telematics?

[soberups]

We have it here, although we are the only center in the state to have it right now. I don't mind it. If you are working by the methods and not wasting time you will be fine. We have virtual ojs's every week on somebody. They tell you to reduce your backs and question you on every stop that took too long. Why you did this, why you did that. Somebody said it shows hand brake usage. Our hand brakes aren't hooked up on telematics.

OP was talking about lunch breaks. Here we are told that you can't drive anywhere for lunch. You must take lunch in trace and your lunch begins at the time you leave your last delivery stop. Although that's not pushed so much now that we have new bosses. I was accused of stealing time during peak for takin my lunch at a hamburger place by the building. Told me I should of punched out when I left my last stop. Although it was in my trace back to the building.

Not true.

You have the right to drive a reasonable distance to a suitable location for lunch. The company cannot deny you the right to drive to the nearest restroom. And you cannot be forced to sit in the vehicle during the winter with no heat just because you are on a rural route.

 

[LagunaBrown]

Not true.

You have the right to drive a reasonable distance to a suitable location for lunch. The company cannot deny you the right to drive to the nearest restroom. And you cannot be forced to sit in the vehicle during the winter with no heat just because you are on a rural route.

Good post.......Theses guys are supervisors not Labor Law attorneys..... If all they care about is the numbers you better know your rights brothers.

 

[Bubblehead]

We have it here, although we are the only center in the state to have it right now. I don't mind it. If you are working by the methods and not wasting time you will be fine. We have virtual ojs's every week on somebody. They tell you to reduce your backs and question you on every stop that took too long. Why you did this, why you did that. Somebody said it shows hand brake usage. Our hand brakes aren't hooked up on telematics.

OP was talking about lunch breaks. Here we are told that you can't drive anywhere for lunch. You must take lunch in trace and your lunch begins at the time you leave your last delivery stop. Although that's not pushed so much now that we have new bosses. I was accused of stealing time during peak for takin my lunch at a hamburger place by the building. Told me I should of punched out when I left my last stop. Although it was in my trace back to the building.

Simply put, this is nothing more than an empty bluff in the hopes that some of the weaker minded drivers will by it.
They only say and do these things because it works to varying degrees with some of us.
It's up to the indivual as to whether or not they want to be had.

 

[FracusBrown]

And now for a small dose of reality. Telematics was primarily implemented to monitor critical systems on the car. NOT THE DRIVER! It was designed to aid in effective troubleshooting and repair of UPS vehicles. I work in a hub that has it and I am an Automotive Supervisor. I see the telematics report almost daily, it shows us vital information such as fluid temps, engine status and systems status of many different components. It has been effective so far. Yes there has been some faulty sensors and readings, mostly due to the system as a whole and not specific components. Yes there have been faulty switches but it is easy to identify component or operator (i.e. seatbelt switches). Yes if you are doing your job you should not have anything to worry about. True for my mechanics as well as drivers. yes the newer cars (2006 and newer) have the majority of components but they still need to have the "paddle" or module installed and activated. I have never heard the one about the grab rail switch. I am sure you will hear about sensors in whatever system is currently your center's biggest area of concern. Again 95% of the systems monitored have absolutely nothing to do with the driver and everything to do with the car!

What are the "critical" systems monitored that weren't already monitored by the vehicles on board computer? Does it monitor tires, brakes, steering, lights, defroster, wipers, an the other DOT required items? Can it tell the starter, alternator, ignition module, spark plugs, or 95% of the other parts are going to fail? If so, why do we still have just as many break downs as we had before?

 

[pretzel_man]

Yeah, yeah , yeah...You're being fed the fuzzy math stats from the supporters. I agree that known seat belt use is improved, known idle time is down, known backing is reduced, the rest is hogwash.

Don't know how to respond...

You don't like the facts I post, so you decide that they were manufactured, and that I am too naive and stupid to evaluate them for myself.

Lets not let facts get in the way of opinion.

P-Man

 

[pretzel_man]

What are the "critical" systems monitored that weren't already monitored by the vehicles on board computer? Does it monitor tires, brakes, steering, lights, defroster, wipers, an the other DOT required items? Can it tell the starter, alternator, ignition module, spark plugs, or 95% of the other parts are going to fail? If so, why do we still have just as many break downs as we had before?

Its probably more accurate to say that UPS is now analyzing these ciritcal systems instead of monitoring them....

Newer vehicles have a tremendous amount of sensors and their ECM is constantly sending out codes with the status of those sensors. UPS put a telematics device on the vehicles and every day the vehicle codes are downloaded. They go to a big database and are then analyzed.

This is where an algorithm runs and predicts a failure... Many, many items are stored and analyzed.

You can choose to not believe this, but the patent office did...

Here is a link to the patent that UPS was awarded on the technology.

http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20090102638

P-Man

 

[FracusBrown]

Its probably more accurate to say that UPS is now analyzing these ciritcal systems instead of monitoring them....

Newer vehicles have a tremendous amount of sensors and their ECM is constantly sending out codes with the status of those sensors. UPS put a telematics device on the vehicles and every day the vehicle codes are downloaded. They go to a big database and are then analyzed.

This is where an algorithm runs and predicts a failure... Many, many items are stored and analyzed.

You can choose to not believe this, but the patent office did...

Here is a link to the patent that UPS was awarded on the technology.

http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20090102638

P-Man

I understand what its supposed to do and I understand how it works. The question is - how effective is it at providing ROI from an automotive standpoint and what is the "real" purpose for installing it?

According to your earlier posts, backing is down, seat belt use is up, bulk heads are closed, production is up, etc. These are not automotive related issues.

I've seen and heard the rhetoric many times about how it's going to eliminate break downs, tell automotive when a part needs to be changed, and save millions in auto cost. Show me the stats on break downs and maintenance costs. According to my sources, break downs and auto cost are up considerably.

While you're at it, explain why the mechanics say they are required to change the starter, alternator, fuel pump, and several other supposedly "analyzed" parts based on how old they are. Isn't eliminating this practice the precise reason stated for installing telematics?

 

[JustTired]

I understand what its supposed to do and I understand how it works. The question is - how effective is it at providing ROI from an automotive standpoint and what is the "real" purpose for installing it?

According to your earlier posts, backing is down, seat belt use is up, bulk heads are closed, production is up, etc. These are not automotive related issues.

I've seen and heard the rhetoric many times about how it's going to eliminate break downs, tell automotive when a part needs to be changed, and save millions in auto cost. Show me the stats on break downs and maintenance costs. According to my sources, break downs and auto cost are up considerably.

While you're at it, explain why the mechanics say they are required to change the starter, alternator, fuel pump, and several other supposedly "analyzed" parts based on how old they are. Isn't eliminating this practice the precise reason stated for installing telematics?

I'm thinking that they may need to install something to monitor the reliability of the telematics unit. After all, I've heard others on hear state that there has been "false indications" appear on reports. And then what of the reliability of this new monitoring device? Will it need to be monitored also? .......and on and on and on.............!

 

[22.34life]

we have telematatcs in my building and have had it for a few years now.it is a big pain to all the drivers regardless of using the methods or not,good driver or not.it took the job from being about delivering packages on time and making the customer happy to a daily spread sheet.guys getting called in the office for things that dont amount to more than numbers on a piece of paper.the good drivers with 25 yrs or more that had not planed on retiring are now rethinking their plans.everone will have telematics soon,dont kid yourself.when i first started clerking i had drivers that would not help out other drivers came in at 9 oclock everynight but after telematics hit those same drivers were helping guys and coming in at 7 soaking in sweat.gone are the days of these guys walking up slowly to write up their clerk packages and talking for a few minutes now they come in running and are watching their every move as not to make a mistake.it really changed the drivers lives.

 

[I GOT ONE MORE]

"The location of the fire was identified so quickly because the plane was equipped with a sophisticated data transmission system that sent information via satellite to the company's airline operations headquarters in Louisville, Ky. The transmissions are so fast, people familiar with the investigation said, that UPS' airline operations half a world away had information in hand indicating the plane was in serious trouble before it crashed."

I know package cars are not airplanes, but this should portend our telematics future.

 

[Coldworld]

ups isnt the only company that uses this kind of technology...garbage trucks, ambulances, etc have gps and telematics of some sort....wouldn't surprise me if fedex gets this kind of system sometime soon..as you all may know fedex ground and express have a system very similar to edd. The system uses a pal label and has the same truck number---shelf number configuration that ups uses. You dont think ups isnt monitoring managers and sups on lunch time surfing the web and checking what kind of sites they are going to...as long as hoax isnt visiting the "girl" sites or even worst...the "brown bailout" site everything will be ok in ups land..big brother is everywhere, every large company.

 

[hellfire]

I understand what its supposed to do and I understand how it works. The question is - how effective is it at providing ROI from an automotive standpoint and what is the "real" purpose for installing it?

According to your earlier posts, backing is down, seat belt use is up, bulk heads are closed, production is up, etc. These are not automotive related issues.

I've seen and heard the rhetoric many times about how it's going to eliminate break downs, tell automotive when a part needs to be changed, and save millions in auto cost. Show me the stats on break downs and maintenance costs. According to my sources, break downs and auto cost are up considerably.

While you're at it, explain why the mechanics say they are required to change the starter, alternator, fuel pump, and several other supposedly "analyzed" parts based on how old they are. Isn't eliminating this practice the precise reason stated for installing telematics?

we all know what the real reason is

 

[pretzel_man]

I understand what its supposed to do and I understand how it works. The question is - how effective is it at providing ROI from an automotive standpoint and what is the "real" purpose for installing it?

According to your earlier posts, backing is down, seat belt use is up, bulk heads are closed, production is up, etc. These are not automotive related issues.

I've seen and heard the rhetoric many times about how it's going to eliminate break downs, tell automotive when a part needs to be changed, and save millions in auto cost. Show me the stats on break downs and maintenance costs. According to my sources, break downs and auto cost are up considerably.

While you're at it, explain why the mechanics say they are required to change the starter, alternator, fuel pump, and several other supposedly "analyzed" parts based on how old they are. Isn't eliminating this practice the precise reason stated for installing telematics?

As I recall, the financials for Telematics includes both Automotive and Operations benefits.

The areas of financial benefit comes from:
- Reduction of idling (15 minutes per driver)
- Automotive expense reduction (Reduced breakdowns, reduced PMI cost)
- Operations benefits (measured by NDPPH)

The automotive benefits comes from reduction of breakdowns and also reduced cost for PMI's. UPS has a preventive maintenance program where parts are proactively replaced while they are still working. For instance starters, alternators, etc. were replaced every two years (I think). With telematics they are replaced on an as needed basis based on number of uses and / or change in performance metrics for the individual part.

I am not an automotive engineer, so I do not know or understand all the specifics.

You now have more facts. As I said before, you can choose to let them determine your opinion or ignore them because they don't match what you already think.

Its up to you...

P-Man

 

[stevetheupsguy]

As I recall, the financials for Telematics includes both Automotive and Operations benefits.

The areas of financial benefit comes from:
- Reduction of idling (15 minutes per driver)
- Automotive expense reduction (Reduced breakdowns, reduced PMI cost)
- Operations benefits (measured by NDPPH)

The automotive benefits comes from reduction of breakdowns and also reduced cost for PMI's. UPS has a preventive maintenance program where parts are proactively replaced while they are still working. For instance starters, alternators, etc. were replaced every two years (I think). With telematics they are replaced on an as needed basis based on number of uses and / or change in performance metrics for the individual part.

I am not an automotive engineer, so I do not know or understand all the specifics.

You now have more facts. As I said before, you can choose to let them determine your opinion or ignore them because they don't match what you already think.

Its up to you...

P-Man

Is it just me, or are you being a little negative toward the person you're responding to? I'm of the opinion that you are a mgmt person that has many of the answers and is willing to give them out freely. The last few posts sound a bit negative because the person didn't wholeheartedly agree with you. Is it just me, or is this the case?

 

[SignificantOwner]

As I recall, the financials for Telematics includes both Automotive and Operations benefits.

The areas of financial benefit comes from:
- Reduction of idling (15 minutes per driver)
- Automotive expense reduction (Reduced breakdowns, reduced PMI cost)
- Operations benefits (measured by NDPPH)

The automotive benefits comes from reduction of breakdowns and also reduced cost for PMI's. UPS has a preventive maintenance program where parts are proactively replaced while they are still working. For instance starters, alternators, etc. were replaced every two years (I think). With telematics they are replaced on an as needed basis based on number of uses and / or change in performance metrics for the individual part.

I am not an automotive engineer, so I do not know or understand all the specifics.

You now have more facts. As I said before, you can choose to let them determine your opinion or ignore them because they don't match what you already think.

Its up to you...

P-Man

Don't forget savings on accident and injury expense from the reduction of risky behaviors.

Although there are savings in many areas, according to the training I received the biggest part of the payback will come from productivity gains.

In my opinion the problem is that there has been zero visibility up to this point so current drivers have gotten used to not following the methods. In many cases they've actually been trained to follow wrong methods. Drivers that start their careers with Telematics - and get properly trained on the methods - won't think twice about it.

 

[pretzel_man]

Is it just me, or are you being a little negative toward the person you're responding to? I'm of the opinion that you are a mgmt person that has many of the answers and is willing to give them out freely. The last few posts sound a bit negative because the person didn't wholeheartedly agree with you. Is it just me, or is this the case?

Steve,

First, admittedly I am in a bad mood.

Second, I took exception to the following statement he made: "ManYeah, yeah , yeah...You're being fed the fuzzy math stats from the supporters."

It implies that people I listen to lie, and that I am not smart enough to check things out for myself.

I don't need to be agreed with. I don't like being accused of being a sheep. I am generally very easy going (too easy going) but am not afraid to show my eye teeth.

P-Man

 

[stevetheupsguy]

Steve,

First, admittedly I am in a bad mood.

Second, I took exception to the following statement he made: "ManYeah, yeah , yeah...You're being fed the fuzzy math stats from the supporters.

It implies that people I listen to lie, and that I am not smart enough to check things out for myself.

I don't need to be agreed with. I don't like being accused of being a sheep. I am generally very easy going (too easy going) but am not afraid to show my eye teeth.

P-Man

I had a feeling something was up. Thanks for the reply.

 

[FracusBrown]

"The location of the fire was identified so quickly because the plane was equipped with a sophisticated data transmission system that sent information via satellite to the company's airline operations headquarters in Louisville, Ky. The transmissions are so fast, people familiar with the investigation said, that UPS' airline operations half a world away had information in hand indicating the plane was in serious trouble before it crashed."

I know package cars are not airplanes, but this should portend our telematics future.

You are comparing the most sophisticated avionics in the world to a device with the capabilities of a cordless phone and a cheap Tom Tom with a memory stick.

 

[FracusBrown]

As I recall, the financials for Telematics includes both Automotive and Operations benefits.

The areas of financial benefit comes from:
- Reduction of idling (15 minutes per driver)
- Automotive expense reduction (Reduced breakdowns, reduced PMI cost)
- Operations benefits (measured by NDPPH)

The automotive benefits comes from reduction of breakdowns and also reduced cost for PMI's. UPS has a preventive maintenance program where parts are proactively replaced while they are still working. For instance starters, alternators, etc. were replaced every two years (I think). With telematics they are replaced on an as needed basis based on number of uses and / or change in performance metrics for the individual part.

I am not an automotive engineer, so I do not know or understand all the specifics.

You now have more facts. As I said before, you can choose to let them determine your opinion or ignore them because they don't match what you already think.

Its
up to you...

P-Man

You speak as if everything you say is fact. I certainly don't mean to offend you or anyone else, however your "facts" are not accurate. It is this kind of repeated rhetoric that has people believing telematics can do magic. I can provide specific evidence of your inaccuracies, but I'd be violating the terms of service of this site. In the mean time, I suggest you go the the Igate. Look up the most recent bulletins. If you are as honest and accurate as you claim to be you'll report that you are 100% incorrect in your "for instance" statement above.

 

[pretzel_man]

You speak as if everything you say is fact. I certainly don't mean to offend you or anyone else, however your "facts" are not accurate. It is this kind of repeated rhetoric that has people believing telematics can do magic. I can provide specific evidence of your inaccuracies, but I'd be violating the terms of service of this site. In the mean time, I suggest you go the the Igate. Look up the most recent bulletins. If you are as honest and accurate as you claim to be you'll report that you are 100% incorrect in your "for instance" statement above.

Its probably been 2 to 3 months since I looked at Telematics data.

I have personally seen the corporate analysis. I have personally done analysis myself.

Fill me in on the analysis you did or information you saw to say that I'm inaccurate.

I will look for iGate bulletins on Monday.

P-Man