My husband is stuck on the dreaded satellite route...

Holy cow! I never knew this site existed!!!

I'm here to complain a little. After 8 years of working pre-load and night-shift, my husband has finally worked his way up to being a driver. Sort of. He's still laid off on the slow months, of course. But he's stuck on the satellite route. No one at the UPS center wants that route because you obviously drive in your own personal vehicle 1 hour north of the center. He don't start until 9:30 and doesn't get home 'til 9:00. I've heard that in other areas they've cancelled this satellite route deal but apparently not here. Are they all over the US still? By the time the other UPS driver gets up there to load my husband's truck and all the other expenses of this - I don't know how in the world they can really save that much money. But I guess a nickel is a nickel to UPS?? :biting:
I thought my husband said that they are supposed to reimburse your fuel but there is no way or reason to try to even fight it to get it because they won't. Maybe they don't at all - period - and he had that wrong. You can never get a real answer out of management here. But the gas is real expensive for us.
Does anyone have any info on these routes? What we may be able to do to get reimbursement? Or just to complain with me?? Don't get me wrong... UPS has provided a lot for us! :happy2: But we just want him to drive out of the center. Soon he should be bumped up hopefully and he'll get off that route. Hopefully!!!
Thanks!
 
P

pickup

Guest
Browngirl4, I have to warn you right now, this thread is going to degenerate fast. Whenever the wife of a ups driver posts on here, invariably posters start commenting on the relationship between husband and wife. Don't take it personally, that is the way it always goes.

As for your husband's situation, obviously he is the low seniority driver and one day he will no longer be the low seniority driver. This is a temporary situation for him.
 

fxdwg

Long Time Member
Holy cow! I never knew this site existed!!!

I'm here to complain a little. After 8 years of working pre-load and night-shift, my husband has finally worked his way up to being a driver. Sort of. He's still laid off on the slow months, of course. But he's stuck on the satellite route. No one at the UPS center wants that route because you obviously drive in your own personal vehicle 1 hour north of the center. He don't start until 9:30 and doesn't get home 'til 9:00. I've heard that in other areas they've cancelled this satellite route deal but apparently not here. Are they all over the US still? By the time the other UPS driver gets up there to load my husband's truck and all the other expenses of this - I don't know how in the world they can really save that much money. But I guess a nickel is a nickel to UPS?? :biting:
I thought my husband said that they are supposed to reimburse your fuel but there is no way or reason to try to even fight it to get it because they won't. Maybe they don't at all - period - and he had that wrong. You can never get a real answer out of management here. But the gas is real expensive for us.
Does anyone have any info on these routes? What we may be able to do to get reimbursement? Or just to complain with me?? Don't get me wrong... UPS has provided a lot for us! :happy2: But we just want him to drive out of the center. Soon he should be bumped up hopefully and he'll get off that route. Hopefully!!!
Thanks!

BGirl;
Too many words and not enough paragraph breaks.
I lost interest in the middle of the first paragraph. I am not criticizing, just pointing out I immediately lose interest with run-on posts . Nothing negative intended.:peaceful:

I Know::: Who gives a hoot about fxdwg and what he wants.
 
IF, he does not get reimbursed for fuel and vehicle mileage save your receipts and get a vehicle logbook so you can itemize these as deductions on your taxes.

Yes,being the low guy sucks. There`s no way around it. Thats why some of the posters are bitter towards the slightest bit of perceived whining from the next new guy. Don`t let the hours affect your marriage,think of it as an investment.
 

Jones

fILE A GRIEVE!
Staff member
Man, tough crowd here :happy-very:
It's ok to vent browngirl, and the reality is that your husband is probably going to be stuck in that situation for a while. We do have a satellite driver on the site who loves his route - go figure :happy2:
 

chopstic

Well-Known Member
Man, tough crowd here :happy-very:
It's ok to vent browngirl, and the reality is that your husband is probably going to be stuck in that situation for a while. We do have a satellite driver on the site who loves his route - go figure :happy2:

Thats interesting. I didn't know UPS allowed the use of personal vehicles to deliver packages. Surprisingly enough... There is a big posting in our break room from the Teamsters that says NEVER use your own vehicle to transport a package even if a supervisor asks you too.
 

fxdwg

Long Time Member
Man, tough crowd here :happy-very:
It's ok to vent browngirl, and the reality is that your husband is probably going to be stuck in that situation for a while. We do have a satellite driver on the site who loves his route - go figure :happy2:

I know. I'm the start of the rough crowd. I apologize to all on BC and BG for anything that I may have said that was abrasive:peaceful:
 
Thats interesting. I didn't know UPS allowed the use of personal vehicles to deliver packages. Surprisingly enough... There is a big posting in our break room from the Teamsters that says NEVER use your own vehicle to transport a package even if a supervisor asks you too.

It should be NEVER use your own vehicle un compensated. But it`s still a good point.
 

UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)

Well-Known Member
Back to the OP. Seniority is currently your husband's enemy but will slowly become his best friend. I know, that is small comfort now, but you should play the hand that you are dealt knowing that there are better cards in your future.

You and your husband should check with your tax preparer to see if the mileage and expenses incurred traveling back and forth are deductible as non-reimbursed job expenses. UPS will not reimburse your husband for these expenses as he is reporting to his work location but they may be deductible.

Be supportive of him during this time. Take advantage of the time you have together on the weekends. Good luck.
 

chopstic

Well-Known Member
Just out of curiosity... If this guy's only vehicle was a really small one with no room to store packages (ex.. motorcycle). Would they break the rules of seniority and pass this work onto someone with less seniority that has a bigger car?
 

UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)

Well-Known Member
Just out of curiosity... If this guy's only car was a really small one with no room to store packages (ex.. mazda miata). Would they break the rules of seniority and pass this work onto someone with less seniority that has a bigger car?

Huh?

He drives his personal car to the satellite start location where there will be a PC waiting for him. The packages and DIAD are brought to that location daily. The sat driver then loads his pkg car, delivers his load, and brings his pickup pieces and any send agains to the sat location so that they can be brought back to the center.

The ideal situation would be for the sat driver to live closer to the sat start location than to the center.
 
Back to the OP. Seniority is currently your husband's enemy but will slowly become his best friend. I know, that is small comfort now, but you should play the hand that you are dealt knowing that there are better cards in your future.

You and your husband should check with your tax preparer to see if the mileage and expenses incurred traveling back and forth are deductible as non-reimbursed job expenses. UPS will not reimburse your husband for these expenses as he is reporting to his work location but they may be deductible.

Be supportive of him during this time. Take advantage of the time you have together on the weekends. Good luck.

Huh?

He drives his personal car to the satellite start location where there will be a PC waiting for him. The packages and DIAD are brought to that location daily. The sat driver then loads his pkg car, delivers his load, and brings his pickup pieces and any send agains to the sat location so that they can be brought back to the center.

The ideal situation would be for the sat driver to live closer to the sat start location than to the center.
Browngirl4, the bolded lettering above is about as good of an answer as you can get here. There are individual situations that will vary from region to region, but for the most part I think this part is pretty standard.

Chopstic, the red letters are for you.

fxdwg, you need to get help with that ADD of your's, I hear they have meds for that. ooops, too many words, I'll try again.

fxdwg get help.

They have meds for A.D.D.
 
Wow, please chew me up and spit me out some more! I don't care... People like to complain and yell - especially when not face-to face. :happy2:
It at least got some people talking and that is what a forum is for right??

Yes, UpstateNYUPSer, that is how it works. He is not delivering in his own vehicle. He drives to a little shack out in the middle of nowhere for the truck. And yes, if we lived near this area - then it wouldn't be a big deal!

But yes, I DO understand seniority people. Like I said, we've waited for 8 years for him to just START driving - so yeah, I get it! And yes, I know it might be a while and yes, I understand that is how it goes. The good thing is while we're dealing with this, he's working towards scale pay in 2 years.
I was just posting for some information on the route, other peoples' experiences, etc etc etc.

Yes, that is a good idea to use the gas expenses as deductions. However they are probably itemized deductions and we usually use the standard deduction but I'll probably start keeping track better of that. Thanks for that tip!
 

User Name

Only 230 Today?? lol
Just think, now only three more years till top rate and then five more to get his own route and summer vacations. Thing is if you lived closer to the sat route it would be very nice, no dealing with supervisors, ect.

The thing pepple forget is, everybody put in the time and it sucks bad, but when you get to the middle or top senority it is pretty sweet. Just deal with it and try to make the best of it.
 
Just think, now only three more years till top rate and then five more to get his own route and summer vacations. Thing is if you lived closer to the sat route it would be very nice, no dealing with supervisors, ect.

The thing pepple forget is, everybody put in the time and it sucks bad, but when you get to the middle or top senority it is pretty sweet. Just deal with it and try to make the best of it.

Yep, that's what we're looking forward to! And I AM very thankful he has this job. It can just be a long haul to get there - but well worth it.
 

UPSGUY72

Well-Known Member
get use to it my Wife has to. I live 2 mile away from the UPS building where I started working but since I'm the low guy I got bumped to a center 1 hr away. IF he or you don't like it he could always find another job.
 
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