Why Cut Routes If Balance Of Drivers Are Over-Worked?

Livin the Dream?

Disillusioned UPSer
This is a serious, non-rhetorical question. I've searched here, and asked at my center, with no answer.

Why do routes get cut daily, then the balance of drivers have to work 10-12 hours to get the work done? I cannot figure how it would make financial sense; still have to pay insurance for the employees, and the vehicle taken off the road cannot represent a savings equal to the overtime paid.

Any help?
 

UnconTROLLed

perfection
This is a serious, non-rhetorical question. I've searched here, and asked at my center, with no answer.

Why do routes get cut daily, then the balance of drivers have to work 10-12 hours to get the work done? I cannot figure how it would make financial sense; still have to pay insurance for the employees, and the vehicle taken off the road cannot represent a savings equal to the overtime paid.

Any help?

numbers. x staffing for y routes. **** rolls downhill to center manager/oncar. There's no other reason aside from grim expectations from Mr. Burns sitting in his fat cat chair counting his money.
 

over9five

Moderator
Staff member
In addition to fuel savings (to and from areas), the company does not have to contribute to H&W for employees not working. ALSO there are no contributions after 8 hours. So they save money having employees working over 8, rather than more employees working 8.


Did that make any sense?
 

UnconTROLLed

perfection
next contract some efforts should be made to address this. Still drivers working in the hub here until early June while others have 12 hour days.
 

kingOFchester

Well-Known Member
I have been trying to figure this out as well. Here is the way I have computed the figures:

Scenario 1:
3 Drivers going out with 10.7 hours of work each = 365.00 in overtime.
The cover driver that is laid off is also being paid 136.80 to work the inside doing a double/split shift.
Total spent by UPS 501.80 plus bennies/workman’s comp and the like

Scenerio 2:
If they added another route to cover the same "overtime"...the work could be done by a cover driver for 136.80. In my building they would then need to hire 2 part timers to fill the vacancies left by the laid off driver being returned to work. The newly hired parttimers pay alone would be an increase expense of 76.00. This brings our growing expense to 206.80. This does not include workman’s comp and payroll taxes. Employment tax for UPS is probably around 6%....Workman’s comp around 7.5 and unemployment around 6. Grand total 19.5% of 76 around 14.50. So add the 14.50 to the 206.80 you get 221.30. UPS also has to pay into the pension plan for the new PART TIME employee's and that would cost around 60.00. Grand total 281.30. I am sure there are a few other expenses I am missing. At this point it would cost UPS 220 LESS to add the driver. But I did not take into consideration the cost of the additional truck, insurance, gas and any other expenses.
 

paidslave

Well-Known Member
I have been trying to figure this out as well. Here is the way I have computed the figures:

Scenario 1:
3 Drivers going out with 10.7 hours of work each = 365.00 in overtime.
The cover driver that is laid off is also being paid 136.80 to work the inside doing a double/split shift.
Total spent by UPS 501.80 plus bennies/workman’s comp and the like

Scenerio 2:
If they added another route to cover the same "overtime"...the work could be done by a cover driver for 136.80. In my building they would then need to hire 2 part timers to fill the vacancies left by the laid off driver being returned to work. The newly hired parttimers pay alone would be an increase expense of 76.00. This brings our growing expense to 206.80. This does not include workman’s comp and payroll taxes. Employment tax for UPS is probably around 6%....Workman’s comp around 7.5 and unemployment around 6. Grand total 19.5% of 76 around 14.50. So add the 14.50 to the 206.80 you get 221.30. UPS also has to pay into the pension plan for the new PART TIME employee's and that would cost around 60.00. Grand total 281.30. I am sure there are a few other expenses I am missing. At this point it would cost UPS 220 LESS to add the driver. But I did not take into consideration the cost of the additional truck, insurance, gas and any other expenses.



Here is my theory:

1. Ups doesn't want you to finish up early and get home.

2. Ups wants irratted customers and lost customer satisfaction, complaints to pull you in the office, more competitors, tracers and more rivals.

3. Ups wants to cause problems to make it seem they are correcting things that shouldn't have happened with proper dispatch in the first place.

4. Grievances, this one is important so we have a labor manager that actually has something to do.

5. Ups wants you out late to make any late OCA in your area.

6. Ups wants more management personel to correct the problems that were caused by improper management decisions that got us here in the first place.

7. UPS wants you to get frustrated and just quit to hire new runners.


I could go on and on! I have been there 25 years and this is how business works!

My2cents!:whiteflag:
 

gandydancer

Well-Known Member
I have been trying to figure this out as well. Here is the way I have computed the figures: ...

No. For one thing, you're double counting the $136.80. The laid off driver is a wash if he gets paid the same rate for the same number of hours inside as out. And the gas is pretty much a wash too -- the drivers getting ot use gas at the same time. And what do you save on insurance or maintenance by leaving a vehicle on the lot if you put the miles on another vehicle? The miles saved not getting the fourth truck out to the route is probably trivial. The tradeoff is mostly X hours of ot for the 3 working drivers (expensive) vs X hours of straight time split between two pt, plus two pt bennies. Which for new hires under the new contract can't be much (except the capitation may be unrelated to whether they qualify to get bennies). Sounds like a bad decision for UPS.
 

Livin the Dream?

Disillusioned UPSer
Add into the whole mix the complete demoralization of the workforce (Cover Drivers wanting to drive, FTers driving to exhaustion)

So it costs more, and upsets everyone. Somewhere there must be a reason...
 

Catatonic

Nine Lives
Add into the whole mix the complete demoralization of the workforce (Cover Drivers wanting to drive, FTers driving to exhaustion)

So it costs more, and upsets everyone. Somewhere there must be a reason...

Could it be the assumptions about cost?

UPS pencil-pushers are very sharp as well as their pencils.
 

ih8tbrn

Banned
What it amounts to is some dressed up dummy sitting in an office somewhere trying to justify his job by coming up with his own ridiculous scenarios that seems to make sense to UPS management.
 

paidslave

Well-Known Member
What it amounts to is some dressed up dummy sitting in an office somewhere trying to justify his job by coming up with his own ridiculous scenarios that seems to make sense to UPS management.


And the guy under this guy can't think for themselves?
 

ups1990

Well-Known Member
Over worked
Over stressed
Over 9.5

Sounds like the saying, the Allies had about American soilders during WWII.
Over Paid
Over sexed and
Over here.
 

BrownBlue

New Jack
IE will ruin everything we hold dear about this company. So, time to milk the brown cow till she runs dry. Save up fellas these 70 grand a year jobs are goin to be gone, and we'll all be wearing flurecent green and purple clothes and gettin paid diddly.:knockedout::greedy: Cutting routes equals no sales leads in my book, so IE go pencil push that you soulless fools.:peaceful:
 

old brown shoe

30 year driver
Seems like it is time to start laying off some management people since we are not using as many drivers. They can sit on their thumbs at home as easy as they can in a office getting paid for it. The numbers are getting really lopsided from management to hourly people with this company. It's sad when people who have never delivered a package know more about it than someone who has been doing it for years.
 

kingOFchester

Well-Known Member
No. For one thing, you're double counting the $136.80. The laid off driver is a wash if he gets paid the same rate for the same number of hours inside as out. And the gas is pretty much a wash too -- the drivers getting ot use gas at the same time. And what do you save on insurance or maintenance by leaving a vehicle on the lot if you put the miles on another vehicle? The miles saved not getting the fourth truck out to the route is probably trivial. The tradeoff is mostly X hours of ot for the 3 working drivers (expensive) vs X hours of straight time split between two pt, plus two pt bennies. Which for new hires under the new contract can't be much (except the capitation may be unrelated to whether they qualify to get bennies). Sounds like a bad decision for UPS.

Exactly. I dbl counted the driver at 136.80. If you take it away from both scenarios, (making it a wash) you still come up with the same final answer. I had the driver in each equation to make it easier to understand, but I guess that didn't work.

As far as insurance, do we know what the deal they have with the insurance company? Perhaps they have a bare bones insurance for parked vehicles and pay a higher premium for vehicles out on the road? I have a truck parked that I have just the state minimum liability on that vehicle while it is mothballed. It would not surprise me to see something like this with the size of UPS and their power to negotiate deals with insurance companies. Would make sense for them not to pay full coverage for a vehicle that isn’t being driven.

Gas can't be a wash. We have routes that take an hour to get on area. 2 hours of commute for and additional vehicle has to burn some gas...right?

Also, I know this isn’t going to be a popular opinion but.......I think it is just as arrogant for the drivers to assume that management isn’t looking at the bottom line but rather they are just out to bust nuts at any price. Just like some management assumes that drivers are all out to steal time and bust some nuts themselves. But what do I know? I just always assume that not everything is just black and white.
 

UnconTROLLed

perfection
Seems like it is time to start laying off some management people since we are not using as many drivers. They can sit on their thumbs at home as easy as they can in a office getting paid for it. The numbers are getting really lopsided from management to hourly people with this company. It's sad when people who have never delivered a package know more about it than someone who has been doing it for years.

I was just speaking with another BC member about this.

There are nearly as many useless supervisors in our hub as there are total number of hourlies it seems. Without the union - the packages can still flow - or something along those lines

Is there something we don't know about going to occur in the not so distant future?

time will tell.
 
What I'm wondering is if IE is taking into account the cost of drivers going on comp or light duty due to injurys from being overworked. I know in my center the comp list as almost doubled in the past 4 months, and there seems to be at least 2 or 3 people on light duty at anytime.
 

kingOFchester

Well-Known Member
What I'm wondering is if IE is taking into account the cost of drivers going on comp or light duty due to injurys from being overworked. I know in my center the comp list as almost doubled in the past 4 months, and there seems to be at least 2 or 3 people on light duty at anytime.
Now this I agree with.

I do believe if you look at just the dollar and cents of the bottom line, UPS is saving money. Atleast I hope so. But at what expense long term? I know that Air's (very profitable) are taking a hit and service is not where it was........damages I am sure have risen as they are overworking the preloaders and blets.....injuries up do to being overwroked, I am sire offsets any savings and probablly costing UPS more in the long run.
 
Top