The Blackadder
Are you not amused?
I would laugh but that is what they say, it is faster to cross the street then it is to not cross the street. As for safety team Orion does not care one bit about it.
Orion Compliance
- Thread starter TooTechie
- Start date
I would laugh but that is what they say, it is faster to cross the street then it is to not cross the street. As for safety team Orion does not care one bit about it.
JL 0513
Well-Known Member
At yesterday's PCM, center manager says during the next 2 weeks that the ORION team needs to show good numbers. Gotta hit our mileage. Everything's gotta look good. I guess this is when the numbers get reported to the top. He proceeds to say that we'll be setting up good dispatches to help during this period.
Really? I said to myself, wow, so you're admitting that a false positive report needs to be set up? As long as the guys at the top see that it's working.
Just like when audits are announced ahead of time. It represents performance in a false light. You know exactly when the auditors are coming so everything is set up by the book, everyone is studied up on DOK's, ect...
Upper management only see a fantasy world.
Really? I said to myself, wow, so you're admitting that a false positive report needs to be set up? As long as the guys at the top see that it's working.
Just like when audits are announced ahead of time. It represents performance in a false light. You know exactly when the auditors are coming so everything is set up by the book, everyone is studied up on DOK's, ect...
Upper management only see a fantasy world.
40 stops to freedom
Well-Known Member
wouldn't it be defrauding the company to enforce orion compliance if it means a longer day
soberups
Pees in the brown Koolaid
In my opinion, yes it would.
We are required by ART 37 of the contract to give a fair days work for a fair days pay, and to do our jobs in a manner thst best represents the interests of our
employer.
The forced stupidity, wasted time, wasted miles, excessive digging and rehandling of packages and intentional delays and service failures that result from trying to "comply" with ORION put us in direct violation of our contractual obligations under aART. 37.
IlllIIllIIlllIllIIIlIlIlI
Well-Known Member
Orion is 
and they know it. Any driver with the slightest bit of experience can do better than it. They're enforcing Orion compliance so you will complain how it is and how they can fix it. Then they fix it and make it easier to train your replacement.
and they know it. Any driver with the slightest bit of experience can do better than it. They're enforcing Orion compliance so you will complain how it is and how they can fix it. Then they fix it and make it easier to train your replacement.
The case to use under Article 37 is a "contradicting directive". The "DIRECTIVE" given in Article 37 comes before any "work as directed" DIRECTIVE.
The center manager cannot give you an instruction that forces you to abandon the "obligation" of running the route with the company's best interests in mind.
If you know you are going to add miles using VDO, then thats NOT in the companys best interests. If you know you are going extend your day using VDO, then thats not in the companys best interests. If you know you are going to miss a business stop or school using VDO, then thats not in the companys best interests.
If you are placed into a situation where your "judgement" has to override an ORION instruction, then you are using the obligation under article 37.
The company cannot deny this, for its the instruction they are giving in saying to be only 85% in compliance. This alone is a self admission that ORION does not work.
Contradicting directives can never be forced upon an employee.
Nobody knows the direction of any route other than the person running it day after day and the final decision about timeliness always defaults back to the driver. ORION makes huge mistakes as we can all see, and its the driver who has to fix those mistakes day in and day out.
However, if you talk to your center manager, all he can tell you is how wonderful ORION is working and how many miles its saving the company because thats the smoke that got blown up his rear end in district meetings.
If the company forced its managers to ride along with a driver once ORION was installed and allow the driver to use ORION 100%, they would see that NO MILES are saved, Business failures created, next day air failed and pickups missed. They would also see that ORION would have to be turned off and the drivers descretion utilized in the alternative.
Of course, they wont. They dont want to know the truth.
TOS.
Hard Working Man
Ram Man
You folks have the wrong attitude about this. Think Omoney.
JL 0513
Well-Known Member
I'm curious, in my center Orion is "ODO" - Optimized Delivery Order. Why is it "VDO" for you and what does "V" stand for? We have the RDO button to select "Regular Delivery Order", or standard EDD.
Its not about the money bro, its about service. Thats what we were hired to do. Service the customer. Now, UPS wants to abandon service and concentrate on doing everything contrary to what we were trained to do.
Like,
Throwing u turns on residential streets. Crossing the street to do stops on the wrong side of the car. Making triple the amount of left turns during the day. Increasing our backing frequencies. Doing half a street, leaving that street and doing something else a couple of miles away, then returning later to the same street to finish.
Yes, these issues cost the company money, but the cost in customer service is way higher.
The real issue or problem is the complete disconnect that ATLANTA has with the actual package centers in understanding what is actually happening on the street.
ATLANTA trusts the package centers blindly, and the package centers simply present a "false positive" to affirm the ORION program just to keep heat off their backs.
Just last friday, ORION gave me a split clear across town, hopping over 3 routes. I informed my center manager and on road supe that this split was waaaay off area and I wouldnt be able to get to it until after 5. They made no objections other than to say "how did that happen?" (the distance being 20 minutes to and from that area)
I arrived at this split at 530 pm only to find out there were business stops contained in it and they were closed. I recorded the stops as "MISSED" as per my training.
Once the center saw the stops on ODS, they sent me a message telling me to VOID the stops and re-record them as futures. I REFUSED.
I indicated that I followed DIRECT DIAD TRAINING and that I would not assist them in falsely recording these packages.
Orion had these stops at the end of the DOL and was directly responsible for these service failures. What the center wanted to do was HIDE these stops from the DM so the DM wouldnt know the dispatch was screwed up from the jump.
I did not have to re-record the packages and they were probably voided in the center and falsely recorded afterwards.
This is how UPS cares about customer service.
TOS.
728ups
All Trash No Trailer
no disrespect intended but ,IMO the "to do our jobs in a manner that best represents the interests of our
employer." you quoted means doing the job as instructed.
It isnt our job to manage the routes or running the routes as we best see fit. This is the NEW UPS: a world of metrics and reports taken over by I.E Engineers who live in cubicles and decide what is best for the company. <shrug> I get paid by the hour to follow the directives and plans established by these people,and it makes live MUCH more stress free
FilingBluesFL
Well-Known Member
One on-road supervisor said that us delivering business ground stops at the same time as air stops, was the business customer "taking advantage" of the way the company works.
The customer... taking advantage of us... Makes no sense at all.
Even according to the Orion people it's about miles, not service. Service means nothing anymore.
The customer... taking advantage of us... Makes no sense at all.
Even according to the Orion people it's about miles, not service. Service means nothing anymore.
You are INCORRECT.
Article 37 does not contain the words "work as directed" nor does any part of our contract from the NMA to the riders.
The reason for the sentence in ARTICLE 37 is simple. The company "ENTRUSTS" the drivers to take a vehicle without supervision and leave the building with thousands of dollars worth of merchandise. The company has then placed an "OBLIGATION" to the driver to do the following by making on road decisions:
1) safe driving (all aspects, dont speed, dont run lights, dont get tickets,etc etc etc)
2) going straight to route with NO diversions.
3) protecting all merchandise
4) dont steal
5) service the customers with all issues
6) deliver packages in order, ontime
7) give a fair days work.
8) not using the package car for personal use or transportation of personal goods.
These are "obligations" that only the driver can make and the company has placed this obligation upon us in article 37.
There are many cases where drivers have been fired for stealing time, stealing miles, leaving the area and stealing merchandise.
These are all violations of article 37 "performing duties in the best interests of the company". Obviously, these things are NOT in the best interests of the company.
We are out there alone, and the company entrusts us to do the right thing as if this business was our own. Its alot of responsibility to place on a driver, but for the most part, we accept this obligation as an honor.
We have been on the road for years, in my case, 24 years on the same route. Even though i am in feeder, and bounce back to package in the first part of the year, I still care about my customers and they care about me mutually.
For that, I take my route seriously. I know which way is the fastest way to get done and make committments. Orion cannot think or use common sense. It can only calculate.
Those calculations are NOT accurate. Orion cannot use common sense or adjust on the fly as I can. If ORION is going to put me behind, or force me to miss stops or committments, and then the company expects me to turn it off and start making the business decisions, then thats what Article 37 is all about.
"performing my duties in the best interests of the company".
TOS.
728ups
All Trash No Trailer
thanx for helping me make my point! the 'order' isnt for you ,me or any other hourly to decide. This seems to be a very hard concept for some of the older drivers to grasp(myself included on some days) change is good!
TooTechie
Geek in Brown
The orion guy pulled up the route that I was covering this morning trying to show me where Orion expected me to be during the day.
I asked why there was a one hour gap at 11:30am of where orion expected me to be. He said that's your lunch. I laughed and said not a chance. My contract says my meal period starts in the 4th to 5th hour and ends by the 6th. I'm not breaking the contract to save you miles. "Well you can't just take your lunch when you want to."
I pulled out my contract and held it over my head as I was walking away and said "That's the funniest thing I've heard this month."
I asked why there was a one hour gap at 11:30am of where orion expected me to be. He said that's your lunch. I laughed and said not a chance. My contract says my meal period starts in the 4th to 5th hour and ends by the 6th. I'm not breaking the contract to save you miles. "Well you can't just take your lunch when you want to."
I pulled out my contract and held it over my head as I was walking away and said "That's the funniest thing I've heard this month."
It doesnt make "your" point, and your original assertion has been debunked. "CONTRADICTING DIRECTIVES" is the concept "you" have to grasp.
On one hand, we cannot be told to perform our duties in the best interests of the company, and then on the other hand, take a fouled up piece of softwares advice and perform our duties outside the best interests of the company.
When I stated "in order", that implies the order best suited to service the customers, NOT the hodgepod of criss crossing, backstepping, uturns and service failing commit times that ORION has placed me in.
"in order". Man vs Machine. Man wins. Machines cant think. Machines cant tell weights. Machines cant tell that the isle is blown out. Machines cant see a fence or wall or a 300 foot drop in the road that its telling you to cross.
21st century crap is what ORION is, and that my friend is NOT in the companys best interests.
TOS.
728ups
All Trash No Trailer
Bollocks and Rubbish. As I have stated before the company dosent want or need our area knowledge or for us drivers to make decisions any longer . This software is designed to "dumb down" the job so that (in theory) any one can run a route regardless of area knowledge and those of you who are 'beating' ORION are cutting yours,and others throats.
We have been instructed to follow this program as it follows' the best interests of the company' ( had a fun grievance hearing on that one lol) so who am i to question the engineers who set up ORION?
Two points.
First, I agree with you, ORION in "theory" is suppose to work in the companys best interests. Unfortunately, it doesnt.
Secondly, you said "so who am i to question the engineers who set up ORION?"
Again, I agree. You dont understand metrics and evaluations nor do you understand the concept of article 37 when it was constructed.
Lastly, you still havent pointed out where "I" could find the "WORKING AS DIRECTED" section of any portion of our contracts.
TOS.
728ups
All Trash No Trailer
good point, i apologize for my lack of explanation. I often forget some differences exist between Locals
In our local "working as directed" has been established as pretty much the same thing as "best interests of the company" ( obey now,grieve later)
it's funny/ironic as you and I agree on just about every issue with this system. As I run a residential route it matters not a whit to me if i ride around in circles all day ,if that's what they want I am more than happy to be 100% in compliance
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