Obviously UPS is doing something right in the method of how they choose their leaders. UPS has been in business for a century and you don't accomplish that on luck or by making poor business desicions.
That being said, I think upper mangement needs to look at itself going forward. They are slipping big-time and the management commitee is lacking the people of James Casey's ilk. We are losing volume to our competitors. Their response is to pound sales-leads on the drivers becuase we are at the front-lines and are the eyes and ears of UPS.
My eyes and ears tell me a scary scenario in which we continue to lose volume, not becuase a lack of sales leads but because of corporate desicions that affect every operation in this country. Our potential customers use the competition for a reason, and those reasons don't include not knowing what UPS has to offer. They know, thats why they are using the competition
. Me asking for their volume is not going to change their mind about damages, customer service, price and delivery and pick-up time.
One quick example would be the implementation of EDD/PAS and the corresponding slashing of routes. This resulted is astronomical service failures on top of our customers recieving their inbound packages at their scheduled pick-up time. It was the only way we could service the packages.
Our customers can't operate like that. They need their freight early so they can turn it around that day and
service their customers. It secures us pick-up volume if we can deliver it to them at a reasonable time (not 10 2-day airs delivered at 445 PM). When we don't, we lose pick-up volume.
Fed-Ex ground can meet our customer's needs because their drivers leave the terminal at 7AM. All their businesses are off by noon!
How can I asking for sales leads compete with that and stem that tide? This needs to be addressed by corporate. If UPS sinks like the Titanic it won't be because of the drivers (we are so far superior in terms of production that the competition isn't even on the chart), it will be because of the desicion makers and how they decide to operate the business. I know "Big-Brother" is reading this and I'm sorry, but those are the facts.
Its July and 2 routes (about 320 stops) in a town of 7 routes have been cut. So know I get 40 stops added to my normal 9 hour route. I can't get a sales lead now because I simply don't have the time
. I have to worry about being off the clock in under 12 hrs.
If you want to cut 2 routes in 1 town its fine with me I'll take the 42+ bucks an hour to deliver QVC, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and the rest of the easy stuff, just don't mention the word sales lead to me because I'm not listening until I'm dispacthed under 9.5.