Feeder Driver Production Harassment

[anonymous6]

i havent answered those questions for a couple years now. i just say ride along with me for a couple days. they never do. my annual ride along is usually 30-45 minutes longer than my avg day and i point that out also.

just work safe. every 4 wheeler driver out there is someones child, father or mother, grandparent, etc.

 

[Dracula]

Going form 2 stops a day to 3?

Haha.

 

[Dracula]

When you begin to realize that you don't "produce" anything, there can be no production harassment.

Yeah, then why do you bitch and moan if we're late?

 

[Dracula]

Spend a week or two in package and then post what you think about feeder "production harrassment". I doubt if the two are even comparable.

A week or two? I spent 21 years in package car. Does that qualify me, or are you just being sarcastic? I don't know if you retired from package car or feeders, but I can assure you that feeders is much different now than it was just two or three years ago. As a PC driver, I was usually about an hour and a half over allowed. Even at that, I wasn't getting the amount of crap then as I am now in feeders. In our district there is a huge push to make feeders a 'scratch' system.

It isn't going well for them. So, they do their best to make us miserable. The majority of us won't be rushed. Every segment of our day, start work, on-property, turn-around, finish work, it's all being squeezed. I knew package car allowances were ridiculous, but feeders takes these allowances to a whole new level of stupidity. Only at UPS would they stress safety, then push us to cut every imaginable corner possible.

I'm not whining, I was just curious how other parts of the country are being treated. As for me, I'm just documenting every time they try bum rushing me with their stupid numbers. I'll see how long it goes on, then file a Article 37 grievance. BTW, this is happening to most of the drivers, except the mileage guys.

 

[Dracula]

Spend a week or two in package and then post what you think about feeder "production harrassment". I doubt if the two are even comparable.

We've had cameras in the yard, on fuel pumps, gate, wash bay, building corners, etc. The ones in the Meadowlands can zoom in and get the trailer #.

What I was talking about is the proposed cameras in the tractors. One in the grill or something facing forward and one in the cab focused on the driver. That's the one I may develop the middle finger nervous tic over.

If the union lets that happen, we're toast. If it happens in feeders, it will happen in package car too. Then, if they don't like you or your numbers, they will just wait you out, because sooner or later anyone will make a mistake. Then they will try to terminate us.

 

[Dracula]

Spend a week or two in package and then post what you think about feeder "production harrassment". I doubt if the two are even comparable.

i havent answered those questions for a couple years now. i just say ride along with me for a couple days. they never do. my annual ride along is usually 30-45 minutes longer than my avg day and i point that out also.

just work safe. every 4 wheeler driver out there is someones child, father or mother, grandparent, etc.

That is my main priority, followed by getting my 60 HRS a week.

 

[raceanoncr]

Spent 30 of my 32 yrs in feeders. Nuthin they did got to me. Why? Cuz most everything came and went, including their faces.

If they wanted me to go faster, for example: pre/post-tripping, I said, "Show me". Invariably, they would refuse or fail. If they DID try to show me, "How come you're dropping the dolly here?". "It's faster". "Yeah, but the dolly pile is on the other side of the building." "Not today, it ain't." "Can I drop it here everyday, then?" "No, you hafta drop it in the dolly pile."

You see where that went?

A friend of mine in another district was held by the sort. He did everything right, he was just late because of the sort. At the outbound phone, the supe asked him, "How much time can you make up?" Driver: "Let's see...driving the speed limit, equipment checks, making all the stops you threw on me because of missed packages, pee stops...Uh...NONE!!!" They were furious but what could they do?

In my later yrs with the company, I maybe had kinda an advantage. One cervical neck fushion, two knee arthos, two hip replacements, PLUS, at the end, 32 yrs safe (perfect company record) driving.

I would tell them during annual (what a waste of time) ride, "Don't even talk to me or distract me during pre/post-trip. I have a routine and I don't want you screwing with me during that".

When they tried to coerce me into doing things faster, I would point out that I'm here, ain't I. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't a slug. I moved along but do you want me to screw up another knee by climbing up the back-end of that trailer with a broken door strap out in staging that shoulda be closed in the load door? Who's gonna drive this thing today if I'm laying on the ground after that?

I had so many of em try their hot-dog maneuvers when showing me how to drive that I just flat refused to let some of em drive anymore and reported them for that.

I've stated this example before: One of the last rides. On backing under trailer, supe said and was gonna ding me for it (which didn't bother me a bit cuz I knew I was retiring), "You don't look around thru back window when hooking up". I said, "Well, for one thing, with this neck thing, I don't have the mobility I once had. For another thing, I drove trucks with no back window before UPS, ran sleepers for UPS for 5 yrs with no back window and can do the job just fine with no back window." Nothing more said.

Another time, after getting stopped a couple times at the scale for overweight, I told home base ONCE, "Don't load the trailers like this, I'm gonna get overweight every time." Well, you know where that went. Supe was gonna show me. Rode with me...DING! Overweight, GROSSLY! Was at scale for almost 3 hrs waiting for lighter set to come along so we could break apart and reset. Furious, again! Too bad. Not my fault, right?

I guess all I'm saying is this: Just "kill em with correctness". Do your job better than they can and they won't have anything to LEGALLY ding you on.

It worked for me.

 

[cachsux]

Spent 30 of my 32 yrs in feeders. Nuthin they did got to me. Why? Cuz most everything came and went, including their faces.

If they wanted me to go faster, for example: pre/post-tripping, I said, "Show me". Invariably, they would refuse or fail. If they DID try to show me, "How come you're dropping the dolly here?". "It's faster". "Yeah, but the dolly pile is on the other side of the building." "Not today, it ain't." "Can I drop it here everyday, then?" "No, you hafta drop it in the dolly pile."

You see where that went?

A friend of mine in another district was held by the sort. He did everything right, he was just late because of the sort. At the outbound phone, the supe asked him, "How much time can you make up?" Driver: "Let's see...driving the speed limit, equipment checks, making all the stops you threw on me because of missed packages, pee stops...Uh...NONE!!!" They were furious but what could they do?

In my later yrs with the company, I maybe had kinda an advantage. One cervical neck fushion, two knee arthos, two hip replacements, PLUS, at the end, 32 yrs safe (perfect company record) driving.

I would tell them during annual (what a waste of time) ride, "Don't even talk to me or distract me during pre/post-trip. I have a routine and I don't want you screwing with me during that".

When they tried to coerce me into doing things faster, I would point out that I'm here, ain't I. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't a slug. I moved along but do you want me to screw up another knee by climbing up the back-end of that trailer with a broken door strap out in staging that shoulda be closed in the load door? Who's gonna drive this thing today if I'm laying on the ground after that?

I had so many of em try their hot-dog maneuvers when showing me how to drive that I just flat refused to let some of em drive anymore and reported them for that.

I've stated this example before: One of the last rides. On backing under trailer, supe said and was gonna ding me for it (which didn't bother me a bit cuz I knew I was retiring), "You don't look around thru back window when hooking up". I said, "Well, for one thing, with this neck thing, I don't have the mobility I once had. For another thing, I drove trucks with no back window before UPS, ran sleepers for UPS for 5 yrs with no back window and can do the job just fine with no back window." Nothing more said.

Another time, after getting stopped a couple times at the scale for overweight, I told home base ONCE, "Don't load the trailers like this, I'm gonna get overweight every time." Well, you know where that went. Supe was gonna show me. Rode with me...DING! Overweight, GROSSLY! Was at scale for almost 3 hrs waiting for lighter set to come along so we could break apart and reset. Furious, again! Too bad. Not my fault, right?

I guess all I'm saying is this: Just "kill em with correctness". Do your job better than they can and they won't have anything to LEGALLY ding you on.

It worked for me.

Print that out for a new feeder driver handbook.

 

[brett636]

Since coming into feeders I knew eventually production harrassment was going to be an issue. i will just handle it like I did as an air driver.

Sup: Why did it take you 6 minutes to travel from stop A to stop B?!

Me: Well, distance divided by speed equals time

Sup: *Has conniption fit*

I doubt it could be as bad as package car as nothing in feeders happens quickly. Just trying to find my tractor can take 10 minutes depending on where the wash guys hide it. Peak is not that far off so whatever harassment they are dishing out today will be forgotten about tomorrow when the volume spikes. Just do the job as we were trained and do it as safely as possible and there is little that can be done about it.

 

[cachsux]

Sup : "It's a hot load. You have to hurry"

Driver: " (laughter)"

 

[Old International]

Right now the flavor of the month is pull times, decided by the last scan time of the sort. kinda sucks when when you find a bad airhose.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Right now the flavor of the month is pull times, decided by the last scan time of the sort. kinda sucks when when you find a bad airhose.

I am not a feeder driver and am not that familiar with that part of the operation. That being said, I do have a question---do you have to wait until the trailer is locked and sealed before hooking up and starting your pretrip or can you pretrip the cab and then complete the rest of the pretrip after you hook-up?

 

[cachsux]

I am not a feeder driver and am not that familiar with that part of the operation. That being said, I do have a question---do you have to wait until the trailer is locked and sealed before hooking up and starting your pretrip or can you pretrip the cab and then complete the rest of the pretrip after you hook-up?

Usually in a situation like that you've pre=tripped everything but the trailer you're hooking up to. Here we are not allowed to touch a trailer that has anyone into it. You can give it a visual check but stuff like lights will have to wait until you couple.

My trick is to call dispatch the minute I get there if it's not ready. They'll try the "tell them to............." to which I just give them the docks number and tell them to call direct. As far as the trailers "pull time" if the hub is monkeying around I'll take a time stamped phone pic of the sup putting the seals on. If it comes in my direction about what the delay was I just show it to them and send them off towards the hub.

 

[Indecisi0n]

My guess is production-harassment in feeders is exactly like it is in package...

Except in feeders you only have two stops (or whatever, I don't know much about the BIG trucks).

But in feeders, every individual moment is probably much more scrutinized than in package.

If I have a ten-minute 'nothing-happening' portion of my day in package, I just relate the truth: I was peeing and then washing my hands/ I was stopping to refill my water/ I was sorting my 'load' to find mis-loads, and after that I was setting up my 30-ft selection area/ etc, etc.

In feeders, I imagine the production focus is way more micro.

For example, if my center manager asked me why it took me 90 seconds to do X, I'm not sure I'd even answer (I'd cock my head slightly like a dog, furrow my eyebrows, and let the ridiculousness of the situation set in...)

Ten mins!? HAHA We in PC get harrassed for seconds ! And I'm not joking. Sup " stop should have taken 36 seconds but it took you 50 seconds, why? "

 

[BrownArmy]

Ten mins!? HAHA We in PC get harrassed for seconds ! And I'm not joking. Sup " stop should have taken 36 seconds but it took you 50 seconds, why? "

LOL, my point was that in Feeders the attention on every single move must be so much more micro, simply because it's two stops (for example) instead of 194 stops (what I did today).

I can't remember who posted it, but they said, (paraphrasing from someone in package), "I guess I have a pretty good management team (since I don't have to deal with the ridiculousness you're talking about".

If my sup asked me about a 14 second discrepancy about a certain stop, I'd remind said sup that:

I don't make the (circus) dispatch.
I'm not the one who misloaded X# of packages.
I'm not the one in the office sending me completely inappropriate on-call pickups (that I reject 4X until I'm overruled).
I'm AM the guy you handed a LIB NDA four routes over from where I need to be.

Like I said, when your (idiot) sup tries to call you on 14 seconds, just cock your head to the side a bit and pretend he's speaking Swahili.

Make him make his case: he doesn't have one.

Just saying.

 

[What'dyabringmetoday???]

Spend a week or two in package and then post what you think about feeder "production harrassment". I doubt if the two are even comparable.

Where I come from, Feeder Drivers, for the most part, do whatever they choose. They kind of have a way of controlling the work, if you know what I mean. Plus they have really cool satellite radios. And they make a ton of cash. I don't think they get harassed much.

 

[cachsux]

Mostly I have found you're harrased if you haven't established you're not the guy to harrass or because you're someone who's done something that you deserve to be harassed about.

 

[What'dyabringmetoday???]

Mostly I have found you're harrased if you haven't established you're not the guy to harrass or because you're someone who's done something that you deserve to be harassed about.

I believe you and me could get along. Plus Canada is near me.

 

[104Feeder]

Same happening here too, but nothing we can't handle. We have a bunch of 30 day wonders for On-roads so that makes it interesting. We went from having maybe 2 accidents a year (and boy did you not want to be one of those two) to having 2 a month. So just do your job, check what ya gotta check, maybe don't antagonize them too much and let them know if they work with you, you'll work with them. Call OSHA and make a complaint under the STAA if they push too hard. Don't be a Beverly Calhoun, but don't be a "hook & book-er" either. Just like in Package do it by the book and use the methods against them. Document everything & if you're dirty knock that crap off and do your job.

 

[BrownArmy]

Mostly I have found you're harrased if you haven't established you're not the guy to harrass or because you're someone who's done something that you deserve to be harassed about.

This might be the single best post I've read on the BC.

Very well said.