How does UPS work?

ToastyMittens

New Member
I've been working as a loader for about 5 months now, and I honestly think this place runs on magic, blind luck, and sweat.

In all actuality I only really understand up to my FT supe. What goes on after that?

Load/unload dudes
all have some PTsupe to report to
Those PTsupes report to some FT supe?

I'm guessing that the shift manager would be it then
but what does that dude even do?


and what do feeders do/what are they?
 

brownrod

Well-Known Member
If you work here long enough then you will stop caring.

I am a FT driver and I don't even know what a center manager does. Beyond that it is magic to me.
 

curiousbrain

Well-Known Member
This is just my understanding; have worked at UPS for slightly longer (six to seven months now) than you have. My understanding is incomplete; bear that in mind.

Those PTsupes report to some FT supe?

Generally, yeah. In operations, for example, the PT supes report to a FT manager (the shift supervisor), who himself generally is subordinate to the Center Manager.

I'm guessing that the shift manager would be it then
but what does that dude even do?

I can only speak for my Shift supervisor; I have read on this forum that it is often very different (as illustrated below).

When I arrive in the morning, he is sitting in his office banging away on the computer doing add/cuts and trying to create a plan whereby he can "fit" all the packages that need to be delivered into the routes (or drivers, if you will) available to him (see footnote #1). This is why, for example (you may or may not be familiar with this aspect of the operation), supervisors who print out route manifest sheets too early often have problems because the sheets do not accurately reflect the add/cuts the shift supervisor made.

Other duties I have noticed include acting as a stand-in PT supervisor when one fails to arrive on time, or I have even seen mine come up and help me split the belt when things are really bad ... we talk about drinking and beer, to take our (for different reasons, I'm sure) minds off of the task at hand.

Also, I have seen my Shift supe get reamed from the New York office ("the call") because our center failed to meet production, ridiculous amount of misloads, etc. In summation, the Shift Supervisor should (I stress that word, as I have read that things vary) be the one who is responsible for the entire shift, which is the aggregate production of the PT sup's and hourlies under him.

and what do feeders do/what are they?

Feeders, as I understand them, are the longboxes/pups that are loaded/unloaded by hourlies. Feeder drivers then haul these around to other hubs/centers.

Footnote #1: I've read that the routes available to a center manager/Shift sup is handed down from on high (regional/district managers), and so they are fighting a losing battle. I certainly cannot speak to this as I have no experience with it; browse around the forums and you can read posts offering various points of view.

edit: Although, also note that their are FT Driver sup's who PT sup's occasionally report to/deal with, because it is their (the driver sup's) responsibility to handle the drivers, while it is the PT sup's responsibility to make sure the trucks are loaded and ready to go by 8:30am or whatever it is in your area; I've noticed there is some considerable overlap in this area. Regardless, it demonstrates the fact that there are overlapping areas of responsibility, and this is probably not limited to Operations. Again, I know very little about this sort of thing, just what I've observed.

I would like to add that I think your username, ToastyMittens, is awesome. I hope you stick around; I won't feel so lonely for not knowing how UPS works.
 
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It is really very simple. Part- time sup reports to full time sup, who reports to manager, who reports to division manager, who reports to district manager, who reports to region manager, who reports to corporate, who reports to GOD! (althought some of the people along the way consider themselves to be God or a close facimile to god's gift to UPS). You will notice the lack of the term "dude" in my response.
 

DS

Fenderbender
It's actually "brown magic"
It's simple really,it's stops per car.
If there 3000 stops that need to be delivered,
and there are only 3 trucks to do it,each one gets 1000
easy.
 
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ToastyMittens

New Member
5 votes that agree to my magic theory
There has got to be at least 1 person in this corporation who has darts and a map and lets that take care of any planning they have to do.



Now this is where I'm slightly confused because of different responses.

I've got down for sure(thats really not the proper word)

Loader/Unloader/Hourlies

work under PT Supes who

works under "FT manager (the shift supervisor)" OR "full time supe"[the second of which I believe makes more sence] who

works under the FT manager who

works under the division manager who

works under the district manager who

works under the region manager who

works under corp who

works under shareholders(I guess) who effectivly for this sitiation are god.


Now all I have to do is define exactly what all those postitions do and then figure out how things get from point a to point b because I dont even think im there yet.

And this isn't even including where drivers come into it :P ive got alot of understanding to do

brownrod: Idealy I'll understand it all before I stop caring
brownbaggin: Thank you for your insite into the Pre-load shift mangering and for saying my name is awesome
Just Numbers: Mad respect to an old head from a young head who is an avid user of the word dude
hondo: squeezins are deffitnatly in there somewhere
 
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