I.E. is at it again!

[BrownArmy]

I don't agree with your assessment and I doubt he was given all the facts. I'd like to know what freedoms and roles a "real manager" would have. Complete freedom to do whatever we want? I'm bound by a union contract. Does this mean I'm not a "manager?"

Sir, I'm not sure about 'facts'. As I described, I simply told my friend 'my perspective as a package car driver dealing with the daily reality on the ground'. Did I give him all the facts? I don't know all the facts.

I have no idea what the logistics of your job is. I can tell you that, in addition to describing to my friend my reality on the ground as a driver, I also gave my friend my impression of what I thought my center manager's job was like, in terms of dealing with CORPORATE, the UNION, etc.

The fact that you are bound by a Union contract is not relevant to the fact that (if you are in the same position as my center manager), you are not able to make independent decisions about, for instance, how many routes you need to run on a certain day given everything you know about your center on that particular day.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but (at least in my center), my center manager would dearly like to run two or three extra routes on any given day, but he is not allowed the independent authority to do so. I understand that volume projection for any given day is an inexact science at best, but the reality on the ground is that when my center manager finally gets the go-ahead (from corporate?) to add in another route or two, it's now forty minutes before start-time and the end result is less than stellar.

Of course I'm not suggesting that you should have 'complete freedom to do whatever you want'. And I understand that you are dealing with 8-hour requests, drivers calling in sick or booking off, ad infinitum...(that's the part where you being bound by a Union contract is relevant).

But I am suggesting that you, as a center manager, know your center best.

Don't you wish they'd just let you run it?

 

[hubrat]

...my center manager would dearly like to run two or three extra routes on any given day, but he is not allowed the independent authority to do so.

The dispatchers in our building were told they would be fired for putting in routes without the explicit permission of someone well above center manager level. Management, unfortunately, has to jump through whatever hoops they provide with little recourse. Lately I have found sups and CMs of highest integrity will stoop to do whatever is necessary to keep their jobs. This is extremely unfortunate for their morale, the safety and morale of the drivers, and the future of this company.

 

[ibleedbrown]

its a very sad situation nowadays and the economy is ruining the morale of the american workers. the job market is so bad out there that people will do anything to keep their jobs no matter how miserable they are. this is probably why drivers are skipping lunch and running all day and not using their unions, this is why managers are pushing ridiculous production standards. who wants the daily stress of having ur job held over ur head? this while ups has been making record profits? somethings gotta give!!!!

 

[whenIgetthere]

UPS is concerned about the competition of Fed-Ex and FE Ground. We are told they are a threat.

Do you think they screw with their routes 20 minutes before dispatch? No, of course not. The efficiency is already built into these routes that have been planned 3 decades ago.

QUOTE]

I must disagree, Fedex Express collapses routes at the last minute all the time. Take today for instance, I was ready to leave the building with 100 stops (20 P1, 80 p2), and they collapsed my route, at 0905 in an A1 area!! I can't wait to find out how many lates they took by that ingenius move, tomorrow!! Like UPS, Fedex cstomer service is all smoke and mirrors!!

 

[hubrat]

http://www.naturalnews.com/021911.html

Corporate greed, corruption, and the coming collapse of America as we know it

Published June 2007: We have allowed this to happen. We continue to allow it.

 

[SignificantOwner]

The company is bound by a union contract.

I don't get it, does that mean that I'm not bound by a contract?

You are bound to be demoted or lose your job entirely if you do or say anything other than than what They dictate. They are managing us through you.

Of course the company is managing you through me. That's what they hired me for. I've had many disagreements with my managers, and I know when to push it and when not to push it.

You many hold the title of center manager, but you are corporate puppet. Many jobs like yours will likely eventually be eliminated.

Why am I a corporate puppet? Is it because I don't do what you want? I'm not your puppet or theirs. Tell you what, next time when you don't like what's on your car don't be a puppet, just refuse to deliver it. Don't play games, just tell them you're no puppet and refuse. Do that every time you don't like something.

I agree these are not IE issues. They are corporate issues. If you are indeed a significant owner, find others like yourself and initiate some positive changes.

My goal every day is to make it better than yesterday. You with me?

 

[SignificantOwner]

The company is bound by a union contract.

I don't get it, does that mean that I'm not bound by a contract?

You are bound to be demoted or lose your job entirely if you do or say anything other than than what They dictate. They are managing us through you.

Of course the company is managing you through me. That's what they hired me for. I've had many disagreements with my managers, and I know when to push it and when not to push it.

You many hold the title of center manager, but you are corporate puppet. Many jobs like yours will likely eventually be eliminated.

Why am I a corporate puppet? Is it because I don't do what you want? I'm not your puppet or theirs. Tell you what, next time when you don't like what's on your car don't be a puppet, just refuse to deliver it. Don't play games, just tell them you're no puppet and refuse. Do that every time you don't like something.

I agree these are not IE issues. They are corporate issues. If you are indeed a significant owner, find others like yourself and initiate some positive changes.

My goal every day is to make it better than yesterday. You with me?

 

[SignificantOwner]

Sir, I'm not sure about 'facts'. As I described, I simply told my friend 'my perspective as a package car driver dealing with the daily reality on the ground'. Did I give him all the facts? I don't know all the facts. I have no idea what the logistics of your job is. I can tell you that, in addition to describing to my friend my reality on the ground as a driver, I also gave my friend my impression of what I thought my center manager's job was like, in terms of dealing with CORPORATE, the UNION, etc.The fact that you are bound by a Union contract is not relevant to the fact that (if you are in the same position as my center manager), you are not able to make independent decisions about, for instance, how many routes you need to run on a certain day given everything you know about your center on that particular day.Correct me if I'm wrong, but (at least in my center), my center manager would dearly like to run two or three extra routes on any given day, but he is not allowed the independent authority to do so. I understand that volume projection for any given day is an inexact science at best, but the reality on the ground is that when my center manager finally gets the go-ahead (from corporate?) to add in another route or two, it's now forty minutes before start-time and the end result is less than stellar.Of course I'm not suggesting that you should have 'complete freedom to do whatever you want'. And I understand that you are dealing with 8-hour requests, drivers calling in sick or booking off, ad infinitum...(that's the part where you being bound by a Union contract is relevant).But I am suggesting that you, as a center manager, know your center best.Don't you wish they'd just let you run it?

There are a couple things I'd like more freedom to do - run more routes sometimes and skip the nonsensical safety stuff. I believe in safety training but sometimes the safety department comes up with crazy ideas that aren't effective and cost a lot of time that we don't have. When it comes time to add the proverbial extra route it can often be done with some effort. For example, I'll get on the phone with the other centers in the division and see where they stand. If the division has room for my extra route then I add it. It takes effort, and I can't always swing it, but I can often work it out. I also call my boss and make my case. Sometimes he tells me to add it even though he'll take some heat and sometimes he doesn't. If the results are good everything will be fine. If I add a route and the excess hours are terrible and I have late air then it will be hard to make a case tomorrow. Sure, I'd like to not have to jump through those hoops, and the hoops take time that I'd rather spend fixing your dispatch, but I can only do what I can do. Some improvements in the dispatch systems would really help.

 

[soberups]

... When it comes time to add the proverbial extra route it can often be done with some effort. For example, I'll get on the phone with the other centers in the division and see where they stand. If the division has room for my extra route then I add it. It takes effort, and I can't always swing it, but I can often work it out. I also call my boss and make my case. Sometimes he tells me to add it even though he'll take some heat and sometimes he doesn't. ....

Translation:
The reality of the situation means nothing. We do not dispatch on the basis of logic or good business sense; we dispatch on the basis of wishful thinking and blind obedience. We will knowingly and deliberately put hopeless dispatches out on the road because the needs of the customers to get their packages picked up and delivered must always take a back seat to the needs of the Division Manager to cut out enough routes to look good on a report.

 

[bluehdmc]

I'm just a dumb off the street feeder driver but I don't understand the last minute add/cuts for package car drivers, theoretically at the end of the twilight/local sorts an estimated delivery time is established for every package. Some stuff goes to another center for a night sort, then goes out as a preload.

Some stuff goes on a train to be sorted again, but eventually this stuff goes out in a trailer as a pre-load. Sometime during the night sort the computers should be able to give an accurate estimate of how many packages are going to a center and the center should be able to figure out how many package cars they should need before the preload starts.

Correct me if I'm wrong but all this money is spent for DIADS, IVIS, TELEMATICS and everything else to monitor what drivers are doing and they don't have an idea based on the tracking info on packages how many drivers they need before they start loading the package cars?

 

[brownmonster]

I'm just a dumb off the street feeder driver but I don't understand the last minute add/cuts for package car drivers, theoretically at the end of the twilight/local sorts an estimated delivery time is established for every package. Some stuff goes to another center for a night sort, then goes out as a preload.

Some stuff goes on a train to be sorted again, but eventually this stuff goes out in a trailer as a pre-load. Sometime during the night sort the computers should be able to give an accurate estimate of how many packages are going to a center and the center should be able to figure out how many package cars they should need before the preload starts.

Correct me if I'm wrong but all this money is spent for DIADS, IVIS, TELEMATICS and everything else to monitor what drivers are doing and they don't have an idea based on the tracking info on packages how many drivers they need before they start loading the package cars?

You are far from dumb. The technology was designed for this very purpose, yet we had better dispatches before the technology. At least back then they erred on the side of realistic. The tech geeks sell companies on the technology. They don't tell them that it needs to be implemented correctly and constantly tweeked. Too many companies just plug it in and expect a miracle.

 

[hubrat]

They purchased dated tech as well. Rumor has it telemetrics is DOS-based. What a way to save a buck.

 

[Catatonic]

They purchased dated tech as well. Rumor has it telemetrics is DOS-based. What a way to save a buck.

I talked with the guy that developed telematics. It works very well for what it needs to do. No OS to buy, no royalties to pay, runs cleans with no crashes.
There is no need for the overhead of a Windows or Apple OS, no need for dlls, etc. And he developed it in his spare time.

 

[upsgrunt]

I talked with the guy that developed telematics. It works very well for what it needs to do. No OS to buy, no royalties to pay, runs cleans with no crashes.
There is no need for the overhead of a Windows or Apple OS, no need for dlls, etc. And he developed it in his spare time.

Did he develop one for himself so his every move can be monitored on a daily basis, or does he consider himself honest enough that he doesn't need it?

 

[BrownArmy]

And he developed it in his spare time.

I'm in the wrong line of work...

 

[hubrat]

I talked with the guy that developed telematics. It works very well for what it needs to do. No OS to buy, no royalties to pay, runs cleans with no crashes.
There is no need for the overhead of a Windows or Apple OS, no need for dlls, etc. And he developed it in his spare time.

I've got 66 bulkhead door incidents over a 1/4 mile distance that contradicts what you say. Discipline will never, ever, hold up with this system. You're telling me now that it wasn't even professionally developed. It would have been much more economical to improve business practices, but the folks making the decisions now were never concerned with the future outside a couple fiscal years. Here's an idea: let's do something that will actually challenge the competition. Or let's start with damaging fewer packages by building facilities large enough to handle volume and paying part-timers almost enough that they care what they're handling. Nope. We're gonna try to manage every booger that comes outta a driver's nose, pile on more work than is SAFE or HEALTHY to complete, and even add a few twists that make it impossible to have a day that approaches flawless. The way the place is being run is a joke. Commercials should soon be scored with boom-chick-a-wow-wow music.

 

[hubrat]

Did he develop one for himself so his every move can be monitored on a daily basis, or does he consider himself honest enough that he doesn't need it?

No he's management. His mugshot will be on a wall hidden in an office, not displayed publicly like the rest of ours. They like anacronyms so much, let's come up with something for R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Start with the folks on the front line: customers and drivers.

 

[over9five]

Did he develop one for himself so his every move can be monitored on a daily basis, or does he consider himself honest enough that he doesn't need it?

C'mon now, he's not a driver.....

I've got 66 bulkhead door incidents over a 1/4 mile distance that contradicts what you say. Discipline will never, ever, hold up with this system. You're telling me now that it wasn't even professionally developed. It would have been much more economical to improve business practices, but the folks making the decisions now were never concerned with the future outside a couple fiscal years. Here's an idea: let's do something that will actually challenge the competition. Or let's start with damaging fewer packages by building facilities large enough to handle volume and paying part-timers almost enough that they care what they're handling. Nope. We're gonna try to manage every booger that comes outta a driver's nose, pile on more work than is SAFE or HEALTHY to complete, and even add a few twists that make it impossible to have a day that approaches flawless. The way the place is being run is a joke. Commercials should soon be scored with boom-chick-a-wow-wow music.

That right there is funny, I don't care who you are!

 

[hubrat]

What this place needs is a new attitude and an image overhaul. A thorough cleaning. They will try to start with hourlies and low-level management they perceive as "resisting" their changes. I say let's start with a broom in the board room.

 

[upsgrunt]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that 98% of all decisions made about the manual work done at UPS would be totally different if the people making the decisions had to do the work the way they think it should be done.