Signs of............. PEAK!!!!

[soberups]

Have you checked out that web site.Too funny.

Ah yes, the "authentic" Amish electric fireplace. Just like the real Amish families use. And you can order one for yourself, right off of the Amish Website. Or you can call the toll-free Amish hotline, where Amish operators are standing by. But wait....there's more! If you act now, we will include at no extra cost, the authentic Amish cell-phone charger!

 

[soberups]

I will never forget when we first went online with Package Level Detail and how it forced management to be honest and actually plan for peak.

Prior to that, the "plan" was totally inadequate for the volume---to the point that, by Christmas eve, we would have hundreds and hundreds of stops piled up in barns, garages, sheds, or anywhere else they could be stashed. These packages werent recorded or sheeted as missed, the only thing that mattered was getting them out of the building to maintain the illusion of a dispatch. On any given day, there were several thousand cubic feet of volume that simply could not be forced into the available vehicles, so drivers would have to go out on area, unload, and return to the building for more, knowing all the while that there was no hope of delivering what they had already offloaded. We would wind up delivering Xmas packages well into January....and yet, on paper at least, everything was still going according to the "plan."

That all changed when we went to PLD. There was no longer any way for management to hide the stops. They couldnt just bury them and clean up the mess later. The "plan" that had worked so well for years could not be sustained. Fortunately, those in upper-level management who had run the same scam when they were new chose to grant "amnesty" towards the operations sups who all the sudden were caught in the open without any wiggle room. Peak season got way better when we started dealing with reality.

 

[Cementups]

I'll tell you one thing, you'll never catch me doing 25 stops an hour with a helper, let alone 30-40, I don't care what freaking time of the year it is.

I had another driver come out to help me one day. Instead of taking wok off me he just jumped in my truck and we pounded it out together. We di 60 stops in one hour. don't ask and I won't tell.


My helper lives on my area and aready asked about coming back. He is 62 years old and by the best helper I have ever had in my career. He's aways ready to go and he's in good shape so he is always able to keep up. I pick him up around 10:30 and drop him off when we are done. And there is never any excuses, he's always there.

 

[Jack4343]

UPS can use driver helpers in the Southern region from October 1st - December 31st. Last year we had an extended peak that ran a few weeks into January because of all the gift cards that were given and used during January. UPS got permission from the Teamsters to use driver helpers in January last year and I expect that to be the case this January as well. Personally, I won't see a helper until sometime in December but some of our resi-only routes will probably start getting helpers next month. Our volume has increased the past few weeks and the routes that had been cut out have reappeared. I don't think the economy has improved but the increase is due to customers jumping ship at DHL.

 

[barnyard]

Ah yes, the "authentic" Amish electric fireplace. Just like the real Amish families use. And you can order one for yourself, right off of the Amish Website. Or you can call the toll-free Amish hotline, where Amish operators are standing by. But wait....there's more! If you act now, we will include at no extra cost, the authentic Amish cell-phone charger!

Says in big print, on the box: MADE IN CHINA

I've delivered a few and picked up a few.

TB

 

[barnyard]

It might be a subject of a different thread, but my volume has dropped. Last week, I had 130+ stops everyday (usually dispatch at 115). PAS was implemented on Monday and I have had 103-110 everyday.

Monday and Friday weren't bad. Tues, Weds, Thurs all sucked as they 'tweaked' the route those days.

TB

 

[trplnkl]

It might be a subject of a different thread, but my volume has dropped. Last week, I had 130+ stops everyday (usually dispatch at 115). PAS was implemented on Monday and I have had 103-110 everyday.

Monday and Friday weren't bad. Tues, Weds, Thurs all sucked as they 'tweaked' the route those days.

TB

Just now going on paseddpalspa and all huh? Just wait, it's gonna get.....

 

[Brownnblue]

In '05 & '06, I had a couple of very good helpers. They were willing to work hard and they could think on their feet when I was away. They also caught on to the DIAD very quick, but that was after I retrained them after management's training. I was also going out with about 210-220 stops a day, with the package car slammed so bad selection was an impossibility.

Last year my helper was horrible. Slow, said he knew the streets but he didn't, long winded with the customers, did I mention slow? Interestingly, though, I was only dispatched with 160-170 per day.

I guess that a helper, who does a good job, also gets more work!!

 

[trplnkl]

I guess that a helper, who does a good job, also gets more work!!

Ya thank?

 

[over9five]

Says in big print, on the box: MADE IN CHINA

I've delivered a few and picked up a few.

TB

What's your point? Surely you've heard of Chinas huge Amish population!

LOL!

 

[toonertoo]

They dont yet realize Christmas is always December 25th. Sneaks up on em every year.

 

[barnyard]

What's your point? Surely you've heard of Chinas huge Amish population!

LOL!

Yep, when I think of the center of Amish culture and population, China is the 1st place that comes to mind.

TB

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Monday and Friday weren't bad. Tues, Weds, Thurs all sucked as they 'tweaked' the route those days. TB

It is this "tweaking" that gives PAS/EDD a bad rap.

 

[barnyard]

It is this "tweaking" that gives PAS/EDD a bad rap.

Yep. The Tuesday tweaking was my suggestion that they did not enter correctly. So, the Monday errors were still there, plus the mistweak on Tuesday.

It was frustrating because when they announced the roll out date, I came here and did a search (who woulda thought, a user, using the search function) and read up to find out what to do to make it easier/more successful.

I typed out my 1st four sections, stop for stop, including all ranges. Got the 1st list and tried to correct their input errors. They did, kind of, then rearranged some stuff.

Thursday morning, I had an early AM and when I dropped my lunchbox, I noticed something amiss. After a really loud, " W T friend," part of it was corrected, they sent me out with the rest. It would have added an hour to my day, plus I would not have been able to deliver my NDA's and my regular route would have started an hour+ late. ANnnnnnnd, I would have had to get gas during the day, because they added 20-30 miles, mostly do to back tracking.

2 customers stopped me when I was at other stops asking for their stuff. It was cut from my route and added to another. So, instead of getting 9:10-9:30 deliveries, they were getting their stuff at 14:00-14:30. I had businesses that were getting stuff at 10-10:30 and I was delivering at 14:00-14:30.

Then, Friday, everything was fixed, kind of.

Now, I am debating whether it is worth fixing the ranges on the resi areas or just leave well enough alone.......

TB

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Keep working on it. It will make your life easier in the end, although it may not seem like it now.

BTW, you will find a number of DIAD tips associated with EDD on this forum which will also make your life easier. These include Find BC, setting the DIAD at a particular stop so that it doesn't go back to the first stop, designating NDA SVR stops as Residential or Commercial and so on.

Work the bugs out and you will find that PAS/EDD can be a valuable tool.

 

[PASinterference]

Peak plans?Take out old folder from last year,mark out 2007 and write 2008 and subtract 1 driver and 2 trucks.Add long hours and serve over rice.

 

[barnyard]

BTW, you will find a number of DIAD tips associated with EDD on this forum which will also make your life easier. These include Find BC, setting the DIAD at a particular stop so that it doesn't go back to the first stop, designating NDA SVR stops as Residential or Commercial and so on.

Those tips were all worth the effort to do the search.

The 'Find BC' button is worth it's weight in gold, gold, I tell ya.

I am probably complaining about nothing. My worst day, I ran 77% on trace. I did not see Friday's numbers, yet, but I would bet that I ran close to 90%. I ran my 1st 55 stops in order.

TB

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

The 'Find BC' button is worth it's weight in gold, gold, I tell ya. TB

Seinfeld? Banya?

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Peak plans?Take out old folder from last year,mark out 2007 and write 2008 and subtract 1 driver and 2 trucks.Add long hours and serve over rice.

This should have been posted under Life After Brown, under the thread "What's Cooking" by Moreluck. Sounds like leftovers from last year (and the year before and before that and so on and...)

 

[barnyard]

Seinfeld? Banya?

Ha, no soup for you.

TB

I say that when I walk into a pick up stop and they say, "nothin today."