Bad Experience At Work

jack4ever

UPS4Lifer
Hello,

I had a terrible experience at work. You see, we were doing what we calling "two manning it" (which is where we do a three man job, with two people), and so we didn't finish 'til late. It is the car washers job to park all the package cars, so that they are ready for preload. Well the car washers decided to bail out, when we ran long.

I finished up my usual work, and I was halfway punched out, when my full time supervisor tells me he wants me to help him park the cars. Well I am thinking in my mind that I want to tell him that I don't want anything to do with parking cars, because I know how close they park those things together and I don't want to wreck one of the cars. But, I am a coward when it comes to talking to management, so I just don't say anything and sort of look at him funny, but I follow him out into the yard anyway. Well he looks at this chart he has, and he looks at the first car in line, and tells me to pull it around to the bay doors on the other side of the building and he'll park it, and I'm like, okay, I guess I could do that. Well I hop in the car and fire it up, and I'm thinking this shouldn't be too bad, since I don't actually have to park it.

So I start backing it up, and I look in the side view mirrors and I look at the video screen, and I'm thinking, the building is pretty far away, so I give it a little more gas, when all the sudden I hear this really loud banging sound, and I'm thinking to myself that I didn't think I was that close to the building, but I've smacked into the building before, and it really doesn't do any damage to the rear end of a package car, on account of the padding, and soft wood on the bay doors. So I pull forward, and then I can seen on the video screen that I hit another package car that was parked next to the building, and of course I am thinking a swear word at this point, so I look out the door of the car I am driving and I see that there is a dent in the bumper of the car I hit, and so I know this could be serious trouble.

Well I pull around to the other side of the building, and go to find my full time supervisor, and as I do so I naturally check the rear bumper of the car I was driving (which was fine), and so I tell him that I hit a package car.

He thoughtfully says, "Was that the loud bang I heard?"

I timorously say, "Yeah."

He says, "How bad was it?"

I say, "Pretty bad, I hit it pretty hard."

He says, "Well lets go take a look."

So we go out into the yard, and look at the bumper of the car I hit, and of course it has a big dent in the bumper.

He says, "That's a pretty good hit."

We go back in the building and he says, "Alright, well go grab the keys out of the cars and shut the gate, and we'll let preload deal with the parking."

So I did as directed an went home.

Now I know that when I go into work tomorrow, that they may have something for me to sign, they may have a meeting with me and my full time supervisor, and center manager, and a shop steward. I don't know what, exactly, but I know somethings going to happen tomorrow.

I would like to know if anyone knows of similar situations, and how it turned out. The main thing for me is that I don't want to lose my job with UPS. I don't care if I'm never allowed to get in the driver seat of a package car again, but I really don't want to get fired. Obviously I didn't crash the cars on purpose, but I don't know how UPS feels about that. My full time supervisor was pretty mellow, but I don't know how the higher ups will react.

Please let me know of any related stories, or any advice for this situation. I probably won't read any responses til Thursday afternoon.

Peace out.
 

soberups

Pees in the brown Koolaid
No worries. Just go in there tomorrow and, when questioned, tell the truth. You were working as instructed and you backed into another vehicle. You reported the accident. You aren't going to get fired. You aren't going to have to pay for the damage. UPS will fix the bumper and life will go on.

I take it from your post that you work in the hub. Have you ever been trained in backing methods, or how to park a package car? If not, it is your supervisor who will get in trouble not you. Judging by your sup's reaction it sounds like he would like to pretend the whole thing never happened. In theory you could be issued a warning letter, but I doubt it will even get that far. Your sup was not supposed to be parking cars---that is bargaining unit work for the carwash to do---and he really was not supposed to let an untrained person do it either. I betting this whole deal gets swept under the rug.
 

IDoLessWorkThanMost

Well-Known Member
No worries. Just go in there tomorrow and, when questioned, tell the truth. You were working as instructed and you backed into another vehicle. You reported the accident. You aren't going to get fired. You aren't going to have to pay for the damage. UPS will fix the bumper and life will go on.

I take it from your post that you work in the hub. Have you ever been trained in backing methods, or how to park a package car? If not, it is your supervisor who will get in trouble not you. Judging by your sup's reaction it sounds like he would like to pretend the whole thing never happened. In theory you could be issued a warning letter, but I doubt it will even get that far. Your sup was not supposed to be parking cars---that is bargaining unit work for the carwash to do---and he really was not supposed to let an untrained person do it either. I betting this whole deal gets swept under the rug.

Right on.

Another thing, have you even been trained to drive a package car at all? That is the key. If you have, then you might have some troubles. Not necessarily backing, or shifting, but the road test and etc. If not, then it's clearly not your fault you were thrown into a position you aren't supposed to be thrown into. You were WAD and an accident happened.
 

sx2700

Banned
Don't worry about it.....Seems like part timers all always wrecking things at my center and nothing big comes of it. Now if a full time driver even scratches it a little while walking by it he might be fired.
 

jack4ever

UPS4Lifer
I take it from your post that you work in the hub. Have you ever been trained in backing methods, or how to park a package car? If not, it is your supervisor who will get in trouble not you. Judging by your sup's reaction it sounds like he would like to pretend the whole thing never happened. In theory you could be issued a warning letter, but I doubt it will even get that far. Your sup was not supposed to be parking cars---that is bargaining unit work for the carwash to do---and he really was not supposed to let an untrained person do it either. I betting this whole deal gets swept under the rug.

I do work inside the center, and in answer to all the posts I've never went to driving school or anything like that so I'm not officially trained. My only training was one day when one of the other part-timers told me that I was going to have to learn how to back the trucks up to the bay so we could unload them, and he took me into the yard, and said this is how you do it. Of course when I was doing that I would always grab the cars that were anywhere near the unloading bay first, so that I would have no chance of hitting them.

Anyway, I'm glad to hear that I'm probably not going to get fired, but I'll keep you posted on what happens when I go in today.

Peace out.
 

Overpaid Union Thug

Well-Known Member
Whenever we had accidents on or local sort the people involved wouldn't be aloud to drive trucks for a year if anything was damaged. Not just around the building and parking trucks but for outside as well. So, if they were an air driver or part-time cover driver they'd be disqualified for a year. It really hurt the rest of us on the local sort because we are a small center so if even one person couldn't park trucks for a year it really slowed the rest of us down. It had to be major damage though because otherwise they'd usually get away with not reporting it. The whole local sort would blame the driver(s) if asked about it the next day.
 

drewed

Shankman
this is one point where you can tell a sup no
youre are not qualified (even tho you could be completely capable) to do this job, and the sup cant force you to do it, if knowing this and you continued on to do it. its on you
 

jack4ever

UPS4Lifer
Well to update on the situation, I went into work today, and my full time supe just gave me the usual, "What's up man," and a friendly punch to the shoulder. So I asked some of the other guys if anything were going to come of it, and they told me that at one point or the other they had all destroyed a mirror, or headlight, or something else, (nothing as big as an entire bumper though) and that an accident report probably wouldn't even get filed. Just work as usual. They certainly didn't tell me not to drive the trucks around the yard for a year or anything like that, and as far as I can tell no one is going to say anything more about it, except as a funny story of how I wrecked a package car.
 

sx2700

Banned
Part timers around here don't get hammered for accidents. Had a saturday air driver in an accident last weekend and it didn't even make a wave. We are so hard up for help that they just don't care. I don't even think they filled out an accident report.
 

brownrodster

Well-Known Member
Don't worry about it.....Seems like part timers all always wrecking things at my center and nothing big comes of it. Now if a full time driver even scratches it a little while walking by it he might be fired.

Same at my center too. Those part time parkers mess up the trucks real good. then they get angry when drivers come in and won't park their trucks on the building or park close enough to other cars out in the yard.
 

hyena

Well-Known Member
Part timers around here don't get hammered for accidents. Had a saturday air driver in an accident last weekend and it didn't even make a wave. We are so hard up for help that they just don't care. I don't even think they filled out an accident report.
Must be nice I put a six inch scratch on the bottom rail of a package car on my last saturday. I was supposed to go to school on monday to go full time.They told me I had to wait a year(then changed it to six months) but im still allowed to drive saturdays. And they wanted me to park trucks still!
 

sx2700

Banned
Must be nice I put a six inch scratch on the bottom rail of a package car on my last saturday. I was supposed to go to school on monday to go full time.They told me I had to wait a year(then changed it to six months) but im still allowed to drive saturdays. And they wanted me to park trucks still!

Well, it's funny how the rules change when it is to their benefit. If they are desperate like they are here you will be in school next week.
 
I think that the three year rule is good for first driving but if you get a DUI when you are a driver I think it should be bye-bye!

You would be surprised at how many drivers get a DUI. If it`s not in a company vehicle they get a second chance just like everyone else. Plus if you have a CDL your legal limit is .04 instead of .08.
 
A

anonymous6

Guest
Contrary to popular belief, managers are people too, so don't be a "coward" when speaking to management.

Read some books like "Power Of Positive Thinking" and "Laws of Life" by John templeton.

You need to work on your confidence and self esteem , man.

you'll be OK.
 
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