What can i do better?

[Ms.PacMan]

Mechanic for Brown - I have a cute mechanic's first day story. My clutch went out and it was the new mechanic's first job (UPS was also his first mechanic's job). The next morning I got a message on area to call the mechanic immediately, he was looking for me.

He woke up with a start that morning and couldn't remember if had put the cotter pin in the new clutch. He wasn't even on the clock and was driving around looking for me. He checked it over (he had remembered) then let me go.

I wonder if new surgeons do the same thing?

 

[dilligaf]

Mechanic for Brown - I have a cute mechanic's first day story. My clutch went out and it was the new mechanic's first job (UPS was also his first mechanic's job). The next morning I got a message on area to call the mechanic immediately, he was looking for me.

He woke up with a start that morning and couldn't remember if had put the cotter pin in the new clutch. He wasn't even on the clock and was driving around looking for me. He checked it over (he had remembered) then let me go.

I wonder if new surgeons do the same thing?

That's pretty funny.

 

[soberups]

The mechanics at my building are all great, they struggle with a lot of the same corporate penny-pinching BS as we do, in terms of being overworked and having to fight to get an adequate supply of spare parts.

They like me because I have avoided several road calls by either repairing the vehicle myself, or getting unstuck with the help of a customer.

I had my flashers and turn signals go out one day, there is a flasher unit that plugs into the fuse box and it started going bad. I kept tapping it with my finger to unstick it, but eventually it quit for good. So instead of a road call or a tow bill, I spent $10 of my own money at an auto-parts store and replaced it myself (of course I got reimbursed the next day).

Another time my brake lights malfunctioned and stayed on all the time, causing the brake alarm on the dash to light up and beep incessantly. The culprit was a little switch that mounts on top of the brake lever arm and opens when you press the pedal, causing the light to energize; It had stuck in the "open" position so I jury-rigged it by duct-taping a couple of quarters to the pedal arm in order to force the plunger on the switch to open and close normally. That little bit of improvisation saved the shop about $200 on a tow.

 

[SmithBarney]

A mint on the seat would be really nice...

 

[rod]

This may sound stupid but....do get women more attention then men do? It seems like the women flirt with the mech's and they get anything done (I've even seen one sweep out her truck!). When they ask for new tires POOF! next morning brand news tires, mines? practically bald. Favoritism runs rampant in our center.

quote]

thats life in a nutshell-----------them womens always get treated nicer

 

[upsdude]

We had a mechanic several years ago that acquired a key to the shop’s time clock. Why work the complete shift when you can simply open the clock, change the time, punch out, reset the clock and go clubbing. Everything worked just fine until his boss realized at 2:00 AM that he needed to speak with -----. Boss calls, no answer. Boss calls later and has the preload sup go find -----. Nothing. This happens a couple more times, boss plays detective. Last I heard ----- is now a member of the Manny Moe and Jack wrenching team. But hey, now he works during the day but doesn’t make enough to go clubbing.

 

[trplnkl]

We had a mechanic several years ago that acquired a key to the shop’s time clock. Why work the complete shift when you can simply open the clock, change the time, punch out, reset the clock and go clubbing. Everything worked just fine until his boss realized at 2:00 AM that he needed to speak with -----. Boss calls, no answer. Boss calls later and has the preload sup go find -----. Nothing. This happens a couple more times, boss plays detective. Last I heard ----- is now a member of the Manny Moe and Jack wrenching team. But hey, now he works during the day but doesn’t make enough to go clubbing.

He must not of been much of a Mechanic if he can't make enough to go clubbing doing line work. OF course he was Darwin stupid, soooo

 

[upsdude]

My mechanic gives me a heads up if my car will be pulled for a PMI etc. He will also check with me to see if I have a Personal day scheduled, if so he’ll do the PMI on that day.

I never write up BS stuff and always give the mechanic a heads up before I write up something minor. Give the mechanics a break, they have “planned day” BS to deal with just like we do.

 

[upsdude]

He must not of been much of a Mechanic if he can make enough to go clubbing doing line work. OF course he was Darwin stupid, soooo

He wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, good with clocks though. LOL.

 

[toonertoo]

This may sound stupid but....do get women more attention then men do? It seems like the women flirt with the mech's and they get anything done (I've even seen one sweep out her truck!). When they ask for new tires POOF! next morning brand news tires, mines? practically bald. Favoritism runs rampant in our center.

quote]

thats life in a nutshell-----------them womens always get treated nicer

YUP! At least someone cares

 

[diesel96]

Our old mechanic was extremely good. He transferred to North Carolina and was replaced by yet another good guy. The new mechanic has switched out motors, exhaust and given me a brand new seat for my 800. Not one of those regular seats either, mine is the deluxe with the high back. If it comes down to parts, it's always a wait, but this guy gets the job done.

We're in a small center, so we only have one mechanic, but I guess diesel is right, ride a bike and get to know these guys.

Is it me or are you auditioning for the Blue Man group in that picture...Nice Bike anyhow....so shiney I need my sunglasses just to look at it..

He woke up with a start that morning and couldn't remember if had put the cotter pin in the new clutch. He wasn't even on the clock and was driving around looking for me. He checked it over (he had remembered) then let me go.

I know the feeling, when I wake up in the morning I'm looking to put my Cotter Pin somewhere also..

A mint on the seat would be really nice...

LOL...good one, but the Feeder Mechanic ought to leave 99 cent dbl cheeseburgers on our seat....

 

[deepsouthmamaw]

I trust our mic. I know absoutly not a thing about the mechanics of a vehicle. I have learned some over the years. I know my vehicle if I hear, see or feel any difference in vehicle I will talk to mechanic and he checks it out.

 

[helenofcalifornia]

Our mechanic can fix dollies, that's about it. The mechanic before him could fix anything and knew all the UPS news and gossip days before management did. He was good.

 

[Paid-over-in-Maine]

I had a problem with my truck one year, it developed a vibration. I called it in and the mechanic on duty asked if the lug nuts were tight, and if the wheels turned. Yes, so keep going. Later it got so bad that I started to head back to the center to get a different truck. About 4 miles from the center it caught fire. It vibrated so much the bolts for the starter loosened up and the starer grounded out against the frame. There happened to be a local fireman that stopped and said that he would be back with a truck....well, he brought the whole fire dept. with him. If you could have seen them trying to unhook the cable from the battery! They couldn't get them off, and ended up cutting them off. No damage to the cargo. Had to go back out to finish the 20 stops I had left.

 

[MechanicForBrown]

Please don't use the "red tag" as revenge for minor write-ups.

But the red tag is our best friend!! LOL

You better or he might take one of his wrenches and tighten your nuts!

And we have all different sizes for all kinds of nuts!

No complaints about mine, he is the best. A great family man, and pretty darn good looking too.

My wife told me I was good looking once. I think.......

I've always felt that the mechanics and drivers are on the same side. I say this because when I write things up in the DVIR they never call me an idiot. I only drive the brown truck, I know nothing else. I'm told by our supervisor to write everything up that may be broken.

I know the mechanics have their hands full and I don't want to write-up frivolous problems to keep them from more important jobs but I want to prevent a future break-down because it hurts both of us.

I wish I knew more about the mechanics of a UPS truck but I don't. Maybe the drivers should be given a crash course on how the truck runs. I'm not talking about 2 hours at the end of driving school. How about an in-depth class that runs 40 hours/week for 2-3 weeks?

I think this would be a great use of out time.

That would be nice but they would never go for that.Some drivers really need a crash course, I had a feeder driver of oohhh 10-15 years come up to me once and ask for a fuse, I said OK, what kind/size, he said and e fuse? I said an E fuse? he said yup, I asked him to get the fuse in question for me and it turned out it was a 3 amp fuse he was reading side ways.....

A mint on the seat would be really nice...

I think a mint would take away from the special scent that the driver has captured in that seat!!

We had a mechanic several years ago that acquired a key to the shop’s time clock. Why work the complete shift when you can simply open the clock, change the time, punch out, reset the clock and go clubbing. Everything worked just fine until his boss realized at 2:00 AM that he needed to speak with -----. Boss calls, no answer. Boss calls later and has the preload sup go find -----. Nothing. This happens a couple more times, boss plays detective. Last I heard ----- is now a member of the Manny Moe and Jack wrenching team. But hey, now he works during the day but doesn’t make enough to go clubbing.

He obviously wasn't a good clock mechanic now was he. You can't FIX stupid!!

I had a problem with my truck one year, it developed a vibration. I called it in and the mechanic on duty asked if the lug nuts were tight, and if the wheels turned. Yes, so keep going. Later it got so bad that I started to head back to the center to get a different truck. About 4 miles from the center it caught fire. It vibrated so much the bolts for the starter loosened up and the starer grounded out against the frame. There happened to be a local fireman that stopped and said that he would be back with a truck....well, he brought the whole fire dept. with him. If you could have seen them trying to unhook the cable from the battery! They couldn't get them off, and ended up cutting them off. No damage to the cargo. Had to go back out to finish the 20 stops I had left.

You must have gotten the automated line at the local shop..... "JUST KEEP GOING" Means that we hope that the wheels stay on and theres no accident, oh and we don't need another road call or the wrench goes up sideways this time!!

 

[Paid-over-in-Maine]

oh and we don't need another road call or the wrench goes up sideways this time!!

LOL!

 

[BigBrownSanta]

thanks everyone for the comments, keepm comin!
i'd love to hear some breakdown storys, i know you guys have done somthing crazy just to get the truck back!!! I have quite a few drivers outof my hub that will come back in rollin on the frame if thats what it takes.

I once ran out of gas about 30 miles from the building. Sent a message and was told a mechanic would bring some gas. About 2 hours later, the mechanic shows up with 1 gallon of gas and no fuel card. We both got a good laugh out of it. He followed me to a gas station and I used my credit card to get gas. This was back when the customer counter would reimburse us, so I was repaid. They no longer allow the customer counter to do that, but it doesn't matter since I now have a route that doesn't have as many miles on it.

Another time, my truck wouldn't start. I (like everyone else it appears) was told to tape the ignition on. I asked if I would be accountable if the truck had an accident while I was away. No one answered. I finished the day by popping the clutch to start the engine at each stop. The hardest part was finding an incline to park on so I could get the truck to roll.

On a more negative note, whenever a mechanic takes my truck for PMI, or more recently, for painting, they always seem to replace it with the worst dog of a truck they can find. I usually write up everything I can find wrong with the truck. I mean everything. With that said, I need to add that they don't seem to take my truck away as much anymore.

 

[MD Dan]

My mech's are great but I do have one request. When you guys are going to pull a car for routine maintenance it is soooo nice if you let the driver know in advance so that the driver can pull his/her personal items from the car before it goes to the shop(map,glasses,handcart,conveyors,dog biscuits,delivery notices, spare pens,hat,etc,etc). Remember -- the truck is our office/tool chest. Keep up the good work!

 

[trplnkl]

Another time, my truck wouldn't start. I (like everyone else it appears) was told to tape the ignition on. I asked if I would be accountable if the truck had an accident while I was away. No one answered. I finished the day by popping the clutch to start the engine at each stop. The hardest part was finding an incline to park on so I could get the truck to roll.

That makes for a long day. Try driving one for your last twenty stops and then a 40+ mile drive back to the ctr without a clutch. Pardner that is not fun.

 

[BigBrownSanta]

That makes for a long day. Try driving one for your last twenty stops and then a 40+ mile drive back to the ctr without a clutch. Pardner that is not fun.

I agree that would not be fun.

I had the gear shifter get stuck in 2nd one time. They tried to talk me through taking the shifter out and reinserting it. I couldn't do it. They wanted me to drive in 2nd to finish my route. I told them I didn't feel it would be safe for me to drive 25 mph on the highway. The center manager came out and fixed it while at the same time trying to explain how to fix it. I still can't do it to this day.