I am very concerned...

[Dustyroads]

The company purchased thousands? of the new P500's in 2008, no airbag, metal dashboard. It's not just the twenty year old vehicles we are talking about, the newest in the fleet are not equipped with the basic safety restraint systems. While we might not be able to put an airbag on a 20 year old vehicle, can you think of any reason, other than saving money, that we don't put them on brand new ones?

 

[whiskey]

Is Leonard Nimoy in the house?

 

[Catatonic]

Is Leonard Nimoy in the house?

Live long and prosper

 

[dilligaf]

On a somewhat related note, I noticed that our center has all of our Sprinter vans ADA'd. Is this going on at other centers?

ADA'd? If that means they are gone then the answer would be yes. LOL Our Sprinter has been gone for a year or more now. The company refused to fix it when the air driver decided it could fit through a Starbucks drive through and he put a crease down the side of it from one of those concrete pylons. The sad thing is that if he had been paying attention, it probably would have fit with no problem.

 

[Signature Only]

Pardon me, we should have to bargain for our safety?

I don't mind the endless repetitions of the five and ten's, it's nice to throw yard-safety in there, and I'll pull my mirrors in and drop an orange cone all day long...

But when the company is willing to spend $800 (or whatever the amount) per car on Tellymatics, and can't (won't) drop the money for three-point seat belts, that's plain goofy.

Obviously, there is no logistical way to retrofit airbags into our twenty+ year-old vehicles, regardless of cost.

But three point seat-belts? The simple cost of materials for retrofitting a three-point seatbelt into a package car must be less than $200. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong...

You make a good point. Just what is the company's true position on safety? Telematics versus a 3 point harness.

 

[Just Numbers]

upssup,
I am not an engineer. I don't mean any disrespect to you but I don't see major retrofit issues with any of these accessories. The shoulder harness seat belt, the high back seat, the seat pedastal, and the backrest for the jump seat are all available accessories. They are reasonably inexpensive and they all appear to be bolt on items. If you look at the cars that already have them, you will see the apparent simplicity in how they are installed.

Sincerely,
I

I hope you have made all these observations on your OWN time. Otherwise you would be stealing time. Wouldn't that also deal with INTEGRiTY

 

[Dustyroads]

Yeah, I guess to a numbers counter, if a person is THINKING on company time, they are stealing time. Sad.

 

[Just Numbers]

No, a person working at UPS has to think and make decisions every minute of the day. Thinking is not an option...it is a necessity. My point is this person works in a hub. Does not drive a pkg car or ride in it. Performing his or her job would not require being in the cab of the car to make long drawn out observations. So, if this person is not performing their hub job what are they doing. I know ...thinking about how cold they are.

 

[blue efficacy]

No, a person working at UPS has to think and make decisions every minute of the day. Thinking is not an option...it is a necessity. My point is this person works in a hub. Does not drive a pkg car or ride in it. Performing his or her job would not require being in the cab of the car to make long drawn out observations. So, if this person is not performing their hub job what are they doing. I know ...thinking about how cold they are.

There is break time, they could work as a package car unloader, they could have been a driver's helper, or they could be a preloader. All reasonable explanations for having ever seen the interior of a package car. I know when I unloaded package cars I would often walk through a cab when I was entering or leaving that particular line of trucks, as the steps at the end of the line were often missing.

 

[Insincerity]

Yeah, I guess to a numbers counter, if a person is THINKING on company time, they are stealing time. Sad.

Irrelevant actually whether or not you are thinking and what you are thinking.
Only you know if and what you are thinking.
External entities can only observe behavior and react to that.
It might be implied that a person was not thinking if they make a mistake but that is an unmeasurable aspect and therefore of no interest to the number counter.

Insincerely,
I

 

[Just Numbers]

I have come to the conclusion that the only thing irrelevent is you and your comments.

 

[Insincerity]

I have come to the conclusion that the only thing irrelevent is you and your comments.

you have not awakened yet
at that time you will know
few things are relevant

 

[Integrity]

If the vehicle meets legal requirements and there is no cost advantage to add seat belts or modify the seats it's a pretty sure bet that UPS is not going to retrofit their vehicles (same concept as the building heat issue). In my experience I have not seen or heard of many injuries caused by the lack of a tall back seat or a three point seat belt. In most cases of accidents involving UPS vehicles the UPS vehicle comes out the winner - meaning the other vehicle sustains most of the damage and the other driver is much more likely to be injured. UPS trucks are built like tanks. At a cost of $1000 each, it would cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $25 million to retrofit all the older vehicles. Unless you can demonstrate how spending $25 million is going to save more than $25m, I don't see it having a chance. Even if every seat and seat belt were properly retrofitted the legal liability is huge, especially when the ambulance chasing lawyers see the Big Brown deep pockets.

Good luck in your quest.

BigBrownWeb,
Thanks for your well wishes and your contribution to this discussion thread. You have brought the sad truth about this kind of thing out into the open. The sad truth is that the corporate executives of UPS probably do a cost benefit analysis of this and as stated above, will not act upon this type of neglect until the financial cost of acting is lower than the financial cost of not acting. UPS executives are well aware of the fact that employees cannot sue their employers for neglect and it will take a lot of worker's comp claims to exceed the financial cost of acting on these items.

I think your estimate is high. It would probably be more like 15million to upgrade 25000 UPS package cars with the items that I have mentioned in my original post.

You mention legal liability. It is my understanding that when talking about liability we are talking about liability for something such as property damage, injury or death. Where does the risk of property damage , injury or death increase, or become huge, with the installation of any of the accessories I have mentioned? Please let me know. This information will be very helpful to me.



Sincerely,
I

 

[Integrity]

But three point seat-belts? The simple cost of materials for retrofitting a three-point seatbelt into a package car must be less than $200. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong...

BrownArmy,
You are correct.
I priced the 3 point seat belt with the bracket at $101.08. I'm sure UPS economies of scale could probably get a significant discount, but maybe not.

Sincerely,
I

 

[Integrity]

I hope you have made all these observations on your OWN time. Otherwise you would be stealing time. Wouldn't that also deal with INTEGRiTY

Just Numbers,
Integrity does not steal time.
Sincerely,
I

 

[Catatonic]

I'm sorry, but I don't think it's imcumbent on the union to put airbags in the UPS vehicles. At the very least, all new package cars should be equipped. Simply, they are not, by plan. If you want to try to defend that stance by putting it off on the union, there is nothing I can say to try to reason with you.

Here we go again.
Woe is me, I didn't see the oppression coming.
Nor am I willing to do anything, aside from writing a scorching internet essay, to change my circumstances.
Didn't see anything in there about failed 9.5 grievances.
Nothing about how they chose this profession, despite their Masters degree in engineering.
I'm mean... really, what percentage of the work force truly works from 9 to 5 and makes the money we do.
It's not that I don't relate with the author of this post.
My problem is more with culture of our present day work place.
You want to know what the problem really is?
I'll tell you.
We, the UPS Teamsters that I know, have forgotten what it means to be a union.
I'm not just talking about the leadership on the local and national level.
I'm talking about all of us front line whiners.
We all bitch and moan as individuals, but rarely do we flex our collective will or convictions.
That is were our power to change things exists.
Until we all get our heads out of our own backsides, and see things for the greater good, rather than own personal preferences, we will continue to get our asses handed to us.
This essay tugs at your heart strings and induces self pity.
It outlines all of the symptoms, addresses none of the root causes, nor does it suggest how cure the problems.
You want your life back, join with others that feel as you do and take it back.
Until then, we'll continue to get more of the same.

Bubblehead says it better than me.

 

[Incongruity]

Just Numbers,
Integrity does not steal time.
Sincerely,
I

My little brother can not steal something he is out of touch with.

 

[fxdwg]

I
I think you are needed on the 2727 Update thread. Check it out...TRE (Target Rich Environment)

 

[bbsam]

The true Knights were basically the thugs of their age. Probably want to try another analogy <sic>.

Please do not try to dissuade Integrity's Naderesque crusade.

 

[Raw]

BrownArmy,
You are correct.
I priced the 3 point seat belt with the bracket at $101.08. I'm sure UPS economies of scale could probably get a significant discount, but maybe not.

Sincerely,
I

What is the life insurance benefit amount UPS has on all employees? $100,000, $250,000, ...more?