Drive By Sheeting

[dilligaf]

Originally Posted by edd_tv

i used to get "sheeted" on quite a bit.

I got shat upon today. It was ugly!!!!!!!!

[RockdaleEddie]

Originally Posted by hseofpayne

I was watching the news and I was reminded of this term "drive by sheeting" I used to use to describe what cover drivers would do to the pkgs going to apts on the Friday b4 I would come back from vacation. They would drive by the apt complex and sheet 'em all up as NI1! I used to take the following Monday off just to ruin their evil plan but half the time they just put NI2 on 'em! I would look in the back of my car and see 20 stops going to an apt complex that usually got 5 or so stops and know I was the victim of a "Drive By Sheeting!" Anybody else been sheeted?!

[RockdaleEddie]

Im not saying it is ok but after 16 years and a whole bunch as a swing driver I just let them off the hook.

[trplnkl]

Sorry, I can't agree with letting them off the hook. Out of my 20 years as a driver 14 have been as a swing/cover driver. There is no excuse , other than laziness, for drive by sheeting.
Now, If I am covering a route that still uses RR* Box#s and the card file does not include a consignee's directions, I will NSN them(we can't use "need directions" anymore)and have the clerks get a physical address. I do this after trying the usual things to find them myself. But then, I am far from a runner, I tend to mosey some.

[UpstateNYUPSer]

Originally Posted by dilligaf

Gosh, even I figured that out without any hints. Of course it does fit well with my SN. LOL

I guess I am just slow. I ride the short bus to work.

[Thorn]

As an ex-coverage drive by sheeter, I have to say a few words in defense of the sheeters...

You come to a row of 20 mailboxes and 4 roads running off in every direction... hmmm, bang, bang.

RR 1 Box 456... hmmm, bang, bang.

When the regular driver returns from vacation and you ask him for directions or a map of their area, and they say learn it the hard way... hmmm, ok, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.

It's sure gonna suck to be you on the monday mornings after your vacation.

[dilligaf]

Thorn, Trpl covered that. But this started out with apt complexes and that is a whole different story. I agree with Trpl, I can't let them off. I have always done my best to find addresses. Even asking neighbors. I drive up and down the street. Our utility readers write the house numbers on the meters and that helps alot to find addresses. Usually meters are visible from the street. This is not fool proof, though.

[Leftinbuilding]

Originally Posted by dilligaf

Thorn, Trpl covered that. But this started out with apt complexes and that is a whole different story. I agree with Trpl, I can't let them off. I have always done my best to find addresses. Even asking neighbors. I drive up and down the street. Our utility readers write the house numbers on the meters and that helps alot to find addresses. Usually meters are visible from the street. This is not fool proof, though.

I would even go as far as opening the lid
on trash containers to see if there were envelopes or magazines that might have a name on it. Anything to avoid coming back.

[dilligaf]

Originally Posted by Leftinbuilding

I would even go as far as opening the lid
on trash containers to see if there were envelopes or magazines that might have a name on it. Anything to avoid coming back.

I have opened mail boxes to verify addresses. When there is no number on the house or the mail box and I am sure it is the fight house I will check the mail box to see if there is mail with the name.

[dino]

Originally Posted by Leftinbuilding

I would even go as far as opening the lid
on trash containers to see if there were envelopes or magazines that might have a name on it. Anything to avoid coming back.

A cooler in the garage will often have the last name written on the top, a repair tag tied to a lawnmower, vanity plates with name, out of state plates that are the same as the return add.,pkg. for a home based plumbing business and the backyard is stacked with PVC pipe. Any resource you can draw upon!

My personal favorite: Twelve miles out in the country, the last 4 were dirt, no mailbox, no house number, no neighbors, no ph. # on pkg., the land is only good for holding the earth together, but you call OMS and manage to get a ph. # and when you call it you hear the ringing inside.




JACKPOT

[Leftinbuilding]

[quote=dino;360680]A cooler in the garage will often have the last name written on the top, a repair tag tied to a lawnmower, vanity plates with name, out of state plates that are the same as the return add.,pkg. for a home based plumbing business and the backyard is stacked with PVC pipe. Any resource you can draw upon!

My personal favorite: Twelve miles out in the country, the last 4 were dirt, no mailbox, no house number, no neighbors, no ph. # on pkg., the land is only good for holding the earth together, but you call OMS and manage to get a ph. # and when you call it you hear the ringing inside.

Another old tactic..............

[scratch]

Originally Posted by dino

My personal favorite: Twelve miles out in the country, the last 4 were dirt, no mailbox, no house number, no neighbors, no ph. # on pkg., the land is only good for holding the earth together, but you call OMS and manage to get a ph. # and when you call it you hear the ringing inside.

I use a similar technique like this. If I have a bad address and the phone book I keep in my package Car doesn't have the consignee listed, and there is no name or mail in the mailbox, I will take a guess at the address and knock on the door. If no one is home and there is a phone number on the label, I will pull out my cell phone and call it. If I hear the phone inside the house start ringing and stop when I hang up, then I have "verified" the address. I will DR it then, I have never had a DF doing this.

[Thorn]

If further defense of the drive by sheeters...

Since I now have my own route, it doesn't bother me in the least if a coverage driver causes me to have a bunch of send agains. 160 deliveries is 160 deliveries no matter if they are all fresh new deliveries or 160 send agains.

[scratch]

The problem with "Driveby Sheeters" is that they are not doing the job they are paid to do. The consignee is not getting the service that they have paid for. I have to treat a RS Label like it has never been attempted when I come off vacation, because it probably hasn't been. These are Service Failures that hurt the company's reputation and that Driver should be held accountable for that and falsifying records. I don't care for people that have a sorry work ethic.

[browniehound]

Originally Posted by UpstateNYUPSer

There is a very simple yet effective way to curb this practice. Take one of the "send agains" and go to the consignee and ask them point blank if they were home on that day and at that time. If they say yes, show them the service cross and advise them that a delivery attempt was made (on paper, or on DIAD to be more accurate) and then give them either the toll free or the center number so that they can voice their concerns. If you have the time, track the pkg for that customer and show them the progress, to include the "delivery attempt". Ask them if there was a delivery notice on the door, as I'm sure the driver simply scanned the notice in the pkg car and then threw it away. Yes, you would be basically throwing the cover driver under the bus, but you would also be teaching him a valuable lesson and one that he would come to appreciate it when he has his own route and a cover driver is doing this to him.

I had a cover driver who had a bad habit of doing this and this approach, while not 100% effective, proved to be quite effective. He was also good at NSN, NSS, NSP, or any of the other options available so that he wouldn't actually have to get off his butt and make the actual delivery attempt. It took 2-3 sequences like this until he finally figured out that he was not only screwing me but, more importantly, screwing the customer and he is now one of the better cover drivers in the bldg.

Upstate,
With all due respect, its not my job to teach another employee "a valuable lesson", to use your words. I understand where you are coming from and I do think this driver needs to be taught to do things right, but I don't think it should be me who does it.

I also wouldn't rat him out management immediately either. I would tell the shop steward the case and ask him to talk to him about it. If the problem continued, then I would rat him out to my supervisor.

There is no excuse for this lazziness. Its not fair to the customer and the regular driver.

[UpstateNYUPSer]

Originally Posted by browniehound

Upstate,
With all due respect, its not my job to teach another employee "a valuable lesson", to use your words. I understand where you are coming from and I do think this driver needs to be taught to do things right, but I don't think it should be me who does it.

I also wouldn't rat him out management immediately either. I would tell the shop steward the case and ask him to talk to him about it. If the problem continued, then I would rat him out to my supervisor.

There is no excuse for this lazziness. Its not fair to the customer and the regular driver.

I'm confused. Your last sentence reflects your feelings toward these "drive-by sheeters" yet you don't feel that it is either your job to correct their behavior or ask mgt to help you in this regard. Properly "training" a newbie would serve them well for the rest of their career. Talking to your shop steward would most likely have little or no effect in this situation.

I am not advising taking the guy behind the wood shed and "correcting" his behavior. I would simply pull him aside and explain my position on his poor delivery methods and then give him the opportunity to adjust accordingly. If this doesn't work, I would then track 2-3 of his "send agains" and get with each consignee and explain why they didn't get their pkgs and let the chips fall where they may. If, for some reason, that doesn't work, I would ask the OMS to print his delivery records and then sit down with either my on-car or CM and go from there. As you can see, mgt would be my last course of action as I would hope that it would be corrected before I needed to bring it to their attention.

The problem here is that he is not cheating me. My dispatch sup will adjust the dispatch if I have too much work. He is cheating the customer who paid to have his pkg delivered. Period.

[UpstateNYUPSer]

Originally Posted by Thorn

If further defense of the drive by sheeters...

Since I now have my own route, it doesn't bother me in the least if a coverage driver causes me to have a bunch of send agains. 160 deliveries is 160 deliveries no matter if they are all fresh new deliveries or 160 send agains.

What if you end up with 180--160 that was planned for that day and 20 that drive by couldn't be bothered to deliver? Would you be so congenial about it?

[leastbest]

Personally I don't care if these Red Bull Runners want to falsify records to make some bonus. I do my job and I follow ALL the rules. I take my breaks and do my job.

Management knows what drivers are doing to make bonus and if it's okay with management it's okay with me. It's their company.

Eventually they will get caught and whine how the union isn't doing enough for them. It goes on and on.

Randy
www.leastbest.com

Originally Posted by Thorn

If further defense of the drive by sheeters...

Since I now have my own route, it doesn't bother me in the least if a coverage driver causes me to have a bunch of send agains. 160 deliveries is 160 deliveries no matter if they are all fresh new deliveries or 160 send agains.

Birds of a feather SUCK together!

Originally Posted by leastbest

Personally I don't care if these Red Bull Runners want to falsify records to make some bonus. I do my job and I follow ALL the rules. I take my breaks and do my job.

Management knows what drivers are doing to make bonus and if it's okay with management it's okay with me. It's their company.

Eventually they will get caught and whine how the union isn't doing enough for them. It goes on and on.

Randy
www.leastbest.com

Our center is not a bonus center. The only reason these swingers do drive bys is they know they won't have to deal with pkgs the next day. I see these same customers regularly, and in this day and age most of our customers know how to track their pkgs. When thet see NI1 when they track a pkg, its me that has to take the brunt of their anger the next day. I just don't like cleaning up other peoples messes, especially sorry people. I know a lot of people on here say mind your own business, but in reality I AM minding my own business, and that business is UPS.

[UpstateNYUPSer]

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