Does a Driver or Loader Physicaly Work Harder or Faster Now?

[FracusBrown]

Would you say a driver or loader physically works harder or at a faster pace now than they did 10 or 20 years ago? It seems to me that some aspects of the jobs have become easier while other aspects have become more difficult.

If you had to say the one way or the other what would you say?

 

[tranham]

Faster, as we have to use much less of our time thinking for ourselves now and we are properly micro-managed with tattle-telamatics.

Robert

 

[whiskey]

Good question. I know I'm not as fast as I was in 1977.

 

[bbsam]

Good question. I know I'm not as fast as I was in 1977.

Could be the whiskey?

 

[Raw]

I`m not harder but a lot faster!

 

[brownmonster]

I think I still work at the same pace I did 20 years ago. I might be a little safer and a little more efficient now.

 

[browned out]

Much faster regarding inside work and driver work. We are doing much more work in less time. Preloaders are routinely loading four trucks instead of three and getting done in less time. 167 stops used to take me to 830 to get done; now 730. On and off the truck much faster with less time to recover. No question

 

[Re-Raise]

EDD/PAS absolutely makes it possible for drivers and loaders to accomplish more in less time.

No more memorizing of load charts for the preload, and as a driver you know who you have packages for and how many. It really does save a lot of time in the package car.

My board shut down on me the other day and I felt lost , even though I delivered without EDD for years.

 

[22.34life]

Some things have gotten easy in the hub like extendos in the load and the changes to irregs like the irreg belt ,no more driving through the primary to load your train.Sometimes its hard to say if these new guys are working harder than i did 10 yrs ago or not,i mean i look around in the out bound and you will see a guy waiting for a pull and replace and he just sits down and waits ,that would have never happened 10yrs ago.Then on the other hand we are being pushed much harder today than back then, staffing is cut to the bone and injuries are higher than i can remember.

 

[Coldworld]

Some things have gotten easy in the hub like extendos in the load and the changes to irregs like the irreg belt ,no more driving through the primary to load your train.Sometimes its hard to say if these new guys are working harder than i did 10 yrs ago or not,i mean i look around in the out bound and you will see a guy waiting for a pull and replace and he just sits down and waits ,that would have never happened 10yrs ago.Then on the other hand we are being pushed much harder today than back then, staffing is cut to the bone and injuries are higher than i can remember.

Very true..would be interesting to see if that was a national trend...I think many of the injuries are because people are being rushed for speed..not because they are being careless by their own actions.

 

[SWORDFISH]

[/SIZE]
Very true..would be interesting to see if that was a national trend...I think many of the injuries are because people are being rushed for speed..not because they are being careless by their own actions.

People are be pushed so hard they are making bad decisions which creates an accident or injury.


As far as the posters question I think the drivers work harder. My answer is based mostly on hours worked.

 

[UnconTROLLed]

People are be pushed so hard they are making bad decisions which creates an accident or injury.


As far as the posters question I think the drivers work harder. My answer is based mostly on hours worked.

Only you can push you hard. I don't buy the management pushes garbage.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

PAS/EDD has allowed me to work smarter, not harder.

 

[tieguy]

Its an interesting question. If working smarter means you can dump more stops and more packages in a day then aren't you working harder?

in the load I think they definitely worked harder in the old days. No scanning back then so you were expected to load 600 packages an hour or more.

 

[Brown287]

Faster.....YES, Harder.....NO! The technology that we now have has inabled all of us to do much more in much less time, with less stress. The job is physical today, it will be tomorrow, and it was yesterda. the difference is how much we now can accomplish per hourand not even notice it. When I first got on my route it was a 75 stop route for 8 hours, 100 would make you stay out all night. Yesterday I had 170 and the work isnt ant harder today then when I first bid on the route. Im a huge advocate for technology and a more effecient work invironment, I just wonder if UPS will ever get to the point where they say that we are doing as much as possible.

 

[moreluck]

"Faster.....YES, Harder.....NO! "

That's what she said !!

 

[UPS Lifer]

Would you say a driver or loader physically works harder or at a faster pace now than they did 10 or 20 years ago? It seems to me that some aspects of the jobs have become easier while other aspects have become more difficult.

If you had to say the one way or the other what would you say?

This can be very subjective based on how you feel by the way you are being treated.

The equipment and the technology has improved and the job may seem like you are working faster because of the improved efficiency. We have unloading devices (ULDs) that go all the way inside a trailer now. 20 years ago you had portable rollers. Drivers spent most of their day getting signatures and handling CODs as well as Merchandise Exchanges. At the end of day there was a lot more paperwork money drops and math involved.

 

[FracusBrown]

[/SIZE]
Very true..would be interesting to see if that was a national trend...I think many of the injuries are because people are being rushed for speed..not because they are being careless by their own actions.

The injury trend is waaaaay down over the last 10-15 years. At one time Brown was on the top of the OSHA hit list due to the high number of injuries. The opposite is true now.

 

[thessalonian13]

We work harder now. When I started in 1991, you could fit 200 residential stops during peak season in a p-600 and still have room left to walk through your car. Everything fit on the shelves. Now, 100 stops blow out a p-1000. The packages were much lighter and smaller back then. (no 20 boxes of paper, exercise machines, pottery barn, bookcases etc.) Technology-wise, we work more efficiently now.

 

[22.34life]

Only you can push you hard. I don't buy the management pushes garbage.

Its true that only you can push yourself harder, managment can only do so much.what they do though is make it to where if you work at a controlled pace the area runs like sh** and the day drags by and is so much harder than if you would have just hustled and worked harder.I cant stand days where the area is blown up and nothing goes smoth,it makes the day so messed up you really end up working harder that way.