri daytime route. Is that accurate for the most part?

Any other advice would be great.

Thanks!
 

Sweeper

Where’s the broom?
1-Absolutely the best decision I've made since working for UPS, yes I'd do it again.

2- The answer to this is completely dependent on your location. Your going to have to depend on drivers in your area to attain that type of specific info
 

DriveInDriveOut

Inordinately Right
Are there any feeder drivers on here that used to be package car that could give me their advice on the transition?

1- are you glad you made the switch and would you do it again?

2- what are the average working hours of newer feeder drivers?- time of day and hours worked.

Some guys at the center say it takes 30 years to get a steady mon- Fri daytime route. Is that accurate for the most part?

Any other advice would be great.

Thanks!
shia-labeouf-do-it-gif-10.gif
 

rod

Retired 22 years
Some guys at the center say it takes 30 years to get a steady mon- Fri daytime route. Is that accurate for the most part?

Any other advice would be great.

Thanks!


Don't count on having a daytime feeder route. Not every center has them. In fact not all centers have a feeder route based out of their building. My old center is a good example. At one time they had 4 different feeder routes then we had a series of lazy center manager's who wouldn't fight to keep them and the all disappeared. to be ran out of other centers.
 

Jones

fILE A GRIEVE!
Staff member
Are there any feeder drivers on here that used to be package car that could give me their advice on the transition?

1- are you glad you made the switch and would you do it again?

2- what are the average working hours of newer feeder drivers?- time of day and hours worked.

Some guys at the center say it takes 30 years to get a steady mon- Fri daytime route. Is that accurate for the most part?

Any other advice would be great.

Thanks!
1 Glad I made the switch, would do it again in a heartbeat.

2 If you're cover you can work anywhere from 40 to 60 hours a week, any time of day as long as you have 10 hours off between shifts. Passing on work usually isn't a problem around here if you want the night off.

My very first bid was a mon fri day run, it all depends.

If you're tired of delivery go for it, q list is only a 2 year commitment and if you don't like it delivery will always be there for ya.
 

jaker

trolling
What area are you in , because just like said above everywhere is different

Where I am at ups is hiring 150 drivers this year and the ones that came in last year already have their own routes and day routes Mon thru Friday
 

Cementups

Box Monkey
24 year employee, 21 years in package (15 years full time), started feeders 3 months ago.

It's fantastic. As I said in another thread, it's amazing they pay us so much to do so little.

As others said, it depends on your location on run availability. It also depends on your seniority and if you would dovetail in or not. I know some places if you switch job classifications, you go to the bottom of the list. Here we dovetail in so when I made the switch I went from 26 of 56 in package to 72 of ~300 in feeders. I'm currently on the call board and I am #6 there. So I usually start no later than 5am when on call. Next week I am actually covering a run and will start at 7am and finish about 6-7pm. I actually usually get less hours when I cover a run than I do when I'm on call.
 

browndriverguy2015

Well-Known Member
What area are you in , because just like said above everywhere is different

Where I am at ups is hiring 150 drivers this year and the ones that came in last year already have their own routes and day routes Mon thru Friday
Earth city MO. I think they have about 200-250 feeder drivers.
 

Dracula

Package Car is cake compared to this...
Just about every package car guy that goes into feeders says the same thing "I miss my penis".

Speak for yourself. Sounds like someone who is still sweating it out in the bread box.

Stress is a thing of the past when you make the switch to feeders. It's like working for a different company. I mean, they're still prick$. But I can go a month without ever speaking to my on-road supervisor.

You'll probably work nights if you don't have a load of seniority. Some guys don't like nights. I love them. Nothing better than having the road to yourself. Plus, you miss rush hour traffic going and coming to work.

One of the biggest misconceptions about going to feeders is that you won't see your family as much. Nothing could be further from the truth. Think about it. In package car, typically, you wake up, get ready for work, and maybe you rush around and see your family for a few minutes before you leave. Then you work until seven, come home and maybe you have an hour or two before the kids and wife go to bed. You're lucky if you have three hours out of the day for any family time.

When I work nights in feeders, I may go in at 10PM and get off at 8AM. Since my wife doesn't work, I can spend four or five hours with her before I go to bed.

And where I'm at, the lowest seniority jobs are afternoon shift jobs. So even those guys, technically, should get more home time, as most shift jobs are 9-10 hour jobs. Mind you, these are the worst feeder jobs, but they are still better any job in the package car world.

I've never known a feeder driver who regretted going. And you can make $30,000 to $40,000 more a year if you find the right kind of work.
 

Purple2Brown

Active Member
If I decided I wanted to be a feeder driver at some point does UPS help you get the CDL and training done or is that something you need to do on your own? I saw a posting for an available feeder position saying it required you to have a CDL prior to bidding. I think feeders is something I would like to do eventually.
 

Dracula

Package Car is cake compared to this...
If I decided I wanted to be a feeder driver at some point does UPS help you get the CDL and training done or is that something you need to do on your own? I saw a posting for an available feeder position saying it required you to have a CDL prior to bidding. I think feeders is something I would like to do eventually.

You have to go to the DMV and pass the written CDL test. Pass a drug test. They train you for the driving test.
 

browndriverguy2015

Well-Known Member
Speak for yourself. Sounds like someone who is still sweating it out in the bread box.

Stress is a thing of the past when you make the switch to feeders. It's like working for a different company. I mean, they're still prick$. But I can go a month without ever speaking to my on-road supervisor.

You'll probably work nights if you don't have a load of seniority. Some guys don't like nights. I love them. Nothing better than having the road to yourself. Plus, you miss rush hour traffic going and coming to work.

One of the biggest misconceptions about going to feeders is that you won't see your family as much. Nothing could be further from the truth. Think about it. In package car, typically, you wake up, get ready for work, and maybe you rush around and see your family for a few minutes before you leave. Then you work until seven, come home and maybe you have an hour or two before the kids and wife go to bed. You're lucky if you have three hours out of the day for any family time.

When I work nights in feeders, I may go in at 10PM and get off at 8AM. Since my wife doesn't work, I can spend four or five hours with her before I go to bed.

And where I'm at, the lowest seniority jobs are afternoon shift jobs. So even those guys, technically, should get more home time, as most shift jobs are 9-10 hour jobs. Mind you, these are the worst feeder jobs, but they are still better any job in the package car world.

I've never known a feeder driver who regretted going. And you can make $30,000 to $40,000 more a year if you find the right kind of work.
Thanks for the reply.

Not seeing my family is the biggest concern.

My wife does work a full time job for now and we have one toddler with one on the way. It is very important to me to be able to raise my kids and not be gone all the time.

With my center right now it's very easy to take off a day whenever I need it (unpaid).

I have 3 years seniority, so I'm still pretty low, but I'm looking to avoid the upcoming tues-Sat scheduled that are coming up.
 

Dracula

Package Car is cake compared to this...
Thanks for the reply.

Not seeing my family is the biggest concern.

My wife does work a full time job for now and we have one toddler with one on the way. It is very important to me to be able to raise my kids and not be gone all the time.

With my center right now it's very easy to take off a day whenever I need it (unpaid).

I have 3 years seniority, so I'm still pretty low, but I'm looking to avoid the upcoming tues-Sat scheduled that are coming up.

Feeder schedules, in general, run seven days a week. But again, it is much different from the package car grind. We have Sun-Thurs jobs, Mon-Fri jobs, Tues-Sat jobs. We have sleeper team jobs that only work four days a week that pay $2000 a week. There is a tremendous amount of flexibility in feeders.
 

browndriverguy2015

Well-Known Member
Feeder schedules, in general, run seven days a week. But again, it is much different from the package car grind. We have Sun-Thurs jobs, Mon-Fri jobs, Tues-Sat jobs. We have sleeper team jobs that only work four days a week that pay $2000 a week. There is a tremendous amount of flexibility in feeders.
I guess I'm just going to have to talk with some of the local drivers in the center and see how the shifts usually work/ job bidding and go from there.

I don't really mind busting my butt off in the bread truck, but if I can make more money and have less stress on my body then it just makes sense.
 
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