Accident W/in 30...What Happens?

[ups79]

I don't believe that management will be concerned about the scratch. The big concern will be how honest is the driver going to be the next 25 or 30 years. If he tries to hide this, what else will they fear he will hide later in his career?

 

[MR_Vengeance]

well monday is over........so nothing happened right?

 

[toonertoo]

My truck recently got painted, every day I have a new scratch, every day I report it.
I would have said something. I guess down the road now it would look bad, but If I scratch the truck next to me, which I havent, or I drive off with a gas hose, which I have, I report it. Better to get yelled at and let them make the call than failure to report an accident. And be unemployed. More than likely, if its minor, unless your center manager or sup is a jerk, he'll wave ya off. Then you dont worry about shoulda woulda coulda, you are covered.
But times have changed. I see car wash rip off a moulding, or crunch a track on an overhead door, and nothing happens. But let me do that, I lose a yr of safe driving. Im from the old school when if we hit anything we had to report it, or hope to heck no one rats, Id rather report it than worry.
PS its strange to see I am in the minority here

 

[over9five]

"But times have changed."

You got that right! Like you said, in the past if you reported a tiny scratch to your center manager, he'd wave you off. NOW, he can't! He could get fired just like you for not reporting your scratch.

Better (in my mind) to say nothing. He doesn't want to report you, but if you tell him, HE HAS TO!

 

[over9five]

Tie, what do you think? One of your feeder guys just got a half inch scratch on his tractor. Obviously, he should report it.

Buuuuutttttttttt, do you really want to deal with this? All that paperwork AND the conference call for a half inch scratch?

Wouldn't it be better to let the mechanic touch it up next PMI?

 

[awnry]

Buy a can of brown touch up paint. Comes in handy!!

 

[MR_Vengeance]

Buy a can of brown touch up paint. Comes in handy!!

hard to find anything that matches the pullman brown

 

[JonFrum]

That's why they're called "Rub Rails"

Some cars have been scratched up so often it's hard to know which scratch is the new one! Worry about it for the rest of your life if you like. But it's about as significant as walking through a crowded bar at 2am and accidentally brushing against the left breast of a drunk Paris Hilton.

 

[rod]

He has no worries about the other driver snitching. He's a good egg.



Thanks for all of your comments. It really has put the mind at ease. He said that he has definately learned from this and it will NEVER happen again. I told him that a lot worse could have happened...like backing into a human being or something.

Thanks again for all your help.

The other driver may not snitch but I guarantee he will have years of fun harassing your husband about their secret. I know I did after my friend had a runaway that caused no damage (just about lost the whole package car in a lake after it rolled down a yard and stopped against a dead tree that fell over and prevented it from going in). It was so much fun watching him squirm every time the subject of runaways came up.

 

[rflancaster]

Trust me... SAY NOTHING!!!

I am a 22.3 carwasher/sorter, last week I damaged a package car while parking, then I reported it. B4 the night was over, I had to explain myself to everyone and their brother, including an insurance co. over the phone. Because I reported it, it was classified as a "Tier 1" accident (least serious.) Now here is the fun part. I have already been through package school and completed days 1-6 (package school,) but i am waiting for a position to open. Now, they r telling me that I have been disqualified because I was in an accident, despite the fact I am still 22.3 and haven't started the rest of my 30days.
Every1 i have talked with says, this one is the companies call (to disqualify me or not.) I am going to try to dispute it, but it looks pretty grim.
I figured being honest was the right thing to do. But it looks like my honesty will cost me 1yr from the date of accident, and another week in package school.

Hope this helps... Good Luck.

 

[UPS Lifer]

You did do the right thing and it will pay many dividends in the future. You may not think so now...but your time will come. Trust ME!!!

I am not surprised that there are so many folks out there that think not reporting a scratch is ok. Maybe UPS needs another "Tier" for scratches...but then again when is an accident an accident?1 I know what the answer is but maybe this needs to be redefined and a separate dollar cost put on "scratches" to help make it more definable.

Remember - if you have to cover something up.. than you must have done something wrong....Right????...

For comparison sake only....Alchohol used to be a blatant cardinal sin now the punishment is defined by how much alcohol is in your blood stream.

I don't want to see anyone lose their job for a cover up. I have seen this happen to many "good" people. What are your thoughts?

 

[rflancaster]

You did do the right thing and it will pay many dividends in the future. You may not think so now...but your time will come. Trust ME!!!

I am not surprised that there are so many folks out there that think not reporting a scratch is ok. Maybe UPS needs another "Tier" for scratches...but then again when is an accident an accident?1 I know what the answer is but maybe this needs to be redefined and a separate dollar cost put on "scratches" to help make it more definable.

Remember - if you have to cover something up.. than you must have done something wrong....Right????...

For comparison sake only....Alchohol used to be a blatant cardinal sin now the punishment is defined by how much alcohol is in your blood stream.

I don't want to see anyone lose their job for a cover up. I have seen this happen to many "good" people. What are your thoughts?

Sure, I agree with what u r saying, but there is too much gray area. The tier level of an accident should be the categorized by the repair damage, as well as other factors. how many times has a package car driver brushed a tree, carwasher rubbed a car or broke a mirror, etc... If every accident incident was reported as an accident, then the policy would have to be rewritten. My accident did more damage than a scrape, so that is a different ball game. As for a half inch scratch in the paint. That should be considered typical wear and tear. If he were to report it. He would surely be disqualified for 1 yr. Anyone not used to driving a big truck will most certainly scratch or ding it somehow, especially in ur 30days.

My thoughts r... You be the judge, if it is very minor. Then there is no reason to report it. Under company policy there is no difference between u putting a 1/2 inch scratch in the paint or ripping off a bumper. An accident is an accident both having the same results. (disqualification within 30days, going on ur permanent record, or up to and including disciplinary action.) While going through package school, the one idea that i couldn't get out of my head was "EVERY accident is preventable." In a perfect world with perfect people, maybe this would be true. But this is the real world full of gray area... NOT a UPS training video!

UPS is a pressure driven company, we r driven to get done as quick and as efficient as possible, ("work smart not hard.") But remember safety first. When it comes down to it, it will still be your fault. So just be careful and use head when reporting small items such as a scratch. The centers have money taken out of their budget every time there is an accident reported. The amount of money is based on the severity (or tier level) of the accident. They don't want an accident as much as u do. So keep this in mind when reporting accidents.

If u think your forth coming honesty will come into play while u fill out accident reports. Don't count on it. There is no "check here if employee came forward of own free will" box. As i said b4, whether it is a missing bumper or a scratch; it still will be counted as an accident.

 

[UPS Lifer]

RFLancaster - I respect what you did. Nobody can take that away from you. Push for change. It is definetly needed.
Scratches need to be reported - It means something is not working right. Whether it is training, building conditions, performance - something needs to be fixed. Maybe if the "scratch" is redifined as something else - Maybe it is classified as a "near accident" based on damage repair costs. Maybe it doesn't affect the "accident" picture the same way.

As long as some type of corrective action is taken to help with a solution...

You and others that read this post need to bring it up to the safety committees to start the change and get something better than what is out there right now. Right now, you have the best motivation to take action to get things changed.

 

[1car washer]

Little scratches just need to be touched up. Honesty is one thing, while stupidity is another. Reporting a scratch, in a big corporate environment like UPS, just means the beginning of an unwanted investigation. Does anyone really want that? A little brown paint ends the problem, before it gets blown out of proportion.

 

[UPS Lifer]

Little scratches just need to be touched up. Honesty is one thing, while stupidity is another. Reporting a scratch, in a big corporate environment like UPS, just means the beginning of an unwanted investigation. Does anyone really want that? A little brown paint ends the problem, before it gets blown out of proportion.

The stupidity thing can go both ways... If you are not a mechanic and someone sees you touching up a car - you may get reported and be part of that unwanted investigation.

All I am saying is... the process needs to be changed. Times change - we need to change with them. Nobody should ever have to lose their job for a scratch...and nobody should have to feel like they are covering something up (no pun intended!).

 

[HazMatMan]

I recently saw a feeder driver almost remove a pillar holding up the second floor. 2 feeder sups were watching the whole thing and said nothing. Your worried about a half inch scratch of paint?? Dude, you worry too damn much!!

 

[AirDriverAmy]

"He's wrestled with this all weekend and thinks he should call his center manager at home to talk about it."


He has the Center Managers home phone number? Wow!