Inbound vs. Outbound

Maybe someone can help me out here. I work at a hub in the South Atlantic district and have for over 5 years. I just discovered this website and was wondering if every hub has the same outbound vs inbound mentality. Outbound sups feel they have all the paper work/ hard work/ stay longer and the outbound full time sups promote this "infighting" and blame everything on the inbound and vice versa. I don't think and never have thougt that this was a good envoironment to work in and all it does is create anomosity among pt sups. Does the inbound have it a little better? Yes, but thats no reason to create a blame game and war between the two groups of pt sups. Can someone let me know if it is like this in all hubs or just mine. Thanks.
 

UPS Lifer

Well-Known Member
hubrat,
It is not quite as easily defined as what some may lead you to believe. Management style has a lot to do with it. BUT, there are a lot of other variables involved such as make up of packages coming through the sort, type of facility, type of equipment, type of operation - air - ground - day - night - twilight - preload - etc. etc. I have had district jobs that allowed me to visit different buildings with similar operations that had a completely different mentality. Also - success breeds success and failure well it can breed more failure.

Inbound sups (generally) have a much easier overall job than an outbound supervisor. The key for a good manager is to find the right match for each position and give deserving supervisors a chance to work on the inbound. PT supervisors should start on the outbound and as they gain experience they can move to positions on the inbound.
Don't confuse "easier job" with less important. The inbound sets the pace for the outbounds and if you miss a trailer your job could be on the line.

Another approach is to take the inbound supervisors and assign them an outbound to help supervise so that they contribute to the quality of service and the downtime.
 

pretzel_man

Well-Known Member
Its an us vs them mindset everywhere. It`s one of the weaknesses in the company since we went public.

The issue with inbound vs. outbound existed long before we went public. Long before CACH was built. In fact, look at some of George Smith's writings. He even mentions it.

Outbound is a harder job. More variables and you are at the mercy of the unload / sort.

Balancing a hub has never been easy, and there is alway a temptation to blow away the outbound. The best running hubs run right on the edge. With just enough outbound staffing to keep up and minimized cleanup after the last package arrives.
 

UPS Lifer

Well-Known Member
Another great tool to utilize was being able to track volume loaded as it was happening. If used correctly, you can have a much better approximation of flow per hour as well as estimated volume flowing to each outbound. This gives you a better handle on your "live" staffing needs for all areas of the operation. We moved the scanning room to a very central point in the hub and it became an integral part of my walk around the building.
 

rdavis179

New Member
It's like that in my hub in Harrisburg, PA. Kinda reminds me of offense vs defense at football practice but we're all still on the same team. I think that it is all in fun and not hurting any thing.
 

UPS Lifer

Well-Known Member
James Casey also believed that money should never mean more than an employee or a customer.

Please share where you got that information. I have read a lot from Jim and don't recall seeing this. I would like to be able to reference it in future writing and other research that I do.
 

pretzel_man

Well-Known Member
I saw it on here. I believe in the Partners area. I found this, though, in the meantime.

http://pupsinc.homestead.com/Casey.html

I've never heard that quote, but it doesn't mean he didn't say it or believe it.

He had a famous quote that went something like:

If we are working for money alone, that is the surest way to not get it.

Of course, he also had other quotes....

He said that we had jobs because of the share-owners.

He said that for every dollar we took in, we needed to put something in the "kitty" (for profit)

There is no question that while Casey thought it was important to take care of people, he also thought growth and profit were important.
 

menotyou

bella amicizia
I am still looking. My opinion is That had he company never gone public, a lot of the issues you see here would never have occurred. I believe I am a direct example of that. The Preload and dispatch sups were under so much pressure to produce, they were blinded to anything else. The Preload sup has since left. I can not express enough how much I miss my truck and co-workers and customers. There are no words to demonstrate what I have lost.
 

pretzel_man

Well-Known Member
I am still looking. My opinion is That had he company never gone public, a lot of the issues you see here would never have occurred. I believe I am a direct example of that. The Preload and dispatch sups were under so much pressure to produce, they were blinded to anything else. The Preload sup has since left. I can not express enough how much I miss my truck and co-workers and customers. There are no words to demonstrate what I have lost.

I am not a fan of UPS as a public company, but.....

The root issue is not that we are public. Its competition.

We used to be the little player. Taking volume from the post office. Look at Jim Casey's speeches. It was about what we needed to do to take their packages.

Today, we are the large player, and competition changed our game. They undercut our costs. They have a different model.

This made us stop growing. In many areas we are shrinking. The need to grow profits are not new. Read how many times Casey mentioned the need for Growth.

The issue is competition.....
 

menotyou

bella amicizia
I hear you. The 'fiduciary duty to the stockholders' isn't at play here at all? Sorry, I am having a hard time believing that. If I weren't battling Liberty/UPS over an injury that could have been prevented by proper staffing, it might be an easier sell. That staffing level does not have anything to do with competition. Having human compassion for an employee that was injured because she went above and beyond to help hercenter get the trucks on the road and keep our customers from going to the competition would be a nice change. But, that isn't the case. Competition has nothing to do with that, either. If I were still on the truck, it would be an easier sell.
 

UPS Lifer

Well-Known Member
I saw it on here. I believe in the Partners area. I found this, though, in the meantime.

http://pupsinc.homestead.com/Casey.html


Right now I am in California packing and tossing stuff. I found my box that had a book from JE Casey "Our Partnership Legacy". Tucked inside the book was a sheet from an MLS workshop I attended back in 1995! The discussion for the beginning of the day was "The Customer Is The Key"... The very first quote was taken from the page this ragged outline tagged. It was the quote pretzel man described "Are we working for money alone...". he goes on to say that our primary objective is to serve -- to render perfect service to our stores and their customers. If we keep that in mind, our reward in money can be beyond our fondest dreams. Furthermore, he states that this has to be the mindset of the entire company from the top down.

I am pretty sure this is the quote (as pretzel_man stated) that you were referring to.

I want to commend you for the research you have done! I would hazard to guess that there are not many employees that take the time or effort to research the philosophy of the founding fathers.
 

UPS Lifer

Well-Known Member
Though I do not believe that "going public" is the primary reason for any type of top down action at UPS, I do believe it plays a major role along with maintaining a competitive edge. It is hard to deny the argument.

But please remember that the previous century was a different era than the present one. Every aspect of the company is much more complex than it was fifty years ago. When you put that in perspective and look back at the year 1907 and trace back how many companies are still around from that year, it is even more impressive at how healthy the company is going forward.
 

menotyou

bella amicizia
Thank you for the compliment. I do believe you found what I was looking for. Thank you for the post. I am quite interested in Mr. Casey. He was a person everyone of us should, not only be very thankful to, but be proud to be invloved in his vision and legacy. I didnt read this before posting that message. It's nice to know I'm not completely crazy, yet. I am still reading his works. Will keep you posted. :)
 

pretzel_man

Well-Known Member
Thank you for the compliment. I do believe you found what I was looking for. Thank you for the post. I am quite interested in Mr. Casey. He was a person everyone of us should, not only be very thankful to, but be proud to be invloved in his vision and legacy. I didnt read this before posting that message. It's nice to know I'm not completely crazy, yet. I am still reading his works. Will keep you posted. :)

If you have not already done so, I think you can still go into UPSers.COM and download the actual audio of Jim doing his talk with Joe.

That speech is always worth a read, but hearing Jim speak it makes it a real treat.
 

menotyou

bella amicizia
Thank you for the info. I will do that. I would love to actually hear Mr. Casey. I wish I had been able to meet and shake his hand. Amazing man. Thank you, p-man. :)
 

pretzel_man

Well-Known Member
Thank you for the info. I will do that. I would love to actually hear Mr. Casey. I wish I had been able to meet and shake his hand. Amazing man. Thank you, p-man. :)

Interested to know what you think....

Here is something that I am embarrassed and very regretful about:

When I was a part time employee, my time was totally consumed between working at UPS, going to College, and taking care of other responsibilities.

One night they announced that Jim Casey was going to visit our building the next morning.

For me, that would have meant getting 2, maybe 3 hours of sleep, going to the hub, then heading for a full day of classes, back to UPS,etc.

I chose to sleep instead of seeing Jim Casey....

I understand that Jim did NOT like to fly at all. One of the management people in the district was assigned to drive Jim back to New York. A long excursion.

That management person then wrote up his experience spending so many days alone with Jim. What they did, What Jim said. He said Jim would still want to stop in operations along the way.

I realized what a great man I missed. I became obsessed with reading everything Jim wrote (or said).
 

Catatonic

Nine Lives
Interested to know what you think....

Here is something that I am embarrassed and very regretful about:

When I was a part time employee, my time was totally consumed between working at UPS, going to College, and taking care of other responsibilities.

One night they announced that Jim Casey was going to visit our building the next morning.

For me, that would have meant getting 2, maybe 3 hours of sleep, going to the hub, then heading for a full day of classes, back to UPS,etc.

I chose to sleep instead of seeing Jim Casey....

I understand that Jim did NOT like to fly at all. One of the management people in the district was assigned to drive Jim back to New York. A long excursion.

That management person then wrote up his experience spending so many days alone with Jim. What they did, What Jim said. He said Jim would still want to stop in operations along the way.

I realized what a great man I missed. I became obsessed with reading everything Jim wrote (or said).

I actually did meet him and shake his hand. I remember the sparkle in his eyes.

He remembered my name and several others that he met when he ran across us later on during the visit. They said he was able to do this at every location he visited.

Thanks for bringing up that memory P-Man.

Hoke
 
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