Going off area with Telematics?

superballs63

Well-Known Troll
Troll
My center went live on telematics last week and in addition to the daily "screw up" report, they have told a group of us who have met up for lunch for years (which center manager and all other supes knew) that we no longer can. Honestly, depending on the route and lunch spot we might be 2 miles off route, but no less and used break/lunch time to and from the route. Now, knowing the contract says 1 mile...is there anything we can do (short of creating strategic misroutes)? By the way, the new DM is on the warpath about this stuff (figured I should mention that)
 

soberups

Pees in the brown Koolaid
The contract does not say one mile. The contract does not say anything at all about breaking trace, unless there is something in one of your local Supplements. "One mile" is a rule that the company came up with, and it may or may not be enforceable depending upon the particular route and the location of suitable restrooms and places to eat.

The company does have a legitimate right to limit "personal" use of its vehicles and time, so if you have a city route and are driving right by other restraunts in order to get to one you prefer, you may be out of luck.
 

UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)

Well-Known Member
My center went live on telematics last week and in addition to the daily "screw up" report, they have told a group of us who have met up for lunch for years (which center manager and all other supes knew) that we no longer can. Honestly, depending on the route and lunch spot we might be 2 miles off route, but no less and used break/lunch time to and from the route. Now, knowing the contract says 1 mile...is there anything we can do (short of creating strategic misroutes)? By the way, the new DM is on the warpath about this stuff (figured I should mention that)

Plan on eating lunch by yourself?
 

BrownArmy

Well-Known Member
We went live on the tellytubbymatics a few months ago...they told us we can only break off 1/4 mile from trace (which seems a little goofy to me, but I find myself having a hard time caring).

Right now management is still working on the simple reports like backing, idle time, recording while idling/moving, etc., but I'm sure they'll work their way up to the mileage-off-trace report or whatever they call it.

For a company that's going green, we burn through a hell of a lot of paper...
 

packageguy

Well-Known Member
My center went live on telematics last week and in addition to the daily "screw up" report, they have told a group of us who have met up for lunch for years (which center manager and all other supes knew) that we no longer can. Honestly, depending on the route and lunch spot we might be 2 miles off route, but no less and used break/lunch time to and from the route. Now, knowing the contract says 1 mile...is there anything we can do (short of creating strategic misroutes)? By the way, the new DM is on the warpath about this stuff (figured I should mention that)

We have telematic about 1 year now, they know everything. Just don't lie when called in the office, because they already know the answer. It tracks from leaving building to back to building. If your off route say you are,
 

Cementups

Box Monkey
Before tattlematics I used to go a couple of miles to meet another driver for lunch a couple days a week. Then when they installed the new system we were told we couldn't do it anymore UNLESS we were meeting to swap off-areas and walked-in-wrong-cars. Just saying ;)
 

bigbrownhen

Well-Known Member
There have been suspensions for this. Seems silly to me, but I eat in my truck everyday anyway. I can understand cutting down on miles, but this seems a bit extreme. They could save alot more money being effecient in other areas.
 

superballs63

Well-Known Troll
Troll
I can understand cutting down on miles, but this seems a bit extreme. They could save alot more money being effecient in other areas.

I understand them trying to minimize mileage to save a few pennies in the economy with volume being down blah, blah, blah. However, in our center our dispatch is such a joke, we will regularly have splits consisting of maybe 5 stops 2 to 3 miles off route, but noone says anything to the fine woman doing dispatch.

Cemenet, thats what a few of us were thinking, but I figure it would arise SOME suspicion if the same few guys ALWAYS had at least one misroute for another one of our "crew" lol.

However, after perusing the contract, Soberups is 100% correct that it mentions NOTHING about distance or breaking trace, so I think I'll grab a steward on Tuesday and see what we can figure out before I go yelling at my center manager. haha. Gotta Love UPS!??
 

over9five

Moderator
Staff member
Before tattlematics I used to go a couple of miles to meet another driver for lunch a couple days a week. Then when they installed the new system we were told we couldn't do it anymore UNLESS we were meeting to swap off-areas and walked-in-wrong-cars. Just saying ;)

If that's the way they're gonna be, I would make sure I found those misloads after lunch.

It's stupid to save miles by stopping you guys meeting for lunch, but OK to have 3 of you delivering the same stop later on.

Just sayin
 

browned out

Well-Known Member
Don't even think about placing misloads in your own truck to be able to meet for lunch. The company can salt(plant them in your truck) but you can not. Our center manager has even planted misloads in drivers trucks after they have returned to the building. It is not worth being fired for.
 

UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)

Well-Known Member
Don't even think about placing misloads in your own truck to be able to meet for lunch. The company can salt(plant them in your truck) but you can not. Our center manager has even planted misloads in drivers trucks after they have returned to the building. It is not worth being fired for.

...not to mention possible unwarranted discipline for the preloaders in question...
 

UnconTROLLed

perfection
I understand them trying to minimize mileage to save a few pennies in the economy with volume being down blah, blah, blah. However, in our center our dispatch is such a joke, we will regularly have splits consisting of maybe 5 stops 2 to 3 miles off route, but noone says anything to the fine woman doing dispatch.

Cemenet, thats what a few of us were thinking, but I figure it would arise SOME suspicion if the same few guys ALWAYS had at least one misroute for another one of our "crew" lol.

However, after perusing the contract, Soberups is 100% correct that it mentions NOTHING about distance or breaking trace, so I think I'll grab a steward on Tuesday and see what we can figure out before I go yelling at my center manager. haha. Gotta Love UPS!??

why would you yell at your CB? (Center Boss) He doesn't have the authority to change anything, better or worse. ;(
 

bigbrownhen

Well-Known Member
More attention to fixing the dispatch would be a good start. I feel the drivers aren't given enough respect for the feedback we give on dispatch issues. I try not to take it personal, but when you have mentioned the same problem to supervisors several times and nothing changes, you just give up in frustration. I understand the difficulty of dispatch, with no area knowledge(our guy is new at this), just go off of section numbers and amount of stops. Reality on the street is alot different than on the computer screen.

Moral of the story: Trust your drivers, stop treating us like we are lazy slugs just trying to do less work and steal as much free time as possible. Communication and respect is key, on both sides of the fence.
 

Integrity

Binge Poster
My center went live on telematics last week and in addition to the daily "screw up" report, they have told a group of us who have met up for lunch for years (which center manager and all other supes knew) that we no longer can. Honestly, depending on the route and lunch spot we might be 2 miles off route, but no less and used break/lunch time to and from the route. Now, knowing the contract says 1 mile...is there anything we can do (short of creating strategic misroutes)? By the way, the new DM is on the warpath about this stuff (figured I should mention that)
superballs63,

I think that this is a very foolish move.

I think this will just further contribute to the alienation and demoralization of this group of workers.

I am very concerned about the term you used about your DM.

What does "on the warpath" mean?

Is he or she acting in a professional manner, treating all employees, hourly and management, with dignity and respect?

Sincerely,
I
 

superballs63

Well-Known Troll
Troll
superballs63,

I think that this is a very foolish move.

I think this will just further contribute to the alienation and demoralization of this group of workers.

I am very concerned about the term you used about your DM.

What does "on the warpath" mean?

Is he or she acting in a professional manner, treating all employees, hourly and management, with dignity and respect?

Sincerely,
I

Once we heard about it (me and another in the loop were off Friday), it pretty much alienated us at that the very moment. So, we just straight decided to do EVERY single thing by the book. No more doing favors for the company, since they sure as hell don't do any for us.

The DM, from what I've been told by one supe and other drivers , is that she's gung hoe to catch drivers "padding miles" or going anywhere off route and she's really trying to crack down on stuff like that. She doesn't treat ANYONE with dignity or respect. I don't think she would notice those two things if they kicked her square in the butt.

I know that this call is not coming from our immediate management team but rather someone above them that want to REALLY tick off drivers.

We still meet up, but now its fewer of us and we make sure not to go over their pre-determined 1 mile.
 

UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)

Well-Known Member
now that the production push has maxed out, excess miles is the new big issue

I wouldn't be too sure about the PP being maxed out but, yes, excess miles is next. We have a mileage sheet we have to fill out daily which shows the projected mileage for each area and whether we are over or under and, if over, any issues which may have caused the overage. For example, we had late air Thursday and the city drivers had to double trip which put us all over our projected mileage for the day.
 

pretzel_man

Well-Known Member
More attention to fixing the dispatch would be a good start. I feel the drivers aren't given enough respect for the feedback we give on dispatch issues. I try not to take it personal, but when you have mentioned the same problem to supervisors several times and nothing changes, you just give up in frustration. I understand the difficulty of dispatch, with no area knowledge(our guy is new at this), just go off of section numbers and amount of stops. Reality on the street is alot different than on the computer screen.

Moral of the story: Trust your drivers, stop treating us like we are lazy slugs just trying to do less work and steal as much free time as possible. Communication and respect is key, on both sides of the fence.


What you say here is absolutely true.....

Fixing the dispatch is key. It will make UPS more efficient, cut down on paid day, and better serve the customer. That cannot be properly done without input from the driver and that requires two way communication.

That doesn't mean setting up the dispatch the way the driver wants however. I good PDS should listen to the driver's thoughts and use that to make a decision and then explain why the route(s) was set up they way they are. (I believe there is a policy that discusses this).

I agree that this doesn't happen enough.......

On the other hand, the original point of the thread involved going off area for lunch. Even with a good dispatch, that other issue will still remain, and the cost is not "pennies". Even just 2 miles per driver per day at UPS is A LOT of money.

We need a rational, standard policy for lunches that BOTH SIDES must be accountable to....

Its not right to say you have to eat lunch on trace when there is no facility to do so. Its also not right to use UPS equipment and time to drive off trace to lunch when there is an acceptable choice.

I don't think the issue will go away until some policy is drafted......
 
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