3 days of peak

PASinterference

Yes, I know I'm working late.
....or the one who decides that Peak is the time to bond with their 11 month old "new"born...
You REEEEAAAALLLY have a problem with that. You must have had to work a few 9 hr days one peak because of that. It must suck to be you. No drivers I know would give a chit why someone is off. Most drivers have a life outside UPS though...
 

dysphunktion

A decent sup
That line of thinking is exactly what management is counting on....

Management that purposely creates the problem by understaffing to make more money for themselves.
So do you believe what you just wrote? That we understaff for...money? How do you figure that?
We don't make any money by gimping us during peak. The people that could are way up the chain and
are telling us the opposite. Every call they are pushing for help. So really curious what makes you think that?


Sorry but this peak looks to be like 2 years ago around here. 70 hour rule, 14 hour days, working every Saturday. Management has admitted it. The understaffing is coming from above. I dont really care who it comes from. Someone is screwing the hourlys this year to make more money for themselves.

Well, you're right about some things here. This is shaping up to be our biggest peak in history, which isn't saying too much since most peaks are.
But it's a bit heavier than the average year to year increase. We're bringing in a metric ton of help to prevent those 70 hour weeks. Working Saturdays
is just part of peak. We need you. And again, no one is purposefully under staffing. The more help, the higher that SPOAH goes and we make more.


I hope they have massive call ins and the plan crashes and burns.
Over peak work? Really? C'mon...

Others calling in has no effect on my hours worked when they are already understaffing.

And I have a long history of never calling in...They burned that good will 2 years ago.
 

burrheadd

KING Of GIFS
I think there is some creedence to management cutting staff to make numbers look good. The hub I work in does this frequently - the less staff you have processing packages, the more "efficient" the operation seems. The less overhead, the better.

Maybe no one you know is understaffing on purpose......but I'm fairly certian it's happening.....just like many other things that aren't supposed to happen, but do every single day. (Cutting staff loose by 10 pm so that no overtime is paid, yet there is still work to be done which is then finished by the sups, having all hands on deck on Mon - Wed, only to have to make cuts on Thurs and Friday nights so that the end of the week numbers look "good", etc.)

lol

It’s the ups way

get used to it
 

Justaloader

Well-Known Member
I think there is some creedence to management cutting staff to make numbers look good. The hub I work in does this frequently - the less staff you have processing packages, the more "efficient" the operation seems. The less overhead, the better.

Maybe no one you know is understaffing on purpose......but I'm fairly certian it's happening.....just like many other things that aren't supposed to happen, but do every single day. (Cutting staff loose by 10 pm so that no overtime is paid, yet there is still work to be done which is then finished by the sups, having all hands on deck on Mon - Wed, only to have to make cuts on Thurs and Friday nights so that the end of the week numbers look "good", etc.)

The best is when management comes through the building on those nights and sees roller lines with boxes damn near chest high on both sides (boxes that have fallen off the lines due to the lines being overloaded) and wonders why the staff can't keep up with the volume. Welp, if on Monday night you needed 11 people in this department to keep up with the flow....and today, the flow is the same but you are only running 6 people......I mean, do I have to spell it out for you? Yet, on some report - it shows the hub processed the same amount of packages with less people (nevermind that sups stayed till 1 am wrapping up what the staff had no hopes in hell of completing by 10 pm), so things look good. Oh, and this coming week? Run Mon - Wed with 8 people, instead of 11....because the numbers show it can be done. Nevermind that it's kicking the staff that actually do the work in the nuts.....as we don't give a damn about those people.....just get the boxes processed, loaded, etc. UPS....under paid slavery.
 

dysphunktion

A decent sup
I think there is some creedence to management cutting staff to make numbers look good. The hub I work in does this frequently - the less staff you have processing packages, the more "efficient" the operation seems. The less overhead, the better.

Maybe no one you know is understaffing on purpose......but I'm fairly certian it's happening.....just like many other things that aren't supposed to happen, but do every single day. (Cutting staff loose by 10 pm so that no overtime is paid, yet there is still work to be done which is then finished by the sups, having all hands on deck on Mon - Wed, only to have to make cuts on Thurs and Friday nights so that the end of the week numbers look "good", etc.)

No, you have a point. I didn't mean to infer that it never happens, ever never. I've just never seen it happen. Sure, my experience is limited to centers in 4 states out west.
As for making the numbers look good, yeah, that happens way too often. Artificially inflating :censored2: had been an issue in my area last peak. An example would be at a driver sort and load center, pushing fast preload. Issue is, they had 5 drivers sorting and 2 clerks as well but the clerks were coded as something else. So in reality there were 7 people on sort. So now that we put an end to that and the clerks don't come in for sort, we have to beat last years inflated BS numbers. On paper it's still 5 on sort but in reality, it's trying to beat 7 on sort from last year with 5. :censored2: like that is ...ug. And no excuses! Who cares about the lack of two loaders, just get it done. Nah, I don't want them sprinting up and down the belt to make the masters happy.

Management finishing up Union work? Wow. That is just asking for trouble. And I'm going to assume it's done often, everyone knows about it but nothing ever gets done? PM me your SLIC and I'll bark at them!?!!? (Not seriously asking you for any personally identifiable info, btw, just ranting) You should grievance the :censored2: out of that, every single time.

Anyway, I've said this quite a few times and I'll say it again, Sorry that your experience with management is what it is. :\
 

Justaloader

Well-Known Member
No, you have a point. I didn't mean to infer that it never happens, ever never. I've just never seen it happen. Sure, my experience is limited to centers in 4 states out west.
As for making the numbers look good, yeah, that happens way too often. Artificially inflating :censored2: had been an issue in my area last peak. An example would be at a driver sort and load center, pushing fast preload. Issue is, they had 5 drivers sorting and 2 clerks as well but the clerks were coded as something else. So in reality there were 7 people on sort. So now that we put an end to that and the clerks don't come in for sort, we have to beat last years inflated BS numbers. On paper it's still 5 on sort but in reality, it's trying to beat 7 on sort from last year with 5. :censored2: like that is ...ug. And no excuses! Who cares about the lack of two loaders, just get it done. Nah, I don't want them sprinting up and down the belt to make the masters happy.

Management finishing up Union work? Wow. That is just asking for trouble. And I'm going to assume it's done often, everyone knows about it but nothing ever gets done? PM me your SLIC and I'll bark at them!?!!? (Not seriously asking you for any personally identifiable info, btw, just ranting) You should grievance the :censored2: out of that, every single time.

Anyway, I've said this quite a few times and I'll say it again, Sorry that your experience with management is what it is. :\

No apologies needed. It is what it is. I've talked about them sending us hourlies home while sups finish the work till I'm blue in the face. Several grievances filed weekly (as this routine of sending us home and sups finishing up happens every single day)....status quo remains unchanged. Ironic that the steward - when questioned - stated "I've never seen sups working". Yet, literally on the same belt that he was standing next to while talking to me - a sup was loading a trailer. I digress.

I've learned - go in, keep your head down and mouth shut, do your job, go home, make sure your paycheck is right at the end of the week, and leave it at that. It's a simple job....pick up a box, move it, put it down. Repeat approximately 1500 to 2000x a night, go home (mind you I'm a loader on the twilight shift). No need to complicate it anymore than that.
 

dysphunktion

A decent sup
The best is when management comes through the building on those nights and sees roller lines with boxes damn near chest high on both sides (boxes that have fallen off the lines due to the lines being overloaded) and wonders why the staff can't keep up with the volume. Welp, if on Monday night you needed 11 people in this department to keep up with the flow....and today, the flow is the same but you are only running 6 people......I mean, do I have to spell it out for you? Yet, on some report - it shows the hub processed the same amount of packages with less people (nevermind that sups stayed till 1 am wrapping up what the staff had no hopes in hell of completing by 10 pm), so things look good. Oh, and this coming week? Run Mon - Wed with 8 people, instead of 11....because the numbers show it can be done. Nevermind that it's kicking the staff that actually do the work in the nuts.....as we don't give a damn about those people.....just get the boxes processed, loaded, etc. UPS....under paid slavery.

It's :censored2: like this that makes me ashamed of being in management. It just boggles the :censored2:ing mind how they think that situations like that are the way to go. Spineless :censored2:s who do whatever daddy division manager says (or whoever).
Peak is practically here, they need to get their :censored2: together and....quit.
 

Justaloader

Well-Known Member
It's :censored2: like this that makes me ashamed of being in management. It just boggles the :censored2:ing mind how they think that situations like that are the way to go. Spineless :censored2:s who do whatever daddy division manager says (or whoever).
Peak is practically here, they need to get their :censored2: together and....quit.

I wish you worked in my hub. Judging solely by your posts, you seem like a decent person. My direct supervisor is the same way - he's a really good, honest, fair, down to earth guy. Sadly, he's at the mercy of folks that don't posses those same traits. In my day job - I'm in management. I totally get how the red tape, politics, bureaucratic bs, etc works, and I understand all too well that crap rolls downhill. So, when our crew gets the crap end of the stick, I know it's not his fault...he's just doing his job. It sucks, but as I said - it is what it is. I do my job to the best of my ability. I don't whine or complain. I collect my check, make sure it's right, and go home. Nothing more, nothing less.
 

dysphunktion

A decent sup
No apologies needed. It is what it is. I've talked about them sending us hourlies home while sups finish the work till I'm blue in the face. Several grievances filed weekly (as this routine of sending us home and sups finishing up happens every single day)....status quo remains unchanged. Ironic that the steward - when questioned - stated "I've never seen sups working". Yet, literally on the same belt that he was standing next to while talking to me - a sup was loading a trailer. I digress.

I've learned - go in, keep your head down and mouth shut, do your job, go home, make sure your paycheck is right at the end of the week, and leave it at that. It's a simple job....pick up a box, move it, put it down. Repeat approximately 1500 to 2000x a night, go home (mind you I'm a loader on the twilight shift). No need to complicate it anymore than that.

I've know a steward that was similar. He was so far up managements ass. He let a lot of BS fly. There was a situation that driver got involved with and he needed a steward for guidance and to be his advocate. Nope. He wrote a statement about the situation and straight destroyed the driver. Sounded like something one of us would write. I guess this steward burned a lot of bridges and made some enemies, legit enemies. I can't say this isn't BS, but the last I heard he got beat half to death one morning on his way to work. Hope it's true.

People like you are awesome. Your attitude about getting it done is appreciated, well, around here. We encourage you guys to call out any BS.
Hopefully it isn't too bad for you guys this peak. Just do your best and hope it's good enough. :(
 

Re-Raise

Well-Known Member
I know that I may not have many people agree with me, but I do care about my fellow drivers and I care about my customers on my route.

I have been here over 30 yrs and have had countless “bosses”. I couldn’t care any less what they think.

But I can’t help feeling like I am letting my friends at work down if I bail out on them without a really good reason.

Maybe I’m stupid for caring?
 

dysphunktion

A decent sup
I know that I may not have many people agree with me, but I do care about my fellow drivers and I care about my customers on my route.

I have been here over 30 yrs and have had countless “bosses”. I couldn’t care any less what they think.

But I can’t help feeling like I am letting my friends at work down if I bail out on them without a really good reason.

Maybe I’m stupid for caring?

Not at all man. You give a sh** about the other drivers. You know that if you don't have a cover driver for your route, those packages go on someones truck(s).
I see more drivers like you than I do anything else. Us management might not show you appreciation or if we do, it's an 'atta boy and 5 minutes later they forget your name.
But I'm sure the other drivers give a sh...
 
I know that I may not have many people agree with me, but I do care about my fellow drivers and I care about my customers on my route.

I have been here over 30 yrs and have had countless “bosses”. I couldn’t care any less what they think.

But I can’t help feeling like I am letting my friends at work down if I bail out on them without a really good reason.

Maybe I’m stupid for caring?
It's called having a work ethic

It's a unicorn in 2019
 

dysphunktion

A decent sup
lol

did you type that with a straight face

Cmon man

Yeah man. It's actually possible to appease the number gods up the ladder and not have to make your lives hell to do it.
If a driver in one of the centers sees management or anyone doing stupid :censored2:, they know they can bring it to my or a select few others, attention.
I don't need some power tripping PDS thinking he's hardcore cause he did some stupid thing to piss a driver off or make his day worse.

I'm not some super supervisor saint like I feel I may be coming off...
I've had to make :censored2:ty decisions. I'll have to make them again.

I feel like I'm really giving my ego a stroke right now...I'm not trying to.
I guess I'm just saying there are decent people out there...just doing what we can to make our little cluster of centers a decent place to work.
 

542thruNthru

Well-Known Member
Yeah man. It's actually possible to appease the number gods up the ladder and not have to make your lives hell to do it.
If a driver in one of the centers sees management or anyone doing stupid :censored2:, they know they can bring it to my or a select few others, attention.
I don't need some power tripping PDS thinking he's hardcore cause he did some stupid thing to piss a driver off or make his day worse.

I'm not some super supervisor saint like I feel I may be coming off...
I've had to make :censored2:ty decisions. I'll have to make them again.

I feel like I'm really giving my ego a stroke right now...I'm not trying to.
I guess I'm just saying there are decent people out there...just doing what we can to make our little cluster of centers a decent place to work.

Have you met @BestSupEver ?
 
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