How does your center go about training cover drivers?

[upsdude]

Back in the day we were handed the keys and told to do the best you could. Sometimes you could get lucky and have a sup (with area knowledge) go out with you for the day. I also recall that as long as you were making progress (over under) on the route it wasn’t a big deal where the numbers landed. I’ve had sups tell me on Friday that I’d be running so and so next week. I’d use that information to get myself a little prepared over the weekend. The sup would have the regular driver make a copy of his paper records for me to use as a guide. I could count on going out light the first couple days then I was dispatched with the regular full deal. We always seemed to have good coverage back then.

Seems that now days (in my center) management will not allow anyone to “go blind” on a route. Since management never seems to train anyone (other than a new hire on a training route) we have several folks that only work 2 maybe 3 days a week. Center management claims they can’t lighten up a route for training because it will screw up their “in range”. Gee I thought PAS/EDD was designed so “any Monkey” could run a route.

The coverage answer in my building is to yank folks off their bid route. No “Emergency Conditions”, or massive call in, just laziness. 2 or 3 guys will get moved from their bid run only to have 4-5 new folks go home. A few of them file but nothing is ever done about it. I have 2 cover drivers for my route, one of them had to run it when I was on vacation and 3 other folks called in. The other is a good friend of mine and I trained him on a Saturday. We drove my personal car and I showed him the delivery points. He grew up in the house call section so that wasn’t a concern. I used a well placed personal day a couple weeks later so he would be the guy.

So, I’m just wondering how it works in your neck of the woods.

[dcdriver]

hand the keys and say good luck "OLD SCHOOL"

Been trained with sup. on 3 of the 16 routes I cover drive and never trained on split car...just do your best they say!

[fredly00]

I was trained only on the first route I ever ran,
after which I was blind..I think 12 routes total.

I especially remember and enjoyed the day I went out blind
on a rural route in a 500? or maybe something smaller.
That was bulked out front to back.. I could barely get the bulkhead door open.
so I'd just reach in grab a package and deliver it.. I think I had a few
missed that day.

[LeddySS98]

I was trained on my first route during my packet... and to top that off i was trained by a sup. from a center about 110 miles away...My other routes i just go out blind and do what i can with what i can find.

One of the blind routes i got sent out with a 10.5 hr day I burned my lunch burned my break, and punched out at the last stop and drove back to the building 10 miles away...DUMB move, they would have fired me in a heartbeat for driving off the clock.. oh and i bumped back my start time 10 minutes so i would'nt go over the 12 hr limit..

[brownrodster]

Blind. And I don't know many routes. Sometimes blind I was a success. Sometimes it was a failure. Some routes are just easy to learn. Some aren't.

[currahee]

You gotta map? Do you know to get to this town? No ! Ok follow so and so on they way out there.
Oh how great were the days of trying to read map while sweating all over it ,on the blind, fond memories...

[trplnkl]

In our center, it used to be, "You don't know that route? You will tomorrow,". I learned a few blind back then. Now they try to send a sup with guys the first day, then they are trained. But really that is all it should take if they are only learning the route. Now when they want me to go out blind on an area that I have no clue about, I just tell them that I am going to deliver per EDD. That usually changes their mind and either go with me or put someone else on the run. We have a seniority list for our swing drivers, top guy picks what he wants to run and so on. However area knowledge can trump seniority.

A few years ago they stuck me on a route with no training, no area knowledge, then wanted to climb my back side for running over (2-3 hours)and missing stuff(businesses on the far end). This route had about 50% rural routes with a crappy card file, no maps and no one knew anyone else on the area. To top that off, I was delivering out of a rental truck, no shelves, no load chart ( this was way before edd). On thursday that week, a sup finally went out with me, to my surprise I discovered I was running the route backwards, Friday I tried to do it the way the sup told me to run it, had one missed and received a write up for my efforts. LOL, they don't even ask me to run that one anymore.

[Baba gounj]

One day my CM calls me to his office, they have a rookie pulling a route with some IE guy ( no sups were available ) and they were totally messed up. I was told to go pull 20-30 stops off them ( I'm an air driver ). I found them an hour later, at 2pm they still haven't emptied one spot on the car. And they had missed some pick ups. I took a couple of bulk stops, just enough to free up the floor. Told them what to do and how to do it, did the stops I took & informed some along the route that they would be running very late that day.

Its a very sad place to work if mgt uses air drivers as trainers.

[The Brown Santa]

It goes something like this....

Sup: "Got a map?"

Me: "Yep"

Sup: "Good Luck...we'll send you help if you need it, just do the best you can."

Me: "Yep"

[feeder53]

In feeders,I first took a road test with a young lad, (I am retirement age)Then I had 5 days of in house training about policy & proceedures after that I had a sup in the truck for 5 trips then.......you are on your own until there is another training class. I just went back to certify that I still had my lecense, no tickets or legal issues and was told they will be in contact for more training,

[trplnkl]

That sounds like the UP$ two-step. One step forward, two steps back.

[The Brown Santa]

Love the sig ^^^^^^^^^ Truer words were never said...

[PassYouBy]

Originally Posted by dcdriver

hand the keys and say good luck "OLD SCHOOL"

Never in my life have I been more scared than my first day driving!

[Pollocknbrown]

You guys are just making me want to see them put up a request for people to sign up to cover drive over here in Buffalo..... I havent yet b/c im not 21, one good thing tho, i that i have very good knowledge of basically the entire area we service out of our hub/centre.

[UpstateNYUPSer]

Pollock, knowing the streets and knowing the delivery route are two entirely different things. Number breaks, delivery points, traffic flow, etc., are just the tip of what you will need to know to say that you know a delivery route. But, that being said, knowing the streets does give you a big advantage over someone using a map. Good luck!!

[big_arrow_up]

No new driver should ever have to go out blind. Even if the center has PAS/EDD. Having help at first reduces the jitters that comes with learning a new job. There should be a sup with the new driver for at least the first three days and then the newbie should be able to ride with a seasoned driver for a couple of days on the same route. But like anything else at UPS it can't be done simply because it makes since. LOL. I had the classic "three day ride" then didn't drive any for almost two weeks then one day I was put on the same route alone and turned loose. It was a disaster. What else was to be expected after only three days of "training" ??? I've learned some new routes blind since we've had EDD but at least I was already in that comfort zone that comes from having a little experience as a driver. To throw a newbie straight out of driving school on a route is rediculous. I don't care if it's "old school" or not.

[PassYouBy]

Originally Posted by big_arrow_up

No one should ever have to go out blind. There should be a sup with the new driver for at least the first three days and then the newbie should be able to ride with a seasoned driver for a couple of days on the same route. But like anything else at UPS it can't be done simply because it makes since. LOL. I had the classic "three day ride" then didn't drive any for almost two weeks then one day I was put on the same route alone and turned loose. It was a disaster. What else was to be expected after only three days of "training" ???

I agree... I was sent out "Blind" on a College Campus...That whole day I kept thinking, "I sure am glad I don't attend here, I would never make it to class"! AND-- " I sure will be glad when this days over with!"

[barnyard]

I know 30 or so routes and had ride alongs on 5 or them. I was fortunate that as a p/ter, I was a helper over 4 peaks and helped on 8 different routes. That helped ALOT! I was also an air driver for 3 years, which helped learn some doors and how to read a map.

TB

[9/5Everyday]

They train us for half a day, and then the supe gets a phone call and says he to go. Happens all the time.

And as for the "monkey's can run these routes" phrase, wow, i thought they only said that in our center!!! Actually they said, monkeys can load the trucks. But how is it, we have more misloads now?? Another EDD miracle!!!

[tups]

Been cover since I started 3 years ago. Was trained by the old sup on 1 route for 4 days straight. Stayed on that route till the regular driver came back from comp. Then ever since then it was do that route......I don't know it........make 9.5........Ummmmm, ya ok.

[govols019]

I never went to driving school. My driving test consisted of driving around the building. Got maybe 15 minutes training on the DIAD. I'll never forget the first time I had a COD. Didn't have the slightest clue how to put it in the board.

I still remember the very first stop I ever made.