How does your center go about training cover drivers?

[tups]

Been cover since I started 3 years ago. Was trained by the old sup on 1 route for 4 days straight. Stayed on that route till the regular driver came back from comp. Then ever since then it was do that route......I don't know it........make 9.5........Ummmmm, ya ok.

 

[govols019]

I never went to driving school. My driving test consisted of driving around the building. Got maybe 15 minutes training on the DIAD. I'll never forget the first time I had a COD. Didn't have the slightest clue how to put it in the board.

I still remember the very first stop I ever made.

 

[pkg-king]

Back in the day it was here's a map good luck. Not so now, they are afraid of drivers quiting in my neck of the woods so the lower seniority guys are always trained for a few days. Nobody wants to go driving in our building, everyone is off the street hire and they're afriad they will quit. Alot different from the old days.

 

[under the radar]

"The coverage answer in my building is to yank folks off their bid route."

There is no "yanking" off of bid routes where I come from. Some people do it voluntarily and I'm not sure why.

When I got my first bid route, after six years of swing driving, I was asked to cover some of the routes I knew and I respectfully refused. I saw other bid drivers trap themselves into enabling the management team, by not forcing them to train other people on these areas, and I was not going to be a part of that. I earned my bid by seniority and no one was going to "yank" it from me.

 

[Griff]

If you are displaced from your bid route not only can you file a grievance over it, you can also file for the pay difference in routes. Find out what the planned day difference was and get paid (if it was more hours, obviously).

This issue comes full circle with everything else at UPS imo. If you're a yes-man for management, they will use and abuse you. Step up, confront management, let yourself be heard, file and smile.

 

[thom1842]

I'm a part time air cover driver (P/Us only, no deliveries) and I have learned about 12 routes (We do about 45 per night) and 8 of them I had to learn blind. We have pretty decent map books, so finding the address was usually not the problem, but finding the P/U location inside the address was frustrating. The supe would try to give me vague directions over the phone (the company provides us with cells), but it would turn out they were thinking of a different stop or something.
I returned to building about 1 hour late one time after a blind route and the next day my manager wanted me to sign a disciplinary form about my late return. I just told him I wasn't signing crap since they sent me out like that. Is there anything in the contract regarding proper training, etc.?

 

[upsdude]

And as for the "monkey's can run these routes" phrase, wow, i thought they only said that in our center!!! Actually they said, monkeys can load the trucks.

HR continues to send "People" to work in the operation, there's the problem! LOL!

 

[currahee]

Before i actually got my own route which took four years of cover, i knew about 40 of the 70 routes in our center. Out of those 40 i had no ride alongs , all on blind.
When i was one on senior cover guys i could pick my route which was nice , and the 13 extra cents an hours didnt hurt.
Im glad those days are behind me . There is nothing like Knowing exactly what you doing everyday.

 

[1989]

I average about 10 new routes a year. I just ask what car number I'm in and do the best I can. I couldn't do the same route for a month straight. Too boring.

 

[mattwtrs]

You guys don't know how lucky you have it now! When I left feeders for package there were no bid routes, areas or trips. The top 20 seniority people had regular routes that they stayed on most of the time. People were moved around when ever & where ever. The preload was done by the drivers starting at 7:00am. If they needed you to run a route you did not know you might get a rider but most times it was here's the center's copy of yesterdays delivery records and you know the other routes in that town so you 'll figure it out. The best part of starting at 7:00am was usually getting done by 17:00 without any problem.

 

[trplnkl]

I would gladly start at 7am if I could finish by 17:00. Heck, I would start at 5am to finish by 17:00.

 

[brownmonster]

I agree. I don't mind working 10 hours but leaving at 8:50 or 9 is not acceptable. The city I deliver in is 1/2 an hour away. By the time I get there Fedex Ground has 30 stops off. Iv'e brought this up but no one cares. Starting late kills your morning and your evening.

 

[IWorkAsDirected]

One day my center manager calls me to his office, they have a rookie pulling a route with some IE guy ( no sups were available ) and they were totally messed up. I was told to go pull 20-30 stops off them ( I'm an air driver ). I found them an hour later, at 2pm they still haven't emptied one spot on the car. And they had missed some pick ups. I took a couple of bulk stops, just enough to free up the floor. Told them what to do and how to do it, did the stops I took & informed some along the route that they would be running very late that day.

Its a very sad place to work if mgt uses air drivers as trainers.

Think the IE guy is proud of his edd job?

 

[currahee]

I agree. I don't mind working 10 hours but leaving at 8:50 or 9 is not acceptable. The city I deliver in is 1/2 an hour away. By the time I get there Fedex Ground has 30 stops off. Iv'e brought this up but no one cares. Starting late kills your morning and your evening.

My Start time is 850 late air today left building at 921 on area 949 with ndas do this make sense?
I understand leaving late because of late air but even with 850 start leave building at 900 or 905 on area 930 or 935 your screwed before you even start.
My building starts earlier on mondays 830 start for me. Its incredible how much that extra 20 min helps.

 

[Big Babooba]

Pollock, knowing the streets and knowing the delivery route are two entirely different things. Number breaks, delivery points, traffic flow, etc., are just the tip of what you will need to know to say that you know a delivery route. But, that being said, knowing the streets does give you a big advantage over someone using a map. Good luck!!

My first supervisor was truly an amazing delivery person. If you told him an address, he could tell you the color of the house, the side of the street it was on and the number of stairs to the front door. He could also tell you if the customer had a dog, if the dog would bite and if it did, how many teeth it had.

 

[feeder53]

The one time that I thought thing were not for the best was during a big snowstorm and they called me in. I was to go to a local place for a large P/U and then go to Worcester MA. with a load. They gave me directions to Worcester and sent me on my way.....went to Worc. and was sent to Springfield to P/U my tail trailer and there was nobody there that could tell me where the Springfield terminal was!........Off exit 4 somewhere.........I found it and set up my train and headed home. Just part of the job....

 

[toonertoo]

Heres a map, grab a truck, the brown one over thereheres 11 hrs of work , (in 3 different counties), which we will call 8.5, dont go over 9.5. Be safe dont wreck, use all methods, dont miss any if you do, call it Misload and give to OMS at night.

 

[Dirty Savage]

Cover drivers around here get thrown to the wolves. I, too, remember the first time I covered routes sight unseen and I thank my lucky stars every day that I now have my own bid route.

 

[govols019]

My first supervisor was truly an amazing delivery person. If you told him an address, he could tell you the color of the house, the side of the street it was on and the number of stairs to the front door. He could also tell you if the customer had a dog, if the dog would bite and if it did, how many teeth it had.

We had one just like that. I could have delivered to a house that day and he would remember more about the details of the house than I would and he hadn't been there in several years. He was also the kind that you never told him something couldn't be done. He'd jump on the truck the next day and show you how. I miss him.