Recollections of Peak 2010

over9five

Moderator
Staff member
What do you remember most about this Peak?

My Peak ended yesterday, and what I remember most about it was the few hours I worked. I did not go over 50 hours at all, and only a couple of weeks went over 45.
Now I'm not one to ask for OT, don't really need it, but it was strange to work so little.
 

UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)

Well-Known Member
I remember it most for the non-event that it was for me. Our center did a great job in planning for and then executing that plan. Little to no OT throughout. Weather was a non-factor. Outstanding helper who found out yesterday that he may be getting layed off next week.
 

Jones

fILE A GRIEVE!
Staff member
2nd worst peak I've been through, just glad it's (almost) over. Finally got clean yesterday after bringing back 50+ stops a day earlier in the week, some drivers were bringing back a lot more than that.
I'll remember how badly we under-planned this one.
 

Pkgrunner

Till I Collapse
This was my 23rd only 5 more left:happy-very:.

It was no better or worse than any other with the exception of the 3days of nonstop rain at the height of this peak.
 

curiousbrain

Well-Known Member
This was my first peak; arrived in October. That being said, what stood out most to me was how all the problems (feuds, stressed supervisor/employee relationships, etc) I saw when I first got here went away when volume got really out of hand. The people in the primary paced themselves and didn't blow out the belt(s), a lot less yelling and a little more understanding that everyone was under pressure to perform. Obviously, there were days where I expected gunshots to ring out; but going into it, based on how things were when I got there, I thought it would've been exponentially worse.
 

soberups

Pees in the brown Koolaid
As usual, the toughest part of this peak was the first two weeks of December, when our management seemed unable to comprehend why the hell everybody had so many stops.

Once it finally dawned on them that Christmas was getting close and that a lot more packages were about to come thru the system, they rented some trucks and hired some helpers and things actually went fairly well.

I bid a new route and started running it a couple of weeks ago, so there was a bit of chaos involved in the transition...but I also had a great helper and the weather has been good. I have been right at the limit of 60 hrs a week but I have been getting done and coming in clean and its actually gone pretty smoothly.

The peak season of today is far, far better than the peak seasons of the late 80's when I started. Package Level Detail has added a level of accountability as far as service goes; on a really bad day a driver might bring back 30 or 40 stops. Back in the 80's before packages were tracked, it was quite routine to bring 200 missed stops back to the building at 11:00 at night and in any given loop you would have barns and garages that were packed with missed stops that had been stashed there for storage. We would spend the entire week after Christmas cleaning them out. I am glad those days are over with.
 

robot

Has A Large Member
Mine was uneventful...rather boring.


I saw a couple coyotes and deer on the road. That's about it.
 
I`m still amazed that the planners get it wrong despite having eleven months of meetings and even token requests for ideas from the drivers on what went wrong with the past peak and how it could be improved.
 

tracker2762

Well-Known Member
Had a very nice peak. I did break down, transfer into a rental, fell out of the rental, transfered to p700 all within two hours. Got through that with just a sore elbow, then got hit in the head with a mirror bracket as the sup was clearing the isle cars in the morning. All is good. Went in for last day of peak, had extras, turned around and went home to start vacation.
 

Bubblehead

My Senior Picture
I`m still amazed that the planners get it wrong despite having eleven months of meetings and even token requests for ideas from the drivers on what went wrong with the past peak and how it could be improved.

It's what happens when you try to do to much with not enough.
 

doodoo brown

Active Member
Not much been off for disability since the 7th, on vacation next week, see doctor on 3rd of Jan. Needless to say work was not happy, they thought I was coming back 20th of Dec.
 

HEFFERNAN

Huge Member
Let's see !!!

The economy is getting back on its feet, xmas volume up 9% as a whole !!

Sounds like its time to hear about layoffs !
 

toonertoo

Most Awesome Dog
Staff member
Most stops ever, cold all through it, storms, snow, ice. No helper, didnt want one. They gave me a helper today, a driver whos route was cut, who knew my route, can I say it was "magic" Home by 5.
Merry Christmas everyone!
 

scratch

Least Best Moderator
Staff member
My Peak went well for the most part, except for getting a decent Helper. I had about eight before I got a great one two weeks ago. He got a good tip today. We would usually get all the deliveries off by 4:30 to 5:30. Our busiest day was Wednesday, we had 269 stops and got the last one off at 6:00. My normal SPORH is about 17.7, we were knocking about 35-40 an hour most of the day. Not hardly any overtime at all until this week. I'm glad they kept the extra split routes in today, I took a code 5 and clocked out at 5PM.
 
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