Time studies

aspenleaf · 08-09-2006, 09:29 AM

I thought two of my drivers had 8 hour days today due to their loads were very light. I was so happy for them (they always request them and they usually get bumped due to volume etc.) to finally have gotten the 8 hour day. So when I saw them I asked about their short day and just laughed and said "time study, why?" I replied that I noticed the loads were very light.

Is this the normal practice for a time study? To have lighter loads so things will not reflect a typical day. These trucks are usually packed to the brim everyday so to have a half full truck seems misleading to me. Since I am just a preloader I know I am missing something and hope some one can clue me in. What is the purpose of the time study? I met the IE interns (I thought they were lost and they were fumbling around on my trucks - and yes I know they are not really my trucks - and I just don't like people wandering around my trucks so I asked them how I could help them.) and they seemed very "thrilled" to be doing these studies.

My supervisor did an audit on those trucks noting where everything was loaded, hazards, over 70s etc. I am not sure that audit is related to the time study. I have just never noticed any of my trucks being audited before.

Yesterday the CM scanned all the packages in one of my trucks and when I asked her what she was doing she said "delivery scans are not being done." What is that about? In that particular truck I have had cover drivers for the past few weeks so it seemed odd to pick that truck since the drivers vary.

big_arrow_up · 08-09-2006, 09:47 AM

Times studys are funny to me. A driver on a time study will usually have a good day because he/she follows the methods to a T. Combine that with the fact that management makes sure the load is virtually perfect on the preload and what you have is a picture of the way things should be every day at UPS. Instead you have management overloading the routes and the drivers having to cut corners to get the job done.

When he said delivery scans weren't being made he was talking about when a driver is delivering a package and the bar code isn't scanned but the package is released anyway. Usually it's a bulk stop and they just forget to scan it among the many other packages at that particular stop. Sometimes the barcode is smugged and won't scan and a driver will just let it go. That has gotten worse now that people have DIAD 4 and it is a bitch to manually type in the tracking numbers over and over at a bulk stop. The alpha/numberic shift key is not that difficult but can be a bitch sometimes.

aspenleaf · 08-09-2006, 10:08 AM

Well if my trucks were that empty most days they could get rid of one and then I'd be back to an overloaded truck. So they do try to make things picture perfect? What purpose does that serve? That makes as much sense as the safety lady giving us answers when we take the quiz. Seems like something is really missing.

Thanks for the info on the del scans. I do have a lot of bulk that I load so maybe that was the issue. Today he will have 60 boxes for one stop and I hope he scans them all; of course that driver is not on the time study!

tieguy · 08-09-2006, 11:14 AM

aspenleaf with the delivery scans its possible the packages that show up missing the delivery scan were never loaded on that car. So we look for trends and then do physical audits on the car to see if everything is getting scanned.

disneyworld · 08-09-2006, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aspenleaf

I thought two of my drivers had 8 hour days today due to their loads were very light. I was so happy for them (they always request them and they usually get bumped due to volume etc.) to finally have gotten the 8 hour day. So when I saw them I asked about their short day and just laughed and said "time study, why?" I replied that I noticed the loads were very light.

Is this the normal practice for a time study? To have lighter loads so things will not reflect a typical day. These trucks are usually packed to the brim everyday so to have a half full truck seems misleading to me. Since I am just a preloader I know I am missing something and hope some one can clue me in. What is the purpose of the time study? I met the IE interns (I thought they were lost and they were fumbling around on my trucks - and yes I know they are not really my trucks - and I just don't like people wandering around my trucks so I asked them how I could help them.) and they seemed very "thrilled" to be doing these studies.

My supervisor did an audit on those trucks noting where everything was loaded, hazards, over 70s etc. I am not sure that audit is related to the time study. I have just never noticed any of my trucks being audited before.

Yesterday the CM scanned all the packages in one of my trucks and when I asked her what she was doing she said "delivery scans are not being done." What is that about? In that particular truck I have had cover drivers for the past few weeks so it seemed odd to pick that truck since the drivers vary.

Time Studies? They still do those? I thought they went out with the dinosaurs. I thought it was,this is how many routes you have,this how many stops the center has,make them fit.

aspenleaf · 08-09-2006, 01:57 PM

Well it looks like they are doing them again. My hub hired some IE interns and I guess this is what they do for thier final project? Not sure really but they are still happening. I can't wait to have one done on preload; someone can stand by with a stop watch and a whip. . .

I am sure they serve a purpose and tomorrow I will ask my drivers about the studies.

Tie ~ thanks for the info on the del scans.

wily_old_vet · 08-09-2006, 01:58 PM

Aspen-Were splits or cuts taken from the two trucks that were time studied? I love a good conspiracy as much as the next guy but I have a hard time believing that pkgs for these two routes were hidden so they would have a lighter load for the study. And if that was the case then the next day should have been way more heavy than normal. Was it?

aspenleaf · 08-09-2006, 02:02 PM

Wily ~ No splits. But they were very light. I didn't have to drop any packages to the floor (unless they were heavy) due to running out of room. The packages were not hidden at all; they went on my other two trucks. I personally had the same number of packages but my trucks were not balanced at all. I don't think it was a conspiracy; just a little odd to see that much room left over. I also know that the other two trucks took most of the stuff as I know which customers my drivers usually have. I will have to see how the loads are tomorrow but I think they will be back to normal.

beentheredonethat · 08-09-2006, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wily_old_vet

Aspen-Were splits or cuts taken from the two trucks that were time studied? I love a good conspiracy as much as the next guy but I have a hard time believing that pkgs for these two routes were hidden so they would have a lighter load for the study. And if that was the case then the next day should have been way more heavy than normal. Was it?

Weather splits are made or not, weather the load is heavy or not, shouldn't affect the time study for the average allowance per delivery area. For each defined area, all the time study does is two things.
1. For allowances, it determines the pickup stop and delivery stop (both signature and DR allowance) and that's it. Nothing more, nothing less. Weather a stop has 1 pkg or more doesn't affect the measurement. Keep in mind, there is a per pkg stop so the more pkgs, the more allowance per pkg. Also if a driver has more pkgs then can be safely and efficiently done in one trip, then the stop allownace for that stop, will show multiple walks adding more time for that stop. All the stops in that defined area (including allowances for other drivrs working in the same defined area, if any) are averaged together to come up with a plan. When you take the per stop allowance + the per pkg allowance, + the accessorials (COD's, over 70s etc) this comes up with the planned time. Then you add in the planned time to go to and from your area. Then you add in the on area time of time allowed for each mile. This is done by the computer that has been in place for years and years and years. To summarize, if you have a driver that once he gets to his\her route he\she only drivers a few miles since they are deliverying to strip malls, businness parks etc. The allowance per mile is pretty high, since there's a lot of starting car, driving 200 yards, then stopping. If you have a country route where there could be a mile between stops, then the per mile allowance is not that big, since the driver spends lots of time driving at speed limit, and the time to start and stop is rather small for the entire mile driven vs the time to start\stop when you only go 200 yards (% wise). I could go on about the studies and all the nuances but I Hope this covers it and makes sense

aspenleaf · 08-09-2006, 02:53 PM

Yes that explains a lot. Very interesting info. I can see this is very different from a production ride. I just didn't know what they were looking for in a time study.

dino · 08-09-2006, 03:32 PM

Have not had a time study on any route at the center where I work for at least 8 years. How does that compare with other areas?

mittam · 08-09-2006, 04:42 PM

since pas came in they won't time study here, they know how screwed up it all is, we have guys with country stops now that have city allowances does not take into count the extra miles until a good time study is done, we were told we will have to grieve it to get time studies done here

wornoutupser · 08-09-2006, 06:40 PM

My last time study was 17 years ago....Central Florida

socom71 · 08-09-2006, 07:12 PM

We had time studies done in our center about a year ago the whole building was done. Went from running 1.50 over every day to running .20 to .50 under every day was great for a while but now it seems it is right back to the way it was before. The whole center seems to have reverted back to the old allowances. Have seen them go in a truck and set it up real nice when over 9.5 grevances were filed to try and discredit a driver for not using proper methods. Cure for that was to file a grevance every day that the load was not right since they had proven to me they coud give me a good load.

aspenleaf · 08-09-2006, 08:04 PM

Socom17 ~ thanks for the reply. Why would they go back to the old allowances? Did it just slowly happen over time?

socom71 · 08-09-2006, 08:16 PM

Not sure seem to happen all of a sudden about the time summer started. Sup gave a pcm one morning saying they were going to be putting in the summer plans and to not be surprised if you came in and found stuff on your car that you did not normaly have. happend sometime around then.

wily_old_vet · 08-09-2006, 08:35 PM

Aspen-I'm probably being dense so help me out here. You say no splits were taken off your trucks but that pkgs from these two trucks were loaded on other routes. To me that constitutes a split (or cut). Generally splits are supposedly one section of pkgs but what you describe sounds like the loads were light throughout each trucks delivery area. Dont see how its possible to give the other trucks pkgs covering the two time studied trucks whole delivery area.:confused1

ups79 · 08-10-2006, 07:01 AM

mitttam:Sounds to me that time studies are a big issue. Why haven't you let us know that the apwa will confront time studies since the TEAMSTERS don't?

aspenleaf · 08-10-2006, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wily_old_vet

Aspen-I'm probably being dense so help me out here. You say no splits were taken off your trucks but that pkgs from these two trucks were loaded on other routes. To me that constitutes a split (or cut). Generally splits are supposedly one section of pkgs but what you describe sounds like the loads were light throughout each trucks delivery area. Dont see how its possible to give the other trucks pkgs covering the two time studied trucks whole delivery area.:confused1

Wily ~ you are much smarter than I about this sort of thing. When I say no splits I mean that I did not have take off the packages and put them on the other trucks. I know what customers (such as large business stops - not all the res.) each of my trucks usually has and I saw them on different trucks. Today the trucks had the "normal" packages and my 4 trucks were more balanced. At least until the end of the shift then they cut a truck and I did get a split but no time studies on my trucks today. We have 3 IE interns for our center and they are doing time studies on all the trucks. So I should see them again for my other two trucks.

My drivers' routes are all next to each other so it is very easy to move a few stops from one truck to another.

mrbill · 08-10-2006, 09:11 AM

They had 3 day time studies years ago,now it only takes 1 day"it all averages out" RIGHT!!!

As for missed scans alot are misloads put on wrong cars ,bad pals and assorted other problems not just THE DRIVERS

aspenleaf · 08-10-2006, 11:19 AM

I know that preload causes a lot of these issues. No one should blame the drivers for all that goes wrong. We all play a part in the success or failure of any day.

beentheredonethat · 08-10-2006, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrbill

They had 3 day time studies years ago,now it only takes 1 day"it all averages out" RIGHT!!!

As for missed scans alot are misloads put on wrong cars ,bad pals and assorted other problems not just THE DRIVERS

That, 3 day time studies, must have been a long long time ago. I did time studies 16 years ago, and we didn't do 3 day rides back then and the guy who instructed us had been in and out of time study for over 10 years at that point and never mentioned that. We have done 3 day OJS rides. We have done 3 day rides with and without time study people to see what part of the drivers day is consistently where driver is losing time. We've also done multiple day rides to see if we could justify for a variance in areas that driver is following methods and he is consistenly overallowed. Usually this is in large malls with one park position driver has huge long walks inside mall that doesn't work out well with the study.