Eliminating Feeder jobs by outsourcing work

bvshearz

Member
The feeder dept as we know it will not exist in a few years if something is not done to stop the corporate greed giving away our work.I know if this is happening in my town,it's going on all over the country.UPS goes to the biggest shippers,in my town it's Target.com ,Front gate/Cinmar and a few others.These places used to ship out 10-15 trailor loads a day with us.UPS tells them,you(the customer) build a direct load yourself going to the West coast,East coast,North, South etc. and we'll give you a break on shipping rates.Thus the customer does all the sorting their self,by-passing the nearest hub,costing part-timers work,as if that's not bad enough they also don't use UPS feeder system to get the direct load to it's destination.The customer is instructed to use another carrier.In my town it's Baylor trucking,Swift,Conway or City Dash.UPS packages are put on other carriers trailors and pulled all across the country by other carriers,eliminating the need for UPS feeder drivers.If this is not a direct violation of our contract,IT SHOULD BE!!! Come on! If this trend continues,there will be massive feeder jobs lost in the next few years.This action by the company could very well lead to a future strike,and that wouldn't be good for either side.This problem needs to be fixed,soon.
 

Dragon

Package Center Manager
BV, please refer to your own post (having another company do the work) when you and some of your other feeder buddies are sucking the hell out of the clock to get 60 hrs for the week, when you know you could have done it in 53 hrs or less.

Just something to think about.
 

bvshearz

Member
How many hours a week that I work or anyone else works has nothing to do with the fact the "Company" wants to eliminate jobs so they can fatten their profit margin. I could have a 40 hour job(for all you know),and would still think the outsourcing is wrong.I've got enough seniority that it probably won't cause me to be laid off,however I do care about lower seniority drivers that may never get to see retirement from this company.Many package drivers that are too beat up physically to do that job for 30 years would like the opportunity to work in feeders,I would like to see the dept.still be there years from now for them,it's doubtful though.
 

tourists24

Well-Known Member
How many hours a week that I work or anyone else works has nothing to do with the fact the "Company" wants to eliminate jobs so they can fatten their profit margin. I could have a 40 hour job(for all you know),and would still think the outsourcing is wrong.I've got enough seniority that it probably won't cause me to be laid off,however I do care about lower seniority drivers that may never get to see retirement from this company.Many package drivers that are too beat up physically to do that job for 30 years would like the opportunity to work in feeders,I would like to see the dept.still be there years from now for them,it's doubtful though.
dont worry,,, Dragon is not a "real" UPSer... just someone who isnt part of the real part of the workforce
 

Catatonic

Nine Lives
The feeder dept as we know it will not exist in a few years if something is not done to stop the corporate greed giving away our work.I know if this is happening in my town,it's going on all over the country.UPS goes to the biggest shippers,in my town it's Target.com ,Front gate/Cinmar and a few others.These places used to ship out 10-15 trailor loads a day with us.UPS tells them,you(the customer) build a direct load yourself going to the West coast,East coast,North, South etc. and we'll give you a break on shipping rates.Thus the customer does all the sorting their self,by-passing the nearest hub,costing part-timers work,as if that's not bad enough they also don't use UPS feeder system to get the direct load to it's destination.The customer is instructed to use another carrier.In my town it's Baylor trucking,Swift,Conway or City Dash.UPS packages are put on other carriers trailors and pulled all across the country by other carriers,eliminating the need for UPS feeder drivers.If this is not a direct violation of our contract,IT SHOULD BE!!! Come on! If this trend continues,there will be massive feeder jobs lost in the next few years.This action by the company could very well lead to a future strike,and that wouldn't be good for either side.This problem needs to be fixed,soon.

The company greed in your example is the "Target.com ,Front gate/Cinmar and a few others" ... it is not UPS.
These companies and many others are engaging in the practice called "zone skip drop shipping". It has been around for a half-century and has become more common as companies get bigger and they can consolidate their shipments into 1 trailer.
UPS would not do this because it is taking revenue and profit out of their own pockets.
I realize you may be frustrated but try thinking through this and applying a little bit of common sense and you will realize what you said does not make any sense.

PS - Someone comes on here and posts something like this every month or so and it is explained to them so don't feel too bad about your post.
 

bvshearz

Member
Hoaxster,if you think that UPS is losing money by doing this,there's no way.They pay the non-union company peanuts compared to what they would pay a UPSer to get that load there.Let's say they pay them oh,a dollar a mile,that's still dirt cheap.They have NO fuel cost,NO truck/trailor upkeep cost,NO UPS driver pay,NO insurance to pay, NO vacations to give and they still make money,and lot's of it.From UPS's view point,this is a good thing.I understand why they are doing it,to keep most or all of the customers business,however from an employee's viewpoint,it's not good.Thanks for your input,it's nice to vent frustration and have some feedback.Nice to meet you.I'm a 24 year employee.
 

Catatonic

Nine Lives
Hoaxster,if you think that UPS is losing money by doing this,there's no way.They pay the non-union company peanuts compared to what they would pay a UPSer to get that load there.Let's say they pay them oh,a dollar a mile,that's still dirt cheap.They have NO fuel cost,NO truck/trailor upkeep cost,NO UPS driver pay,NO insurance to pay, NO vacations to give and they still make money,and lot's of it.From UPS's view point,this is a good thing.I understand why they are doing it,to keep most or all of the customers business,however from an employee's viewpoint,it's not good.Thanks for your input,it's nice to vent frustration and have some feedback.Nice to meet you.I'm a 24 year employee.

Welcome to Brown Cafe.

UPS does not pay the other transportation company.
The "Target.com ,Front gate/Cinmar and a few others" pays the other company or a Logistic's proxy does.
That Logistics company could be "SCS" ... so maybe UPS in a way but not the UPS Small Package company which is what I think you are referring to.
I understand the fact that this affects potential UPS jobs and the accompanying frustration of not being able to go to feeders or move up the seniority list.
UPS Small package will not encourage zone skipping but they are powerless to stop a customer that has the volume to implement zone skipping.
This practice is discussed in Transportation and Logistics magazines in just about every issue.
 

cosmictrucker

counting the months
UPS loves the control it has with the current Feeder Network. It's run on a very tight schedule to the minute. Using outside sources to completely replace the Feeder Network would NEVER work in this day and time with our tight scheduling. The Feeders routes would never run as smoothly under any other system.
Zone skipping sucks for the originating Feeder Hub, but helps the company compete overall with the CHEAP competition it's dealing with.
 

brownIEman

Well-Known Member
The feeder dept as we know it will not exist in a few years if something is not done to stop the corporate greed giving away our work.I know if this is happening in my town,it's going on all over the country.UPS goes to the biggest shippers,in my town it's Target.com ,Front gate/Cinmar and a few others.These places used to ship out 10-15 trailor loads a day with us.UPS tells them,you(the customer) build a direct load yourself going to the West coast,East coast,North, South etc. and we'll give you a break on shipping rates.Thus the customer does all the sorting their self,by-passing the nearest hub,costing part-timers work,as if that's not bad enough they also don't use UPS feeder system to get the direct load to it's destination.The customer is instructed to use another carrier.In my town it's Baylor trucking,Swift,Conway or City Dash.UPS packages are put on other carriers trailors and pulled all across the country by other carriers,eliminating the need for UPS feeder drivers.If this is not a direct violation of our contract,IT SHOULD BE!!! Come on! If this trend continues,there will be massive feeder jobs lost in the next few years.This action by the company could very well lead to a future strike,and that wouldn't be good for either side.This problem needs to be fixed,soon.

Yep, UPS is going to our large customers and saying to them, "Our feeder drivers are costing us too much, so please, if you would, take the money you would be paying to UPS, the extra revenue we would be making, and instead give that money to one of our competing freight companies to bring your volume closer so we get paid much less for each piece to do the final delivery. We hate our feeder drivers so much, that we actually want to make less money for UPS corporate in order to have less work for them to do. Of course, we still have to pay them the contractual minimums, and even if we get the work low enough to lay some off, we have to allow them to work as delivery drivers at top wage and then bump the lowest wage drivers into the hubs, bumping the lowest cost workers in that arena. So, overall we want to increase our costs and lower our income. Cause we hate the feeder drivers that much."

really?


just curious, is anyone actually buying this? Corporate greed is leading UPS to ask for LESS money from their customers?
 

mzungu

Member
BV, please refer to your own post (having another company do the work) when you and some of your other feeder buddies are sucking the hell out of the clock to get 60 hrs for the week, when you know you could have done it in 53 hrs or less.

Just something to think about.
The only bonus of less of us is less of you, although to most management, you are a genuis in your own mind, the company would not function if not for you.
 

Pete Parcel

New Member
brown IE man,
Where your from maybe feeder drivers can bump pkg guys if there's no work,where I'm at that's not allowed,your just laid off until there is work for you.Also if you've been out of pkgs for more than 18 months according to the latest contract, your no longer qualified for that position.I believe that UPS does not loose money on anything they do,maybe pennies less per pkg ,but if they weren't making money on this,they wouldn't be doing it.
 

brownIEman

Well-Known Member
brown IE man,
Where your from maybe feeder drivers can bump pkg guys if there's no work,where I'm at that's not allowed,your just laid off until there is work for you.Also if you've been out of pkgs for more than 18 months according to the latest contract, your no longer qualified for that position.I believe that UPS does not loose money on anything they do,maybe pennies less per pkg ,but if they weren't making money on this,they wouldn't be doing it.

You are completely missing my point.

Why would UPS ask a customer to stop giving money they were giving to UPS and give that money to one of UPS' competitors? What I am saying it that it makes no sense and UPS is NOT doing it. The original poster is, IMO, either misinformed about what is going on and why, or is trying to misinform us.
 
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