What to expect on first days as a new driver?

toonertoo

Most Awesome Dog
Staff member
Answer this for me:

Way back before DIADS, before Mapquest, before PAS/EDD, before smartphones and Google maps, how did us old troglodytes ever learn routes?
I am a swing driver, even though I have had the same route for 13 yrs. I get so many new splits every day. I find it very hard to learn an area with Orion. If you follow it, it is easier, but as far as learning it, not so much.
 

toonertoo

Most Awesome Dog
Staff member
back in the day they also used sundials to tell time..

your point? I would love to see these old drivers do 220-230 stops with 135lb packages bricked out ..winter..dark at 5..going out blind your first week, with alll the cars and people out nowadays..with a paper map. They couldn't


the stop count was so much lower 30 years ago. Im sorry but they are full of :censored2:.

I get "get it" you guys used to do this and that and this and that..but times change, its different now.
Yeah, and we also drove manual shifts, with wooden doors, and keys to unlock everything, little to no heat in the winter, wooden shelves, constant slivers. Paper that got wet and pens that froze, in the winter. Little to no lighting, and no LED lighting. Not to mention, no power steering and a 2 foot step. Thousands in cash in cods, No cell phones, no diads, no communications over a phone, or a diad. Yet we managed. We just suck.
 

burrheadd

KING Of GIFS
Yeah, and we also drove manual shifts, with wooden doors, and keys to unlock everything, little to no heat in the winter, wooden shelves, constant slivers. Paper that got wet and pens that froze, in the winter. Little to no lighting, and no LED lighting. Not to mention, no power steering and a 2 foot step. Thousands in cash in cods, No cell phones, no diads, no communications over a phone, or a diad. Yet we managed. We just suck.

Ahh the good Ol days
 

retiredTxfeeder

cap'n crunch
ack in the day they also used sundials to tell time..

your point? I would love to see these old drivers do 220-230 stops with 135lb packages bricked out ..winter..dark at 5..going out blind your first week, with alll the cars and people out nowadays..with a paper map. They couldn't


the stop count was so much lower 30 years ago. Im sorry but they are full of :censored2:.

I get "get it" you guys used to do this and that and this and that..but times change, its different now.
Well, since you brought it up.....You don't think it got dark at 5 o'clock when the "old timers" delivered? DST started in the US in 1967. You do bring up 1 point however. I could never do the kind of stop counts you greyhounds deliver today, that's for sure. The reason? We had to acquire a signature for EVERY SINGLE package, and if the consignee wasn't home, you had to walk around and find a neighbor that would be willing to accept the delivery and sign for it.. We also had CODS back then. Wasn't unusual to have 20 -30 per day. and it does take a little time to find someone to write a check or scrape up enough cash from the couch cushions to pay for the package. And you waited patiently till you got the money for the COD. Bricked out package cars? Junior, I've seen more brick walls than a union bricklayer. I would have loved to have the opportunity to drop a package on a porch and run back to the PC. Seems like the new breed of drivers like yourself think they are all that and a bag of chips. Instead of belittling the drivers who did this job before you, you might try showing a little respect. It goes a long way.
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olroadbeech

Happy Verified UPSer
I just recently finished Intergrad, and I want to know what will the next step is. There are something I still do not understand, like "How do you know where to go?" I know you have the address in the DIAD and you have your deliveries with commitment times, but how do you know where to go? If you never been to an area before, what should you do? I need some pointers.
Also, how can you tell which delivery is next, I remember the discussion about centers using Orion, which you have to follow, but what about other situations?
Mr. T........"PAIN"
 

ManInBrown

Well-Known Member
First days won't be that bad. It's after the first few days, If you show an ability to get the job done. Which if you're trying to qualify. and leave a good impression I'm assuming is the case. You're going to need to Stock up on plenty of LUBE.
 
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