*********** warning letters

[Coldworld]

Cold

IT got to where you had to be a favorite of management to make bonus.

They would change items on the time card to keep the driver from making more than a couple of bucks a week.

One of the major items was apartment buildings.

If you had an apartment complex that got say 30 deliveries a day, and after attempting each one, you had to leave them all at the office, that counted only as one stop. You actually made 31 stops, but could only count them as 1. The golden boys learned really fast only to take them to the office without attempting the actual delivery. That caused the regular drivers problems because after three days of sitting in the office, the regular driver had to go back by to leave another notice.

Anyway, management raised all sorts of heck, made all sorts of threats, intimidated many drivers. That only made them more determined to vote it out.

Best thing we ever did for driver moral and getting back to doing the job correctly by the methods.

And after management got over their hissyfit, it was back to business.

The vote was done through the union. Majority carried the vote. I think we had almost 85% against.

d

Do you know of other locations where this has happen. I wonder if it could be done on a national level?

 

[ReLooped]

Wow, 5 pages on this subject!
here's my thoughts:

1. the issue of going to the bathroom...if they're really going to ride this driver about it, call the center before going. "i need to pee, can i drive x-miles to the gas station? it's the nearest spot with a restroom...or do you want me to pee in this bottle?" i know it sounds a little childish, but hey, you've put the ball in their court. if you get the ok to drive to the gas station, then even if he gets pulled into the office, he had clearance. it sounds like this guy's gonna be under the microscope, so he's gonna have to practice lots of CYA. it's always unfortunate when this kind of stuff happens, but sometimes it's the only recourse.

2. on the issue of sporh...again this is a bit of a pain in the ass to do, but start documenting things: "had to wait for 3 c.o.d. checks", "traffic construction forced me to take alt. route to route" "got approval from [insert mgt/oms name] to drive to 7-11 for bathroom" etc...anything that happens during the day that causes some kind of hold up or delay...write it down. if you can get the 3-day summary of your ojs that could help, because that will also list average paid day, over allowed, miles, all that stuff.

CYA, CYA, CYA

 

[dannyboy]

Do you know of other locations where this has happen. I wonder if it could be done on a national level?

Yes and no

There have been many centers that have voted it out.

And no, not available on a national level. The union would never have the guts to do it.

UPS management uses the bonus issue to divide the drivers as well. They shouldnt, but they do. That was a really big seller in getting drivers to see that management wants the bonus more than the hourly.

As was posted by lifer, our production never went down, service went through the roof, and there were less issues with drivers on road.

d

 

[brownrodster]

When a route was out of whack the manager of the center had to go out and OJS the driver to justify a time study. If the manager did this the study would be put on the schedule and would be analyzed by a TSO usually within a month or two depending on what is on the schedule

LOL. Our whole center is out of wack. 25 year old time studies and if you are 1 hour over that is considered doing a very good job.

That list to be analyzed by a TSO must be very long.

 

[JimJimmyJames]

There is a philosophy out there (I am not saying it is right) that if you give drivers more time through increased allowances, human nature takes over and they slow down to meet their previous over or under. Part of the problem is that everyone relaxes including supervision and the center loses performance on the whole, nothing is gained but it costs more to get it. So why bother.

Expect more from a person then they will ever be able to give to make that person strive to give the impossible.

Nice philosophy. I will try it on my children and see if they don't grow up hating and resenting me.

 

[UPS Lifer]

LOL. Our whole center is out of wack. 25 year old time studies and if you are 1 hour over that is considered doing a very good job.

That list to be analyzed by a TSO must be very long.

If you have 25 year old TS, you have a district that does not care about bonus!

 

[dannyboy]

So to get good time studies, we would need to vote bonus back in, get them done, then vote it back out?

Nothing like a company that is really interested in knowing just how well its employees are actuallly performing.

d

 

[soberups]

I could care less about timestudies from a bonus perspective. I believe the bonus system should be eliminated anyway.

The problem is that UPS is going to dispatch you based upon your plan day rather than your paid day.

We have a lot of guys caught in the "9.5 straddle". Their allowance is between 1.5 and 2 hrs off...so in order for them to get in under 9.5 hours, they have to be dispatched on paper as an underload. And God help the manager who dares to dispatch an underload, the I.E. goons will rip his heart out, eat it, and crap in the hole.

Result? Chronic 9.5 grievances and production harrassment.

We also have drivers whose allowances are so bad that it is physically impossible to force what the company percieves as 8 hrs of work into their package car. It wont fit. They go out every day totally bulked out, so they are fighting the load all day which puts them even further behind an already impossible production standard. Instead of loading the car for maximum efficiency and productivity...we are cramming it as full as possible in a desperate attempt to avoid the false perception of an underload. Service, safety and common sense no longer matter, the only thing that matters is not having "7.99" or less show up on a WOR the next day.

UPS is the place where we try every day to force the square peg of the time allowance into the round hole of reality. And managements only tool is a hammer.

 

[pretzel_man]

I could care less about timestudies from a bonus perspective. I believe the bonus system should be eliminated anyway.

The problem is that UPS is going to dispatch you based upon your plan day rather than your paid day.

We have a lot of guys caught in the "9.5 straddle". Their allowance is between 1.5 and 2 hrs off...so in order for them to get in under 9.5 hours, they have to be dispatched on paper as an underload. And God help the manager who dares to dispatch an underload, the I.E. goons will rip his heart out, eat it, and crap in the hole.

Result? Chronic 9.5 grievances and production harrassment.

We also have drivers whose allowances are so bad that it is physically impossible to force what the company percieves as 8 hrs of work into their package car. It wont fit. They go out every day totally bulked out, so they are fighting the load all day which puts them even further behind an already impossible production standard. Instead of loading the car for maximum efficiency and productivity...we are cramming it as full as possible in a desperate attempt to avoid the false perception of an underload. Service, safety and common sense no longer matter, the only thing that matters is not having "7.99" or less show up on a WOR the next day.

UPS is the place where we try every day to force the square peg of the time allowance into the round hole of reality. And managements only tool is a hammer.

Sober,

You are correct about the "double whammy" drivers (routes). Those are the ones that are more than 1.5 hours over allowed. For those routes, the only way to keep the paid day below 9.5, is to plan less than 8. Both cases are no-no's and will show up on a report.

For a moment however, lets put those aside. I agree that our dispatch plans don't work properly there.

Now however, we have the remainder of the drivers, and at least for UPS as a whole, the remaining drivers are the vast, vast majority.

Its not true as you state that the dispatch is only based on the planned day. Have someone show you the dispatch system. In the system, the supervisor is supposed to key in the average over / under allowed for each route. The dispatch is then done by PAID day not by Planned Day.

Therefore, a 1 hour overallowed route will show a 9.5 plan in the dispatch when only 8.5 hours of work is dispatched. Of course, this only gives the dispatcher a 1/2 hour window to work with here without showing up on a report.

While the methodology is not perfect, its still an excellent methodology.

P-Man

 

[upsgrunt]

Sober,

You are correct about the "double whammy" drivers (routes). Those are the ones that are more than 1.5 hours over allowed. For those routes, the only way to keep the paid day below 9.5, is to plan less than 8. Both cases are no-no's and will show up on a report.

For a moment however, lets put those aside. I agree that our dispatch plans don't work properly there.

Now however, we have the remainder of the drivers, and at least for UPS as a whole, the remaining drivers are the vast, vast majority.

Its not true as you state that the dispatch is only based on the planned day. Have someone show you the dispatch system. In the system, the supervisor is supposed to key in the average over / under allowed for each route. The dispatch is then done by PAID day not by Planned Day.

Therefore, a 1 hour overallowed route will show a 9.5 plan in the dispatch when only 8.5 hours of work is dispatched. Of course, this only gives the dispatcher a 1/2 hour window to work with here without showing up on a report.

While the methodology is not perfect, its still an excellent methodology.

P-Man

So according to this logic, if I average an hour under every day I will get more work because my on road time is down? Lifer said that UPS is wary to increase allowances because human nature would take over and drivers would slow down to meet previous over/unders. Where's the middle ground here? If you run over you are a slug who isn't carrying their share; if you run bonus you get more work so your on road hours are "in line" with what UPS thinks they should be. I guess if you are not good you are screwed and when you are good you are screwed as well.

 

[rocket man]

sphore shnore not matter what time you get done. You say I had a good day no wrecks no lates nomissed ill try to do better tommorow.see ya . annd remember you dont even have to say that much.

 

[JustTired]

I could care less about timestudies from a bonus perspective. I believe the bonus system should be eliminated anyway.

The problem is that UPS is going to dispatch you based upon your plan day rather than your paid day.

We have a lot of guys caught in the "9.5 straddle". Their allowance is between 1.5 and 2 hrs off...so in order for them to get in under 9.5 hours, they have to be dispatched on paper as an underload. And God help the manager who dares to dispatch an underload, the I.E. goons will rip his heart out, eat it, and crap in the hole.

Result? Chronic 9.5 grievances and production harrassment.

We also have drivers whose allowances are so bad that it is physically impossible to force what the company percieves as 8 hrs of work into their package car. It wont fit. They go out every day totally bulked out, so they are fighting the load all day which puts them even further behind an already impossible production standard. Instead of loading the car for maximum efficiency and productivity...we are cramming it as full as possible in a desperate attempt to avoid the false perception of an underload. Service, safety and common sense no longer matter, the only thing that matters is not having "7.99" or less show up on a WOR the next day.

UPS is the place where we try every day to force the square peg of the time allowance into the round hole of reality. And managements only tool is a hammer.

Excellent post! And in my opinion, right on the money. If corporate only reads one thing posted on this site, this should be it.

In a nutshell, it sums up the whole reality of where the numbers have gone in the past several years. From a useful tool to that was based in reality, to something that not only frustrates the drivers...but is detremental to the company in the long run.

Just what good are allowances if they don't reflect anything close to reality? Who is being fooled, here? It's not the drivers. It's not the local management team. Both know that the numbers are bogus. So again, I ask "Who is being fooled?"

 

[pretzel_man]

So according to this logic, if I average an hour under every day I will get more work because my on road time is down? Lifer said that UPS is wary to increase allowances because human nature would take over and drivers would slow down to meet previous over/unders. Where's the middle ground here? If you run over you are a slug who isn't carrying their share; if you run bonus you get more work so your on road hours are "in line" with what UPS thinks they should be. I guess if you are not good you are screwed and when you are good you are screwed as well.

Let me clarify...

In the dispatching systems, the performance on the WOR is what is used to determine the dispatch (in most cases), not the work measurement alone.

So, if you are 1 hour under allowed today, you will get 10 hours of planned work in order to make a 9 hour paid day. If you remain 1 hour under allowed, you will not start getting more work.

If you go to 1.2 hours under allowed, in theory yes, you do get more work in order to stay at the same paid day.

P-Man

 

[Bubblehead]

Sober,

You are correct about the "double whammy" drivers (routes). Those are the ones that are more than 1.5 hours over allowed. For those routes, the only way to keep the paid day below 9.5, is to plan less than 8. Both cases are no-no's and will show up on a report.

For a moment however, lets put those aside. I agree that our dispatch plans don't work properly there.

Now however, we have the remainder of the drivers, and at least for UPS as a whole, the remaining drivers are the vast, vast majority.

Its not true as you state that the dispatch is only based on the planned day. Have someone show you the dispatch system. In the system, the supervisor is supposed to key in the average over / under allowed for each route. The dispatch is then done by PAID day not by Planned Day.

Therefore, a 1 hour overallowed route will show a 9.5 plan in the dispatch when only 8.5 hours of work is dispatched. Of course, this only gives the dispatcher a 1/2 hour window to work with here without showing up on a report.

While the methodology is not perfect, its still an excellent methodology.

P-Man

The translation here is the inherent problem with this company IMO.
Rather than fixing the underlying problem we continually treat the symptoms. Day after week after month after year....

 

[upsgrunt]

Let me clarify...

In the dispatching systems, the performance on the WOR is what is used to determine the dispatch (in most cases), not the work measurement alone.

So, if you are 1 hour under allowed today, you will get 10 hours of planned work in order to make a 9 hour paid day. If you remain 1 hour under allowed, you will not start getting more work.

If you go to 1.2 hours under allowed, in theory yes, you do get more work in order to stay at the same paid day.

P-Man

So the reward for extra effort is extra work?

 

[brownrodster]

If you have 25 year old TS, you have a district that does not care about bonus!

We were supposed to get new ones when we switch over to PAS/EDD but they decided to keep us old school and not give us PAS in the forseeable future.

 

[pretzel_man]

So the reward for extra effort is extra work?

If performance (as measured by over / under) goes up, the choice is extra work or less pay.

P-Man

 

[QKRSTKR]

So the reward for extra effort is extra work?

But some drivers never get this. They keep crying about 10 hour "planned days" but are always in between 8 & 8.5. Then cry in the morning about the extra 10 stops they gave them cause they're still not working 9 hrs. Never ceases to amaze me.

 

[UPS Lifer]

The translation here is the inherent problem with this company IMO.
Rather than fixing the underlying problem we continually treat the symptoms. Day after week after month after year....

Sorry bu your analysis is way to simple....

The system is imperfect and will never be perfect.

Each route or area is different from the next. No two routes are exactly alike. This means that though one driver has a 9 hour planned day, his planned day is different from another driver's planned day. Whether it is stops, type of stops, number of packages, miles driven, density, city or country.... each route is different and cannot be compared by time allotted to complete the job.

Then to make matters more complicated for dispatch purposes, you have the driver's make-up to factor into the equation. (Experience - temperament - skill set - etc , etc.)

Therefore - one driver cannot look at another driver and compare the workload to his/her own situation. Some drivers may feel their 9 hour load is harder than your 10 hour load! They may have a million ways to justify their thinking.

All your dispatch team can do is look at each driver and assign work to that driver based on what that driver can handle within the guidelines and goals that have been established for the driver, group of drivers and overall center.

 

[dilligaf]

But some drivers never get this. They keep crying about 10 hour "planned days" but are always in between 8 & 8.5. Then cry in the morning about the extra 10 stops they gave them cause they're still not working 9 hrs. Never ceases to amaze me.

I wish we had this problem. We get 8 hr planned days and are not getting done until 10 hrs. Last night I clocked out at 8:45 on a rural rte. 115 stops/227 pcs/140 miles. I figured I would be the last one in. NOT! There were at least 3 other rtes still out. This is plain ridiculous. We have gone from 17 bidded rtes to 13. And they are getting 9.5 greivances right and left. Even senior drivers that have never filed a greivance in their career are filing. I worked 4 days last week and all 4 days were over. My sup told me yesterday morning, 'you won't be getting any help'. 1 1/2 hrs penalty pay, I'll take it. As far as I am concerned it is stupid, stupid, stupid.