Driver Training 30 day probation.

[pretzel]

Hi this is my first post. I have been with UPS for over 10 years now. This is my third attempt at becoming a driver. 1st attempt I scraped the truck on day 28. 2nd attempt they told me I never hit my numbers on day 30 then had me drive the route for the next month as a part timer. This is my third attempt im on day 14 and its been hell. my first day by myself I had 50 stops the supervisor got mad at me becuase I was too light. 2nd day 70 stops I shuttled everyones air in but they management was still upset that I was over allowed. 3rd day 100 stops I had to have my air dropped off. Then this week my third week everyday has been 110-120 stops I have been sheeting bussines missed and once again management is pissed friday they were so pissed they didnt even talk to me till I called in telling them I was going to have more missed businesses.

I am actually freekin out to go to work tomarow I want this job so bad but I have pickups at 3:00 they go till 5:00 then I have to be at the building at 6:10 by the latest for my air. It takes about 30 minutes to get back to the building from my route. I have been able to do about 80-90 stops by 3 but then I still have about 20-40 stops left after 5 and most are business. I try to communicate with management but when they tell me how to do something they keep it pretty general then when I mess up they get pissed.

So am I red flagged? If not how they hell do I perform better and talk to management. Communication sucks in this company and im getting sick of the fear tactics. Any help or comments apreciated.

 

[UPSGUY72]

They are suppose to put you on a normal route for the whole month. Usually this is a route that someone is out on comp or a training route. They are not suppose to give you a route that is pieced together each day. I would see a steward and read your supplement and the national agreement and see what it says about your 30 days in your area.

With that being said some people are just not cut out to drive we have a couple in are local that have never made there 30 days becasue they just can't do it. Not that they aren't good and hard workers it just they have one speed SLOW.

 

[just interested]

Does anyone know the "standards" used for the 30 day driver training period? Is it totally arbitrary? The supervisor you are assigned to just decides whether or not you are doing a good job or not? Someone above him, maybe the center manager, do they have the final word?

I've searched the National Agreement and my supplement, but have not been able to find anything that provides specifics.

 

[over9five]

Pretzel, you have to talk to someone who's done that route. See if it's even possible.

 

[UPSBluRdg03]

Are any of the 80-90 stops you have off by 3, house stops? Do not run a single house stop until you have all your buisness off. If they are sending you out with close to 100 buisness stops then there is a problem with dispatch. Tell them another driver either needs to meet you to get your pickup pieces or that you will come back unload pickups and then go back out and finish your route. Oh and make sure you take your lunch.

 

[User Name]

I don't understand how a 10 year employee can be pushed around so bad. I also don't know how a 10 year employee don't know his or her rights.

 

[DS]

Oh and make sure you take your lunch.

HAH good one,
I didn't get lunch for over a year when I started.
Pretzel ,you have to talk to your sup.Explain that you have too many businesses.
If he disagrees,ask for him to come with you and show you how its done.
When he realizes the route needs adjusting,they will (hopefully)give you half and half resi-business

 

[just interested]

Are any of the 80-90 stops you have off by 3, house stops? Do not run a single house stop until you have all your buisness off. If they are sending you out with close to 100 buisness stops then there is a problem with dispatch. Tell them another driver either needs to meet you to get your pickup pieces or that you will come back unload pickups and then go back out and finish your route. Oh and make sure you take your lunch.

Is this a "standard procedure"? Where can a new driver find a written list of expectations for the qualification process?

I've been given a mixed route with 120 - 140 stops plus pick-ups beginning at 3:30. There are morning commits; noon commits; then pickup commit times from 3:30 all the way until 7:30. Usually there are approximately 70 house deliveries. I've had to mix the house deliveries in between business stops; there is no other way to do it and still make 9.5; sometimes I have to get huge packages out of the middle of the car first thing in the morning that are house deliveries, just so I can get my business bulk off. I deliver about 330 packages total and pickup around 100-150. Oh! And I also have a morning pickup - thankfully it's never been more than 5-7 boxes and coincides with my delivering their bulk (20-45 packages) to them.

Anyhow - I'm getting pressured because I'm not running the route as fast as the past experienced driver's slowest sporh. That's the only criteria I've been given. Match/beat her sporh. I am the first newly hired, no experienced person to ever attempt to run this route.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

 

[Re-Raise]

The best advice I can give you is you have to do everything with a sense of urgency. That does not mean fast and in an unsafe manner.

As an inexperienced driver you can waste time in a lot of little ways.

You have to be quick in the back of the car when selecting packages.

You have to select your dr location as you are walking to the house. Knock twice ,ring the doorbel,l dr and go.

And at your business stops it would be nice if you could talk about the game over the weekend, but at this point you don't have the time.

Don't be rude, but until you get better through experience you really have to focus on maintaining a good consistent pace.

As far as missed businesses go , you have to skip your resi and get them before they close, even if someone has to bring in your air while you stay out and run the resis at the end of your day.

Don't get discouraged , every driver there was the rookie at one time.

 

[pretzel]

Thanks for your comments and suggestions.

I have not been delivering any resi's and I usually have about 4-8 resi stops that are apartments anyways its all business im down by the docks. I know I could be faster in the back of my truck. Problem is sometimes I have 3-6 stops from one position im parked and I look at edd to get one side of the street done then I fill up the hand cart and hit the other side so I know I waste some time finding the packages for the 2-5 stops but I load my hand truck in my car and walk right out the back seems to make up some time and I always have about 3 cod's friday I had 8. So its pretty much all business. When I go to one business at a time im pretty fast because I can memorize the hin and my next five stops but when I hit the next street its all shops and thats when I hit 2-5 deliveries per stop and I cant memerize all those hins or the hins are the same as the other addresses so I just have to peice through the packages to make sure there the right ones.

As far as the comment about my rights its my understanding that for 30 days I have no protection. When I talked to the union about not making it the second time for not hitting there numbers we had a discussion with my union rep and management nothing happened. Although we have a new slate or council whatever they call it now.

Perhaps this job isnt for me and I am just too slow. Although I dont believe that and I am not going to give up. I talked with a friend who works in another hub close to me and his route practicly mirrors mine and he gets about 90-100 stops off by 3 but he has been doing it a while.

So I will talk to some of the other drivers that have done that route and see how they did it and what they did. Problem is its been 2.5 years since they have hired new drivers and they route im on the lady is on injury and she has been doing it for 18 years. It's obvious to me that I have to ask around see what my co-workers know and talk to the union about training routes. Personally I love this route I get to see the boats and ships and the people are pretty nice they dont even mind that im sweating like a 2 dollar whore every time they se me.

 

[nocturnalbuck]

perhaps this is where the problem lies. considering you work in south dakota

 

[upsmann21]

I'm one of the last drivers in my center to be hired in the past 3yrs. What helped me on my 30 day probation, was not following EDD, and not crossing streets unless necessary. i do odd numbers of a street then come back around and do even numbers, and vice versa. You are the one out that has to make decisions out there, even though they don't want us thinking for ourselves there with the implementation of EDD, I have never been on a route that i can follow EDD stop for stop and meet their numbers.

Thanks for your comments and suggestions.

I have not been delivering any resi's and I usually have about 4-8 resi stops that are apartments anyways its all business im down by the docks. I know I could be faster in the back of my truck. Problem is sometimes I have 3-6 stops from one position im parked and I look at edd to get one side of the street done then I fill up the hand cart and hit the other side so I know I waste some time finding the packages for the 2-5 stops but I load my hand truck in my car and walk right out the back seems to make up some time and I always have about 3 cod's friday I had 8. So its pretty much all business. When I go to one business at a time im pretty fast because I can memorize the hin and my next five stops but when I hit the next street its all shops and thats when I hit 2-5 deliveries per stop and I cant memerize all those hins or the hins are the same as the other addresses so I just have to peice through the packages to make sure there the right ones.

As far as the comment about my rights its my understanding that for 30 days I have no protection. When I talked to the union about not making it the second time for not hitting there numbers we had a discussion with my union rep and management nothing happened. Although we have a new slate or council whatever they call it now.

Perhaps this job isnt for me and I am just too slow. Although I dont believe that and I am not going to give up. I talked with a friend who works in another hub close to me and his route practicly mirrors mine and he gets about 90-100 stops off by 3 but he has been doing it a while.

So I will talk to some of the other drivers that have done that route and see how they did it and what they did. Problem is its been 2.5 years since they have hired new drivers and they route im on the lady is on injury and she has been doing it for 18 years. It's obvious to me that I have to ask around see what my co-workers know and talk to the union about training routes. Personally I love this route I get to see the boats and ships and the people are pretty nice they dont even mind that im sweating like a 2 dollar whore every time they se me.

 

[nocturnalbuck]

in all seriousness, i started off on a similar route. first of all make sure that the dispatch is possible by speaking with other drivers. then figure out if there's any stops that can be done during your pickups. then if you have to work through part of your break make sure its only when your are driving. of course i don't recommend working through break but as you get better in a couple weeks you won't have to do that anymore. only knock or ring bell not both. btw memorizing the next 5 stops is overrated. maybe know your next two but know what direction you are heading.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Memorizing the next five stops will save you from looking at EDD every two seconds.

 

[pretzel]

Well I made it to day 25 I got the call this morning that I dont have to report to work and that I will have a meeting with the manager about my performance. They never called and when I called them the boss was either in a meeting already or away from the office. Called my supervisor cell phone and there gonna disqualify me for not hitting scratch. I thought I was doing good too because nobody talked to me for 3 weeks and I had no service failures and was getting back to the building at a reasonable time to drop my air. So now do I count myself lucky that I didnt make it or file a greivance and fight for the job. Decisions decisions.... I know that there is over 100 people behind me that can take my place but damn I thought I was going to make it for sure. My first 2 weeks were rough then everything came togather for me. I dont know there were a allot of drivers working 13 hour days so maby its a blessing.

 

[robot]

The job pays well but the pressure and stress (on body,mind and family) is insane.

 

[UPSGUY72]

Well I made it to day 25 I got the call this morning that I dont have to report to work and that I will have a meeting with the manager about my performance. They never called and when I called them the boss was either in a meeting already or away from the office. Called my supervisor cell phone and there gonna disqualify me for not hitting scratch. I thought I was doing good too because nobody talked to me for 3 weeks and I had no service failures and was getting back to the building at a reasonable time to drop my air. So now do I count myself lucky that I didnt make it or file a greivance and fight for the job. Decisions decisions.... I know that there is over 100 people behind me that can take my place but damn I thought I was going to make it for sure. My first 2 weeks were rough then everything came togather for me. I dont know there were a allot of drivers working 13 hour days so maby its a blessing.

How many stops where you doing?? Was the number the same or close to what driver where doing before you took over the route? If you have less stops and getting back to the building at the same time that driver doing the normal stops on the route than that is a problem. If you have less stops you needed to get back to the building earlier. Say if the normal stop counted was 130 and your only doing 100 or 110 that is why you where not hitting the numbers even if you got back to the building at a reasonable time.

File a greivance ??? What article or reason are you going to use to file ??? If you didn't make your thirty (30) days you don't have a leg to stand on you have no driver rights untill you make your 30 days. If you did have driver rights what would be the point of having a 30 day probation period.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

The job pays well but the pressure and stress (on body,mind and family) is insane.

The pressure and stress can only affect you if you let it. When you punch out leave all that at work.


Pretzel, you do not have basis for a grievance.

 

[UnconTROLLed]

If you feel as though you did a good job and are unhappy with the decision, contact your BA and ask him if you have any options. The company cannot DQ you for "no good reason" unless you let them. Esp the shaky "performance issues".

 

[UPSSOCKS]

I don't understand how a 10 year employee can be pushed around so bad. I also don't know how a 10 year employee don't know his or her rights.

Supervising someone is not pushing them around..