Damaged Packages Out of Control!

big_arrow_up · 04-08-2008, 06:07 PM

Lately I've had so many more damaged packages loaded in the trucks. It's getting old. Why do preloaders keep loading them in the truck day after day? Some of the packages have been just too embarrassingly damaged to deliver so I refuse to deliver them. When I went through driver school we were taught not to deliver them. Until recently I've been bending this rule so far but lately the damages have gotten so out of hand that I can't help but wonder how we don't lose more customers. I get so many bent, warped, crushed, opened (that is probably the most annoying one), twisted, torn, and hole riddled packages on all of the routes that I run. I have been sheeting them as damaged and bringing them back. There is no reason why any of these packages should ever make it onto a delivery truck. I believe the best way to solve a problem is to start at the source. The sources and their solutions are as follows....

1) Customer counters, including the UPS stores, should not accept a package that is damaged or likely to be damaged in transit

2) Drivers shouldn't pickup packages that are damaged or likely to get damaged during transit

3) Packages that are open should be taped up as soon as they are seen

4) Preloaders (and anyone on other shifts) should never load a damaged or opened package

Yes, even packages that are perfectly packaged can get damaged in transit but the more packges that are packed properly the less damages we'll have. I think this rant is justified. I'm tired of packages falling apart in front of the customers. That is if they hadn't fallen apart already as the preloader had loaded it. Anyone ever have the contents of a package fall out and hit the ground right in front of the customer? I'm sure just about everyone has. Sucks doesn't it? My goal lately has been to avoid these situations by taking all of the damaged packages off in the morning if I can spot them. While on the route I've been trying to remember to inspect them for a few seconds before leaving the truck.

Forty6and2 · 04-08-2008, 06:13 PM

i agree 100% with the above post. I have been working at UPS for almost three years now and have noticed an increase in the frequency of damaged packages. It is out of control.

wannabeups · 04-08-2008, 06:28 PM

One thing it seems like the buildings are outdated. The boxes are too big for slides.

Dirty Savage · 04-08-2008, 06:36 PM

Oh come on guy, you gotta admit you just love the feeling you get when you are walking up someone's steps with a package that has been so lovingly annihilated by the UPS system. God, that's sweet!

Lately, though, if I get something that is so badly mangled I don't even bother taking it out of the building. I just scan it as non-delivery, other, damaged and take it to the clerk. Though that does not guard against situations wherein you have a damaged package thrust into your lap. To wit: Keep in mind that at our centre a plane lands carrying our international air around 9ish, meaning I get an on-road meet at around 10:30. So here it is last Friday and the air driver comes to meet me. Gives me my stuff and he has this big box with a handle sticking out of it. It's a suitcase in a box, and the box is absolutely soaking wet. Like, to the point where the cardboard is melting. The air driver told me the pilots had told him that the package had been sitting in a puddle out on the tarmac. To add insult to injury, the suitcase had come with a brokerage COD. This package was going to a business who never, EVER, got anything shipped overnight, so I kinda figured they were waiting for it. So, at that point I simply took the suitcase right out of the box, scanned the label and took the COD papers and gave the dude the suitcase, sans any packaging. Funny thing was, the receiver didn't even bat an eye. All he asked me was "Is that all of it?" and I said yes. He paid the COD and I left.

Good times.

big_arrow_up · 04-08-2008, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dirty Savage

Oh come on guy, you gotta admit you just love the feeling you get when you are walking up someone's steps with a package that has been so lovingly annihilated by the UPS system. God, that's sweet!

Lately, though, if I get something that is so badly mangled I don't even bother taking it out of the building. I just scan it as non-delivery, other, damaged and take it to the clerk. Though that does not guard against situations wherein you have a damaged package thrust into your lap. To wit: Keep in mind that at our centre a plane lands carrying our international air around 9ish, meaning I get an on-road meet at around 10:30. So here it is last Friday and the air driver comes to meet me. Gives me my stuff and he has this big box with a handle sticking out of it. It's a suitcase in a box, and the box is absolutely soaking wet. Like, to the point where the cardboard is melting. The air driver told me the pilots had told him that the package had been sitting in a puddle out on the tarmac. To add insult to injury, the suitcase had come with a brokerage COD. This package was going to a business who never, EVER, got anything shipped overnight, so I kinda figured they were waiting for it. So, at that point I simply took the suitcase right out of the box, scanned the label and took the COD papers and gave the dude the suitcase, sans any packaging. Funny thing was, the receiver didn't even bat an eye. All he asked me was "Is that all of it?" and I said yes. He paid the COD and I left.

Good times.

Right now I think I'd be some what content if preloaders would just stop loading opened packages. That would be a good start. Maybe if they can get that right we can start worrying about all of the other stuff I mentioned.

outamyway · 04-08-2008, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dirty Savage

Oh come on guy, you gotta admit you just love the feeling you get when you are walking up someone's steps with a package that has been so lovingly annihilated by the UPS system. God, that's sweet!

Lately, though, if I get something that is so badly mangled I don't even bother taking it out of the building. I just scan it as non-delivery, other, damaged and take it to the clerk. Though that does not guard against situations wherein you have a damaged package thrust into your lap. To wit: Keep in mind that at our centre a plane lands carrying our international air around 9ish, meaning I get an on-road meet at around 10:30. So here it is last Friday and the air driver comes to meet me. Gives me my stuff and he has this big box with a handle sticking out of it. It's a suitcase in a box, and the box is absolutely soaking wet. Like, to the point where the cardboard is melting. The air driver told me the pilots had told him that the package had been sitting in a puddle out on the tarmac. To add insult to injury, the suitcase had come with a brokerage COD. This package was going to a business who never, EVER, got anything shipped overnight, so I kinda figured they were waiting for it. So, at that point I simply took the suitcase right out of the box, scanned the label and took the COD papers and gave the dude the suitcase, sans any packaging. Funny thing was, the receiver didn't even bat an eye. All he asked me was "Is that all of it?" and I said yes. He paid the COD and I left.

Good times.

You're right. It is comical(and sad at the same time) to walk into a business and seeing a pile of FedEx packages and a pile of DHL packages, all of them pristine condition.

You look at your boxes and one is mashed with a foot print on it and the other looks like it's been opened already and retaped, twice.

Jlemansk · 04-08-2008, 06:54 PM

Since our company seems to be in cost cutting mode, I believe more pressure is put on the unloaders and pre-loaders. I have seen pleanty of packages being thrown to save time. UPS seems to be saving a nickel and spending a dime.

JustTired · 04-09-2008, 04:45 AM

Couldn't be that 150 lb. pkg heading down the belt right for that jam, caused by another 150 lb. pkg. Can you say "vise".

Pretty hard to justify proper unloading methods and controlling the flow on the belts when it makes the numbers look bad. After all, we live by the numbers, not the contented customer.

Just "work as directed" and let them wonder why the customer went elsewhere. It gets tiresome fighting a battle you just can't win.

dilligaf · 04-09-2008, 06:48 AM

Recently, one of our PCM's was about preload not loading damaged pkgs. "They are not to load anything that appears to be damaged". HAH!!!!!!! That lasted all of 1 day. It was business back to normal the next day. LOL Damages and all. It doesn't help either when preload puts heavy pkgs on the top shelf and they fall off during the day and land on the small that is on the floor.

JustTired · 04-09-2008, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dilligaf

Recently, one of our PCM's was about preload not loading damaged pkgs. "They are not to load anything that appears to be damaged". HAH!!!!!!! That lasted all of 1 day. It was business back to normal the next day. LOL Damages and all.

That's probably because the the mountain of pkgs held out was probably more than anyone could bear to look at. If they can't see it, then it doesn't exist.

BigBrownSanta · 04-09-2008, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by outamyway

You're right. It is comical(and sad at the same time) to walk into a business and seeing a pile of FedEx packages and a pile of DHL packages, all of them pristine condition.

You look at your boxes and one is mashed with a foot print on it and the other looks like it's been opened already and retaped, twice.

That reminds me of another delivery company that's no longer around.

Can you say R E A...???

Mike Hawk · 04-09-2008, 10:09 AM

Our supes really only care about damaged packages at PCM. Like when I first started a supe gave a PCM about not loading damaged packages, then right after break he was splitting the belt and a 50 inch tv came down in a horribly molested box, it had holes instead of corners, there was no packing or styrofoam in it(it was in the box you buy it in so I know it started with packing), and to top it off the remote fell out when I pulled it off. It went right by him and he didn't pull it off to the clerk station. The front end supe probably tells them not to pull them off, when I cover the clerk station there are almost no packages for me to damage check or repack, until the drivers get on the clock and pull them out of their trucks. The front end doesn't apply O/70 tape to packages either. Last week I had an unmarked 140 lb box, about 1'x1'x3' with a tear around 3 sides of it, so the 2 halves were only being held together by 12 inches of cardboard. Had to stop the belt and tape it up so 140 lbs of whatever didn't fall drop onto the floor when i picked it up. I asked the supe why he didn't have an unloader spend a minute tapping it up rather than have the center shut down for a minute while a loader tapes it up, he looked at me like I was speaking french.

feeder53 · 04-09-2008, 10:39 AM

Someone should be looking into this issue and developing a strategy on addressing this. I myself have never recieved a package from UPS in bad shape, but if we (MGMT,Union and Employee) work these issues we can continue having the successes we have had in the past.

wannabeups · 04-09-2008, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustTired

Couldn't be that 150 lb. pkg heading down the belt right for that jam, caused by another 150 lb. pkg. Can you say "vise".

Pretty hard to justify proper unloading methods and controlling the flow on the belts when it makes the numbers look bad. After all, we live by the numbers, not the contented customer.

Just "work as directed" and let them wonder why the customer went elsewhere. It gets tiresome fighting a battle you just can't win.

Amen to that brother.

big_arrow_up · 04-09-2008, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Hawk

Our supes really only care about damaged packages at PCM. Like when I first started a supe gave a PCM about not loading damaged packages, then right after break he was splitting the belt and a 50 inch tv came down in a horribly molested box, it had holes instead of corners, there was no packing or styrofoam in it(it was in the box you buy it in so I know it started with packing), and to top it off the remote fell out when I pulled it off. It went right by him and he didn't pull it off to the clerk station. The front end supe probably tells them not to pull them off, when I cover the clerk station there are almost no packages for me to damage check or repack, until the drivers get on the clock and pull them out of their trucks. The front end doesn't apply O/70 tape to packages either. Last week I had an unmarked 140 lb box, about 1'x1'x3' with a tear around 3 sides of it, so the 2 halves were only being held together by 12 inches of cardboard. Had to stop the belt and tape it up so 140 lbs of whatever didn't fall drop onto the floor when i picked it up. I asked the supe why he didn't have an unloader spend a minute tapping it up rather than have the center shut down for a minute while a loader tapes it up, he looked at me like I was speaking french.

Sounds like my center. Management is all about "numbers" and worrying about damages (much like anything else that interferes with their numbers) is put at the bottom of the "to do list" and the end result is the drivers and customers having to deal with the problem.

coldworld · 04-09-2008, 07:16 PM

how many here think that damages are one of the main reasons customers leave ups. im sure fedex and dhl would have the same problems, but they push much less through their "newer" hubs, but ups seriously has a major issue. But if you ask the upper brass its not a belt issue, or a building issue....its all about the employees.

outamyway · 04-09-2008, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coldworld

how many here think that damages are one of the main reasons customers leave ups. im sure fedex and dhl would have the same problems, but they push much less through their "newer" hubs, but ups seriously has a major issue. But if you ask the upper brass its not a belt issue, or a building issue....its all about the employees.

Actually I think it has more to do with the piss pore packaging some of our customers think will make it through our horrendous system. Employees will account for some. I can't imagine how many different hands a ground package shipped across the country will touch. But that will also include a few hubs and thousands of feet of package crowded belts.

The belt I used to work on in the preload used to work on had a big jam near the sort at least once a day. When it cleared, an avalanche of packages would fall down the slide and fall all over the place. Anything badly packaged or was held together by straps(paper boxes) was potentially doomed.

feeder53 · 04-10-2008, 04:28 AM

I believe it may be an issue worth someone investigating, MGMT would be the people to do it................................

The Brown Santa · 04-10-2008, 05:12 AM

The amount of re-tapes and re-wraps on the unload here is staggering. I haven't worked inside for quite a few years, now that I've been forced back inside I just cannot believe the amount of damages.....

westsideworma · 04-10-2008, 12:42 PM

its not that the building is outdated (granted it is somewhat part of the problem) but the rate of flow being sent over those belts. Sometimes (more often lately) its just ridiculous. The slides back up and the crunching begins. Thats fine if you want to send that much work over the belts, but if you're not going to designate the right amount of people on the slides to put it in the cages....then