Satellite route

Loco170Brownie

Active Member
Thanks for the info folks. This is the first Sat ctr thar we have here, they have been talking about it for years and the big push came when the gas prices were at their peak. There will be a total of three rotes on area, again me beibg the fourth as the feed, It is still a month away roughly but I will keep anyone posted as problems arise. Not tthat I think there will be any :happy-very:
 

rod

Retired 22 years
Satellite routes are great----------------------if you like starting late and getting off even later. Whoopie
 

soberups

Pees in the brown Koolaid
Satellite routes are great----------------------if you like starting late and getting off even later. Whoopie

Im not a big fan of them either, but we have a few where the driver is very happy. One driver went from a 70 minute commute to a 5 minute commute, so his net hours away from home are actually less even though his start time is later. They also enjoy being away from the building, the PCM's and the general corporate BS. They go weeks or even months at a time without seeing a supervisor.
 

dilligaf

IN VINO VERITAS
Im not a big fan of them either, but we have a few where the driver is very happy. One driver went from a 70 minute commute to a 5 minute commute, so his net hours away from home are actually less even though his start time is later. They also enjoy being away from the building, the PCM's and the general corporate BS. They go weeks or even months at a time without seeing a supervisor.
This is the part that I would like the best.
 

1989

Well-Known Member
As a feed driver pulling a TP6, you will automatically receive a $.25 per hour raise for all hours worked.


Depends on where you are, some supplements get a whopping $.10 extra.
 
W

westsideworma

Guest
Thanks for the info folks. This is the first Sat ctr thar we have here, they have been talking about it for years and the big push came when the gas prices were at their peak. There will be a total of three rotes on area, again me beibg the fourth as the feed, It is still a month away roughly but I will keep anyone posted as problems arise. Not tthat I think there will be any :happy-very:

hey loco was just curious which routes they were? The brookfield area? you can pm me if you think it might give away your identity online :funny:
 

Brown287

Im not the Mail Man!
I pull the trailor to a satelite location, and it works extremely well as long as everyone involved has the same goals in mind. They have a scheduled start time of 9:30 but unlike us in the building that is not etched in stone. I had the center change my start time to 8am so that I have enough time to rap up my truck, pull around to trailor, hook up and get all necessary equipment for my route and thiers. I leave as soon as I can sometimes as early as 8:10am and as soon as I leave the building I send them text messages of departure. So as long as the morning goes well I can most times get to them by 9am and thats when thier day begins. I leave the remote location in the afternoon as soon as my route is done, with or without them. The best tip I can give is double check the key for the pup everyday and most importantly keep in constant contact with the remote routes and the center all day and every day.
 

McLeod

Well-Known Member
For all satellite drivers; I have a copy of the Central Region Satellite Guidelines
it is a pursuant to National Master Article 38
Obtain it from your steward though your local BA. Every region would have a set of guidelines. This has been my bible, and since receiving it we have made some changes. Our sat. center works very well for all envolved from feeder driver, to cover drivers of both sat. route and covering for the feeder driver when we have time off. The only draw back to working out of a satellite center is you always get done late.
 

ol'browneye

Well-Known Member
We have no problems getting 8 hour requests at our sat ctr. We are still part of a bigger center so anything that applies to the home center applies to us.

We use to start at 7:45 at our sat ctr and load our own trucks. A 6:30 clock out time was a late day back then. Our supe had the bright idea of putting in a preload and now we don't start until 9:45. 8:30 clock out time is more the norm now! But 4 of our 6 drivers live near the sat ctr so I guess we still get home at the same time as if we had to commute to the main center.

Their are rumors now of moving some or all of us back to the main building. I guess since we are so slow and so many routes have been eliminated, they now have room for us again. Just have to wait and see.
 
The area in question is about 45-60 minutes away from our center so I will be curious to see what cost savings, if any, are realized from this change.
The company will save 3drivers X 45-60 minutes X 2 (to/from minutes) daily to start off with. Include 2 X less the mileage for the three PCs(which saves on fuel costs). The ability to have three drivers stay on the clock later in the day, before OT kicks in. Those are the pretty much standard savings. Plus if that isn't enough, the numbers can be skewed to make them appear better.

Also, if no one bids the Sat rtes, the lowest senior unassigned drivers will be assigned the rtes. Those people are usually not to full progression on the pay scale. They will not be paid to/from the sat ctr and will have to do the trip on their on nickle.
 

ol'browneye

Well-Known Member
Also, if no one bids the Sat rtes, the lowest senior unassigned drivers will be assigned the rtes. Those people are usually not to full progression on the pay scale. They will not be paid to/from the sat ctr and will have to do the trip on their on nickle.

It depends on where the people live in relation to the satelite location. As I posted earlier, 4 of our 6 drivers live within 10 minutes of our sat ctr. They were all happy to win the bids out here even though the hours suck. But I guess if you were forced to drive 50 miles to a sat ctr that would suck to.
 
The biggest problem for the drivers when a sat ctr is established is it takes away from the extended routes that used to considered retirement routes. Those are disappearing rapidly.
 

Loco170Brownie

Active Member
The biggest problem for the drivers when a sat ctr is established is it takes away from the extended routes that used to considered retirement routes. Those are disappearing rapidly.

This I can see, these were all high Sen routes before. It is kind of a middle of the list mix with the guys that have them now. Three guys around 15 years, one with over 25. I believe in this case all three guys that will start on area will be saving at least 30 mins of commute time to and from.
 

soberups

Pees in the brown Koolaid
Also, if no one bids the Sat rtes, the lowest senior unassigned drivers will be assigned the rtes. Those people are usually not to full progression on the pay scale. They will not be paid to/from the sat ctr and will have to do the trip on their on nickle.

At least in my location, this is not true.

A seniority driver cannot be forcibly reassigned to a different facility.

In my building, when the bid driver goes on vacation, the relief drivers have a choice; report to the sat ctr and start at a later time, or report to the building at their normal start time and commute out to the sat ctr on the clock.

Some prefer the later start time, particularly if they normally have a long commute and the sat ctr is closer to home.
 

soberups

Pees in the brown Koolaid
The company will save 3drivers X 45-60 minutes X 2 (to/from minutes) daily to start off with. Include 2 X less the mileage for the three PCs(which saves on fuel costs). The ability to have three drivers stay on the clock later in the day, before OT kicks in. Those are the pretty much standard savings. Plus if that isn't enough, the numbers can be skewed to make them appear better.

.

Thats how IE sees it on paper.

Unfortunately, it doesnt work that way in real life.

The satellite drivers in my center have not had a significant decrease in miles or hours. True, they arent driving all the way out to their delivery area and back from the building; but at least half the time they cant get all their deliveries done by the time the feed driver has to pull the trailer back. So they break trace, go back to the trailer to unload their pickup volume, then go back out to complete their deliveries. Total miles are still less, but not by as much as IE fantasized about when they came up with the idea in the first place.

There are other issues. For instance, the feed driver must lug the trailer out to the sat center before he can do anything else. This usually means that he cannot make service on all of his NDA, so it gets cut to another driver in the loop who winds up driving more miles as a result. Also, the feed driver might be 15 or 20 miles away from where he left the trailer once he is done with his own route, but he must double all the way back to retrieve the trailer instead of just heading in.

The bottom line is that most of the decrease in miles for the sat routes are offset by an increase in the other routes in the loop.

Another money loser is that you still have to pay preload to load the trailer, then pay the sat drivers to rehandle the same packages over again when they load their own cars. Same thing for the pickup volume, you are handling every package twice instead of once.

There is also the expense of renting a facility; obtaining additional pup trailers; equipping additional cars with hitches (about $850 installed); the additional $.25 per hour trailer pay; shuttling vehicles back and forth from the home center for repairs and PMI's that the local shop cant do; providing additonal DIADS and cellphones; and dealing with containment issues when both the trailer and feed car are blown out, requiring yet another vehicle to get in on the fun.

I am sure that sat centers are a good idea in some areas. Here, however, it was a case of IE deciding that they were going to implement it no matter what, and if it didnt work they would just pretend that it worked.
 

satellitedriver

Moderator
Satellite routes are great----------------------if you like starting late and getting off even later. Whoopie
Oh,
so true.
I have been a satellite driver for 14 yrs.
I save 110 miles driving to the center, as I did for 10 yrs,but I get home later now.
I have enjoyed this thread and stayed my input.
I have worked without a building, bathroom or any kind of roof over my head, when I load or unload.
No real point on my part, except, to warn anyone that thinks a solo satellite route is a cake walk, is in for a rude awakening.
 

Pkgrunner

Till I Collapse
Thats how IE sees it on paper.

Unfortunately, it doesnt work that way in real life.

The satellite drivers in my center have not had a significant decrease in miles or hours. True, they arent driving all the way out to their delivery area and back from the building; but at least half the time they cant get all their deliveries done by the time the feed driver has to pull the trailer back. So they break trace, go back to the trailer to unload their pickup volume, then go back out to complete their deliveries. Total miles are still less, but not by as much as IE fantasized about when they came up with the idea in the first place.

There are other issues. For instance, the feed driver must lug the trailer out to the sat center before he can do anything else. This usually means that he cannot make service on all of his NDA, so it gets cut to another driver in the loop who winds up driving more miles as a result. Also, the feed driver might be 15 or 20 miles away from where he left the trailer once he is done with his own route, but he must double all the way back to retrieve the trailer instead of just heading in.

The bottom line is that most of the decrease in miles for the sat routes are offset by an increase in the other routes in the loop.

Another money loser is that you still have to pay preload to load the trailer, then pay the sat drivers to rehandle the same packages over again when they load their own cars. Same thing for the pickup volume, you are handling every package twice instead of once.

There is also the expense of renting a facility; obtaining additional pup trailers; equipping additional cars with hitches (about $850 installed); the additional $.25 per hour trailer pay; shuttling vehicles back and forth from the home center for repairs and PMI's that the local shop cant do; providing additonal DIADS and cellphones; and dealing with containment issues when both the trailer and feed car are blown out, requiring yet another vehicle to get in on the fun.

I am sure that sat centers are a good idea in some areas. Here, however, it was a case of IE deciding that they were going to implement it no matter what, and if it didnt work they would just pretend that it worked.

That's how it is with the sat routes in our center.
It also takes the drivers longer to load their cars than it takes them to drive to and from the building; their planned day is lowered because the to-from is removed so they get more stops; and it adds at least 1 hour and 15 to 20 extra miles to the feed driver's route, while only cutting about 20 to 30 miles total off the sat routes day---especially since they get a later start on getting their NDA off on time. IE originally tried to cram 2 routes into each TP60 with the overflow eventually going into an extra car they would have to shuttle out since all the cars were packed. They have since conceded and we now have one tp60 per route satellited.
 
Thats how IE sees it on paper.

Unfortunately, it doesnt work that way in real life.
That's why I said, " Plus if that isn't enough, the numbers can be skewed to make them appear better."
I know I made my statement sound as set in stone savings, but what I should have said is, that is the company's stand on why have Sats. Sorry, if my over simplified explanation muddied the waters.


At least in my location, this is not true.

A seniority driver cannot be forcibly reassigned to a different facility.
I wished it were this way here, the last guys fought it but the union (once again) backed down form UPS. Our local don't have the strongest BA's.
In my building, when the bid driver goes on vacation, the relief drivers have a choice; report to the sat ctr and start at a later time, or report to the building at their normal start time and commute out to the sat ctr on the clock. Some prefer the later start time, particularly if they normally have a long commute and the sat ctr is closer to home.
I'm sure they would give the choice here if we had a cover driver that wanted to start at the Sat Ctr, but no one lives that close so they just load it out of the home ctr. When I have to cover one for vaca, I tell them I won't do the route unless it's loaded here. If it is a one day cover, I start at home ctr my regualr start time and commute in an empty UPS truck.Those are always 12 hour days.

If anyone is thinking of bidding a Sat Ctr and moving to that town, beware UPS can yank that/those routes back to the home ctr with a 30 day notice and a meeting.
 
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