soberups
Pees in the brown Koolaid
We are in the midst of a campaign to reduce backing and idle time.
Both are worthy goals but the manner in which these goals are being pursued is counterproductive and quite annoying.
Every day we are handed two sheets of paper. One shows our previous days idle time and has "excessive' times highlighted. The other shows the location, distance and speed of all backing incidents from the previous day, and is also highlighted.
What we wind up with....is several hundred sheets of paper lying around that no one bothers to read. We are paying for the paper, we are wasting the paper, and we are paying a management person to sit there all morning with Magic Marker to draw all over the paper.
In my opinion, this information would be more timely and relevant if it would pop up on a screen in the DIAD prior to clocking out on the day it happened. Or it could be an onoing thing, with hourly updates on the various statistics we are trying to improve upon. Instant feedback is relevant; day-old feedback isnt.
And as far as the backing reduction goes....someone in management arbitrarily decided upon a metric of 3.5 MPH as the maximum safe speed to back, and anytime we exceed this speed we get the piece of paper with the Magic Marker highlights on it the next day.
The problem is twofold. First of all, my speedometer doesnt work accurately in reverse. And secondly...its not safe to be looking at the damn thing while I am backing up!
My foot isnt even on the throttle when I am in reverse; simply idling while in gear will cause the car to exceed 3.5 MPH while backing up.
If 3.5 MPH is the maximum speed we are supposed to back, I dont have a problem with that. The solution is simple; either install an audible alarm that beeps when that speed is exceeded, install a heads-up display that projects the vehicle speed onto the mirrors and rear-view monitor, or equip the package car with a governor that limits it to 3.5 MPH while backing.
All of these are workable solutions for a worthy goal. But simply bombarding us with paper a day after the fact is not the solution.
Both are worthy goals but the manner in which these goals are being pursued is counterproductive and quite annoying.
Every day we are handed two sheets of paper. One shows our previous days idle time and has "excessive' times highlighted. The other shows the location, distance and speed of all backing incidents from the previous day, and is also highlighted.
What we wind up with....is several hundred sheets of paper lying around that no one bothers to read. We are paying for the paper, we are wasting the paper, and we are paying a management person to sit there all morning with Magic Marker to draw all over the paper.
In my opinion, this information would be more timely and relevant if it would pop up on a screen in the DIAD prior to clocking out on the day it happened. Or it could be an onoing thing, with hourly updates on the various statistics we are trying to improve upon. Instant feedback is relevant; day-old feedback isnt.
And as far as the backing reduction goes....someone in management arbitrarily decided upon a metric of 3.5 MPH as the maximum safe speed to back, and anytime we exceed this speed we get the piece of paper with the Magic Marker highlights on it the next day.
The problem is twofold. First of all, my speedometer doesnt work accurately in reverse. And secondly...its not safe to be looking at the damn thing while I am backing up!
My foot isnt even on the throttle when I am in reverse; simply idling while in gear will cause the car to exceed 3.5 MPH while backing up.
If 3.5 MPH is the maximum speed we are supposed to back, I dont have a problem with that. The solution is simple; either install an audible alarm that beeps when that speed is exceeded, install a heads-up display that projects the vehicle speed onto the mirrors and rear-view monitor, or equip the package car with a governor that limits it to 3.5 MPH while backing.
All of these are workable solutions for a worthy goal. But simply bombarding us with paper a day after the fact is not the solution.