FedEx Freight | Question for Road drivers

princess

smh..
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Can you tell me what the extra board means?

Lets say your a city driver and want to make the move to be a road driver, would jumping onto the extra board road driver position be a good move or not?

Do you think if one goes on the extra road driver board and they only end up working 3-4 days a week some of the time that they would still make the same money as if they had thier 40 hours in the city
?

Thank you in advance:bye1:
 
In the west, there are two kinds of line drivers:bid drivers and extra board drivers
Bid drivers have an established bid run be it a turn run or a layover. Layover can be variable lays or destination lays. They set up the operation in a manner such that they know that on any given day there are going to be a specific number of runs in a lane that they need to cover day in and day out. They also know that there will be extra runs that need to be covered. Hence the extra board. Our extra board is a first in first out board as opposed to a hog board. First in first out is exactly that. If you are the first extra board driver back home and done, you go to the bottom of the board and work your way back to the top, ahead of all that come in behind you. When you are at the top, the next run is yours, regardless of the time of day or destination. A hog board is a different animal.
The most senior driver goes out first every day, then the second and so on. If the entire extra board does not work, the board re-aligns the next day. The senior driver is back on top. Great for the senior guy, sucks for the junior guy.
Didn't know the east had an extra board.
 
Princess,

I dont work at fxf but I'm on a flex or extra board at ccx. I make between 200-250 per run so it adds up quick. And thats at the bottom of the pay scale. At the top its more like 300-350 per run. If he worked 3 days he's probably getting close to 40 hours as the nite can be a 10-14 hr shift. Just like the bottom of any board probably, feast or famine. But when he's feasting his checks will be alot bigger. Careful what you wish for though, do you really want him gone 60 hrs a week? Cause thats what will happen eventually if he stays on the road. Thats why they make the big bucks!
 
One other thing. From I understand when he switches boards he loses his seniority if he doesnt like it and wants to go back. Thats why I like ccx, we can switch every year and keep our seniority on any board. I am dead tired after my shift. I sleep 6-7 hrs, get up for a couple hrs and start all over again. Get in Sat morning 6 to 9 am, sleep till 2-3 oclock, it wears you out. I dont think I could do it for very many years in a row. My seniority doesnt give me any options anyway right now, but some day!
 
Thanx for the replies..My spouse was an OTR driver for many years so I know all about the many hours away and overnights..

I was just curious about it. He is many, many drivers away from this, but it does not hurt to know for the future. I know if and when the opportunity comes he will want to do it. My main concern is the money. I hate to say that but it seems this is why some senior city drivers pass up Road Driver positions as they come available. They are afraid of not getting the runs and extra dock work to make up the loss of hours and of course top that off with losing your City Seniority and it makes sense that a lot of drivers pass it up.
On the other hand if you only have 2-4 years as a city driver you might as well go for it and see what happens..it is not like there is a shortage of drving jobs available for qualified drivers if it turned out to be a bad move. Then again changing companies sux.
 
Princess it depends on the size of the center your husband is out of, If its a Hub or a larger center there will be plenty of work year round on the extra board, If its a smaller center (35 road drivers or less for example) Jan 1 through mid april could be kinda slow. Either way he will be home every morning or every other morning at the very least, East drivers are never gone more than overnight and 90% plus are home everyday. 3 to 4 days of 300 plus mile runs plus a little dock time will make about equivelent to 40 hours yes.
 
I started on the extra board "east" like he would. Our center is smaller, up to 18 road drivers now. I never had a problem working. Somebody almost always wants the night off. The only thing I didn't like was waiting on a phone call everynight to see where I was going and what time I had to be there. You have 1 1/2 hrs to get to the yard I think after they call. (or maybe its out the gate). Anyway its plenty of time. It was nice going different places instead of stuck on the same run like I am now. I'm sure its up to your ccm but here they would always let you work the dock if you didn't run that night. He would be "on call" from 6-9pm unless you have day runs. We don't. Like said above, 3-4 nights on a decent run, and he would be fine. I'd take extra again now but a guy with 2 weeks seniority above me is keeping it.. grrr.
Good luck !
Oh ya,, you can watch the vacation calender and get a good idea of who is off when and where you might be going.
 
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