Going to Integrad getting a lot of mixed information from fellow employees.

[Overpaid Union Thug]

Well, stopping at the gas station every day to pump up my leaky front tire is 25 cents. Getting the tire fixed is about $15. By your "business sense" it's better just to keep pumping it up than to fix it. Of course after I've put 60 quarters in the air pump at the station I've spent $15 anyway and I've still got the same problem.

The reason UPS developed Integrad is that 30% of new drivers were failing. That number for Integrad trainees is 10%. The money they spend on an Integrad student is cheap compared to the cost of constantly hiring new drivers to replace the ones that can't hack it.

UPS tracks Integrad trainees for a year after they finish. Like everything else, they measure it in terms of how much it costs. Not only how much it costs up front, but how much it costs in terms of what the company gets back. So far, Integrad must be worth the money. Just continuously pumping new hires into a system where a third of them are going to fail is not good business sense.

Most of them are failing because they forgot a comma or other punctuation on the 5 seeing habits or because they haven't had enough experience with driving a stick. So, the 30% down to 10% metric (and that's all it is) is a result of spending the better part of a week beating the 5 seeing habits into their brains. So, OF COURSE that percentage will drop! But that doesn't mean they are any more prepared to actually go out on a route had they not attended the course and were "trained" the old school way. They are spending thousands to reduce a metric by 20% but with no real practical result. Thats typical UPS logic. Or lack there of. That type of cookie cutter community college of business way of running a business is also one of the many reasons why FedEx Ground, although an inferior service, is gaining fast. They should let experienced drivers or ex drivers (and I don't mean 30 day wonders) train drivers locally. At the very least on the district level but by center would be more practical. None of our Integrad graduates have shown even the slightest hint of preparedness over trainees that were trained by on an on car sup for a few days.

 

[you aint even know it]

Most of them are failing because they forgot a comma or other punctuation on the 5 seeing habits or because they haven't had enough experience with driving a stick. So, the 30% down to 10% metric (and that's all it is) is a result of spending the better part of a week beating the 5 seeing habits into their brains. So, OF COURSE that percentage will drop! But that doesn't mean they are any more prepared to actually go out on a route had they not attended the course and were "trained" the old school way. They are spending thousands to reduce a metric by 20% but with no real practical result. Thats typical UPS logic. Or lack there of. That type of cookie cutter community college of business way of running a business is also one of the many reasons why FedEx Ground, although an inferior service, is gaining fast. They should let experienced drivers or ex drivers (and I don't mean 30 day wonders) train drivers locally. At the very least on the district level but by center would be more practical. None of our Integrad graduates have shown even the slightest hint of preparedness over trainees that were trained by on an on car sup for a few days.

The main reason why UPS is failing is because we still use old beat up antiquated devices/vehicles. What they probably planned behind that desk probably looks good theoretically, but sure ain't kicking it in reality. But, they made 5 billion dollars in profit, more than micky ds.
But I'll never understand why they keep putting drivers behind the wheel of those old beat up hideous things called package cars.

 

[browndingo]

Most of them are failing because they forgot a comma or other punctuation on the 5 seeing habits or because they haven't had enough experience with driving a stick. So, the 30% down to 10% metric (and that's all it is) is a result of spending the better part of a week beating the 5 seeing habits into their brains. So, OF COURSE that percentage will drop! But that doesn't mean they are any more prepared to actually go out on a route had they not attended the course and were "trained" the old school way. They are spending thousands to reduce a metric by 20% but with no real practical result. Thats typical UPS logic. Or lack there of. That type of cookie cutter community college of business way of running a business is also one of the many reasons why FedEx Ground, although an inferior service, is gaining fast. They should let experienced drivers or ex drivers (and I don't mean 30 day wonders) train drivers locally. At the very least on the district level but by center would be more practical. None of our Integrad graduates have shown even the slightest hint of preparedness over trainees that were trained by on an on car sup for a few days.

No, it is not a week of beating the seeing habits into your brain, and there is no grading for punctuation.

You spend 1.5 to 2 hours a day just learning the DIAD. And even in the training exercises where you are being shown the methods for, say, a rear-door delivery, you are run through the whole routine of stopping and securing the car, selecting and walking off the packages and delivering them to your partner using a DIAD. Most of it is hands-on practice handling real packages and completing stops in the DIAD exactly as you would do on the job. The time schedule is very tight and you are expected to stay up to speed while working independently, just like you are in the real world. The days are 11-12 hours long, just like they can be in the real world. On the day I took my delivery test in the mock village it was pouring rain. Wet labels wouldn't scan and the crappy defrosters made it hard to see the mirrors for backing. The backup camera monitor went out on one of the cars, but the people driving it were told to just get along without it. Just like the real world. And also just like the real world, we weren't given any special consideration because of the weather. We were graded just the same as everyone else. Two people failed, and were sent home. That was less than 10% of the class.

I understand the attachment to the "old school" way, but UPS saw that nearly one out of three drivers were failing the old school. To say that is better than just one out of ten failing makes no sense. It costs money when a driver fails, whether he's being trained at Integrad or by a local supervisor. It puts extra work on other drivers when a driver fails, whether he was trained at Integrad or locally. Bringing that number down saves UPS money, saves drivers time and headaches, and has real practical value.

 

[cosmo1]

The main reason why UPS is failing is because we still use old beat up antiquated devices/vehicles. What they probably planned behind that desk probably looks good theoretically, but sure ain't kicking it in reality. But, they made 5 billion dollars in profit, more than micky ds.
But I'll never understand why they keep putting drivers behind the wheel of those old beat up hideous things called package cars.

So, Mr. ain't-even-got-a-clue-about-anything-at-all, what would you do if you were the king of UPS?

 

[Cementups]

So, Mr. ain't-even-got-a-clue-about-anything-at-all, what would you do if you were the king of UPS?

Noooooooooo!!!!!! Please no!!! Don't open that can of worms!!!

 

[UnconTROLLed]

Though integrad is useful for drivers performing the job, it's more or less an obedience boot-camp to mold drivers into robotic creatures rather than human beings. That's what I took from it anyway.

 

[cosmo1]

Noooooooooo!!!!!! Please no!!! Don't open that can of worms!!!

​C'mon, Cement, don't you want a laugh?

 

[you aint even know it]

So, Mr. ain't-even-got-a-clue-about-anything-at-all, what would you do if you were the king of UPS?

Put retired people back to work.......joking. well, that's a complex question that requires more than just couple minutes for me to answer. The first thing I would do is remove the age requirement to drive to 19, buy out the shareholders and show them the door, and file for bankruptcy and sell the company and keep all the money, then live forever happily with 50 women.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

I was sent to driving school after having worked for about 10 years. When I went the school was two weeks long which, in my opinion, was one week too long. We had 4 days of classroom work and spent the day on Thursday on road shadowing a driver. My class was a mixture of seasoned and new drivers along with new supervisors. Much of the first few days was spent covering material that should have been covered prior to going to school. Those of us with a few years under our belts had a definite advantage over the newbies and we spent much of our time bringing them up to speed, especially on the DIAD. The emphasis was more on developing the skills needed to do the job rather than on uniforms, appearance and DOK.

I agree with the member who suggested that Integrad be eliminated and the task of training new drivers be returned to the center level, which is where it should be. Two days of classroom work and three days with a veteran driver should be more than sufficient to bring a new driver up to speed. The road test should be conducted by a supervisor not assigned to that center to ensure the candidate is given a fair shake.

 

[browndingo]

I was sent to driving school after having worked for about 10 years. When I went the school was two weeks long which, in my opinion, was one week too long. We had 4 days of classroom work and spent the day on Thursday on road shadowing a driver. My class was a mixture of seasoned and new drivers along with new supervisors. Much of the first few days was spent covering material that should have been covered prior to going to school. Those of us with a few years under our belts had a definite advantage over the newbies and we spent much of our time bringing them up to speed, especially on the DIAD. The emphasis was more on developing the skills needed to do the job rather than on uniforms, appearance and DOK.

I agree with the member who suggested that Integrad be eliminated and the task of training new drivers be returned to the center level, which is where it should be. Two days of classroom work and three days with a veteran driver should be more than sufficient to bring a new driver up to speed. The road test should be conducted by a supervisor not assigned to that center to ensure the candidate is given a fair shake.

The appearance and DOK tests are what everyone talks about when they talk about Integrad, but those are minor parts of the week. First, you're expected to arrive being able to recite your five seeing habits and ten-point commentary and knowing how to pre-trip a car. They don't spend any time at all going over and over it in class. We got one demonstration of the pre-trip the way they wanted us to do it, then we were on our own to learn it and demonstrate it. The appearance assessment was the same way - everyone signed the guidelines before arriving and were expected to meet them. We had three days to get it right. Very little class time was spent talking about it. It really is mostly running a DIAD and delivering packages and applying the habits and commentary while driving in city traffic.

The emphasis is on developing the skills needed to do the job, and definitely not just on uniforms, appearance and DOK. They pair people up based on the experience they've had - they'll put someone who has worked as an air driver or a helper with a complete newbie, to help him out with the DIAD. They'll put a pre-loader who already knows where to find FL1 with a night sorter who never sees a package car on his shift.

The final part of Integrad training is done at the center level. They give you your training packet at the end of the week and you give it to your supervisor to complete while they finish training you.

Observing a veteran driver is invaluable, and it's part of the Integrad training. Every student goes on a punch-to-punch observation ride with a veteran driver before going to school (at my center we usually send them out with our 37-year driver who has 35 years Circle of Honor). But being a good driver doesn't necessarily make you a good teacher. After delivering a few hundred of them, a veteran driver can complete a COD stop in his sleep without thinking of the sequence of buttons to push. Explaining it to a newbie is hard, though, because you have to stop and "unlearn" what your thumbs know how to do automatically.

The old school method still works - 70% of the time. The Integrad method also works - 90% of the time.

 

[you aint even know it]

I was sent to driving school after having worked for about 10 years. When I went the school was two weeks long which, in my opinion, was one week too long. We had 4 days of classroom work and spent the day on Thursday on road shadowing a driver. My class was a mixture of seasoned and new drivers along with new supervisors. Much of the first few days was spent covering material that should have been covered prior to going to school. Those of us with a few years under our belts had a definite advantage over the newbies and we spent much of our time bringing them up to speed, especially on the DIAD. The emphasis was more on developing the skills needed to do the job rather than on uniforms, appearance and DOK.



I agree with the member who suggested that Integrad be eliminated and the task of training new drivers be returned to the center level, which is where it should be. Two days of classroom work and three days with a veteran driver should be more than sufficient to bring a new driver up to speed. The road test should be conducted by a supervisor not assigned to that center to ensure the candidate is given a fair shake.

You know how supervisors collaborate with each other like cops. All it takes is send out a message to the supervisors who they think are going to conduct it and tell them that "Bob has been a naughty union boy, fail him!" And nobody is perfect, so even the slightest thing they can fail you for. I say keep integrad. Because we'll have people like you telling people to play along to get along to become a driver.

 

[UnconTROLLed]

Every student goes on a punch-to-punch observation ride with a veteran driver before going to school (at my center we usually send them out with our 37-year driver who has 35 years Circle of Honor).

Definitely a local practice.

 

[IVE GOTTA PACKAGE 4U]

Definitely a local practice.

Would hate to teach, the newbies the correct way!

 

[szak62]

Yeah I have experience as an air driver approximately 1.5 years and 4 years on night sort I'm just working know to get all the seeing habits, and 10 point commentary down again been studying it every night and hope it helps me get ready enough for Integrad my best friend who drives said if you go in there and know you're stuff you'll get through it pretty easy.

 

[Overpaid Union Thug]

No, it is not a week of beating the seeing habits into your brain, and there is no grading for punctuation.

You spend 1.5 to 2 hours a day just learning the DIAD. And even in the training exercises where you are being shown the methods for, say, a rear-door delivery, you are run through the whole routine of stopping and securing the car, selecting and walking off the packages and delivering them to your partner using a DIAD. Most of it is hands-on practice handling real packages and completing stops in the DIAD exactly as you would do on the job. The time schedule is very tight and you are expected to stay up to speed while working independently, just like you are in the real world. The days are 11-12 hours long, just like they can be in the real world. On the day I took my delivery test in the mock village it was pouring rain. Wet labels wouldn't scan and the crappy defrosters made it hard to see the mirrors for backing. The backup camera monitor went out on one of the cars, but the people driving it were told to just get along without it. Just like the real world. And also just like the real world, we weren't given any special consideration because of the weather. We were graded just the same as everyone else. Two people failed, and were sent home. That was less than 10% of the class.

I understand the attachment to the "old school" way, but UPS saw that nearly one out of three drivers were failing the old school. To say that is better than just one out of ten failing makes no sense. It costs money when a driver fails, whether he's being trained at Integrad or by a local supervisor. It puts extra work on other drivers when a driver fails, whether he was trained at Integrad or locally. Bringing that number down saves UPS money, saves drivers time and headaches, and has real practical value.

The appearance and DOK tests are what everyone talks about when they talk about Integrad, but those are minor parts of the week. First, you're expected to arrive being able to recite your five seeing habits and ten-point commentary and knowing how to pre-trip a car. They don't spend any time at all going over and over it in class. We got one demonstration of the pre-trip the way they wanted us to do it, then we were on our own to learn it and demonstrate it. The appearance assessment was the same way - everyone signed the guidelines before arriving and were expected to meet them. We had three days to get it right. Very little class time was spent talking about it. It really is mostly running a DIAD and delivering packages and applying the habits and commentary while driving in city traffic.

The emphasis is on developing the skills needed to do the job, and definitely not just on uniforms, appearance and DOK. They pair people up based on the experience they've had - they'll put someone who has worked as an air driver or a helper with a complete newbie, to help him out with the DIAD. They'll put a pre-loader who already knows where to find FL1 with a night sorter who never sees a package car on his shift.

The final part of Integrad training is done at the center level. They give you your training packet at the end of the week and you give it to your supervisor to complete while they finish training you.

Observing a veteran driver is invaluable, and it's part of the Integrad training. Every student goes on a punch-to-punch observation ride with a veteran driver before going to school (at my center we usually send them out with our 37-year driver who has 35 years Circle of Honor). But being a good driver doesn't necessarily make you a good teacher. After delivering a few hundred of them, a veteran driver can complete a COD stop in his sleep without thinking of the sequence of buttons to push. Explaining it to a newbie is hard, though, because you have to stop and "unlearn" what your thumbs know how to do automatically.

The old school method still works - 70% of the time. The Integrad method also works - 90% of the time.

Again….all of that training could be done at home center for a fraction of the cost. The basics of the DIAD only needs a day's practice and the rest is easier to learn on the job. A driver trainee should never have to sit in a classroom for anything more than a negligible amount of time. There is no need to pay for airline tickets, per diem, and hotels, and fake villages. It's not SEAL or Green Beret urban close quarters combat training for Christ's Sake! And I can guarantee you that the bulk of the failures at Integrad are just them setting an example to scare the rest of the trainees. And in the process UPS has wasted even MORE money and the centers the failed candidates came from are still short on drivers and will later send more to replace the failures. Resulting in more wasted money. The 70% and 90% number you dished out has no merit seeing how the Integrad drivers can't even be distinguished between "old school trained" drivers in any given center. I'm sure those numbers are just a fake metric that some suit with a business degree in a kiosk in Atlanta came up with as part of a package that was put to together to fool Popular Science Magazine, Forbes, and whoever else might be naive enough to fall for it and be impressed because they too, much like the business man in the kiosk, have never actually been behind the wheel of a package car. It's all nothing more than smoke and mirrors. And that's what this company has become.

 

[browndingo]

Again….all of that training could be done at home center for a fraction of the cost. The basics of the DIAD only needs a day's practice and the rest is easier to learn on the job. A driver trainee should never have to sit in a classroom for anything more than a negligible amount of time. There is no need to pay for airline tickets, per diem, and hotels, and fake villages. It's not SEAL or Green Beret urban close quarters combat training for Christ's Sake! And I can guarantee you that the bulk of the failures at Integrad are just them setting an example to scare the rest of the trainees. And in the process UPS has wasted even MORE money and the centers the failed candidates came from are still short on drivers and will later send more to replace the failures. Resulting in more wasted money. The 70% and 90% number you dished out has no merit seeing how the Integrad drivers can't even be distinguished between "old school trained" drivers in any given center. I'm sure those numbers are just a fake metric that some suit with a business degree in a kiosk in Atlanta came up with as part of a package that was put to together to fool Popular Science Magazine, Forbes, and whoever else might be naive enough to fall for it and be impressed because they too, much like the business man in the kiosk, have never actually been behind the wheel of a package car. It's all nothing more than smoke and mirrors. And that's what this company has become.

You really have no clue what the school is like so I'm not sure how you're so confident in describing it. They do not make examples of those who fail - in fact, they don't even mention it when it happens. At all. If someone fails one of the required tests, they are quietly taken aside and driven back to the hotel. They are not seen in class again, and none of the instructors mention the fact that someone is missing.

The fake village consists of three garden sheds from Home Depot, a few stop signs, and some paint to mark the yards and lanes. It's not like it's a movie set or anything.

The "old school" method in my district is to send the driver to a local week-long driving school, often located at a hub or the central admin location. While they are there, they are put up in a hotel and given a daily food allowance, the same as drivers sent to Integrad. UPS gets a negotiated rate on the hotels that is much cheaper than what a tourist would pay.

UPS also reimburses you for mileage for driving to school and back. In my case, I live 120 miles from the local school. The mileage rate is currently $.565/mile, so for a 240-mile round trip UPS would pay me $135.60. I just looked up what UPS paid for my plane ticket to Chicago to go to Integrad: $129.44.

So UPS actually saved six bucks by sending me to Integrad over sending me to the "old school" at my hub.

 

[Overpaid Union Thug]

Again….all of that training could be done at home center for a fraction of the cost. The basics of the DIAD only needs a day's practice and the rest is easier to learn on the job. A driver trainee should never have to sit in a classroom for anything more than a negligible amount of time. There is no need to pay for airline tickets, per diem, and hotels, and fake villages. It's not SEAL or Green Beret urban close quarters combat training for Christ's Sake! And I can guarantee you that the bulk of the failures at Integrad are just them setting an example to scare the rest of the trainees. And in the process UPS has wasted even MORE money and the centers the failed candidates came from are still short on drivers and will later send more to replace the failures. Resulting in more wasted money. The 70% and 90% number you dished out has no merit seeing how the Integrad drivers can't even be distinguished between "old school trained" drivers in any given center. I'm sure those numbers are just a fake metric that some suit with a business degree in a kiosk in Atlanta came up with as part of a package that was put to together to fool Popular Science Magazine, Forbes, and whoever else might be naive enough to fall for it and be impressed because they too, much like the business man in the kiosk, have never actually been behind the wheel of a package car. It's all nothing more than smoke and mirrors. And that's what this company has become.

You really have no clue what the school is like so I'm not sure how you're so confident in describing it. They do not make examples of those who fail - in fact, they don't even mention it when it happens. At all. If someone fails one of the required tests, they are quietly taken aside and driven back to the hotel. They are not seen in class again, and none of the instructors mention the fact that someone is missing.

The fake village consists of three garden sheds from Home Depot, a few stop signs, and some paint to mark the yards and lanes. It's not like it's a movie set or anything.

The "old school" method in my district is to send the driver to a local week-long driving school, often located at a hub or the central admin location. While they are there, they are put up in a hotel and given a daily food allowance, the same as drivers sent to Integrad. UPS gets a negotiated rate on the hotels that is much cheaper than what a tourist would pay.

UPS also reimburses you for mileage for driving to school and back. In my case, I live 120 miles from the local school. The mileage rate is currently $.565/mile, so for a 240-mile round trip UPS would pay me $135.60. I just looked up what UPS paid for my plane ticket to Chicago to go to Integrad: $129.44.

So UPS actually saved six bucks by sending me to Integrad over sending me to the "old school" at my hub.

You are missing the point. UPS should never send a trainee ANYWHERE. It is cheaper to remain at home center and be trained by an OnCar sup or maybe another driver than wasting money and time (sitting in a classroom) to learn simple tasks that can be accomplished in less time and more effectively on the job. And failing a student because they let go of the handrail a fraction of a second too early while overly pushing production is a farce. I've heard extensive details about the course. Waste of money. Pure and simple.

 

[UnconTROLLed]

To expand on a previous post of mine, as I get a feeling not everyone understands what Integrad is all about.

Remember back in elementary school, the reciting/regurgitating information, forming lines when the bell rings, taking orders no matter how silly or unnecessary?

Integrad is much like public schooling; it's not what you learn, but the mentality that UPS is pushing with Integrad. They want obedience and conformity.

I agree with big_arrow_up on this one, but probably in a roundabout way.

 

[oldngray]

To expand on a previous post of mine, as I get a feeling not everyone understands what Integrad is all about.

Remember back in elementary school, the reciting/regurgitating information, forming lines when the bell rings, taking orders no matter how silly or unnecessary?

Integrad is much like public schooling; it's not what you learn, but the mentality that UPS is pushing with Integrad. They want obedience and conformity.

I agree with big_arrow_up on this one, but probably in a roundabout way.

Its more about brainwashing new drivers to be good little robots that it is to teach them anything that couldn't be learned quicker and cheaper in local centers.

 

[UnconTROLLed]

Its more about brainwashing new drivers to be good little robots that it is to teach them anything that couldn't be learned quicker and cheaper in local centers.

Absolutely.
And that is not to say the five days of Integrad are wasted time, new drivers definitely learn some invaluable things. But in this way, UPS segregates/isolates the new drivers or employees and this, I'm guessing, they feel is the best way to instill or coerce their own patterns of behavior into the new driver.
Eliminates any questioning, any "differences", original thoughts and nuances that every human being normally has ( coming from the local center level of on-cars, vet drivers) into a standardized one-size-fits-all approach.