Complete Mismanagement!!!

[grgrcr88]

I tried to hold this in, but I just can't do it any more!!

Everyone knows by now about the blizzard that went thru the Midwest earlier this week. It started here overnight Monday and continued thru Tuesday night. Winds were constant at 40 mph with snow blowing and drifting like crazy. Never heard the snow totals, but there are some 2-4ft drifts everywhere. All in all, not really that bad compared to someplace's, but enough to make life miserable!!

Anyway, I come in Monday and they are sending guys home if they want it, and cutting routes like crazy. Probably had 8-10 guys not working that were available and loaded everyone up that did work. Then comes Tuesday, same story only now the weather has already started and the forcast is for 10-12 inches of snow and strong winds. Still cutting routes and loading guys up!! So it gets worse(no way right!!) they decide to bring everyone in as soon as they finish pickups. Emergency condition everything thats left. Would not be a big deal, except they had everyone so heavy, there were guys bringing back 50-100 stops as EC! Now comes Wednesday. Get a call from another driver telling me none of the feeders came in and hardley anyone was working. I call the center and they tell me no need to come in unless you want to help us with your pickups in the afternoon. I agreed. Turns out they cut all but 19 routes for the day. Usually run around 60. The problem here is that the DPS sup apparently can't tell how many stops anyone as because once a package is sheeted as EC it does not show up in his system. So no EDD and no idea what anyone has. Needless to say, it was a disaster. Some guys were running 4 routes combined, with over 200 stops in 8 inches of snow, while 40+ drivers had the day off!!

I just do not understand why the company would not put ever available body on the street in the effort to get all packages delivered as soon and safely as possible. The only thing that was of any concern to upper management was their beloved stops per car number and production!! Really? With a blizzard, and half the country shut down?? Come on!!

This company preaches safety, safety, safety and then shows us everyday that the only thing that really matters is the numbers in the ledger book!! Sooner or later the lack of service due to the focus on numbers will cost us most of our customers!!!

 

[UPSGUY72]

I tried to hold this in, but I just can't do it any more!!

Everyone knows by now about the blizzard that went thru the Midwest earlier this week. It started here overnight Monday and continued thru Tuesday night. Winds were constant at 40 mph with snow blowing and drifting like crazy. Never heard the snow totals, but there are some 2-4ft drifts everywhere. All in all, not really that bad compared to someplace's, but enough to make life miserable!!

Anyway, I come in Monday and they are sending guys home if they want it, and cutting routes like crazy. Probably had 8-10 guys not working that were available and loaded everyone up that did work. Then comes Tuesday, same story only now the weather has already started and the forcast is for 10-12 inches of snow and strong winds. Still cutting routes and loading guys up!! So it gets worse(no way right!!) they decide to bring everyone in as soon as they finish pickups. Emergency condition everything thats left. Would not be a big deal, except they had everyone so heavy, there were guys bringing back 50-100 stops as EC! Now comes Wednesday. Get a call from another driver telling me none of the feeders came in and hardley anyone was working. I call the center and they tell me no need to come in unless you want to help us with your pickups in the afternoon. I agreed. Turns out they cut all but 19 routes for the day. Usually run around 60. The problem here is that the DPS sup apparently can't tell how many stops anyone as because once a package is sheeted as EC it does not show up in his system. So no EDD and no idea what anyone has. Needless to say, it was a disaster. Some guys were running 4 routes combined, with over 200 stops in 8 inches of snow, while 40+ drivers had the day off!!

I just do not understand why the company would not put ever available body on the street in the effort to get all packages delivered as soon and safely as possible. The only thing that was of any concern to upper management was their beloved stops per car number and production!! Really? With a blizzard, and half the country shut down?? Come on!!

This company preaches safety, safety, safety and then shows us everyday that the only thing that really matters is the numbers in the ledger book!! Sooner or later the lack of service due to the focus on numbers will cost us most of our customers!!!

Same thing going on in my building guys are bring back 50-100 stops a night as EC but they keep cutting routes and sending guys out with more stops that would have had during peak. Wednesday they sent us out in a snowstorm then in the afternoon when it had stop they tell us we need to be in and off the clock by 6:15 they probably didn't want to pay us the overtime when they should have just not sent us out.

According to my SUP's these bright ideas are coming from reginal management or hire up. I quit worrying about my stop count long ago I don't call in over 9.5 they already know that I won't be able to finish when I leave the building in the morning and they have a min by min stop at the touch of there fingers. I do as many stops as I can before I have to be back for the air trailer and anything left might get delivered tomorrow. Sooner or later someone is going to figure out that there plan isn't working. Till then I work as directed. It isn't even worth complaining about that is just a waste of time and energy.

 

[Anonymous 10]

I tried to hold this in, but I just can't do it any more!!

Everyone knows by now about the blizzard that went thru the Midwest earlier this week. It started here overnight Monday and continued thru Tuesday night. Winds were constant at 40 mph with snow blowing and drifting like crazy. Never heard the snow totals, but there are some 2-4ft drifts everywhere. All in all, not really that bad compared to someplace's, but enough to make life miserable!!

Anyway, I come in Monday and they are sending guys home if they want it, and cutting routes like crazy. Probably had 8-10 guys not working that were available and loaded everyone up that did work. Then comes Tuesday, same story only now the weather has already started and the forcast is for 10-12 inches of snow and strong winds. Still cutting routes and loading guys up!! So it gets worse(no way right!!) they decide to bring everyone in as soon as they finish pickups. Emergency condition everything thats left. Would not be a big deal, except they had everyone so heavy, there were guys bringing back 50-100 stops as EC! Now comes Wednesday. Get a call from another driver telling me none of the feeders came in and hardley anyone was working. I call the center and they tell me no need to come in unless you want to help us with your pickups in the afternoon. I agreed. Turns out they cut all but 19 routes for the day. Usually run around 60. The problem here is that the DPS sup apparently can't tell how many stops anyone as because once a package is sheeted as EC it does not show up in his system. So no EDD and no idea what anyone has. Needless to say, it was a disaster. Some guys were running 4 routes combined, with over 200 stops in 8 inches of snow, while 40+ drivers had the day off!!

I just do not understand why the company would not put ever available body on the street in the effort to get all packages delivered as soon and safely as possible. The only thing that was of any concern to upper management was their beloved stops per car number and production!! Really? With a blizzard, and half the country shut down?? Come on!!

This company preaches safety, safety, safety and then shows us everyday that the only thing that really matters is the numbers in the ledger book!! Sooner or later the lack of service due to the focus on numbers will cost us most of our customers!!!

Thats logistics!!

 

[menotyou]

Thats logistics!!

I thought they sold that?

 

[cachsux]

Earlier this week I actually complimented management in another thread for calling us at home and telling us not to come in with the storm rolling in on us. What I did not know until Thursday when I went in was that the guys who were already at work were not allowed to go. They were held onto for 12+ hours. The storm really began kicking in at 3pm and some of these guys didn`t get out until after 9pm! The majority (all) of us don`t live across the street so they then faced a ride home of as much as 3 hours for some. Why the hell they didn`t set a time to close up operations and get employees on their way home at a decent hour in the same storm I was sitting comfortably at home in is beyond me.

This pisses me off to no end right now because one of those drivers after being kept 12 hours then tried to get home and ended up in a ditch in the process. He made it home after almost 4 hours and then while most of us were warm at home he had to spend the next day getting his car home. I won`t speculate the stress and anger over the two incidents played any factor but this driver came in on Friday morning, told those in the cafeteria of what went on,still visibly upset, and then went out to begin his day only to suffer what at this point is believed to have been a heart attack and dropped there in the yard before he even so much as turned a wheel. The last I was informed was that his family had pulled the plug last night.

This guy was a friend of mine, a senior driver who took time to help out a rookie long ago. The fact that he and others were not sent home at a decent hour in the face of a blizzard that the national weather service and the state police classified as "dangerous and potentially life threatening" is something I am taking personal. I don`t know if something will have to be done with the union or what but there should be rules as far as dealing with this kind of situation for ALL employees, hourly and management.

 

[Anonymous 10]

Earlier this week I actually complimented management in another thread for calling us at home and telling us not to come in with the storm rolling in on us. What I did not know until Thursday when I went in was that the guys who were already at work were not allowed to go. They were held onto for 12+ hours. The storm really began kicking in at 3pm and some of these guys didn`t get out until after 9pm! The majority (all) of us don`t live across the street so they then faced a ride home of as much as 3 hours for some. Why the hell they didn`t set a time to close up operations and get employees on their way home at a decent hour in the same storm I was sitting comfortably at home in is beyond me.

This pisses me off to no end right now because one of those drivers after being kept 12 hours then tried to get home and ended up in a ditch in the process. He made it home after almost 4 hours and then while most of us were warm at home he had to spend the next day getting his car home. I won`t speculate the stress and anger over the two incidents played any factor but this driver came in on Friday morning, told those in the cafeteria of what went on,still visibly upset, and then went out to begin his day only to suffer what at this point is believed to have been a heart attack and dropped there in the yard before he even so much as turned a wheel. The last I was informed was that his family had pulled the plug last night.

This guy was a friend of mine, a senior driver who took time to help out a rookie long ago. The fact that he and others were not sent home at a decent hour in the face of a blizzard that the national weather service and the state police classified as "dangerous and potentially life threatening" is something I am taking personal. I don`t know if something will have to be done with the union or what but there should be rules as far as dealing with this kind of situation for ALL employees, hourly and management.

I'm so sorry Cach. My prayers go out to all his family friends and loved ones. He sounds like a good man and when they take you under there wing like he did makes it really hard.

 

[over9five]

Sorry for the loss of your friend, Cach.

It does make you wonder, "What if...?"

 

[cachsux]

I did not want to say "death" as I had not heard anything definite. I just received a text from one of the guys at work letting me know that while yes they did pull the plug the stubborn son of a gun is breathing on his own, still in critical condition. I hope he pulls through.

It still pisses me off though.

 

[Re-Raise]

The stress was through the roof at my center all week. I am sorry about your friend Cach. This job and management decisions really push tough people to their limits.

I have gone from 195 pounds last weekend to 187 today. I just wish they would give us the resources to catch up safely. They talk safety out of one side of their mouths and then they load you up with more than you can possibly get done because .. according to them... we know you wont get to everything.

What the ???? Put enough routes on so we can have the time to walk the long drives or park in the one clear spot to turn around.

We showed up Friday to find that we had 2 extra trailers from CACH that supposedly weren't forecast. Managemnt said the decision was made we were taking everything out even though we had the drivers load the last trailer, and it put our stop counts over the max at peak.

I 'll say it again management has never taught me a damn thing about safety in the 25 years I have been here. And yes I can recite all their little phrases. Management does force me into unsafe situations constantly.

I work safely in spite of managemnet not because of them.

 

[menotyou]

I did not want to say "death" as I had not heard anything definite. I just received a text from one of the guys at work letting me know that while yes they did pull the plug the stubborn son of a gun is breathing on his own, still in critical condition. I hope he pulls through.

It still pisses me off though.

I am so very sorry for what an arrogant and selfish a**hole of a manager did to your friend. I truly hope he pulls through.
If there is a higher power somewhere, the people involved with that decision shall suffer a fate 10x worse. I can't imagine what his poor family has been put through.
God bless.

 

[cachsux]

I`m not going to place blame on any one person just yet. On one hand they did not pull more people into the fire. On the other hand they should have had a set time to button up operations and get the heck out. You have well paid drivers who for the most part have good running vehicles. What about the part timers they kept? Some of them were camped out in the bus terminal out front because the buses were not getting through.

 

[grgrcr88]

I am so very sorry for what an arrogant and selfish a**hole of a manager did to your friend. I truly hope he pulls through.
If there is a higher power somewhere, the people involved with that decision shall suffer a fate 10x worse. I can't imagine what his poor family has been put through.
God bless.

I also am very sorry for the ill fate of your friend Cash, However wishing a fate of illness or death on someone else only puts you at a level even below those that caused the problem in the first place.

Instead I hope someone in the management ranks at UPS can learn from the bad judgment and poor planning that was utilized during this storm!!

 

[Re-Raise]

I understand that storms are hard to predict and sometimes the situations change quickly. My problem is that they won't make decisions to help us get it done.

Tuesday morning the preload was wrapped up at least a half hour before the driver's start time. The storm was forecast to hit us the middle of the afternoon. We asked them why not start us now so we can make some headway before the worst hits?

We had three laid off drivers working the preload Friday. Why couldn't they plan ahead and put those drivers on the street instead of blowing us out?

I know this job is tough and I like to think I have a lot of hard bark on me. But I hate it when they put it all on the drivers just so they can say they did their part.. which is actually nothing.. on the conference call.

 

[spif91]

I left the house Mon nite to go on my feeder run knowing that all the local media and the National Weather Service had issued our 3rd blizzard warning in 120 years. After driving in blinding snow and -10 degree wind chill Mon nite and Tues morn and finally getting stuck after trying to pull a set of doubles from point a to point b around 8:30 am and finally getting picked up at 4:30pm Tues afternoon we were taken to a motel. Got a call at 1:30am Thurs morn at the motel saying we would be picked up at 2:30am to continue our runs. Off the clock at 5:30pm Thurs and finally back home to the wife. Gone from the house from Mon at 7:30pm to Thurs at 6:30pm......Do the math. Worked 10 hrs yesterday trying to make a 100 mile trip to pick up a trailer full of air on solid ice and snow packed interstate. Just wonder sometimes.............Out of hours and am enjoying my 34hr D.O.T. reset.

 

[UPSGUY72]

I understand that storms are hard to predict and sometimes the situations change quickly. My problem is that they won't make decisions to help us get it done.

Tuesday morning the preload was wrapped up at least a half hour before the driver's start time. The storm was forecast to hit us the middle of the afternoon. We asked them why not start us now so we can make some headway before the worst hits?

We had three laid off drivers working the preload Friday. Why couldn't they plan ahead and put those drivers on the street instead of blowing us out?

I know this job is tough and I like to think I have a lot of hard bark on me. But I hate it when they put it all on the drivers just so they can say they did their part.. which is actually nothing.. on the conference call.

You need to understand that its not your local management that is making the decisions these days they are just over paid messengers. They are working as directed just like we do. They are being told how many stops per car to have, how many routes to send out on a given day and when to start or call people off the road.

UPS should have never went public.

 

[grgrcr88]

You need to understand that its not your local management that is making the decisions these days they are just over paid messengers. They are working as directed just like we do. They are being told how many stops per car to have, how many routes to send out on a given day and when to start or call people off the road.

UPS should have never went public.

+100

 

[menotyou]

I also am very sorry for the ill fate of your friend Cash, However wishing a fate of illness or death on someone else only puts you at a level even below those that caused the problem in the first place.

Instead I hope someone in the management ranks at UPS can learn from the bad judgment and poor planning that was utilized during this storm!!

Fate. Fate was the word I used. I stand by what I said.

 

[toonertoo]

Its funny when the ivory tower can look out their window and forecast the weather in the other 49 states. Its bad enough for them to shut down but let the rest of the country be darned.

 

[curiousbrain]

I can't speak for management, or the lack of it, at other locations, but the one where I am employed had myself and others out as helpers all week (except for Friday). Two of the times it was articulated to me to go as fast as possible, so the driver could return to the building and go out with another truck.

 

[The Blackadder]

I tried to hold this in, but I just can't do it any more!!

Everyone knows by now about the blizzard that went thru the Midwest earlier this week. It started here overnight Monday and continued thru Tuesday night. Winds were constant at 40 mph with snow blowing and drifting like crazy. Never heard the snow totals, but there are some 2-4ft drifts everywhere. All in all, not really that bad compared to someplace's, but enough to make life miserable!!

Anyway, I come in Monday and they are sending guys home if they want it, and cutting routes like crazy. Probably had 8-10 guys not working that were available and loaded everyone up that did work. Then comes Tuesday, same story only now the weather has already started and the forcast is for 10-12 inches of snow and strong winds. Still cutting routes and loading guys up!! So it gets worse(no way right!!) they decide to bring everyone in as soon as they finish pickups. Emergency condition everything thats left. Would not be a big deal, except they had everyone so heavy, there were guys bringing back 50-100 stops as EC! Now comes Wednesday. Get a call from another driver telling me none of the feeders came in and hardley anyone was working. I call the center and they tell me no need to come in unless you want to help us with your pickups in the afternoon. I agreed. Turns out they cut all but 19 routes for the day. Usually run around 60. The problem here is that the DPS sup apparently can't tell how many stops anyone as because once a package is sheeted as EC it does not show up in his system. So no EDD and no idea what anyone has. Needless to say, it was a disaster. Some guys were running 4 routes combined, with over 200 stops in 8 inches of snow, while 40+ drivers had the day off!!

I just do not understand why the company would not put ever available body on the street in the effort to get all packages delivered as soon and safely as possible. The only thing that was of any concern to upper management was their beloved stops per car number and production!! Really? With a blizzard, and half the country shut down?? Come on!!

This company preaches safety, safety, safety and then shows us everyday that the only thing that really matters is the numbers in the ledger book!! Sooner or later the lack of service due to the focus on numbers will cost us most of our customers!!!

They do this with any weather they cut as many routes as they can, part of is a hope that drivers will run their lunch to get out of the storm.
What gets me is how they claim Safety first, then send us out with 10 to 12 hour days, going into areas we dont know.

I know this company cares about money, but this is risking peoples lives, not just drivers other people on the road.

We had a bad ice storm here, I parked at one stop and my truck just slid done the hill, it was a small hill but how scary is that.

What did they do, they sent us a message to watch for black ice and dont get into an accident, this is safety this is how they care?

Well I finish up go back to the building, next day I get it for being 1.2 paid over, no joke we are risking a huge accident I stay safe and get told I should be working faster in dangerous condtions, ( I was not the only one by the way most got the what happened to you yesterday question).

I am on the safety committee we bring up the fact that working 10 plus hours a day leads to at the very least more injurys due to being tired.
My center manager agrees would love to add routes but he is told from on high if you need 50 routes then put our 46.

I used to tell people UPS was a good job you work hard they want a lot from you but it was a good job.

Now if someone asks me if they should drive for UPS i tell them how it is if you have any other job you can get take it UPS is not worth the time.

Safety is LAST at UPS and customer serivce is running a close 2nd in things UPS does not care about anymore.