Why no feeder runs in my building???

[Upslady20]

I have asked several times over the years at my building why we do not have any feeder runs and never really get a decent answer. The center south of us has feeder drivers that come by and hook up and pull our feeders away. They pull a double one of theirs and one ours. Then all of the feeders coming in our from other hubs or centers and one from the building south of us a half hour away. So why does a building not have its own feeder driver for the work that orginates out that center and how does one go about getting the issure addressed.
I have asked my union steward before and they don't seem to care. They don't even post anything about feeders so you can go to the school.
Any suggestions or knowledge on this subject would be appreciated.

 

[tieguy]

I have asked several times over the years at my building why we do not have any feeder runs and never really get a decent answer. The center south of us has feeder drivers that come by and hook up and pull our feeders away. They pull a double one of theirs and one ours. Then all of the feeders coming in our from other hubs or centers and one from the building south of us a half hour away. So why does a building not have its own feeder driver for the work that orginates out that center and how does one go about getting the issure addressed.
I have asked my union steward before and they don't seem to care. They don't even post anything about feeders so you can go to the school.
Any suggestions or knowledge on this subject would be appreciated.

The short answer is we put the runs where they can be utilized efficently.

 

[Upslady20]

I thought it also had to do with where the work originated from?

 

[tieguy]

I thought it also had to do with where the work originated from?

It can. Depends on many factors. In the case of your building and the one south of it. Is there a major hub north of your building that the feeder work moves to? In that scenario depending on the size of your building and the number of loads we would generally put the runs in the southern building have them swing through your building to pick up your loads and then move to whatever major hub they are going to. They then drop of your preload loads on the way back and finish up where they started. Can't give you a good answer without more details but hope that helps explain it.

 

[mattwtrs]

I thought it also had to do with where the work originated from?

I know of small centers that have never had feeder runs & probably never will because of their location. They are about an hour away from the district & regions main hub. There are always feeders going by that pick up local sort volume. The hub feed's the preload with 1 or 2 trailers that is all a 15 car center needs.

 

[705red]

Theres several reasons and tie brought up some good points. also the maintenance of the equipment, do those buildings all belong to the same district, ifso you can bid on the feeder work by district (at leats here u can), we have some smaller buildings here that dont have any bid work out of, but the bigger buildings in that district supply the equipment and man power from there board. Go to hr and ask what the feeder process requires you to do.

 

[OldUPSDriver]

And you have to use the clutch in feeders!!

 

[Upslady20]

I don't have an injury that will stop me from ever driving with a clutch. Plus there are other drivers in my building who would also be interested. I am in a 30 car building that has about 5 or 6 feeders unloaded daily.

 

[RockyRogue]

I am in a 30 car building that has about 5 or 6 feeders unloaded daily.

I'd be very surprised if UPS would base a feeder run out of such a small building, Lady, particularly with a "large" hub nearby. If you were a hundred miles from one, yeah, I could see it. Tie knows his stuff on this subject, by the way. He's a feeder manager on the East Coast. -Rocky

 

[Upslady20]

There is no large hub nearby. The other center is the same size or smaller. Just trying to figure out why the positions are never offered to us. It seems like we should be allowed the opportunity to do our own work.

 

[71UPS]

There are numerous reasons why feeder domiciles in small center just don't make any sense: Here are a few.
1. Absentee coverage is always a problem. It's may be very difficult to get a replacement driver on short notice, whereas the larger building usually have much better flexibility to respond.
2. Feeds to a small center usually always means more MT legs. If a nearby hub has a day sort, they can dispatch a load in the late afternoon and return with pickups from the local sort. Load availability and timing is very important. Of course a hub driver usually will return MT from the preload anyway, unless he can make early morning pickups on the way home.
3. Tractor maintainence in the larger hub building is more effective both with mechanics and parts availability as well as replacements if the unit is out of service.
4. Utilization of the tractor is critical. After returning in the AM, a center tractor will usually go unused until the next evening. In the larger building that tractor is used again during the day. Idle equipment is expensive.
5. However, many small centers do have tractor domiciles at their location because that's simply the cost of doing business and there may not be any other options. Expensive but true. Believe me, these decisions are not made lightly. Service is the first consideration, then cost and effectiveness. Every situation is closely evaluated.

 

[finaddict]

71UPS has got down. I see a tiny center with 12 package drivers and 2 feeder guys which we cover for vacations while a huge (WASDC) center gets covered by feeders out of area. Its all logistics and it makes sense. Some big centers may be only 20-30 miles apart but when a hub is moving trailers, we grab the middle man on our way. For instance, I run out of Richmond, VA with a set of twins, drop one in WASDC and go on to BurMD. BurMD is only 20 min away and a major hub. There is no need for feeders at DC. While DC is a big center, it can be moved by Burtonsville, MD, Richmond, VA, Hagerstown, PA etc...Our logistics are on the ball...if they weren't they couldn't afford our wages.