At what point is it "too late" to be making deliveries?

[toonertoo]

You nailed that big brown hen, Once you are out the door its over for them. And just the beginning for us. No one cares.

 

[uber]

He was a cover driver, sent out on the route cold, to an area he had absolutely no knowledge of. Like me, he was recently involuntarily transferred to this new center so his 4 years of area knowledge on his old center are now useless. And the route he got put on is an exceptionally tough one to do cold; the streets are narrow and poorly lit, parking is a huge issue, EDD is a farce, and the addresses are a confusing mix of city and unincorporated suburban number grids.

When every route in the loop is already getting dispatched with 11+ hour planned days as a matter of routine and one of the regular drivers is sick or on vacation, a cover driver with no area knowledge on such a route is dead meat. He doesnt have a chance. No one else in the loop can help him because they are maxed out themselves.

And the situation I am describing is not the exception, it is the norm for this new center. In my 23 years at UPS it is by far the most chaotic and dysfunctional operation I have ever been a part of. At one point last month the center paid out over $5000 in penalty pay for sixty-four over-9.5 grievances that were filed in one week.

Last week I had 14 hours of OT, including an 11.8 hour day that I made bonus on. And I had it easy compared to most.

The real fun starts on Monday Oct. 4th. On that day, my building is transferring 15 routes up to the new facility on Swan Island that is in the process of implementing EDD. Most of those routes will be run cold by the drivers who bid them as part of the change-of-operations procedure. And the routes in my building that those drivers vacated have also been bid on, and will also be run cold that day by the successful bidders. All told, there will be at least 20 routes going out for which the drivers have no training at all.

The whole mess would be manageble if we could just cut back on the planned days and make some help available during the transition. But it wont happen that way; Atlanta will just keep on cramming an impossible number of stops down everybody's throat and make an already insane situation even worse. Its going to be an absolute custerfluck, and its happening just in time for peak season.

Part of me is dreading it, the other part of me is looking forward to it with a sort of morbid fascination....the same sort of fascination that compels you to look at a car wreck as you drive by. If I didnt actually have to work here, I would want to grab a seat and get a bucket of popcorn and watch the drama unfold.

So they're hiring 20 new drivers at Swan Island?

 

[over9five]

Yikes, I hate to hear that Sats management team is so unethcal. By directing Sat to sheet those packages as ECD instead of Missed, they are cheating our customers.

Time for an anonymous phone call?

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Work as directed Sat for sure. I would make sure there is evidence of your management team telling you to sheet those as ECs, not missed. Otherwise you may be accused of dishonesty and be "retired" long before you are ready. You know they will leave you holding the bag. If they were sheeted correctly, attention from the upper management would come down on your local team.

Personally, if the work is out there, so be it, but don't leave me out there 12 hours when the guys in the loops next to me are in at 1830 or sooner. They have the technology to re-dispatch drivers to help each other to even the work load. Why else do we get the message about our ETAs everyday. If I say Ill be in after 8 and the guy next to me is in at 6, then there is no reason not to send him my way and take some stops off me. There is no reason not to send me over to help him if need be either, other than the fact no one really cares.

BBH, this is not directed at you so do not take it personally. I will use your example above of a driver being done at 1800 (A) and 2000 (B). If all things were equal I would agree with you but if Driver B is not as efficient (this is the best word I could think of this early in the morning) as Driver B why penalize Driver A? I am assuming that both drivers take their contractual lunch and break(s) in this example and both have comparable dispatches. If Driver B was blown out then by all means Driver A should lend a hand.

 

[JustTired]

I seen or read something interesting not too long ago.

The average American is working 20% longer hours than they did 30 years ago.......while the majority of Europeans are working 20% less hours than they did 30 years ago.

Sounds to me like they work to live..... while we live to work. Where are our priorities? We seemingly choose money over personal life. How sad is that?

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

I spent a year in Sicily and what JI was saying is true. Their emphasis is on living, not working. Daily siestas where all but the essential business would close between 1 and 3pm. Very few people walking around glued to their Blackberries or worrying about their status on facebook or Twitter. A much more relaxed lifestyle; however, the average Sicilian did not have the same standard of living as the average American so I guess that is where the decision must be made--happiness or stuff?

 

[bigbrownhen]

Good point Upstate. Yes, both situations have happened to me. My post was about when one driver is blown out, blatantly over-dispatched. I have been the driver re-dispatched to "help" another driver who is a slacker. That was before EDD/PAS though. I go take a split off of them, then they get in before me. That really gets my goat.

I have a good working relationship with the drivers in my route area. We are pretty good at helping each other out when one is trying to make a kids ballgame or school event. I will gladly help out in this situation. If I am having one of those rare days where I am done early on my route, I'll give a shout to the routes around me to help them out, they will either give me stops, or one likes the OT, so he would rather cover my late pick up. I am fortunate to be in a great work group right now. I have worked in groups that is not the case.

 

[Catatonic]

Yikes, I hate to hear that Sats management team is so unethcal. By directing Sat to sheet those packages as ECD instead of Missed, they are cheating our customers.

Time for an anonymous phone call?

Where is I when you need him?

 

[cosmo1]

Where is I when you need him?

So many windmills..........

 

[over9five]

Where is I when you need him?

Good call! Sat, post your SLIC and your CMs name. We'll have I take care of everything!

 

[brownmonster]

I spent a year in Sicily and what JI was saying is true. Their emphasis is on living, not working. Daily siestas where all but the essential business would close between 1 and 3pm. Very few people walking around glued to their Blackberries or worrying about their status on facebook or Twitter. A much more relaxed lifestyle; however, the average Sicilian did not have the same standard of living as the average American so I guess that is where the decision must be made--happiness or stuff?

I'm assuming this was while you were in the service. They weren't glued to their Blackberrys or concerned with Twitter because they were 20 years too early.

 

[satellitedriver]

Work as directed Sat for sure. I would make sure there is evidence of your management team telling you to sheet those as ECs, not missed.

I got that covered, BBH.
My old noggin is not just for growing hair and sticking bubble gum into.

 

[bigbrownhen]

I figured you did my friend. Just being the ole mother hen I tend to be.

 

[Signature Only]

Not according to mgt. You have your 340 methods and as long as you follow them you should be able to work safely even if asked to go til midnight. Maybe even later

10 years ago, I did a rural route cold turkey and made the last delivery at 11:47p.m. Punched out at 12:30 a.m. Back to work the next morning at 8:00a.m. Nobody said a word.

 

[over9five]

10 years ago, I did a rural route cold turkey and made the last delivery at 11:47p.m. Punched out at 12:30 a.m. Back to work the next morning at 8:00a.m. Nobody said a word.

DOT violation. You should have left a note that you would not be in because you did not have your 10 hours off. By working, you left yourself and the company open to large fines (not to mention public safety because you didn't have much rest).

Also, it is OUR responsibility to make sure we keep track of our DOT hours, not UPS.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

I'm assuming this was while you were in the service. They weren't glued to their Blackberrys or concerned with Twitter because they were 20 years too early.

Yeah, but I bet if I were to go back it wouldn't be that much different.

 

[UPS Lifer]

Generally speaking I would say 8:30 ought to be the cutoff time. There could be exceptions made in cases of late air or weather-related emergencies.

I don't think any driver should be delivering past 7 PM. In fact, I was never really comfortable with that number. When a driver is delivering to a residential area during dinner time and after.... we have reached the point that customers feel uncomfortable answering the door which makes it unprofessional. As soon as it starts getting dark a driver's safety starts entering into play and it continues to become an over-riding factor as the time progresses. Fatigue also sets in.

That being said, it is the responsibility and obligation of the management team to make sure that each driver is dispatched accordingly. If a driver is over-dispatched then a plan should be put in place to bring help to that driver. After 7 PM deliveries should be done with ONLY the safety of the driver in mind. I would put 2 drivers on the car if necessary.

If there was an emergency condition such as weather or late air then ALL drivers participate. It is my feeling that drivers should all be coming back to the barn within 1/2 hour of each other. No more than 1 hour should separate the 1st driver in and the last driver in. BTW - this included peak season as well.

This was a pet-peeve of mine when I was a driver, and it carried right on through my years as a package center manager. "Once upon a time", there was a concept that on road time should be no more than 9.2 hours and that the paid day should not exceed 9.5 hours. It is a REAL shame that it has evolved past that. I did not respect other managers who did not care about getting their drivers back to the building at a reasonable time. I could never forgive myself, if something happened to one of my drivers because of a dispatching problem that I or one of my supervisors had control over.

I have always believed that for every challenge there is a solution. I used to fight tooth and nail for what I believed in, I just don't think that happens today.

 

[toonertoo]

I wish you were my manager.

 

[brownmonster]

I don't think any driver should be delivering past 7 PM. In fact, I was never really comfortable with that number. When a driver is delivering to a residential area during dinner time and after.... we have reached the point that customers feel uncomfortable answering the door which makes it unprofessional. As soon as it starts getting dark a driver's safety starts entering into play and it continues to become an over-riding factor as the time progresses. Fatigue also sets in.

That being said, it is the responsibility and obligation of the management team to make sure that each driver is dispatched accordingly. If a driver is over-dispatched then a plan should be put in place to bring help to that driver. After 7 PM deliveries should be done with ONLY the safety of the driver in mind. I would put 2 drivers on the car if necessary.

If there was an emergency condition such as weather or late air then ALL drivers participate. It is my feeling that drivers should all be coming back to the barn within 1/2 hour of each other. No more than 1 hour should separate the 1st driver in and the last driver in. BTW - this included peak season as well.

This was a pet-peeve of mine when I was a driver, and it carried right on through my years as a package center manager. "Once upon a time", there was a concept that on road time should be no more than 9.2 hours and that the paid day should not exceed 9.5 hours. It is a REAL shame that it has evolved past that. I did not respect other managers who did not care about getting their drivers back to the building at a reasonable time. I could never forgive myself, if something happened to one of my drivers because of a dispatching problem that I or one of my supervisors had control over.

I have always believed that for every challenge there is a solution. I used to fight tooth and nail for what I believed in, I just don't think that happens today.

Yoy were a center manager before they starting attatching the wires to their arms and legs. It's too bad. There's probably alot of mgmnt with talent and ideas that we will never know of.

 

[NEFARIOUS]

Made my last stop at 2017 yesterday still had a half hour drive back to bldg...This is in rual area making dels. to highway address just seems totally unsafe and unprofessional...


Oh yeah my first day back in pkg. in like 5 months...