Orion, PAS, & EDD!....

[soberups]

Drivers were not being paid $33.00/hr. MORE LIKE $6.00 OR $7.00/HR. Same money any union worker could make. Some times less then other union wages.

I was making something like $16 an hour when I started driving in '88, which was about 3.5x the minimum wage. Now we make $30ish and the minimum wage is $8 or $9 an hour which is roughly 3.5x the minimum wage.

 

[soberups]

Back then, drivers must have constantly had to go back to stops and areas to deliver all the missed packages found later. Wow, the inefficiencies were crazy.

Some things never change. It was actually easier back then because there was no package tracking, you could get away with bringing the offending stop back without sheeting it. During peak we would stash hundreds of stops in barns and garages just to get them out of the truck.

 

[728ups]

I can't imagine how the job was done before electronics. Unless you only got 1/3 the stops.

For those that have been driving before 1991, how was the job done with paper?
More importantly, how were the packages loaded? With no PAS/EDD, was their some predetermined order? Did the driver have to sort through a mess everyday and arrange is route from scratch?

It was different world before PASS/EDD
The routes in my center averaged 85-100 stops a day(versus 130-150 stops now) ,and the trucks werent as blown out as they are now. The preloader usually loaded 3 package cars instead of the usual four or five now. They had time to load the cars stop -for -stop and misloads were very rare,almost non events. If a loader had a history of misloads he was sent to the purgatory of Unloading until he quit.

As has been noted stops were in the same place every day,and the driver was usually in the same place every day. Aside from peak we usually worked 8-8.5 hours a day and the 'numbers' were much more realistic and attainable. You came to work,did your job and went home. There were no endless reports,DOK,telematics,ORION or all of the other rubbish we have now. We actually focused on SERVICE.

There was much more of a sense of togetherness and teamwork between hourlies and management,we might have disagreed at times but we were all in it for the common good. We had TLA's in which your supervisor would take you to lunch and try to address any issues you had,and one felt a connection with one's supervisor

The Center was a Kingdom,and the center manager was the King. NOBODY from any other department would dare tell the center manager how many routes he could run on a certain day,or meddle in his business

I'm sounding like my grandfather but it really was a simpler time

 

[brostalss]

I just drive.

 

[ZQXC]

It was different world before PASS/EDD
The routes in my center averaged 85-100 stops a day(versus 130-150 stops now) ,and the trucks werent as blown out as they are now. The preloader usually loaded 3 package cars instead of the usual four or five now. They had time to load the cars stop -for -stop and misloads were very rare,almost non events. If a loader had a history of misloads he was sent to the purgatory of Unloading until he quit.

As has been noted stops were in the same place every day,and the driver was usually in the same place every day. Aside from peak we usually worked 8-8.5 hours a day and the 'numbers' were much more realistic and attainable. You came to work,did your job and went home. There were no endless reports,DOK,telematics,ORION or all of the other rubbish we have now. We actually focused on SERVICE.

There was much more of a sense of togetherness and teamwork between hourlies and management,we might have disagreed at times but we were all in it for the common good. We had TLA's in which your supervisor would take you to lunch and try to address any issues you had,and one felt a connection with one's supervisor

The Center was a Kingdom,and the center manager was the King. NOBODY from any other department would dare tell the center manager how many routes he could run on a certain day,or meddle in his business

I'm sounding like my grandfather but it really was a simpler time

Every word of this post rings true. This is actually how it was. Thanks for taking the time to post this, so the younger guys will understand that it wasn't always screwed up, like it is now.

 

[By The Book]

Back then, drivers must have constantly had to go back to stops and areas to deliver all the missed packages found later. Wow, the inefficiencies were crazy.

I only went back to stops multiple times in peak when the cars were really full and pkgs would fall. During peak I would sometimes have 200-250 stops in a 400 size pkg car. Basically you'd open the door grab one off shelf one area and deliver it knowing you'd be back on that street later, that was a bummer. It was definitely smart to get a few bulks out and brick out your corners with shelf 7 and 8. On normal days though, not during peak, surprisingly you would rarely miss a stop. I think it's because you looked at every address and had to sort it all day. Misrouted pkgs were usually for the route next to you as well.

 

[By The Book]

It was different world before PASS/EDD
The routes in my center averaged 85-100 stops a day(versus 130-150 stops now) ,and the trucks werent as blown out as they are now. The preloader usually loaded 3 package cars instead of the usual four or five now. They had time to load the cars stop -for -stop and misloads were very rare,almost non events. If a loader had a history of misloads he was sent to the purgatory of Unloading until he quit.

As has been noted stops were in the same place every day,and the driver was usually in the same place every day. Aside from peak we usually worked 8-8.5 hours a day and the 'numbers' were much more realistic and attainable. You came to work,did your job and went home. There were no endless reports,DOK,telematics,ORION or all of the other rubbish we have now. We actually focused on SERVICE.

There was much more of a sense of togetherness and teamwork between hourlies and management,we might have disagreed at times but we were all in it for the common good. We had TLA's in which your supervisor would take you to lunch and try to address any issues you had,and one felt a connection with one's supervisor

The Center was a Kingdom,and the center manager was the King. NOBODY from any other department would dare tell the center manager how many routes he could run on a certain day,or meddle in his business

I'm sounding like my grandfather but it really was a simpler time

True dat. When I loaded though our belt was not as wide and pkgs would Come down 2 deep and I had to shut the belt off a lot. That pissed them off but there was no space to put the pkgs labels up so the next loader could pick off his stuff. I only split and loaded so it seemed like I was buried most of my morning.

 

[oldngray]

We recorded stops on paper and put the totals at end of day on a paper time card. All that mattered was stops, pieces, miles, and COD's. None of the micro management. Just go out and deliver and be trusted to get it done. And be trusted to decide for yourself how the route should be delivered. Your records would be audited periodically but not watching what you did every second of every day.

 

[upschuck]

I just see no way you could go out with 350 packages bricked out and run a route without a DIAD and the systematic PAS/EDD system we use today.

UPS is waiting for all the "old" drivers, who know better, to retire or bid different jobs, and then the new drivers will know no different than to follow Orion, and couldn't imagine how we got any work done without it.

 

[PT Car Washer]

Turn your brain off and deliver boxes.

 

[ZQXC]

UPS is waiting for all the "old" drivers, who know better, to retire or bid different jobs, and then the new drivers will know no different than to follow Orion, and couldn't imagine how we got any work done without it.

I think you are pretty close with this projection.
Down the road, (get it), ups will have a bunch of "Stepford" drivers which should make the Atlanta crowd delirious with joy.

 

[oldngray]

After the current drivers debug ORION then UPS will feel free to hire new mindless robots to deliver packages and force out the older smarter and higher cost employees. So its really not in a drivers best interest to fix the system that is designed to replace him in a few years.