Bid question

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

What is a satellite route?

A satellite route is an area which starts and ends at a location other than the main center. It is usually for an extended rural area. UPS rents a place to keep the pkg car in at night. The work and DIAD are brought and dropped at the satellite area, the driver reports directly to the satellite area, loads his own package car, delivers area, drops any pickup pieces and undelivered packages along w/DIAD, parks the pkg car and goes home. The ideal is for the bid driver to live closer to the satellite area than to the main center. The reality is that someone is forced to drive an hour or more each way before even starting their day and, no, that mileage is not reimbursed. Cover drivers who are forced to cover this area will either drive their own vehicle and be reimbursed for mileage, drive an empty pkg car or may even have their pkg cars loaded right at the main center and then drive to the area.

 

[barnyard]

Long story shortened, when they made me run a satellite run, steward and I walk into the center manager office and informed them that I would be starting from the building, so every time I had to run that route, the tp60 was pulled to the lot, and I loaded the truck there, then left to do route.

I believe it was because the bid I had, had a building start time and place.

Others have posted about covering satellite routes, grieving and getting the same result.

There are a couple of satellites north of my that do not start till 1300.

 

[upschuck]

There are a couple of satellites north of my that do not start till 1300.

Do they work til midnight every day?

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

There are a couple of satellites north of my that do not start till 1300.

Do they work til midnight every day?

The satellite driver has to have his pickups and DIAD back to the trailer by a cutoff time so that they will make service.

 

[upschuck]

The satellite driver has to have his pickups and DIAD back to the trailer by a cutoff time so that they will make service.

We have some satellite routes that the diad stays with the truck overnight, and comes back the next day. Two diads for that route.

 

[barnyard]

Do they work til midnight every day?

There was an instance of a satellite guy going over 14 hours, not this peak, but the peak before. 1330 start time.

 

[upschuck]

There was an instance of a satellite guy going over 14 hours, not this peak, but the peak before. 1330 start time.

Who wants somebody coming up their drive at midnight? Did the deliveries after midnight get a refund for being delivered a day late?

 

[barnyard]

Who wants somebody coming up their drive at midnight? Did the deliveries after midnight get a refund for being delivered a day late?

Dunno.

I would not want to be that guy, working more than half the day in the dark, delivering rural routes, in middle of nowhere, way up north. In summer, it is light out later, but the mosquitoes come out. Gah.

You would also think that the people in the area are used to late deliveries, so maybe that is not a problem.

Years ago, we used to have a regular that worked a satellite route out west. Person regularly did over 300 miles a day. Said that their day could be made or broke by who they found in town having coffee or getting their hair done.

Last year, we did a family vacation out west and I talked to drivers in Harlowton, Mt; Rapid City, SD; and a couple of other places in MT. They all did big miles and they all said that the tourists that talked to them were always UPSers that were on vacation.

Yesterday, I was taking break at a place that is 1 mile north of where a route from another center ends. 2 people asked if I was that driver or the driver for the route that I was on. Turns out the driver for the route south of me retired a week ago and they were used to finding him on route and getting their stuff instead of waiting till he got to their house.

 

[Jackburton]

He chose poorly.