OMG Has peak started?

[LKLND3380]

And after the praised Central Florida on UPSers for hiring the most helpers in the country. Peak was not bad last year, almost EVERY driver in our hub had a helper, for at least 4 hours. It was their goal to get every driver in by 9pm last peak, and for the most part it worked. I remember them saying for this year, every driver will be in by 8pm.

Guess thats out the window in order to bring up profits.

Can you cut over time by increasing drivers?

You can have 50 drivers at top scale doing 11 hour days or have 200 drivers out there with 50 at starting pay. Then having all the drivers get below 9 hours...

 

[LKLND3380]

Hey Lakeland,
From what I was told we have not seen ANYHING yet!
The entire division is now being dispatched through Orlando. The managers are not allowed to ad runs-or helper hours-without Orlando approval. The suits are furious. Micro management at its best!
Could this be the payback for Orlando being one of the lowest profit operations last year?

It would be interesting to give each building what ever they needed to be successful and and then see how it pans out... Too many things look good on paper but do not play out in the real world...

 

[Dirty Savage]

I would have to agree with this as our volume has been going up lately. I think, though, that this has a lot to do with the fact that the Canadian dollar has been trading almost on par with the U.S. dollar as I have noticed a huge increase in stuff from the U.S. If this keeps up I forsee a horrible, horrible December.

 

[RockyRogue]

It would be interesting to give each building what ever they needed to be successful and and then see how it pans out... Too many things look good on paper but do not play out in the real world...

It would be very interesting to see what happened if every operation were given what it needed to be successful. Unfortunately, that will probably never happen for one reason: $$$. And the 'paper' does have a purpose IMHO. This goes as far as projections but really needs to cease being how an operation is run. I refer to over-reliance on paper as micro-managing and I can NOT abide that--as a worker or as a member of management. -Rocky

 

[beentheredonethat]

It started officially for me today. I got my Helper. We ran 100 stops in four hours together, thats 25 SPORH compared to my usual 17.7 I do myself. The stop density still isn't there yet, we should do 30-35 per hour after Thanksgiving. The Supervisor told me to work her for two hours only, which is ridiculous. I called the OMS and kept her for four, and still had a 10.5 day. Normally I run 130 stops, it was 177 today.

Scratch, the stupid thing is that UPS doesn't consider what you did a 25 Sporh during those four hours it considers it a 12.5 Sporh, 100 stops /(4 driver hrs + 4 helper hrs). I for one thing this is ridiculous, since with this method it looks worse to have a helper. They don't take into consideration that a helper makes about $10/hr and a driver at OT makes more then 3 x that amount. Starting helpers this early only makes sense in a high density area or in an area like a mall. What we should do is to have more vacations allowed in Oct and beginning of Nov to give the veteran drivers some time off and then put on peak drivers. This will give the drivers time to learn the methods and when peak really hits you have a full complement of drivers.

 

[scratch]

beentheredonethat, I agree with your post. I think it is too early to start Helpers, this is the second year in a row I have got one in October. My Area hasn't shrunk and the stop density isn't there yet. We are driving too many miles. We actually did 16 stops the first hour Friday because of how far apart the stops were. I worked her 4.5 hours and we finally got the SPOHR up to 26-27. I still went over 9.5, I was originally told to work her only three hours. We have plenty of TCDers being sent home instead of putting in Split Cars like the months before. I am taking my last vacation next week. I think next year, I will take at least two weeks late October and November so I can get some real rest before Peak.

 

[sdf6hr]

peak @ louisville air started last month... taking 2x shifters for sunday sort. i did it today , loaded el paso & houston not used to work coming from night ramp.

 

[UPS Lifer]

After 36 peak seasons doing everything under the sun (and moon), I will be sitting on the sidelines. i honestly can't imagine what this is going to feel like. I had a LOT of good peaks while I was working and there was always a sense of satisfaction on Xmas morning (except for the one time I was delivering NxDA on Xmas!).

Believe it or not...I actually have mixed feelings about this!!! Good Luck to all during peak and I hope you have fond memories (as I do), of a job well done when it is over!

 

[RockyRogue]

Good Luck to all during peak and I hope you have fond memories (as I do), of a job well done when it is over!

I know I do from my two inside peaks. I certainly won't forget the looks on people's faces the day before Christmas Eve last year when I would give them a package. The memory of a young mother wife and mother almost crying when I gave her a package the day of our first blizzard certainly won't leave me anytime soon. Godspeed during Peak, UPS'ers. -Rocky

 

[brownrecluse]

Scratch, the stupid thing is that UPS doesn't consider what you did a 25 Sporh during those four hours it considers it a 12.5 Sporh, 100 stops /(4 driver hrs + 4 helper hrs). I for one thing this is ridiculous, since with this method it looks worse to have a helper. They don't take into consideration that a helper makes about $10/hr and a driver at OT makes more then 3 x that amount. Starting helpers this early only makes sense in a high density area or in an area like a mall. What we should do is to have more vacations allowed in Oct and beginning of Nov to give the veteran drivers some time off and then put on peak drivers. This will give the drivers time to learn the methods and when peak really hits you have a full complement of drivers.

I just finished up service provider training (peak driver) and I expected to start center training on Monday 11/05 (so that I could get a feel for my route and to get some real world experience while the theory is fresh and before the volume goes through the roof). However, I was told to begin calling in Monday morning @ 7:45... and we'd go from there. I was told that package volume was not where it needed to be to put peak drivers on the road. Finally, I was told that some peak drivers may start as helpers. This last bit may or may not make sense - only the veteran drivers can say. I'd just like to get to work and get ramped up so that I can be productive when it really counts...