How are they going to keep PTers after next month.

[Pollocknbrown]

It goes a lot deeper than the $8.50 you are probably making. You could get a job at a fast food restuarant for the same wage. You could also probably get a job making a better wage working on a dock, driving a forklift or delivering pizzas.

Problem is, those jobs will get you no-where. At UPS you have an opportunity for a career. Bust your butt for a while and before you know it you will have a full-time job. Depending on your location, the wait can be as little as 2 or 3 months for a 22.3 full-time job.

Even if you choose not to drive (its not for everyone) and just stay full-time inside, you will be making around $23 an hour at top rate.

You will NEVER EVEN SNIFF that at any other company that hires you at $8.50 to start.

My advice: stay at UPS, it really is your best option.
Unless, of course you just finished dental school?

HA ha ha 2 to 3 months for 22.3 jobs....we have people with 13 years seniority waiting for 22.3s to open up. And driving Pkg cars is about 11 years, thats been dropping because all the people who have been getting the bids aren't qualifying or just don't want to do it, hence the 22.3 log jam. And how? the easy way for me....the pay doesn't bug me, i love the work (weird i know), and im going to school to be a cop and since i refuse to leave buffalo, im gonna be waiting for either a County Sherrif job, which they have a hiring freeze, or the Buffalo PD exam...which they just did and i missed it b/c i was too young... So i got no problem sticking around, and if i get FT outta it b4 i can get a police officer job, ill stick with UPS .

 

[HEFFERNAN]

The more turnover the more free money the union made. That's why the union has not fought for the newbie. They'll collect the initiation fees and let the chips fall where they may.
There will definitly be some HR's around the country that will have trouble filling a full roster. (but isn't that what UPS wants anyways, less for more)


PS. I've always told myself during the holidays that there is no way they can hire enough driver helpers with that measly pay rate. They just tell them they will get their foot in the door in the company. We always seem to have enough

 

[brownrodster]

. Once the staffing reaches an impossible level, UPS will have no other choice but to start calling full-time employees in early to load their trucks, at an overtime rate of pay. They will keep us in late to unload our own trucks.

That is exactly what is happening in my building right now. At least 5 drivers come in each morning a few hours early to preload. then we get messages everyday asking who wants to stay late and unload trucks.

 

[scratch]

Current turnover rate at my hub is 40-50%...

I remember seeing a poster last year that was bragging about our Preload turnover rate was only 65%. There seems to be something wrong with that kind of thinking to me. We have those 6AM Hub Tours two or three times a week.

 

[Big Babooba]

Tourists-
Preloaders are trained to look at the PAS label not the address label. Why would your loader know where "Smith's Hardware" is? Next time refer to it by its HIN and you may get a different answer.

Our preloaders are trained to check the PAL against the address label. Sometimes a wrong PAL is on the package which would result in a misload.

 

[drewed]

I remember seeing a poster last year that was bragging about our Preload turnover rate was only 65%. There seems to be something wrong with that kind of thinking to me. We have those 6AM Hub Tours two or three times a week.

wow i thought my 55% over a yr was bad

 

[bellesotico]

Our preloaders are trained to check the PAL against the address label.

We all are..and should, but given the increasing pressure to "hurry up" and get it loaded, a preloader who is new may not have that skill and the required speed to keep up with current UPS demands. I for the most part dont look at the PAL. I load by the address label.

"Sometimes a wrong PAL is on the package which would result in a misload."

This would be an out of sync..or if the tracking number matches the tracking number on the PAL then it would be a flip. These errors are not charged to the pre loader.

 

[IDoLessWorkThanMost]

We all are..and should, but given the increasing pressure to "hurry up" and get it loaded, a preloader who is new may not have that skill and the required speed to keep up with current UPS demands. I for the most part dont look at the PAL. I load by the address label.

"Sometimes a wrong PAL is on the package which would result in a misload."

This would be an out of sync..or if the tracking number matches the tracking number on the PAL then it would be a flip. These errors are not charged to the pre loader.

All 3 the buildings I've worked, errors are charged to pre-loaders that load flips that are incorrect.

I have knowledge of PAS including the office duties (database, data correction), have done it, and can tell you that most flips will be OK, as someone is manually resolving them, but it's best you don't load them and put them aside unless you have the knowledge and lookups that the people doing data correction and database have access to.

 

[cachsux]

wow i thought my 55% over a yr was bad

I could have swore a few years ago I heard 80% at the beloved Cach. maybe thats why we had work release criminals working here.
The new way to keep P.T.s will be with chains and those invisible fence shock collars.

 

[outamyway]

The new way to keep P.T.s will be with chains and those invisible fence shock collars.

Or they could just make the demands of the job realistic.

Someone here said once, that the job hasn't changed. PAS has has only made it easier to learn. If the company uppers would realize that PAS does NOT make a person superhuman, maybe some people would be willing to stick around and put a little effort in to the job. Cramming the work down their throats, while supervisors bark orders or send them home when there is still work to be done, doesn't do much for a new workers morale.

 

[bellesotico]

All 3 the buildings I've worked, errors are charged to pre-loaders that load flips that are incorrect.

I have knowledge of PAS including the office duties (database, data correction), have done it, and can tell you that most flips will be OK, as someone is manually resolving them, but it's best you don't load them and put them aside unless you have the knowledge and lookups that the people doing data correction and database have access to.

We don't get charged for them in our center.

 

[IDoLessWorkThanMost]

We don't get charged for them in our center.

Yeah, that's interesting.

 

[ThisJob'llBeTheDeathOfME]

At my hub, they are at a 65% Turnover YTD. I shudder to think what it'll be for new hires after today.

 

[MarePare]

We don't get charged for them in our center.

They "say" that we do not get charged for them at our center either. Yet in the morning the supervisors walk around with a sheet that lists all the misloads for their belts from the day before. It says the preloader's name, driver's name, what car/route the misload was in & which it was for, the address on the package, and what type of misload it was (wrong car, data flip, double PAL, out of sync, etc.).

My question is if we are not charged for data flips, why is our name ever even associated with the "misload"? If it's not my fault then don't tell me about it. I verify the PAL with the label as much as I can. If they'd give me more time then I'd check them all, but until that happens, there's not much more I can do.

Also, I have been charged for misloads in the past that my drivers have reported to the center as being their own error. For instance, after preload was sent home and the drivers had to finish loading their own cars, one of my drivers loaded a package that was similar to an address that he delivers to (but was not actually his). He reported it as this, yet in the morning I was still blamed for it. I talked to him about it and he told my supervisor that it was not my fault, so apparently I was no longer charged with it.

IMO, they can say all they want that we will not be charged for things that are not our fault, but someone needs to take the fall for it and rather than some higher up admitting that PAS has major flaws, they'd rather just say it was the preloader's fault for not checking both labels.

 

[trplnkl]

Keep this in mind also. If a misload creates a missed service on the package, regardless of who's fault, the driver is charged with a service failure.

 

[ORLY!?!]

We all once shared your plight at one time or another.

Being paid low for back breaking labor, and the negativity they seemingly handout to you at a whims notice you contemplate quitting almost everyday. Don’t fret about all that, because it’s all a big show.

I’ve noticed that lately, that they do look up to the worker who shows up on time, works hard and gets the job done even before the drivers starting time. As for you sorters, get off around 7:00AM, yesh I wish I could get off at that time. Us pre-loaders get off the clock anywhere between 8:30 to 9:15 am. This is a night full of large, heavy packages. To the small important overnights, the responsibility for this job is huge, and all the jobs in the building, as hard as they seem at first, are all for the benefits.

UPS signed an agreement to make new employees wait a year long to get the health coverage. Thus another year to get a family member or new person on your benefit plan, covered. On top of all that, you have to be a full time student to get the full coverage, ouch.

So after all this, makes it seem like only a crazy person would want to work here, correct. Well, after you get your first 50 cent raise, you will see why these jobs are so sought after. Jobs like these don’t exist anymore. Promises of wage increases annual, that is. You can get a great pay wage working overnight at target, almost 300$ a week in fact. Yet you will be spending 40 hours to get it, making the part time pay look even better, a little over 20 hours. But after your time spent proving your worth to UPS, will make that wage seem fickle. On top of that, that wage you get at target, fast food or others will most likely never increase unless you put in for it. UPS looks after their employees. Something forgotten in today’s time.

Stick with it, and you will see for yourself.

 

[Chnandler Bong]

I feel there is a very good reason Part-Time wages are low and for the 1-year wait for benefits.

UPS wants to hire 18-19 year olds. That's it. And it makes perfect sense.

Why would UPS want to hire a 40 year old who's gonna break down in 5 years and use up the medical benefits? So if they push the benefits a year later, the older ones will look at the pay for this job and walk out. Not worth it for them. Unless they look past the low wage and back-breaking work to their ultimate goal (cheap medical benefits) "the golden ticket"

Great point....you hit the nail on the head!

When I was hired on, UPS would openly tell applicants that they were only looking for college students. Rumor has it they were slapped with some age discrimination lawsuits and were forced to change their hiring practices.

This makes perfect sense. Hire eager 18-19 year olds who want their weekends off and don't care about insurance. Most of them are on Mom and Pop's insurance anyway and many campuses have dirt cheap health services for students.

By pushing back the health insurance, they limit the number of older applicants. Therefore, they are legally circumventing equal opportunity laws and still getting the demographic they are after.

 

[Chnandler Bong]

The quality of PT workers will only go down from now-on. We will get crap on a stick loading our vehicles.

The thing that scares me the most about this point is that some day many of these people will be driving. Working the front line, representing our company to the public. God help us if the Kenmei's of the world are responsible for keeping this outfit going when we are all retired.

As drivers, we can cover for part-timers mistakes, but once they are on the road, they are UPS to the public. However, this is probably what previous drivers thought about me......

 

[bellesotico]

They "say" that we do not get charged for them at our center either. Yet in the morning the supervisors walk around with a sheet that lists all the misloads for their belts from the day before. It says the preloader's name, driver's name, what car/route the misload was in & which it was for, the address on the package, and what type of misload it was (wrong car, data flip, double PAL, out of sync, etc.).

My question is if we are not charged for data flips, why is our name ever even associated with the "misload"? If it's not my fault then don't tell me about it. I verify the PAL with the label as much as I can. If they'd give me more time then I'd check them all, but until that happens, there's not much more I can do.

Also, I have been charged for misloads in the past that my drivers have reported to the center as being their own error. For instance, after preload was sent home and the drivers had to finish loading their own cars, one of my drivers loaded a package that was similar to an address that he delivers to (but was not actually his). He reported it as this, yet in the morning I was still blamed for it. I talked to him about it and he told my supervisor that it was not my fault, so apparently I was no longer charged with it.

IMO, they can say all they want that we will not be charged for things that are not our fault, but someone needs to take the fall for it and rather than some higher up admitting that PAS has major flaws, they'd rather just say it was the preloader's fault for not checking both labels.

Mare-

As I read your post I just sat here nodding my head in agreement. I totally understand..COMPLETELY! On the same token after only a short period of time with the company (just over a year) I've come to the not so startling realization that part timer is just code for "fall guy".

I exist in the UPS world and accept that there are things I cannot change. I go to work because it is my choice, and I do my job to the best of my abilities because it makes ME feel good. I have a strong sense of pride in my work and it shows. The only time I bother with management is when they bother with me and we have a clear understanding that I won't tolerate harassment nor will I ever play the blame game. When I make a mistake I am the first to admit it and I work diligently to correct it. But I am not afraid to assert myself when I felt they were wrong.

I guess what I am trying to say is the more we as part timers get upset about such as management walking around basically saying how bad we suck, the more power we give them. No one wants a service failure period but we as preloaders can't come in to work day after day with a storm cloud hanging over our heads. I just don't buy into it. I refuse to. So they can blame all they want and that proverbial poop can roll down that hill all day long, but this preloader ducks and weaves.

 

[bellesotico]

Yeah, that's interesting.

Or should I say..we don't get disciplined for them.
They do show up on the call in log.
We get rewarded for catching them though.