mall routes...love them or hate them.

coldworld · 05-10-2008, 01:33 PM

Any of you have a mall route, if so, do you like it, or are you stuck with it. What are the reasons, if you have this kind of route, that you love/hate it...besides looking at all the young hotties working at the bra boutique.

Service Failure · 05-10-2008, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coldworld

...besides looking at all the young hotties working at the bra boutique.

Damnit! That was going to be my answer!

looper804 · 05-10-2008, 04:08 PM

Years ago I had a co-worker that had a large mall route.We both wore contact lenses at the time.(both had lasik a few years ago) He would go thru lenses at the rate of 3 to 1 compared to me.My opinion was that the air in the malls is recycled and has less oxygen in it.He transferred to the country years ago.

brownmonster · 05-10-2008, 05:01 PM

I agree. After 5 minutes in a mall my eyes are dry and tired. When I go with the family I sit in the massage chairs in front of VS while they shop. I delivered to the local mall but it's a cracker box compared to the big malls.

UpstateNYUPSer · 05-10-2008, 05:06 PM

The driver in our center who delivers the mall (it's a small, one story mall with 2 anchors currently w/Target coming this fall) enjoys his run but does tell us that EDD is unable to separate the individual stores and all pkgs for that address are palled to the same location so the preloader has to load the car the way that the driver wants it loaded, not based on EDD.

brownmonster · 05-10-2008, 05:14 PM

You can seperate stops by store name even if the address is the same. Something your supe will have to do for you. It's not perfect because the label on the package has to list the store name first. I have several small strip malls where I have to sort through.

DS · 05-10-2008, 05:20 PM

I did a big mall a few years ago and I grew to hate it over the period of about 3 years.It was a big figure 8,so on light volume days it was a breeze to do 35-40 stops in an hour by meticulously loading up the 4 wheel handcart and just fd delivering everything in one walk around the figure 8.Light days were rare though,and about 1/3 of the shops do not have back doors.
True,the scenery was nice but peak was insane,and the stupid antiques sidewalk sales they had every month or two made it a next to impossible task.

outamyway · 05-10-2008, 06:29 PM

You guys want malls? We have plenty.

Forum Shops (two routes)
Miracle Mile Shops(one route)
Canal Shops (one route)
Bellz Mall (one route- two to three trucks)
Boulevard Mall (one route)
Fashion Show Mall (two routes)
Town Square (one route)

I have never done an entire mall route but most of the drivers I know that have them like them. I guess like most routes they are a PITA at first, but once you know where your going, it's not too bad.

I have helped deliver bulk stops during peak and I do not like it. Five to six trips with a full cart half way across a mall and down cramped back door hallways is not my cup of tea.

Also, some people walk as bad as they drive. I know you see the cart! Get out of the way! lol

pkg-king · 05-10-2008, 06:50 PM

The guys who have the mall routes in our center love them, out of the weather is the big reason.

Cementups · 05-10-2008, 07:59 PM

I had a mall route before my current country route. I keep the country. I liked it at first then they just kept shafting me so I wanted out. The big pluses was the eye candy and the discounts. If you are good to them then they will be good to you.

bugman74 · 05-11-2008, 03:25 AM

I do the Pier at Ceasars in Atlantic City and it has its pluses and minus. I am only out of the weather when i am inside, I have to park a block away inbetween two casinos which creates a nice windtunnel effect. The wind makes it fun when you have to chase a high value box down the street. I have a helper for a few hours which takes a bit of strain off of me. The views are very nice, that is for sure.

Cementups · 05-11-2008, 06:15 AM

^I was just there yesterday. I never actually went into Ceaser's yesterday. I did win $805 playing Craps at Borgata though and another $175 at Tropicana before I left. good times!

BURMDPsupe · 05-11-2008, 06:34 AM

Pros: Weather, or lack of the harsh elements; food court; bathrooms; scenery; discounts not listed on upsers.com; no late air; you can always wear shorts!

Cons: Monday pick-ups; inattentive crowds; peak (which starts in late Sept. in malls); broken elevators to the third floor; mall music.

M-

cino321 · 05-11-2008, 07:22 AM

I've covered a route that has a mall (very small mall but still) on it and I enjoyed it, I felt like I was hanging out all day, but then I had 30 resi stops left after the pick ups.

bigbrownman · 05-11-2008, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UpstateNYUPSer

The driver in our center who delivers the mall (it's a small, one story mall with 2 anchors currently w/Target coming this fall) enjoys his run but does tell us that EDD is unable to separate the individual stores and all pkgs for that address are palled to the same location so the preloader has to load the car the way that the driver wants it loaded, not based on EDD.

Is the dispatcher not able to go in and seperate it in EDD according to suite numbers? That is the same thing with our mall route, (which I hate mind you and avoid going to help over there when I can) it has one address 1800 Galleria Blvd but the dispatcher has it set up so the suite numbers can seperate the stores so the 24 footer and his 1000 can be somewhat organized. Just curious.

looper804 · 05-11-2008, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigbrownman

Is the dispatcher not able to go in and seperate it in EDD according to suite numbers? That is the same thing with our mall route, (which I hate mind you and avoid going to help over there when I can) it has one address 1800 Galleria Blvd but the dispatcher has it set up so the suite numbers can seperate the stores so the 24 footer and his 1000 can be somewhat organized. Just curious.

I think it is left up to the loader where to load each stop.Would change daily depending on how much each store is getting.

big_arrow_up · 05-11-2008, 11:21 AM

Our mall route sucks. No one wants to run it. Most of our drivers would rather run one of those crappy routes that the lowest seniority driver usually runs than be stuck on the mall route. Luckily our mall route is a bid route but when the bid driver is on vacation us unassigned drivers try and avoid it any way we can. It wasn't a bad route in the past but IE screwed it up royally when they were re-looping for PAS/EDD.

coldworld · 05-11-2008, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by outamyway

You guys want malls? We have plenty.

Forum Shops (two routes)
Miracle Mile Shops(one route)
Canal Shops (one route)
Bellz Mall (one route- two to three trucks)
Boulevard Mall (one route)
Fashion Show Mall (two routes)
Town Square (one route)

I have never done an entire mall route but most of the drivers I know that have them like them. I guess like most routes they are a PITA at first, but once you know where your going, it's not too bad.

I have helped deliver bulk stops during peak and I do not like it. Five to six trips with a full cart half way across a mall and down cramped back door hallways is not my cup of tea.

Also, some people walk as bad as they drive. I know you see the cart! Get out of the way! lol

outta, how many routes does las vegas center run???? You guys must be one of the fastest growing cities in the country....one more thing, how do you handle the heat, is there any compassion from mgt on those 110 degree days to get you all in at a reasonable time??

slowdriver · 05-11-2008, 02:51 PM

oops double post

slowdriver · 05-11-2008, 02:54 PM

It's a shame they don't give the mall routes some kind of a Motorized cart. Pushing around carts all day has to wear on you.

http://www.djproducts.com/products/powered-cart.html

tourists24 · 05-11-2008, 05:17 PM

Ive been at UPS almost 20 years now and have spent about half of my driving years on a mall route and love it for the most part. No dirt roads, no dogs, no 8 mailboxes with one driveway, who cares if you're out when it gets dark, route hardly ever changes day to day. There are drawbacks (pulling carts and a LOT of walking) but the day tends to go faster for me when Im go go go and get to make a lot of people contact.

bugman74 · 05-12-2008, 02:34 AM

my day goes real fast usually in by five, yes thats right five! my helper is the my loader, so he has a real interest in how the it gets loaded. The weather is the big issue for me though, I am watching the news today and dreading going in. For anyone in the Philly area that watches channel six, the camera that they show for AC, at Ceasars is right where I park. Nice fifty mile an hour winds today, Yeah! As for the EDD, that has always sucked because the whole truck is 7000.