peak .. night delivery

[soberups]

I guess taking care of the customers is another of the differences between you and me.

The way to take care of the customers is to force management to accept the consequences of their poor dispatching decisions so that they do not continue making them.

Leaving packages on the porch at midnight without knocking isn't "service". Its a cop-out. It is enabling management to continue pretending that their "plan" worked. And it is defrauding the customer out of the refund they would otherwise be entitled to if their package were accurately recorded as "missed".

When we deliver a package, we knock on the door. If its too late at night to be knocking on the door then it is too late at night to be there in the first place.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

When we deliver a package, we knock on the door. If its too late at night to be knocking on the door then it is too late at night to be there in the first place.

If it's on the car and I can get there it is delivered, regardless of the time.

I don't knock after 9 pm.

 

[10 point]

Me too.

I go through the lookups every morning. There was one in there for a ski shop in Lake Placid. The shipper had used their old street number so our driver (cover) brought it back as NSN even though he drove right by the stop. I gave it to our PDS who directed the driver to deliver it.

They're all still running scratch...an invisible goal line with service as collateral damage.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

They're all still running scratch...an invisible goal line with service as collateral damage.

We have one driver who we mockingly call "4 o'clock Rock". He is a cover driver who does not run off chasers, doesn't take the time to try to find the right address and is always off the clock by 4.

He has his own run now and is not as bad as he used to be but he still brings back stuff that he could deliver.

 

[soberups]

If it's on the car and I can get there it is delivered, regardless of the time.

I don't knock after 9 pm.

Why dont you knock after 9:00?

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Why dont you knock after 9:00?

I don't want to get shot.

 

[oldandcrabby]

I had every driver's nightmare one Christmas Eve about 35 years ago. If it looked like a Christmas gift, we had to make an attempt on it.

She got to the PC and I showed her the box. It was from her grandchildren. She said she thought they had forgotten about her. She started crying. I got her to sign, turned around and drove back to the center. I have to admit My helper and I both had something in our eyes. Must have been the dust from that old dirt road. lol. I punched out a little before midnight, and everybody was gone from the center when I got back. You know, it was worth it to me to see that little old lady's eyes light up. Sorry for the long post.

This made me tear up just reading it I can only imagine how much you made that women's day. This is what Christmas is supposed to be about.

 

[hellfire]

I don't want to get shot.

gotta agree with you on this

 

[soberups]

gotta agree with you on this

I agree with him too, except for the part about leaving the package without knocking. If its too late to be knocking, then its too late to be delivering period. Sheet as missed, let the customer get their refund, and make management pay for their failure to plan. There may be times when exceptions should be made, but as a general rule at 9:00 I am done.

 

[AKCoverMan]

Latest I've been out was 9pm off duty time. That was the day I got stuck in the snow at 5:30 near my second to last stop , waited for the tow truck for 2.5 hours, then hiked a mile up the road to find a farmer with a tractor because the tow truck driver couldn't find me. About 7pm is the second latest I have been delivering.

I haven't had a day punching out prior to 1900 for a month, except for the last two Fridays because I was out of hours.

 

[AKCoverMan]

I agree with him too, except for the part about leaving the package without knocking. If its too late to be knocking, then its too late to be delivering period. Sheet as missed, let the customer get their refund, and make management pay for their failure to plan. There may be times when exceptions should be made, but as a general rule at 9:00 I am done.

Our local sup requires us to keep attempting until 2130. After that the driver can bring it in no matter what they say. I prefer to get it done if I can but remote area that late are dicey for sure. Especially if you roll up in a rental like I had a few days the past couple of weeks. The men come out with the "who the friend are you" attitude (and no doubt several guns canceled about their person) although they generally soften when they see the uniform. I probably have to explain 40-50 times a day why I'm not in the brown truck!

 

[hellfire]

I agree with him too, except for the part about leaving the package without knocking. If its too late to be knocking, then its too late to be delivering period. Sheet as missed, let the customer get their refund, and make management pay for their failure to plan. There may be times when exceptions should be made, but as a general rule at 9:00 I am done.

admiral in theory, so you are saying at 9 pm if you have 5,10 20 plus pkgs lest, you will just bring them back, no sweat off your back?

 

[10 point]

We have one driver who we mockingly call "4 o'clock Rock". He is a cover driver who does not run off chasers, doesn't take the time to try to find the right address and is always off the clock by 4.

He has his own run now and is not as bad as he used to be but he still brings back stuff that he could deliver.

Your center on bonus?

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Your center on bonus?

Nope.

 

[10 point]

Our local sup requires us to keep attempting until 2130. After that the driver can bring it in no matter what they say. I prefer to get it done if I can but remote area that late are dicey for sure. Especially if you roll up in a rental like I had a few days the past couple of weeks. The men come out with the "who the friend are you" attitude (and no doubt several guns canceled about their person) although they generally soften when they see the uniform. I probably have to explain 40-50 times a day why I'm not in the brown truck!

It's awful hard to see your uniform in the dark.

We had a seasonal driver driving a rental stuffed into a cruiser WITH his full uniform on bcuz the neighbors couldn't read that unreadable, dark dot placard that says the co name in blue letters on dk brown decal.

It's dangerous in some areas and also rural ones that are getting robbed in broad daylight.

 

[Wally]

what do you all do.. is there a time when you stop ringing doorbells or knocking etc?

When ever my start time is.

 

[soberups]

admiral in theory, so you are saying at 9 pm if you have 5,10 20 plus pkgs lest, you will just bring them back, no sweat off your back?

Yes.
For one thing, I will have given the center ample warning throughout the day.
For another, my start time is 8:10, so by 9:10 I have already been on for 13 hours and it takes me half an hour or more to get back to the center and beat the 14 hour limit.
If I still have that many stops left at 9:00 at night, its a dispatch problem not my problem. In the past I have delivered as late as 10:00, but only under exceptional circumstances and under conditions where I felt safe in doing so.

 

[10 point]

Yes.
For one thing, I will have given the center ample warning throughout the day.
For another, my start time is 8:10, so by 9:10 I have already been on for 13 hours and it takes me half an hour or more to get back to the center and beat the 14 hour limit.
If I still have that many stops left at 9:00 at night, its a dispatch problem not my problem. In the past I have delivered as late as 10:00, but only under exceptional circumstances and under conditions where I felt safe in doing so.

Its embarrassing being out that late. Normal people can't grasp the genious in a net 5 + billion $ company that can't afford more workers.

I had one consignee yell "I'm going to call the cops!" thru the door when I explained that I was ups when he asked who was knocking. Evidently, he didn't hear my verbal announcement and one guy stuck a big knife in my face when he opened the door. He couldn't believe we'd be out that late.

Just downright embarrassing.

 

[10 point]

Do you suppose that new seasonal drivers are even trained to leave their cab light on (illuminates the cab for safety and the direct walk/step area off the pkg car) in risky areas?

How about showing them where the door locks are on the side doors "just in case"?

Violent crime and robberies are on the rise in many areas and I'm concerned for female drivers as well.

 

[Tough Guy]

Do you suppose that new seasonal drivers are even trained to leave their cab light on (illuminates the cab for safety and the direct walk/step area off the pkg car) in risky areas?

How about showing them where the door locks are on the side doors "just in case"?

Violent crime and robberies are on the rise in many areas and I'm concerned for female drivers as well.

"Door locks" are specific to a certain model package car? I've driven damn near every vehicle in our center, and I've never known of any locks on the doors.