Do pickup scans really exist any more?

arpadjs

Member
Greetings, I work at a place that has several hundred UPS accounts littered about the country I have the fun job of using the UPS API's to resolve pick up times along with a few other data points. We ship around 50,000 packages a week and what I am finding right now is pickup scans are sort of phantom. I see pickup scans used maybe 5% of the time otherwise I only see origin scans (presumably that's at the hub). I have managers above me asking for exact pickup times etc and telling them an origin scan that hits at 1am isn't very useful to them. raw csv's don't provide any additional detail that can't glean from the tracking results. I know in years past we had no problem finding the exact pickup time and in the last year or two this seems to have gone from the norm to the exception. The only time we see pickup scans at this point are on returns and international shipments.

Any idea whats going on here? I know the purple guys use a pickup scans 99+% of the time so its pretty easy to report up their data. Probably something to do with the fact that if its not picked up its not in their system. Granted we have a much smaller data set with them (we mostly use UPS but the purple guys get some work because we have customers that want to use them only) Basically my managers are trying to use pickup scans to gain internal efficiencies from time of order to time that its ready for pickup etc and this is part of that equation. Any ideas or insight would be greatly appreciated! Yes, we spoke with our rep and he can't seem to give us a strait answer on this which is rather frustrating to say the least.
 

Jones

fILE A GRIEVE!
Staff member
As a rule we don't scan individual packages at a pickup anymore, the exception being UPS dropboxes where everything is scanned.
 

Catatonic

Nine Lives
As a rule we don't scan individual packages at a pickup anymore, the exception being UPS dropboxes where everything is scanned.

Or if someone walks up to a driver with a package (with a UPS compliant label).

In your case, your system should be producing a PSB (Pickup Summary Barcode) which the driver should scan.
That PSB is linked to all packages manifested since the last PSB was generated.
Is your shipping system a UPS provided solution (Worldship) or does your company have their own Enterprise integrated shipping system?
If it is a UPS provided shipping solution, it creates a PSB which can be scanned by the driver.
If it is your own host system, the programmers may have skipped the automatic printing of a PSB at close-out.
Check that out.

FedEx technology is a server-based system which generates a single-package manifest at time of label creation ... just like UPS Internet Shipping on UPS.com does.
 

arpadjs

Member
Thanks for the info I had a feeling this was the case and looking closer at where I do see pickup scans you are right its only drop boxes/UPS stores and walk ups or scheduled pickups from a non-daily pickup location.
 

UPSGUY72

Well-Known Member
Also depending on business some don't do and end of day for the driver to scan for a number of reason. Some pay for the shipping when they print the label as you see a little box with a bow on the label if they ship a lot of those packages driver usually don't scan each package. I have run into both situations whit shippers that ship hundreds of packages a day with UPS.
 

Cementups

Box Monkey
As a rule we don't scan individual packages at a pickup anymore, the exception being UPS dropboxes where everything is scanned.

I still scan every package I pick up that isn't on an end of day report. Until I am told different by my management team, I will continue to do so. I even have a pickup that will occasionally ship 1200-1500 pieces with the little "parcel" in the corner......I scan everyone of them as I'm loading them for an origin scan. Plus, it helps me keep count. ONce I get passed 20 my ADD kicks in and I lose track.
 

brownmonster

Man of Great Wisdom
I still scan every package I pick up that isn't on an end of day report. Until I am told different by my management team, I will continue to do so. I even have a pickup that will occasionally ship 1200-1500 pieces with the little "parcel" in the corner......I scan everyone of them as I'm loading them for an origin scan. Plus, it helps me keep count. ONce I get passed 20 my ADD kicks in and I lose track.


​That is wrong and a waste of time. To each his own.
 
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Jones

fILE A GRIEVE!
Staff member
I still scan every package I pick up that isn't on an end of day report. Until I am told different by my management team, I will continue to do so. I even have a pickup that will occasionally ship 1200-1500 pieces with the little "parcel" in the corner......I scan everyone of them as I'm loading them for an origin scan. Plus, it helps me keep count. ONce I get passed 20 my ADD kicks in and I lose track.
They just haven't got around to telling you yet, but really you're not supposed to be doing that anymore. We still have drivers who do the same thing here and no one hassles them about it, but at some future date someone will decide to make it the "flavor of the week" at which point there will be a report every day showing all the drivers who scanned pickup pieces along with posters proclaiming things like "TARGET: ZERO!" and "NO SCAN ZONE!". Then you'll be in trouble. Just you wait and see.
 

How Now Brown Cow

Well-Known Member
Why aren't you supposed to scan every package every time? Just keeping count is good enough now, or do I even need to do that? Picking up at UPS stores, I'm never sure if I need to scan the stuff just dropped off by customers that aren't counted on thier end of day, just keep a total count, or just make sure I get them all on the truck.
 

brownmonster

Man of Great Wisdom
Why aren't you supposed to scan every package every time? Just keeping count is good enough now, or do I even need to do that? Picking up at UPS stores, I'm never sure if I need to scan the stuff just dropped off by customers that aren't counted on thier end of day, just keep a total count, or just make sure I get them all on the truck.

Just the total. No need to scan.
 

IlllIIllIIlllIllIIIlIlIlI

Well-Known Member
I was told to stop scanning packages at pickups where they don't do a end of day. Is there a real reason they don't want us to do this, or is it that they don't want us to waste time scanning.
 

Overpaid Union Thug

Well-Known Member
I scan each package in special counts. At a scheduled pickup I do the same for ARSs except the UPS Stores because they have a report that shows that amount of drop offs. I just ask for that number and add it to the number on the end of day.
 

Buck Fifty

Well-Known Member
Or if someone walks up to a driver with a package (with a UPS compliant label).

In your case, your system should be producing a PSB (Pickup Summary Barcode) which the driver should scan.
That PSB is linked to all packages manifested since the last PSB was generated.
Is your shipping system a UPS provided solution (Worldship) or does your company have their own Enterprise integrated shipping system?
If it is a UPS provided shipping solution, it creates a PSB which can be scanned by the driver.
If it is your own host system, the programmers may have skipped the automatic printing of a PSB at close-out.
Check that out.

FedEx technology is a server-based system which generates a single-package manifest at time of label creation ... just like UPS Internet Shipping on UPS.com does.


That info and $1.50 will get you a cup of coffee, now Please Stop Babbling.:bigsmile2:
 

TooTechie

Geek in Brown
For the OP the worldship software offers the shipper to run an "End of Day" which produces a barcode and summary. When the driver does the pickup he can scan the barcode and all associated packages shipped since the last end of day will be marked with an origin scan.
 
U

uber

Guest
Quite often the 'end of day' doesn't match the true amount of packages. I always count. Some dude who makes cat furniture that I pickup from is the only one who is super anal about the end of days. Go figure.
 

barnyard

KTM rider
I am finding that more and more are going to 'internet shipping' which does not produce an end of day.

We had the PCM several years ago about not scanning individual packages. We were not given an 'official' reason, but someone suggested that it was too much data and it was taxing servers.

To the OP, I would see if your locations are using Internet shipping or a version of World Ship that does an End of Day. If you are doing an EOD, make sure that your shipping people are printing them before a pickup and ask that they ask the drivers to scan it. It could very well be that over time, your shipping people have gotten out of the habit of printing an EOD and your PU drivers are also out of the habit of scanning them.
 

'Lord Brown's bidding'

Well-Known Member
There are two reasons mgmt asks us not to scan individual pkgs: it takes time,, and we get an allowance per piece scanned. However, per UPS policies and procedures we are to produce a pickup scan for every pkg; it is for increased visibility for the customer. More and more drivers not bothering to do this is another product of drivers cutting corners trying to meet production standards, up there with not knocking and phantom delivery attempts. I fear a company like the one the op works for who depends on pickup scans for whatever reason leaving UPS because too many drivers aren't providing service that they need.

To the OP: if you really have dozens of sites shipping around the country, try having each site not getting a pickup scan generated calling in a corporate concern. Enough concerns from "individual" shippers may prompt a DIAD training on the proper method for recording pickups, and it isn't just to keep count.
 
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brownmonster

Man of Great Wisdom
If someone walks up to you with a pkg or leaves one at a non-pickup stop, scan in special counts. All others are added to pickup count at the stop without scanning. Scan all at Letter Centers. That's the rule per corporate.
 

'Lord Brown's bidding'

Well-Known Member
"Do not scan each piece" is not and cannot be a valid "flavor of the month", no more so "don't sheet business misloads as 'missed'; use NR1 instead". One could point out why we are suppose to make these scans and easily defend against not doing it. However, if one's performance starts to suffer mgmt will look for places one is wasting/"stealing" time, and may target this (and keep in mind we get an allowance, which increases one's "planned day" dispatch, to the chagrin of the dispatch supe). If a pickup can generate an EOD (and if their pkgs don't have the pkg icon on the bottom, they can) I'd ask them to print out the EOD; otherwise, per company proper methods and procedures, we are really suppose to scan each piece; it is not, as Upstate and others have suggested, "stealing time". The "origin scan" should not be the first scan.
 
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