Peak Dispatching: Pathetic

[barnyard]

I worked 59.5 hours this week. No helper because my route has more business than residentals. I have a post office that takes 30 minutes.

I like having a helper for bidness areas. When they can, they will deliver down one side of the street with me on the other (that's what we did yesterday.) At the PO, the helper rolled out empty carts and handed me packages from the truck and I scanned them. She got the signature while I hit the can.

 

[Overpaid Union Thug]

Who would have ever thought that a valid complaint about horrible peak dispatching and having to use helpers and helper boards would result in comments about drivers complaining while others are unemployed and bums digging through garbage cans? That is equally pathetic as our dispatching. There will always be problems in any company and there will always be unemployed and bums but neither have anything to do with the other.

 

[JakeD]

just an observation from someone that only looks in briefly. Having a well paying job with decent security would be a great thing for me right now and I know that that isn't even possible for 2 more years.

I find being a helper to be a pretty easy job so i understand that it sucks when you get someone who can't hack it. Putting 20-40 stops in the helper board yourself isn't the end of the world. scan it for them and have them run.. unless they are slow asses most can handle that. if not then get a new one.

 

[728ups]

Our volume has been very heavy since October,and I have had a helper since the first week of November. We have DIAD IV's for Helper boards this year,and I go by the book with delivery methods( Oh how i miss pre sheeting a neighborhood and knocking out the stops!!!) I showed the helper how to scan the package and select the proper DR placement. While he is making the delivery i am either seting up packages,running a nearby stop or turning the truck around. I ahve been getting 57-59 hours a week this month.
We dont have enough drivers,trucks,loaders or helpers and I am certain we'll be delivering Christmas packages to unhappy people in January

 

[upschuck]

just an observation from someone that only looks in briefly. Having a well paying job with decent security would be a great thing for me right now and I know that that isn't even possible for 2 more years.

I find being a helper to be a pretty easy job so i understand that it sucks when you get someone who can't hack it. Putting 20-40 stops in the helper board yourself isn't the end of the world. scan it for them and have them run.. unless they are slow asses most can handle that. if not then get a new one.

No, but that on top of everything else that have no advantages for the customers makes the job harder than it needs to be. Try putting only 19 stops when they want 20 because you forgot to switch diads. You'd be in the office to explain yourself, don't really need that hassle when you're already tired from the previous day. I guess they have nothing better to do.

 

[jaker]

They did the helper boards last year and I wonder what was so gret that they did it again this year

I got a helper board last year but for some reason it kept messing up

 

[Anonymous 10]

Miles are your friend.

 

[Overpaid Union Thug]

just an observation from someone that only looks in briefly. Having a well paying job with decent security would be a great thing for me right now and I know that that isn't even possible for 2 more years.

I find being a helper to be a pretty easy job so i understand that it sucks when you get someone who can't hack it. Putting 20-40 stops in the helper board yourself isn't the end of the world. scan it for them and have them run.. unless they are slow asses most can handle that. if not then get a new one.

We have to put 40 stops in the board and some helpers are great. Some not so much. The point is that in November many centers don't always need helpers but UPS cuts routes so they can use them. And they generally don't save much time (if any) unless drivers are primarily in dense neighborhoods and multiple stops can be completed while parked. But that time can easily be wiped out by breaking off to pick the helpers up and then dropping them back off. It is possible to occasionally make the pu and drop off on trace without breaking off but that is impossible when dispatches are scattered all over the map.

The ease at which a helper board can be used isn't the issue. The fact that using the helper board doesn't result in any improved efficiency AND is a hassle at times is the issue. And then we seem to get allot of helpers that have shady work histories that slowly come to light during idle conversation. And they are the ones that are always late for their pickup times and/or tell you that they need to get dropped off earlier than planned because they have something else to do. And that's after they bitched and whined about only getting two or three hours that they were late for.

Then the issues with the TCDs only adds to the frustration. And that's what this is really about. Frustration that doesn't even need to happen. And its all the direct result of greed (cutting routes to use helpers) and metrics that serve no true purpose other than to exist.

 

[laffter]

Miles are your friend.

This part doesn't make sense to me at all.

I'm helping on the mall route I load in the morning. The first few days of helping, they were adding a resi split. A guy from dispatch was telling me that we must be working well together because the driver is coming in at a decent time. He stopped getting that spit. Fast forward to 1-2 weeks later... my driver is being told that he's coming in over allowed too often and should work me fewer hours. We aren't doing anything differently. If anything, I'm only getting better and faster as I'm more familiar with where the stores and delivery points in the mall are. My driver was telling me it's because he isn't getting that split anymore, and thus is putting fewer miles in every day. Makes no sense at all...

Oh, and about the whole helper board thing. I put approx. 50 stops and 250 pieces in my board one heavy Thursday the other week. The driver had about 80-something stops and 380 pieces.

 

[MethodsMan]

So you find it annoying that union people have a false sense of entitlement? So do I. Yes, it is going to be a very busy Peak----17 days to deliver what we usually do in 20-22 days----but the alternative would be much worse. We should all be thankful for the jobs and benefits that so many of us seem to take for granted.

I have several homeless people who I see quite a bit on my delivery route. One of them is constantly searching through trash cans looking for deposit soda and beer bottles----I will save any that I have and give them to him. Another does the same but instead is looking for food. I refuse to give either money as I fear that their next stop would be the liquor store----occasionally I will buy each of them a hot sandwich.

I will have a new helper this year----he is a preloader who I have known for quite some time as he went to school with my son (one year behind). He is a smart kid who should have no problem picking up the DIAD. Since the DIAD will not be linked to the pkg car, I plan on using any windshield time as classroom time. I prefer to work as a team, not as master/slave, and a helper who can use the DIAD is a huge asset, especially on a commercial route.

^ great guy

 

[upschuck]

This part doesn't make sense to me at all.

I'm helping on the mall route I load in the morning. The first few days of helping, they were adding a resi split. A guy from dispatch was telling me that we must be working well together because the driver is coming in at a decent time. He stopped getting that spit. Fast forward to 1-2 weeks later... my driver is being told that he's coming in over allowed too often and should work me fewer hours. We aren't doing anything differently. If anything, I'm only getting better and faster as I'm more familiar with where the stores and delivery points in the mall are. My driver was telling me it's because he isn't getting that split anymore, and thus is putting fewer miles in every day. Makes no sense at all...

Oh, and about the whole helper board thing. I put approx. 50 stops and 250 pieces in my board one heavy Thursday the other week. The driver had about 80-something stops and 380 pieces.

I believe that during peak, times get cut. Maybe those times kicked in.

 

[MethodsMan]

I don't know how to use a helper board, how am I supposed to teach a helper?

 

[FilingBluesFL]

Who would have ever thought that a valid complaint about horrible peak dispatching and having to use helpers and helper boards would result in comments about drivers complaining while others are unemployed and bums digging through garbage cans? That is equally pathetic as our dispatching. There will always be problems in any company and there will always be unemployed and bums but neither have anything to do with the other.

Maybe these ARE the people doing our dispatch lol "Oh hey, lets talk ab HOLY CRAP DID YOU SEE THAT BIRD OVER THERE?!?!?!"

 

[JakeD]

I agree having a set number for the helper board makes no sense. if they need to use it for something then they do.

I don't know if 1 driver and a helper is faster than 2 drivers but i do know that 1 driver and a helper is faster than 1 driver. thursday we did 100 stops before lunch when he had done 50 the day before alone. I run.. he gets the next neighborhood lined up.

i don't know how far off the trace i'll get picked up this year.. last year i met at a pretty central location where he crossed a few times per day and we'd usually go straight across the street to the post office.

 

[Tough Guy]

The crap wage will often times not attract the best of the bunch, but if you do get a good helper, it makes a world of difference. I helped for two years, picked up the diad completely by the end of the first week. The 2nd diad came in especially handy when delivering plazas, or multi story buildings. In the plazas the driver would park in a spot where we could each knock out a different store (assuming we didn't both need a handcart) and the same for multistories. He would do one, I'd do another. (handcart not withstanding).

He would run off houses on his side of the ride, i'd run off mine. While he runs of his side, I prepare the next stop. While I ran, he prepared the next stop. Our productivity was off the charts.

I got a shot at driving this year. Havn't gotten a helper, yet (though I should have. I've been routinely over 200 stops for the past week or 2.) but I hope I get a good, trainable, helper like I was.

 

[UnconTROLLed]

Enjoy your 60-70 hour weeks

I'll be barely cutting 40 hours inside at 27.** an hour

Though it's doable, receiving 60-80 hrs inside during peak.

 

[soberups]

No, but that on top of everything else that have no advantages for the customers makes the job harder than it needs to be. Try putting only 19 stops when they want 20 because you forgot to switch diads. You'd be in the office to explain yourself, don't really need that hassle when you're already tired from the previous day. I guess they have nothing better to do.

Its not much of a hassle to politely remind them that every minute you spend in the office listening to them bitch about irrelevant metrics is one minute closer to your 60 hour limit for the week. Its warm in the office, the chairs are comfortable, and for $45 an hour on OT I am more than happy to sit there and listen to the bitching as long as they want me to. Or I can go deliver some packages. Its their call to make.

 

[1BROWNWRENCH]

Its not much of a hassle to politely remind them that every minute you spend in the office listening to them bitch about irrelevant metrics is one minute closer to your 60 hour limit for the week. Its warm in the office, the chairs are comfortable, and for $45 an hour on OT I am more than happy to sit there and listen to the bitching as long as they want me to. Or I can go deliver some packages. Its their call to make.

It's the same in automotive. Given a choice of a safely running vehicle with telematics not working or the other way around, it seems the latter is preferred these days. I can only stand to work so many hours, and I prefer them to be used for more meaningful and tangible work.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

I agree having a set number for the helper board makes no sense. if they need to use it for something then they do.

They set a minimum to force the driver to use the helper. What happens is the driver puts that number of stops in to the helper board and then throws it in the back.

I don't know if 1 driver and a helper is faster than 2 drivers but i do know that 1 driver and a helper is faster than 1 driver.

2 drivers working together would certainly outperform a driver and helper.

 

[JakeD]

I agree having a set number for the helper board makes no sense. if they need to use it for something then they do.

They set a minimum to force the driver to use the helper. What happens is the driver puts that number of stops in to the helper board and then throws it in the back.

I don't know if 1 driver and a helper is faster than 2 drivers but i do know that 1 driver and a helper is faster than 1 driver.

2 drivers working together would certainly outperform a driver and helper.

i know thats what happens..

i meant 2 drivers on 2 routes vs 1 driver/helper on a merged route not 2 drivers on the same car.