Trouble in Calgary

[DS]

Apparently,Calgary is having trouble keeping up with the volume.We've had drivers here volunteering to go out for a week or two.They say its so busy,they just send you out with 100 resis and tell you to do your best.One guy said one day there were 4 pkg cars full that did not even leave the building.This past weekend they actually flew a bunch of sups out Friday night to spend Saturday delivering the backlog,and flying them back on Sunday.
In Calgary you can get $15 an hour working at wendys.UPS had to raise the starting rate for full time drivers to $15 an hour to keep up with everyone else.I found this on Calgaryjobs.com

Brown Shorts Included!

Full Time Courier Driver
Company Profile:

Enter the exciting world of United Parcel Service, the largest package Delivery Company in the world. Responding quickly to shifts in business trends requires fresh thinking. Our history of innovation in service, technology, and partnerships with our customers and our people gives us a decisive edge.


Job Description:
Candidates must have a clean driving record and be able to drive standard transmission vehicles. Excellent customer service and communication skills are required for these positions. Applicants must also be physically fit, able to lift up to 70 lbs., and are between the ages of 21 to 65. Previous professional driving experience is an asset. This is a fast-paced, physically demanding environment. All candidates subject to criminal record checks.

•Full-Time positions are Monday-Friday,
40-50 hours per week


Company Name: UPSLocation: CalgaryAvailable:Immediately. Full Time. Pay:15.00 per hourPosted:11/22/07

Create a resume or choose one from your account.
UPS will be notified of your application.

[Fredless]

15 an hour at Wendys! The cost of living for you guys must be astronomical.

Tax break down please? I'm just curious how you guys pay for socialized medicene.

[dirty moose]

They say its so busy,they just send you out with 100 resis and tell you to do your best

did i read this wrong?

[DS]

Its not like that everywhere,the growth in Calgary has increased and there are more jobs than there are people.In Toronto its like $7.50 minimum wage.Each province has a health care system.In Ontario its called ohip...(ontario health ins plan)It covers the basics if you get sick.
It comes out of your taxes.Not sure how much you guys pay.
on top of sales tax property tax GST...theres provincial and federal tax.
On a recent paycheck I grossed $1315.76 and cleared $992.00...is that
on par with you?

[DS]

Originally Posted by dirty moose

did i read this wrong?

no,thats what I heard,are you in Calgary?

[wadep]

The same issues are also here in Edmonton. We run 2 sorts. The metro sort gets out of the building by 9:30ish, we then run an extended sort. We leave around 11:00 ish. I left this morning at 11:04 with 103 stops on board and a 500 km day ahead of me. Delivered 58, missed the rest. As much as not being able to get the bodies to work, when we do get the bodies we have no vehicles.

[Fnix]

Is this good news or bad news? Good meaning we have volume as opposed to none. But bad because we cant retain employees?

[Fredless]

Originally Posted by DS

Its not like that everywhere,the growth in Calgary has increased and there are more jobs than there are people.In Toronto its like $7.50 minimum wage.Each province has a health care system.In Ontario its called ohip...(ontario health ins plan)It covers the basics if you get sick.
It comes out of your taxes.Not sure how much you guys pay.
on top of sales tax property tax GST...theres provincial and federal tax.
On a recent paycheck I grossed $1315.76 and cleared $992.00...is that
on par with you?

You probably pay marginally more. Our tax system is on a tier setup, I don't know how much percentage wise.

[Fnix]

Here in Florida I estimate it's about %20 of paycheck for a single male deducted in taxes. I think for a single mother it's %10.

I get deducted $20 out of a $240 paycheck.

[rod]

Originally Posted by dirty moose

did i read this wrong?

I have a feeling he is talking about 100 rural route stops- not a 100 resis.

[cino321]

Originally Posted by DS

Apparently,Calgary is having trouble keeping up with the volume.We've had drivers here volunteering to go out for a week or two.They say its so busy,they just send you out with 100 resis and tell you to do your best.One guy said one day there were 4 pkg cars full that did not even leave the building.This past weekend they actually flew a bunch of sups out Friday night to spend Saturday delivering the backlog,and flying them back on Sunday.
In Calgary you can get $15 an hour working at wendys.UPS had to raise the starting rate for full time drivers to $15 an hour to keep up with everyone else.I found this on Calgaryjobs.com

This company doesn't cease to amaze me.

Anyway what do you mean by volunteering to go out?

[Big Babooba]

There's enough trouble to go around. I was talking to my mailman today because my mail was 4 hrs late yesterday. He said that the USPS is grossly understaffed for this time of year. He had yesterday off for a funeral and they just broke the route up. They left half of his route and another route behind at the post office and didn't even bother to attempt delivering it. I hope somebody wasn't waiting for anything important.

[moreluck]

My mail was late and I just figured it's the season, but the replacement girl said my regular carrier went home because the post office didn't want to pay him any overtime. So, they split up his route and piled it on others who do it after their regular routes.

[cino321]

Well I guess maybe thats where the expression "going postal" comes from. From what I hear too it doesn't seem like a glamorous place to work at.

[Sammie]

Originally Posted by cino321

Well I guess maybe thats where the expression "going postal" comes from. From what I hear too it doesn't seem like a glamorous place to work at.

Last December Denver had back to back blizzards for four or five
weekends straight. I have a physical therapist friend who only makes
house calls to those who can't get out and about and last winter the
majority of her clients were mail carriers.

Many areas couldn't be reached for a week or more at a time due to snow accumulation and many people gave up shoveling their walks and driveways. As a result, a large amount of mailmen suffered fractures and other serious injuries from falling when they tried to make deliveries. The post office doesn't advertise for Xmas help any more so the mail carriers who were left came in early to sort and tried to keep up with the volume, which is tough to do when Uncle Sam doesn't see fit to hire coverage drivers for vacations, illnesses, etc.

So when the people of this fair city did receive their mail maybe once a week during that time if they were lucky, it wasn't unusual for many of them to have screaming hissies at the mail carrier who brought it.

"Going Postal". Not hard to fathom that one...

[DS]

Originally Posted by cino321

This company doesn't cease to amaze me.

Anyway what do you mean by volunteering to go out?

They asked if anyone would be willing to fly from Toronto to work there for a week or two to help clean up some packages.They offer your regular pay plus $40 a day plus a rental car and your stay in a hotel.
Its a good deal for single guys that like to go skiing.Its very close to Banff,Lake Louise if you like looking at mountains and freezing your butt off.

[satellitedriver]

Originally Posted by DS

Its not like that everywhere,the growth in Calgary has increased and there are more jobs than there are people.In Toronto its like $7.50 minimum wage.Each province has a health care system.In Ontario its called ohip...(ontario health ins plan)It covers the basics if you get sick.
It comes out of your taxes.Not sure how much you guys pay.
on top of sales tax property tax GST...theres provincial and federal tax.
On a recent paycheck I grossed $1315.76 and cleared $992.00...is that
on par with you?

Hey DS,
My last check was, $1515.21, All taxes(Fica,Fica medicare,federal tax (no state tax in Texas) total tax $281.26
I saved ,through payroll deduction( 401k,despp,credit union), $360.28
My bring home was $873.67
Sales tax is about 7.5%
Property tax for 20 acres, home, shop/barn, improvements and equipment is roughly $1,800.00 a year.
My usual federal tax refund is any where from $1,000.00 to $2,000.00.
I do not know if that is in par with what you have to pay in Canada, but that is the straight facts, for me in Texas.
PAX
P.S.
Property tax in Texas depends where you live. I own 2 acres in the Texas Hill country and the property tax is more than I pay for where I live.

[Ms Spoken]

Sign me up I'm packing my browns as we speak. Hey DS maybe we can trade that bottle of rum when I fly in.

[DS]

Originally Posted by Ms Spoken

Sign me up I'm packing my browns as we speak. Hey DS maybe we can trade that bottle of rum when I fly in.

arrr matey,yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.Are you serious? pm me your address and I'll send it off.

[Dirty Savage]

The trouble in Alberta is nothing new to us, been hearing about it for a couple of years now. We've had drivers go to Calgary for a while. Our old supervisor spent pretty much all of 2007 there trying to right the ship. A couple of driver trainers from our province went out there to do some driver training and they told me that they were training people who barely spoke english!

Yes, it's true, UPS Alberta has a special agreement with the union to offer higher starting wages as an added incentive because the problem there is that the cost of living is so much higher than the rest of the country, so those big UPS bucks really aren't so big in Alberta. And when you can make $17/hr plus $1000 signing bonus waiting tables at Boston Pizza as opposed to less money busting your ass at UPS, well, I think the choice is obvious for most people.

[wadep]

It's not the cost of living thats killing us in Alberta. Gas is still under a buck a litre, housing is just about peaked right now, with the average 3 bedroom NEW home starting at 347,000. It's the lack of bodies that's killing us. With a 3% unemployment rate Alberta wide, where as the national average is a shade over 6%. Send the bodies, we'll put them to work. Thereason Tim Hortons starting wage is 16 an hour, Boston Pizza or pretty much any other resteraunt job is 12 an hour, is that they're trying to lure employees into their fold. Heck even 7-11 has a 700 sign up bonus and starting wage at 15 bucks an hour, but a slurpee is still under a buck.