Old Time UPS.

satellitedriver

Moderator
We all carried masonite clipboards for the paper records that had stainless steel "bankers clips" on the ends to hold the paper down on the board. Not as much mass as a diad, but they still would get a dog's undivided attention.
And, we sharpened the edge of the "bankers clip" to cut off cod tags. I just threw away one of those clip boards-( should have kept it.)- while cleaning out my barn. I also found almost a full pad of the paper records- ( I kept those)-.
Putting the cardboard of an old paper record pad on top of the records to keep them dry in the rain.
Damn hard to write on wet paper.:happy2:
Dusty, I forgot about the stamped shipper numbers and now I can remember them clear as day.
The dreaded one time pick up. 20 pkgs and each one had a separate form to fill out.
All pkg cars had plywood doors with a hole cut in them in case the door closed. You could reach the chain to release the latch.

The only thing I miss from "back then" is being able to sit down with my preloader/my on road sup's/my center manager and even my DM and have a good relationship, while discussing how to find solutions to the problems that needed to be solved in our center.

Auld Lang Syne, never to be seen again.

 

Dustyroads

Well-Known Member
AOD cards were basically postcards attached to the package, that you detached, had the customer sign, and then we mailed them to the shipper. Acknowledgement Of Delivery cards.
 

Dustyroads

Well-Known Member
We used to have to get a signature on every delivery except "release numbers". Drivers had collections of "signature cards" that they had customers sign so we could leave their packages. Lots of customers had some of the cards signed and thumbtacked to their back door. Just a couple years ago I found some on a customer's back porch.

Then, there was this activity called "door knobbing". That has now been renamed Driver Release.
 

Brown Rocket

Well-Known Member
We used to have to get a signature on every delivery except "release numbers". Drivers had collections of "signature cards" that they had customers sign so we could leave their packages. Lots of customers had some of the cards signed and thumbtacked to their back door. Just a couple years ago I found some on a customer's back porch.

Then, there was this activity called "door knobbing". That has now been renamed Driver Release.



My boss told me that one guy signed D. Knob and some how someone noticed and he got in trouble.
 

satellitedriver

Moderator
AOD cards were basically postcards attached to the package, that you detached, had the customer sign, and then we mailed them to the shipper. Acknowledgement Of Delivery cards.
No joke,
I had an AOD card on a pkg with a cutoff COD hand written label on it, just last week. Peel off affixed tracking label. I just stared at it for a couple of seconds and laughed.
 

Brown Rocket

Well-Known Member
I had someone ask if I had a COD label not too long ago. I of course gave them the deer in the head lights look. Found some in a supply room about a week later though. Real usefull now.
 

Dustyroads

Well-Known Member
We used to have TLA's with our on road supervisor. They would take you out for breakfast, or for dinner after work. I always preferred breakfast. You could discuss work, ask questions, air concerns.
 

slantnosechevy

Well-Known Member
We used to have this gal who burned every route she ran in hopes of getting promoted. She used to come in an hour before start time and pre-sheet her whole car. One of the veteran drivers saw her one morning doing this. She used to hide 4 clip boards all filled out behind the boxes and put a blank one in the holder. When she went down to the pcm he got in there and pulled the carbons out and trashed the filled out sheets, put the carbons back in and walked away. That night she's in the center manager's office ballin her eyes out. When she left he came out and jokingly asked who did it. He thought it was hilarious. You wont see that anymore either.
 

EmerCond421

Well-Known Member
We used to have TLA's with our on road supervisor. They would take you out for breakfast, or for dinner after work. I always preferred breakfast. You could discuss work, ask questions, air concerns.

Those were the days - even during peak we all would go around the corner from the building and have breakfast at the nearest cafe and the center manager would pay. Every once in a while we'd even have a bbq. Most nites the old hands would get a case and down it in the p-lot. Now-a-days if we have anything it's because we stopped and bought it for everyone before coming to work.
 

Pkgrunner

Till I Collapse
No one mentioned Fur Calls....
I never had to do one being in So Cal. thank God....

I miss the 70 lb weight limit and the 180" size limit the most...but power steering, automatic transmission and front disk brakes make up for it...

I also preferred the pre-cellphone/ diad days where the only way you could be contacted during the day by management would be for the center team to call all your pickups and have them let you know they wanted you to call in...
 

Dustyroads

Well-Known Member
When I started the weight limit was 50 lbs. We could only accept two 50 lb boxes from any one shipper to any one consignee on a single day. We also had restrictive tariffs that prohibited shipping between certain states. We could ship to Canada before we could ship to Texas! We had a service guide that the shipper had to look through to see if we provided service to a particular zip code. This ended with trucking deregulation in 1980, and UPS saw record growth for a couple of years after the new laws took effect. We were hiring so many new drivers that all of the part timers who wanted to drive had become drivers, and we were hiring several in a row off the street. Those were the days.
 

spankyup

mister blister
yes I remember the 400's.....had a couple that went over 800k before going to the crusher.....completly worn out....u-joints would only last 5k mi. doors all wallered out had to use both hands to open and close ... ...wooden bulkhead door.....sorry no heat heater used the dash as heater duct.....I did an extended route and wore insulated coveralls a lot in the winter....shelves very narrow would be useless with todays larger pkgs. worked 4 years before I got a dolly....couldn't do that today either .....miss the TLA drivers actually had a small input so many on car sup. have no practical knowledge now and its glaring misjustice. In our area the job is so much easier now....serviceable pkg cars...less hours...no cash...earlier start time.....more drivers easier to adjust...less harrassment....no 2 sup. rides to get drivers to quit.................some things are the same great job made very difficult sometimes by mgr hundred miles away that is not there to see the obvious and is not about to take counsel.....my 34+ enjoys this nostalgia
 

rod

Retired 22 years
When I started the weight limit was 50 lbs. We could only accept two 50 lb boxes from any one shipper to any one consignee on a single day. We also had restrictive tariffs that prohibited shipping between certain states. We could ship to Canada before we could ship to Texas! We had a service guide that the shipper had to look through to see if we provided service to a particular zip code. This ended with trucking deregulation in 1980, and UPS saw record growth for a couple of years after the new laws took effect. We were hiring so many new drivers that all of the part timers who wanted to drive had become drivers, and we were hiring several in a row off the street. Those were the days.


sounds like you started in the early 70's like I did (1971)---I hope you aren't still slaving away at UPS.
 

Dustyroads

Well-Known Member
I started in the summer of 79, and yeah, I am still slaving away at it. I've been on the same area since 80, so I'm beginning to know the area. :)

Do you remember when the package cars had no jump seat? So, when your on road supervisor went with you, either he stood, or sat on a milk crate. Running on the gravel, it was fun to hit some of the deep holes with the right front tire and watch 'em wince.
 

Pkgrunner

Till I Collapse
When I started the weight limit was 50 lbs. We could only accept two 50 lb boxes from any one shipper to any one consignee on a single day. We also had restrictive tariffs that prohibited shipping between certain states. We could ship to Canada before we could ship to Texas! We had a service guide that the shipper had to look through to see if we provided service to a particular zip code. This ended with trucking deregulation in 1980, and UPS saw record growth for a couple of years after the new laws took effect. We were hiring so many new drivers that all of the part timers who wanted to drive had become drivers, and we were hiring several in a row off the street. Those were the days.

When I went from part time to full time in the mid 80's, part time was 7-8 hrs. a day, and there was no going back to part time if you failed as a driver your career at UPS was over.
What really sucked for me was I was only part time for 1 year, had just earned my vacation and personal day time but got paid out and had to go a 2nd full year without time off...except for my birthday. My New prorated anniversary date was 12/23 so I never got that day off either unless it fell on a Saturday or Sunday...
 

rod

Retired 22 years
The 1st few years I worked there were no seatbelts in the package cars. You've never had a thrill until you have driven an old P400 about 60 mph down a dirt driveway with both doors open, hit some washboard, start to fishtail and had to hang on for dear life with no seatbelt on. The drivers seat pedistal would pivot forward so the back of the seat would rest against the steering wheel. That way you could walk out the drivers door with an armload of pkgs. When seat belts (just a lap belt) first were being installed our mechanic just bolted them to the seat but the pedistal would still fold forward. Nice:wink2: It was quit awhile before they actually forced you to wear your seatbelt.
 

Pkgrunner

Till I Collapse
The 1st few years I worked there were no seatbelts in the package cars. You've never had a thrill until you have driven an old P400 about 60 mph down a dirt driveway with both doors open, hit some washboard, start to fishtail and had to hang on for dear life with no seatbelt on. The drivers seat pedistal would pivot forward so the back of the seat would rest against the steering wheel. That way you could walk out the drivers door with an armload of pkgs. When seat belts (just a lap belt) first were being installed our mechanic just bolted them to the seat but the pedistal would still fold forward. Nice:wink2: It was quit awhile before they actually forced you to wear your seatbelt.

I have had that thrill....I forgot about the seat even though that scenario happened to me when I first drove an old 400... that also reminds me of the first time I drove one down a steep hill towards Sunset Blvd in LA and the POS wouldn't stop....I learned the hard way that you needed to pump the brakes up before you were going to drive down a hill....I did like the fold up shelves in the package compartment.....

I've had many white knuckle experiences in in the p500(the car of the future) that replaced the old 400s....like steering boxes breaking while driving a windy road(nothing like the thrill of making a sharp turn and just having the steering wheel spin freely while the truck keeps going straight). Or the thrill of having the front right wheel come off on a mountain road only to be held on by the brake calipers.

I had two instances in one day regarding a front bumper.
Ever have the front bumper come off and strategically wedge under the front tires and act as a ski? I survived that, through the bumper into the package compartment and learned the "keep the bulkhead door closed if you have one" lesson the hard way when the bumper slid into the cab and wedged itself onto the accelerator...That damn thing had it in for me I nearly had two heart attacks within a hour of each other.

I figure I must have some sort of guardian angel or just be freakishly lucky since I am still alive and none of those incidences caused any injuries or property damage.
 

whiskey

Well-Known Member
Many of the older package cars had wooden bulkhead doors. At least they were heavy and didnt rattle like the current aluminum ones. When I started in 1978 there were still some old P400's? (the package cars shaped like a toaster) in use. They had a button you pushed that activated a solenoid that opened the bulkhead door. Nice if you had am armload of stuff. But you rarely needed to close the door. The engine also started with the push of a starter button.
Then came the bulkhead doors that had two flanges with holes that a padlock could be put thru if it was actually necessary to lock the door. Virtually all drivers had jimmied the locks with a little piece of cardboard or wood so as to not have to use a key.
Seatbelts? Forget it! No one used them. In fact I was told "a good UPS driver will pull up to a stop, slam on the emergency brake, run up to the house, and get back to the truck before it quits rocking back and forth!"
Those were the days.
The rocking part is still one of my methods. But only on rare occasions, just to harken back to my youth. Thanks for reminding me.
 

nobber

Active Member
and dont forget when the only competitor was USPS and the driver dictated what time we would be there to make the pick up. If they weren't ready, off to the next stop. That was POWER
 
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