Any automotive mechanics!!!!!!

No. Not at all. Breakdowns are frowned upon, but as long as it does not keep happening for the same reason, nothing is likely to be said or done. Just follow procedure as directled dilligently and don't take chances if you don't have to. Only if you are dishonest or a total screw-up will they be looking for a reason to fire you. Competent mechanics who are willing to work these hours are a rare commodity.
I will drive or push my car in for my mechanic. He does the best he can with the garbage they give him.
 

sortaisle

Livin the cardboard dream
Your performance is kind of based off of book/flag time. Certain jobs have a book time and if you meet or beat or within reason run a little behind, the won't mess with ya. 1Brownwrench is a wealth of knowledge for mechanics and I've enjoyed him being on here. He's not steering you wrong.
 

mook8809

Well-Known Member
I greatly appreciate the feedback. getting a little bit of the inside truth is helping the nerves. dont get me wrong im not looking for a job at ups and expecting it to be like a total gravy job, I work pretty hard, (always have). i was just trying to figure out what he considered 20 hours of work needing to be done in 8 hrs, it kind of set of a red flag in my head. I work at a freightliner dealership now I have been there for almost 2 yrs now. before i worked there i worked as a trailer tech for 2 years. im 24 years old with 2 children and a wife i just want to make the right career choice for the sake of my family and my future. I have a pretty good job now but an oppurtunity came along for ups and I just wanted to do my research before I
started playing chess with my life.
 

sortaisle

Livin the cardboard dream
With PMI's there are. And there are some jobs more important and time sensitive than others. Whenever we have repair campaigns from the POS's we got from Workhorse, we subcontracted a mechanic from Freightliner to do the work. You'll have a computer system that'll tell you what trucks need what and they'll be assigned a number for it's importance. If it's a 9 do it that day or your job is in danger kind of thing. There's other bureaucratic BS you have to deal with like ADA drivers who need their automatic low steps done or they can't work type stuff...we have a guy over here that has a medical for an automatic and when he gets off work, he goes and plays world class soccer. Don't know how he got away with it, but I don't judge...much.
 

sortaisle

Livin the cardboard dream
Full engine or tranny replacements for vehicles not under warranty. They do it all except for mount and balance. We don't use lifts though. Jack stands and creepers are your friend.
 

sortaisle

Livin the cardboard dream
Standard repair day is usually brakes, kingpins, some kind of sensor on the transmissions that gets gunked up in the winters, hoses, glowplugs, injectors. Full spectrum repairs. Most of your days though are filled with LOF's, PMI's, tires, brakes, the occasional road call, red tagging equipment that aren't fit for service, and listening to drivers bitch about their trucks being in the shop.
 

Brownslave688

You want a toe? I can get you a toe.
I greatly appreciate the feedback. getting a little bit of the inside truth is helping the nerves. dont get me wrong im not looking for a job at ups and expecting it to be like a total gravy job, I work pretty hard, (always have). i was just trying to figure out what he considered 20 hours of work needing to be done in 8 hrs, it kind of set of a red flag in my head. I work at a freightliner dealership now I have been there for almost 2 yrs now. before i worked there i worked as a trailer tech for 2 years. im 24 years old with 2 children and a wife i just want to make the right career choice for the sake of my family and my future. I have a pretty good job now but an oppurtunity came along for ups and I just wanted to do my research before I
started playing chess with my life.

Sounds like u have a pretty decent set up and I would imagine a lot of your own tools. One thing I haven't heard anyone mention is your tool allowance at ups is a joke. So be prepared to spend some of your own money on tools if u need them.
 

browntruckmechanic

Well isn't that special ?????????
Your performance is kind of based off of book/flag time. Certain jobs have a book time and if you meet or beat or within reason run a little behind, the won't mess with ya. 1Brownwrench is a wealth of knowledge for mechanics and I've enjoyed him being on here. He's not steering you wrong.


The suggested times for repair is just that. There is know way in the know world unless there is a fluke in the space,time continuum that allows for a full blown lof for a pkg car that is 300 meters from the shop. Here in Mesquite, TX the shop is a full 300 meters from the shop, we have to walk to the center, find the car that may or may not be parked inside the building, wait for it to be unload drive back to the shop, gather parts, perform the lof w/all the additional garbage that mngt wants done while the car in in your stall, all for .5. Good luck with that.
 

sortaisle

Livin the cardboard dream
The suggested times for repair is just that. There is know way in the know world unless there is a fluke in the space,time continuum that allows for a full blown lof for a pkg car that is 300 meters from the shop. Here in Mesquite, TX the shop is a full 300 meters from the shop, we have to walk to the center, find the car that may or may not be parked inside the building, wait for it to be unload drive back to the shop, gather parts, perform the lof w/all the additional garbage that mngt wants done while the car in in your stall, all for .5. Good luck with that.
Your shop may vary for sure browntruck. The mechanics shop is connected to the building in my center and it's too small to park the package cars whenever your done so we have car parkers that do it. We work with the mechanics to make sure they get their trucks ASAP that way they don't have to start the job in the system until we bring it to em nice and empty...sorry your center isn't as well set up.
 

sortaisle

Livin the cardboard dream
plus it takes a solid 10 minutes to pump the however many quarts of oil into the trucks in our shop...the pumps are not speedy speedy.
 

mook8809

Well-Known Member
Sounds like u have a pretty decent set up and I would imagine a lot of your own tools. One thing I haven't heard anyone mention is your tool allowance at ups is a joke. So be prepared to spend some of your own money on tools if u need them.
i didnt know that ups had a tool allowance, what is the allowance might i ask?
 

1BROWNWRENCH

Amatuer Malthusian
Tool allowance is $200 a year. Schedule times in AIS are pretty much unrealistic and have not been adjusted in ages to reflect current vehicles. They mean pretty much nothing to me except when management expects us to schedule 30 hours of work by these times and get 80%+ completion without doing overtime. Just take a deep breath and do the best you can with what you are allowed to have.
 

mook8809

Well-Known Member
yah 200 isnt very impressive, but i did not know that they had a allowance so i guess its better than nothing. my current shop is 150 every quarter, and that still dosent keep up with the demand. are their any other fringe benefits that are offered their?
 

1BROWNWRENCH

Amatuer Malthusian
yah 200 isnt very impressive, but i did not know that they had a allowance so i guess its better than nothing. my current shop is 150 every quarter, and that still dosent keep up with the demand. are their any other fringe benefits that are offered their?


Discount on shipping. That and $31 and hour with all the battery acid you can drink.
 

SmithBarney

Well-Known Member
One of the nice things about being a UPS mechanic(from mine old mechanic way back when) vs being a regular shop mechanic,
You are basically working on 4-5 different vehicles that's it. Now our guy had 35+ PCs, mostly Freightliner P1000, but we got a bunch of Workhorses later on.
The Hours might be different where you are going but ours generally came in around 5pm and worked through the night, sometimes he was still there in the morning.
 
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