How Long will UPS last, as the Co We Know?

[klein]

I posted GM earlier. I didn't even realize it is (was) the worlds largest company :

It's the single biggest bankruptcy declaration in American history. And it's designed to save the world's largest company, General Motors.

Anyways, who really knows these days. Other big ones have left, like American Airlines, Delta Airlines, even Texico (who would have ever thought that one ) !

 

[cachsux]

I posted GM earlier. I didn't even realize it is (was) the worlds largest company :

It's the single biggest bankruptcy declaration in American history. And it's designed to save the world's largest company, General Motors.

Anyways, who really knows these days. Other big ones have left, like American Airlines, Delta Airlines, even Texico (who would have ever thought that one ) !

Uhm..American Airlines?..still here,still big,.....Delta?..the only American carrier to serve every continent,just merged with NorthWest,..Texaco?..merged with Chevron and the Shell.

Big difference between merging and bankruptcy/out of business.

 

[klein]

Uhm..American Airlines?..still here,still big,.....Delta?..the only American carrier to serve every continent,just merged with NorthWest,..Texaco?..merged with Chevron and the Shell.

Big difference between merging and bankruptcy/out of business.

Whats this then ?
and yes, I probably got american airlines mixed up, with panamerica (panam), TWA or another one, sorry.

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0904494.html

 

[purplesky]

There are only 2 real players in the package industry and UPS and FDX will both survive. The Post Office is going bye bye in the next 10 years or so. They are not equipped to handle parcels and the cost to make that change will not happen and the carriers cant handle the work anyway. THE REAL SCARY THING FOR UPS is the fact that BOOKS,MOVIES,MUSIC,Software,etc. will soon be a digital file and no longer a package. We are talking alot of volume that will be gone soon and thats going to hurt. THE GM comparison does not work. They made a product and we provide a service. GM tried to do too many things and got slammed by globalization and with no car buyers in the this economy its bye bye time. Buying a car and airline travel used to be a purchase that Americans didnt think twice about but those days are gone. Getting a package from Sprint,Target,TMO,HSN, Express Scripts, Amazon, etc, will continue because thats how America gets their stuff. Sure somebody could come along and make a run again like DHL but in a shrinking economy thats hear to stay why would they be succesful when DHL couldnt do it with their foot in the door already and billions of dollars from the German Post Office.

 

[klein]

There are only 2 real players in the package industry and UPS and FDX will both survive. The Post Office is going bye bye in the next 10 years or so. They are not equipped to handle parcels and the cost to make that change will not happen and the carriers cant handle the work anyway. THE REAL SCARY THING FOR UPS is the fact that BOOKS,MOVIES,MUSIC,Software,etc. will soon be a digital file and no longer a package. We are talking alot of volume that will be gone soon and thats going to hurt. THE GM comparison does not work. They made a product and we provide a service. GM tried to do too many things and got slammed by globalization and with no car buyers in the this economy its bye bye time. Buying a car and airline travel used to be a purchase that Americans didnt think twice about but those days are gone. Getting a package from Sprint,Target,TMO,HSN, Express Scripts, Amazon, etc, will continue because thats how America gets their stuff. Sure somebody could come along and make a run again like DHL but in a shrinking economy thats hear to stay why would they be succesful when DHL couldnt do it with their foot in the door already and billions of dollars from the German Post Office.

Don't be surprised if the next one is Chinese Post office with 100's of billions making a run for it.

 

[Mike23]

Remember how GM sat down WITH the union reps and said, 'look, WE have a problem and WE need to solve it'. UPS needs to do the same darn thing!

Look at the raise given to our 'amazing' president last year (I believe we still had the recession then?). It was something like 110%!

Private jets to fly here and there...cut them (we have our own freaking planes for god sakes!)

'company' vehicles only available to our esteemed board members...cut them (GM did it)

Dead weight paperclip auditors...cut them

Dollar for Dollar with united way donations....Cut it

90% of our charity donations...cut them

If the lower people on the totem pole are expected to tighten their belts, surely UPS AND our higher echelon's should be expected to do the same.

 

[BrownBlackandBlue]

A lot of the companies discussed in this thread as large, successful, and bankrupt were also high paying jobs. They were successful as long as they were able to set their prices and raise their prices, because they all served as a cash cow for their management and their unions. That went on until they had more competition and also managed to kill their cash cow by losing control of their costs. UPS is one of the few companies left that maintains high wages for both management and hourly, which is no small feat. I think UPS has reacted well in a couple of ways. When Fedex and especially RPS came along, the company changed and became far more customer focused. UPS has never allowed unpoductive jobs to be negotiated into its contracts and has always demanded and received a high level of productivity not found in the majority of union companies. I also think UPS and the Teamsters have realized that our fates are very closely tied together and have partnered well in the past few years to work towards things that are mutually beneficial. Finally, I think everyone has witnessed first hand that when it comes to tightening the belt and cutting back in a time of crisis, UPS has no peer. So be thankful for your high paying job, but understand that maintaining it requires alot from everyone.

 

[grgrcr88]

The only way we are going to survive is to get IE under control and put the company back in the hands of the center and division managers who actually live in the real world. Let them run their operations according to logic and common sense....and stick the IE types in a closet someplace and let them audit paperclips.

Amen to that, the only thing our center manager does these days is discipline, and he even has to ask his superiors what level he should use for each offense

 

[Catatonic]

A lot of the companies discussed in this thread as large, successful, and bankrupt were also high paying jobs.
They were successful as long as they were able to set their prices and raise their prices, because they all served as a cash cow for their management and their unions.
That went on until they had more competition and also managed to kill their cash cow by losing control of their costs.
UPS is one of the few companies left that maintains high wages for both management and hourly, which is no small feat.
I think UPS has reacted well in a couple of ways. When Fedex and especially RPS came along, the company changed and became far more customer focused.
UPS has never allowed unproductive jobs to be negotiated into its contracts and has always demanded and received a high level of productivity not found in the majority of union companies.
I also think UPS and the Teamsters have realized that our fates are very closely tied together and have partnered well in the past few years to work towards things that are mutually beneficial.
Finally, I think everyone has witnessed first hand that when it comes to tightening the belt and cutting back in a time of crisis, UPS has no peer.
So be thankful for your high paying job, but understand that maintaining it requires a lot from everyone.

Very well thought out and presented. I can not finf fault with what you have said.
Many of the people I talk with think we are a GM and our time is coming. Hopefully, UPS's approach as you outlined will keep that from happening.
However, do you think we can continue the comparably high pay, hourly and management, in this industry?

 

[whiskey]

Very well thought out and presented. I can not finf fault with what you have said.
Many of the people I talk with think we are a GM and our time is coming. Hopefully, UPS's approach as you outlined will keep that from happening.
However, do you think we can continue the comparably high pay, hourly and management, in this industry?

finf fault... say that ten times fast.

 

[negrosangre]

I am just saying I have just seen alot of what is known as "paralysis by analysis".

 

[Just Numbers]

Remember how GM sat down WITH the union reps and said, 'look, WE have a problem and WE need to solve it'. UPS needs to do the same darn thing!

Look at the raise given to our 'amazing' president last year (I believe we still had the recession then?). It was something like 110%!

Private jets to fly here and there...cut them (we have our own freaking planes for god sakes!)

'company' vehicles only available to our esteemed board members...cut them (GM did it)

Dead weight paperclip auditors...cut them

Dollar for Dollar with united way donations....Cut it

90% of our charity donations...cut them

If the lower people on the totem pole are expected to tighten their belts, surely UPS AND our higher echelon's should be expected to do the same.

As far as I know there are no company jets or company cars...never have been!

 

[Catatonic]

Remember how GM sat down WITH the union reps and said, 'look, WE have a problem and WE need to solve it'. UPS needs to do the same darn thing!

Look at the raise given to our 'amazing' president last year (I believe we still had the recession then?). It was something like 110%!

Private jets to fly here and there...cut them (we have our own freaking planes for god sakes!)

'company' vehicles only available to our esteemed board members...cut them (GM did it)

Dead weight paperclip auditors...cut them

Dollar for Dollar with united way donations....Cut it

90% of our charity donations...cut them

If the lower people on the totem pole are expected to tighten their belts, surely UPS AND our higher echelon's should be expected to do the same.

I like the way you make things up ... have you ever thought of researching before posting? It might improve your credibility.
UPS does not have personal use cars or jets and there is no 100% match for UW - it is 15%.

Auditors are required by law except for the ones that audit packages which recover lost revenue many times their salary.

The other stuff is opinion based.

 

[Just Numbers]

Everyone has heard that "a picture is worth a thousand words". When I first started with UPS I used to see this REA driver at my last stop sitting in his truck, legs up on the dash, reading a newspaper. Many yrs later I saw a picture on the wall of a UPS office that stayed with me until the day I retired. It was a picture of an REA truck in a field with a tree growing out of the busted windows. Too big to fail...never!

 

[BeenAround]

I'm also not feeling good about Big Brown any more. It started when our leadership changed the MIP from something everyone could follow to a random element that they then began to manipulate. For the last few years, they've begun to increase the payouts to grade 20s and above at the expense of the typical worker. They are now dominated by people whose main interest is in maximizing their individual incomes. It's now only a matter of time before the house of cards comes tumbling down. I expect we'll look good for the next 5 or so years, then the weak foundation that's being laid will collapse. Because of this, I no longer hold any significant stock positions in the company.

 

[klein]

I posted this somewhere else, but without the video link.

Greyhound Canada after 80 years of service wants to call it quits.

Click on related topics, the bus pic, and you'll get a video (no direct link)

 

[Mike23]

I like the way you make things up ... have you ever thought of researching before posting? It might improve your credibility.
UPS does not have personal use cars or jets and there is no 100% match for UW - it is 15%.

Auditors are required by law except for the ones that audit packages which recover lost revenue many times their salary.

The other stuff is opinion based.

You're kidding yourself if you honestly think our president bought his own car and it's not a company car.

You're also kidding yourself thinking that we don't pay for at least executive flights for them instead of them flying around on our big brown planes regardless of what info you may have.

As for auditor, I had no idea and am wrong there.

Even 15% of significant. Cut it. Look after your own first otherwise they're the ones who will be needing united way. We spent 50k recently on how to survive a disaster. That's one junior driver or preloader getting his/her job back. What the stuff says on the website is your common sense, 'have bottled water, safe place to go, flashlight with batteries'. Anything any idiot knows...Well, except for our execs if this is what they thought was a good idea to spend money on, I guess they don't know.

 

[MC4YOU2]

A lot of the companies discussed in this thread as large, successful, and bankrupt were also high paying jobs. They were successful as long as they were able to set their prices and raise their prices, because they all served as a cash cow for their management and their unions. That went on until they had more competition and also managed to kill their cash cow by losing control of their costs. UPS is one of the few companies left that maintains high wages for both management and hourly, which is no small feat. I think UPS has reacted well in a couple of ways. When Fedex and especially RPS came along, the company changed and became far more customer focused. UPS has never allowed unpoductive jobs to be negotiated into its contracts and has always demanded and received a high level of productivity not found in the majority of union companies. I also think UPS and the Teamsters have realized that our fates are very closely tied together and have partnered well in the past few years to work towards things that are mutually beneficial. Finally, I think everyone has witnessed first hand that when it comes to tightening the belt and cutting back in a time of crisis, UPS has no peer. So be thankful for your high paying job, but understand that maintaining it requires alot from everyone.

I can go along with this to the degree that it works when we are all able to work as a team.
The main problem though with that is the team is disentegrating with every new push towards progress through dominance and discipline.
Any group accomplishes it's ultimate best when everyone works toward a goal together, understanding their role and focusing all their energy toward that.
Hourly employees are being harassed to accomplish their goals instead and therefore are unable to actually totally focus on them, because a large part of attention has to go toward how to deal with the harassment silmultaneously.
When will UPS learn that most of us want the company to be successful anyway, and would gladly work towards that end without all the fireworks, and what we really want are realistic goals and mutual respect?

 

[Just Numbers]

You're kidding yourself if you honestly think our president bought his own car and it's not a company car.

You're also kidding yourself thinking that we don't pay for at least executive flights for them instead of them flying around on our big brown planes regardless of what info you may have.

As for auditor, I had no idea and am wrong there.

Even 15% of significant. Cut it. Look after your own first otherwise they're the ones who will be needing united way. We spent 50k recently on how to survive a disaster. That's one junior driver or preloader getting his/her job back. What the stuff says on the website is your common sense, 'have bottled water, safe place to go, flashlight with batteries'. Anything any idiot knows...Well, except for our execs if this is what they thought was a good idea to spend money on, I guess they don't know.

Hoax is right, you just make things up to suit your own opinions. First I put this out to all the bc members...have you ever seen a management person driving a company car? Second, unless the law has changed, since 9/11 it is illegal to jumpseat on an aircraft unless you are a pilot or aircraft mechanic. Would you like to throw out any other bs to the members.

 

[Catatonic]

You're kidding yourself if you honestly think our president bought his own car and it's not a company car.

You're also kidding yourself thinking that we don't pay for at least executive flights for them instead of them flying around on our big brown planes regardless of what info you may have.

Scott and Mike bought their own cars. One of them at the same dealership we bought my wife's car.

And I have flown on the same fights as 4 of our CEOs and half the time they were in coach and I am fairly sure when they were in First-class it was with upgrade points or out-of-pocket ($30 bucks one-way). Granted, that was as of 15 until 3 years ago but this has been with a certain amount of pride that it was pointed out that the Management Committee flew coach.