Hit while parked, new rant, join in

[JustTired]

Thinking about this for a few minutes....I see this scenario playing out over and over........

call center: UPS....this is Habib....how can I be of service to you?

caller: yes...I just had a delivery notice left on my car....but there was no writing on it....am I getting a pkg today?

over and over and over

 

[Catatonic]

Ok hoax, we consider parked cars.
And yes it is some idiot in a cubicle.

You sure this was not somebody's idea in the center?
This really sounds like it was not well thought out and the time to do this and the risk management aspects of this would never have made it out of Corporate. This does not even look good on paper and the use of Del notices is too haphazard of a solution.
Just my observation.

 

[rod]

You sure this was not somebody's idea in the center?
This really sounds like it was not well thought out and the time to do this and the risk management aspects of this would never have made it out of Corporate. This does not even look good on paper and the use of Del notices is too haphazard of a solution.
Just my observation.

It sounds like something my last center manager would have tried but from what understand lower management now days don't dare try anything on their own. OK which one you Einsteins in Atlanta take credit for this?

 

[cachsux]

Insert "Gosh I`m glad I`m in feeder" comment here.

 

[Driveslayer]

At UPS any accident is Avoidable, even if the other party gets a citation for hitting you. I wonder if UPS tells the at fault persons Insurance company that our driver could of avoided this and driver was charged with an accident, before UPS demands reimburstment for the accident cost. Unrelated questions(1) Why is so hard to get a copy of the 340 methods THRU UPS. In our center, the mgrs will not provide it to us. (2) In our state you can not park further than 12" from the curb, but UPS policy is that we can not park within 48" of an object. Does that mean mailboxes.etc? (3). Why can't add/cuts sequence numbers be flipped in opposite order so the route thats gets stops will have these stops sequenced more correctly because driver comes from opposite direction. It causes time delays due to sorting(30 inch method) and/or left turns.

 

[iowa boy]

It says driver side window, which creates a big blind spot to the driver of the car............if they did not see it before they pulled away, and people are oblivious.

Just think of all the people that drive around with parking tickets under their wipers.

 

[Anonymous 10]

Thinking about this for a few minutes....I see this scenario playing out over and over........

call center: UPS....this is Habib....how can I be of service to you?

caller: yes...I just had a delivery notice left on my car....but there was no writing on it....am I getting a pkg today?

over and over and over

+1 LMAOOL

 

[The Blackadder]

If a comet comes out of the sky and hits my package car it will be avoidable, bad parking. I would also be at fault for my own death. and would most likely get a warning letter handed to me at the pearly gates by mr casey himself.

 

[toonertoo]

+1 LMAOOL

Me too.

 

[toonertoo]

Thinking about this for a few minutes....I see this scenario playing out over and over........

call center: UPS....this is Habib....how can I be of service to you?

caller: yes...I just had a delivery notice left on my car....but there was no writing on it....am I getting a pkg today?

over and over and over

I quite like this scenario, it might be worth doing for a day.

You sure this was not somebody's idea in the center?
This really sounds like it was not well thought out and the time to do this and the risk management aspects of this would never have made it out of Corporate. This does not even look good on paper and the use of Del notices is too haphazard of a solution.
Just my observation.

While I am thinking if they dont see my 28 ft truck, why would they see a dr notice.
I dunno, it was all typed out and everything, personally I doubt anyone there would know how to use word perfect, there were no spelling errors either. Ill get a copy and send it to you, read it when you need a laugh, just dont blow your drink through your nose when you read some of the new ideas.
We are no longer allowed to use the overhead doors to walk through either...there is a sign, supposedly from district that says "for Pedestrain Use Only"

 

[hurricanegunner]

If a comet comes out of the sky and hits my package car it will be avoidable, bad parking. I would also be at fault for my own death. and would most likely get a warning letter handed to me at the pearly gates by mr casey himself.

And he'll make you recite the five, eight, and ten keys, and the ten point commentary before allowing you in. If you can't recite them, Casey will have one of the angels tutor you.

 

[satellitedriver]

+1000 on all Tooners posts!

The pure idiocy of putting d-notes on cars.....

Ditto,
I will do it, if they put a check box on the d-note that says ;
"Do not hit the big brown package car parked near you".
Also, it must be written in Spanish, Chinese and fill in the blank languages that meet all the P.C. needs of those not willing to learn English.

 

[soberups]

While I understand and agree with the idea that we need to park legally and be aware of our surroundings, the reality is that "charging" us with "avoidable" accidents for being hit while parked does nothing to prevent these accidents from occuring. What it does do...is to breed cynicism and apathy among the drivers for UPS's safety program as a whole. How am I possibly supposed to take you as a management person seriously if you are going to issue me a warning letter for being hit by another vehicle while legally parked?

I believe in safety. I take it seriously. To me it is a professional concern, and a matter of life or death. To UPS, it has been reduced to a blizzard of buzzwords and acronyms and BS warning letters that serve no purpose other than to allow the management person issuing them to meet some arbitrary quota.

 

[barnyard]

Hit while parked is the most common accident in our center. We have had a couple unavoidables, but most are avoidable. None of our trucks that were hit were legally parked. We block driveways and get hit, we park at a yellow curb and someone backs out of their space and hits us. The problem that I hear time and time again is that we (meaning UPS drivers) think that the hitters should have seen us. Did the UPS guy tap the horn? nope. wave to make eye contact? nope.

It is the same story times a thousand. The exact same thing happens every day. Driver pulls up to driveway, thinks customer saw us, blocks driveway, goes in back to get package, customer backs into us.

EVERY DAY THAT EXACT SCENARIO HAPPENS TO A UPS DRIVER.

Is there really nothing we can do to avoid that???? Really???

A driver in our center has been putting DR notes on cars for a couple of years now. She works in a downtown area and has gone 15+ years accident free. She says she tags a couple cars a day. She also says that she is always looking for people that might be approaching cars near her and asks that they be careful pulling out around her.

I don't double park anymore. If I have a really good parking spot, I load up my 2 wheeler and walk a bunch off. I watch my numbers and they have not changed. I walk a heck of a lot more than I ever have, but no matter, I am paid well.

 

[barnyard]

Imagine for a bit, that your job is to read through the accident reports in your district. Every day, you see a hit while parked (we were blocking their driveway) and basketball hoops that we backed into and wrecked. Now, you also know that minor dings lead to major dings and major dings lead to a fatal crash.

What would you do???

 

[BrownArmy]

I had an on-car sup once that told me UPS buys more basketball hoops than the NBA...

 

[barnyard]

I had an on-car sup once that told me UPS buys more basketball hoops than the NBA...

and just about everyday, we are told to stay out of driveways and everyday, someone either goes in a driveway and hits one or goes in a driveway, blocks the garage and gets backed into.

Every day.

 

[over9five]

Basketball hoops is one thing.

But blaming a driver for an accident when he wasn't even in the vehicle is quite another.

Shouldn't the person who drove their car into a driverless parked vehicle be responsible? Why in the world weren't they looking where their car was going? How do you not see a big brown truck? What if it had been a child they hit???

Take responsibility for your own actions, I say.
Hit a basketball hoop? Our drivers fault.
Another driver hits your PC when you're not even there? Their fault.

 

[barnyard]

Basketball hoops is one thing.
But blaming a driver for an accident when he wasn't even in the vehicle is quite another.

Avoidability and fault are 2 entirely different things.

If you park and block a driveway and the customer backs out of their own driveway, they are certainly at fault and you most certainly could have avoided it BY NOT BLOCKING THEIR DRIVEWAY.

In the interest of speed, we often choose bad parking spots. Even though we know the general public does not pay attention to what is around them, we still block them into parking spots. Then we have the gall to be surprised when the hit us.

 

[soberups]

If you park and block a driveway and the customer backs out of their own driveway, they are certainly at fault and you most certainly could have avoided it BY NOT BLOCKING THEIR DRIVEWAY......In the interest of speed, we often choose bad parking spots. .

Have you ever delivered in a heavily congested, downtown urban area?

The day-to-day reality of providing delivery service to such areas is that we often have no choice but to double-park, park illegally, or park in less-than-optimum locations. Its not a question of "speed" or "convenience". Its a question of whether or not you can get any work done at all.

Its pretty easy for a management person to make blanket statements such as "stay out of driveways" or "dont park illegally" from within the confines of a cubicle. But when the time comes to back those statements up with action...such as dispatching the routes in a manner that would actually allow the driver enough time to walk several blocks to each stop from a legal parking spot....all that tough talk about safety seems to go right out the window.