Calculated Gamble

[Bubblehead]

As the days grow longer and my nights become my day, I find myself pondering what is the company's master plan.
I spend each morning reviewing the previous days report, not so much concerned with my own stats, rather contemplating the huge disparity from one driver to the next and searching for inconsistencies and anomalies.
I ask myself, how can one driver be 2 hrs under while the next is 2hr over?
A 4 hour swing???
Really???
Trust me when I say, I don't buy into it, nor do I care where I fall into this bell curve.
My question is why is it permitted to persist?
What is the companies ultimate goal?
Why are some routes destine to fail, while others can't lose and why?

 

[brownmonster]

Bring it up in chat, the forums are quite tonight

 

[brownmonster]

As the days grow longer and my nights become my day, I find myself pondering what is the company's master plan.
I spend each morning reviewing the previous days report, not so much concerned with my own stats, rather contemplating the huge disparity from one driver to the next and searching for inconsistencies and anomalies.
I ask myself, how can one driver be 2 hrs under while the next is 2hr over?
A 4 hour swing???
Really???
Trust me when I say, I don't buy into it, nor do I care where I fall into this bell curve.
My question is why is it permitted to persist?
What is the companies ultimate goal?
Why are some routes destine to fail, while others can't lose and why?

We have a guy that runs 2 hours late and his sub runs an hour early. Sometimes it is the driver.

 

[Bubblehead]

We have a guy that runs 2 hours late and his sub runs an hour early. Sometimes it is the driver.

But the question is why???
What's causes the huge disparity.
Why is it allowed to persist?

 

[rod]

But the question is why???

The sub skips his break, drives 90 mph and brings back a butt load of stops.

 

[brownmonster]

But the question is why???
What's causes the huge disparity.
Why is it allowed to persist?

Believe me, this driver is mollases slow. Not everone works at the same pace.

 

[Bubblehead]

Believe me, this driver is mollases slow. Not everone works at the same pace.

It's more than an isolated incidence.
It's more like every other route.
Law of averages or calculated gamble?

 

[satellitedriver]

I spend each morning reviewing the previous days report, not so much concerned with my own stats, rather contemplating the huge disparity from one driver to the next and searching for inconsistencies and anomalies.
Why? It has always been that way.
Trust me when I say, I don't buy into it, nor do I care where I fall into this bell curve.
You must care, or you would not waste your time and energy pondering over the daily reports.
I lost my caring when after 20yrs of being a 1hour under allowed driver the new time study turned me into an 1 1/2hr over allowed driver even after increasing my SPORH by 10.5%.
I still care about doing my job efficiently and safely.
Caring about meeting false expectations is way down on my to do list,

 

[Anonymous 10]

There are guys who will work like idiots for bonus and there are guys who will work like idiots for a bad time allotment. Ups is a big melting pot of idiots just like the real world and ups knows it. So there times mean nothing it's just business.

 

[brownmonster]

The sub skips his break, drives 90 mph and brings back a butt load of stops.

Why is that always the answer?

 

[Bubblehead]

I am a student of the game.
That's the extent of my concern.
Like satellitedriver, I've seen an hour plus swing on my bid route.
My question is why?
Calculated gamble?

 

[brownmonster]

I am a student of the game.
That's the extent of my concern.
Like satellitedriver, I've seen an hour plus swing on my bid route.
My question is why?
Calculated gamble?

We have all seen an hour plus swing on our routes. I can still run scratch. What amazes me is back in the day when the standards were so loose guys still ran an hour or more late. Murphys law. You will run near what the route allows.

 

[killamjl]

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference

 

[soberups]

I am a student of the game.
That's the extent of my concern.
Like satellitedriver, I've seen an hour plus swing on my bid route.
My question is why?
Calculated gamble?

"The game" that the company is playing is no different from how a casino is run.

The casino's goal is to extract as much revenue as possible from the players by rigging the odds of each game, while UPS's goal is to extract revenue from the drivers by rigging the allowances of each route. Just as a certain percentage of gamblers will continue playing until they have lost all their money, a certain percentage of drivers will continue skipping their lunches and breaks in order to meet an impossible "standard." This is an integral part of the overall business plan for each casino...or each center.

In order for such a system to work, there must be a superficial appearance of "fairness" so that the players (or drivers) will buy into it. In a casino, if the house won every hand the players would soon give up and leave; in a UPS center, if every route were impossible to make standard on then the drivers would stop skipping their lunches and breaks altogether. The trick is to give the players (or drivers) just enough winning hands (or routes) to make them think that the game is fair so that they can slowly and methodically be bled dry.

That is why every center has a few "bonus" routes with easy time allowances; once an employee has been conditioned to skip his lunch and breaks to make that "bonus", he/she will often continue that behavior even when dispatched on routes for which the allowance has been rigged to make "bonus" utterly impossible to attain. Its basic psychology.

 

[Coldworld]

Its just a way for them to get on the car with you and "legally" be able to harass you...period...end of story. Ive even heard mgt say that the allowance arent fair in most cases so what does that tell you. IMO, the allowances are different for each part of the country considering you have different ie groups running the different areas. Im sure the individual tasks are given the same time allowance nationwide, but there probably is a difference in the feeding and processing of all that info, and lets face it some routes are set up better than others. More work doesnt always mean better allowance.. I know that from personal experience.

 

[MC4YOU2]

There is also the idea of maintaining a level of dissent from driver to driver which is quite useful to the company. If you are working next to someone who never "quite measures up to the standard" it's natural to expect some alienation in the relationship. Oh yes, there is a teamwork strategy that is encouraged, but that just intensifies the gap between the haves and the have nots. Anytime there can be a built in strategy to make the cohesion of the driver unit less uniform,then it is an easy thing to separate, retrain and discipline individuals who do not meet the "standard". Who wants to help and support a driver who is consistently 1 to 2 hours out, if the belief being circulated is that "they brought it on themselves", when in reality it can't possibly be the answer to every over allowed driver. My manager works hard at, and is skillful at, defining the element that binds the driver unit together such as supporting a driver who is the subject of a production 'crisis', and selectively cherry picking off the weaker more timid drivers of the group who will not stand up for themselves let alone an alleged "heel dragger", thereby weakening the base on which the brotherhood and sisterhood stands. Oh yes, there is reasoning behind the plan. This is just another one.

 

[Jones]

I'm an Occam's Razor kind of guy. Route standards vary because the time studies are imperfect, and individual performance varies because people are different. In general, I don't think it's any more than that.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

We have a guy that runs 2 hours late and his sub runs an hour early. Sometimes it is the driver.

I think his brother works in my center. He is at least an hour over every day yet all three of his cover drivers run scratch or better and, yes, they take their 10 minute break and 45 minute lunch. Sometimes it is the driver.

 

[Covemastah]

Why is that always the answer?

Because 8 out of 10 times it is true !!! If you have been around here long enough you will know that !! With all of Rods years of experience and mine I find this to be a true statement !!!

 

[kingOFchester]

Some possibilities, based on my center and experience.

1) Driver A, runs all Air stops first, then goes back to the start of route and pretty much follows EDD. Driver B, Plans his morning and Air stops and derives a plan where he can get off a lot of ground while doing Air's. Starts in EDD where ever his last Air stop was and runs route from there. In this scenario, driver B will run route with less stops due to delivering grounds with air's at a bulk stop and not running the miles up.

2) Driver A, comes in at the start time, closes truck doors and heads out with a truck not loaded properly due to lack of training and understanding from the loader. Driver B, Comes in early and sets up truck and plans his day. In this case (all things being equal) Driver A will have a higher dispatch, but will probably run scratch or even over, while driver B will have a lower dispatch but run under.

3) Driver A, center knows that the driver can only handle X amount of stops to be under 9.5. Driver B, Center knows that they can add sections and stops as the driver works for free setting up truck, skips lunch and runs. In this case Driver B will have a bigger dispatch.

You mix all this together, and the guy who works for free, skips lunch, added stops on truck due to history of returning early, poor customer service, not filling out info notices, for a sig required. Rings bell and runs back to truck and speeds off in 3 seconds, cheats on pick up windows, runs, does not follow methods, prerecords stops in the AM, sits on seat belt to avoid telematics, deliver grounds to a business when making pick up at 4pm will have a higher dispatch and will run way under. did I miss anything?