How can UPS survive ....

[retired2000]

when i was a driver and i found a damaged parcel in my car. i would either try to tape it up if that is all that it needed or i ould bring it back to our center for a rewrap and hope it would be back on my car the next day.

 

[mittam]

Dave,

Took me awhile and i tried to come up with a good answer. So today i thought i would consider it while i ran around the city. I first thought about it when i went to look for a new pickup truck. First I had to stop for gas and had to laugh how in 96 i complained how it cost almost $1.40 per gallon. I told the young punk clerk I wasnt going to pay 3 bucks and all he would get his the 14 bucks for the 10 gallons. Then I stopped into my favorite dealer and told the guy i had bought one here about 10 years ago. Couldnt believe the cost went from $14,000 to $23,000 for pretty much the same vehicle. I told the guy I wanted the pickup right now but wasnt giving him a penny over the $14,000 i paid in 1996. Before i came home i stopped to get a burger at McD's and laughed that the same value meal in 96 went from $2.50 to $4.00. Well the heck if they were getting a penny more than $2.50 from me.
So needless to say i came home hungry, in an old truck, with i think an arrest warrant for some unpaid gas. I cant get anything like i did in 96, except well the same productivity demands from the part time work force with the same pay rate 10 years later. And there my friend is the key to our future. Pay to get a good part time workforce. Weed out the bad ones (which wont be the current 70%) and we have the roots to grow some good drivers and even a few more knucklehead management people like myself. There was an old saying in the Soviet Union....they pretend to pay us so we pretend to work....NO NO NO im not comparing our company to the USSR in anyway but you, i and everyone who has stepped foot in a UPS operation in the last 10 years knows we dont have a good crop of replacements for us growin' no matter if you are looking at their performance, work ethic, or dress code LOL

I know you are management but this is a key point to the APWA ,we look at the part-timers , the pay being the same, giving good part-time jobs to senior people in the combo jobs, (yes I believe seniority should rule)but the company really does nothing to help the PTer along, other than cram work down their throats ,give them (for sure) under 5 hrs so a pt sup can finish the job and a swift kick in the butt to get them off the clock,excuse me but I was just figuring a driver making $40 an hr on overtime becuase he has to reload so much during the day or a part-timer getting 1/2 hr of OT and getting a good load that the driver gets home earlier emphasize what is needed work wise not a managers #'s looking good (and I mean no offense this is just what I see)some new part-timers care and do a good job every day they are generally the ones staying there not moving on when school is over, more attention needs given to part-timers more accountibility needs to be asked form the part=timers and the manangers of them,people reply to bosses wanting and letting it be known for their employees to do a good job,most people have pride in their work,it has gotten though to points that people are tired of threats tired of lies tired of trying to make management look good only to get crapped on some managers stick up for their people but most will burn the ass of an hourly before they make themselves accountable
guess Im ranting a bit but this describes my center and those in other states I have been through from the APWA,we all hourly and management should have the same goal: our company the biggest and best the one consumers want to use for the greatest service possible

 

[disneyworld]

I've oftened wondered how you drivers handle delivering so many damaged packages. In our hub some loaders will tape up pkgs others won't and their are a lot of damages from that belt!! So do you just deliver, smile and say "sorry"?

I say "Thank you for using UPS"

 

[helenofcalifornia]

That's funny. I thought I was the only one saying "Thanks for using UPS."

 

[Thebrowntruth]

guess Im ranting a bit but this describes my center and those in other states I have been through from the APWA,we all hourly and management should have the same goal: our company the biggest and best the one consumers want to use for the greatest service possible[/QUOTE]


Mittam,

I completely agree with 99.9% of what you say. The front line sups, those that dont have the millions on stock, by and large have this goal. Please understand the constraints they are under. There is very little flexibility for a center to adapt to local customers and concerns, the cookie cutter mentality is one that seems to be the one that rules and those come from the corporate and region offices. It will be get better but I also wouldnt be surprised if it gets a little worse before it does. OHHHH to be privately held and to think and plan long range again.......

My only point that I might not agree with you is with our part-time workforce. I really dont see a great deal of dedication or work ethic coming in the doors (of course there are exceptions). Can i blame them for 9 bucks an hour? Heck NO!!!! A PAS center now struggles with loaders walking in the right cars let alone utilizing a load chart. Im sure we could spend all day sharing horror stories but I will continue to believe the key is to make the P/T position the most desirable work around. Based on the hard work required the only way to do that is the pay. Service first, my friend, service first, i we have all heard...service is all we have to offer

 

[tonyexpress]

I've oftened wondered how you drivers handle delivering so many damaged packages. In our hub some loaders will tape up pkgs others won't and their are a lot of damages from that belt!! So do you just deliver, smile and say "sorry"?

MJ,

The district I worked in had a policy of not loading damaged packages. This way you don't deliver them and in turn damage UPS's reputation. I know it's easier said than done but it helps if the driver talks to the preloader. Still some will get loaded and the driver will have to make the call on whether the contents are damaged and it should not be delivered or if the shipper just used poor packaging materials and the contents are ok.

 

[scratch]

service is all we have to offer

I am an "Old School" driver, too bad this doesn't seem to be emphasized like it used to. I do not deliver a package that is obviously damaged, back to the clerk it goes. I do tape them up if that is all it needs, and I do ring the doorbell and use DR bags. I still try to do the best job I can, I have enough self pride to do the best I can at anything I do.

 

[ben schreilavoge]

I would think as a driver I would carry like three boxes of various sizes for a re-wrap if needed. Does anyone do this. It's humiliating to see how some of the boxes go out of the unload to be loaded with more tape than cardboard. I feel for you drivers when I see that.

 

[spidey]

I've oftened wondered how you drivers handle delivering so many damaged packages. In our hub some loaders will tape up pkgs others won't and their are a lot of damages from that belt!! So do you just deliver, smile and say "sorry"?

A visibly damaged package should NEVER make it's way on a truck until it is taken to a clerk, a damage inspection is completed and it is repacked.Unless caught at the end of the preload it shouldn't delay the package.

 

[toonertoo]

A visibly damaged package should NEVER make it's way on a truck until it is taken to a clerk, a damage inspection is completed and it is repacked.Unless caught at the end of the preload it shouldn't delay the package.

But it does. And we arent aloud to have tape in our trucks as it may tempt us to pilfer and steal. So do I deliver this pkg the way it is with parts possibly missing and have a customer delay my day bi*****G about how and why his/her pkg got the stuffin beat out of it, or do I delay it a day and HOPE someone is working who will get it routed back out the next day? And get yelled at a day later for it being late? The way things should be vs the way things are, this is what we deal with.

 

[helenofcalifornia]

That's funny that you can't have a tape gun in your truck. Every one of ours does because preload tapes up NOTHING these days.

 

[DS]

I had a leaker today.Orange scented soap I think...man it stank...it was 122 degrees in the back of my truck today and I felt sick all day because of it.preload just wants to clean the belt and go home.Iwrote it up on my dvir...please hose out my truck...would the preloader NOT do this if he were getting paid more?

 

[traveler]

Over the years I've seen people do a crappy job while being paid quite well. I've also see people paid poorly who do a great job. I'm not too sure high pay get high quality people as a general rule.

By the way, I do feel that part timers are grossly underpaid for their job requirements.

 

[ups79]

double standard:do you have a safety rule concerning a leaking package in your package car?

 

[over9five]

I don't keep damaged boxes for rewrap. There are just too many!
I do keep tape on my car, and fix the boxes as best I can.

 

[toonertoo]

Ive had that orange kleen in my truck it smells good for about 5 minutes. I dumped it outside a business, I guess they came and got it. They couldnt understand why it made me ill...........................they thought it smelled great. But I am sensitive to smells especially after carbon monoxide poisoning, I was warned bad smells would give me headaches, that might not bother others. And it does.

 

[dannyboy]

Back before we got new vehicles, we all used tape guns as well, but to hold parts of the truck together.

Traveler, those words are true wisdom. The problem is with a low wage, what hope to we have of attracting those with good work ethic, when there are those that are willing to pay more, and in some cases much more than we are.

d

 

[helenofcalifornia]

I carry duct tape in my truck and have used it on the truck.

 

[dave_socal]

Wow!!!!! You guys answered my question! How can UPS survive? After a few days of reading the thread all of you evolved "THEE" answer. TAPE! A little tape here a little there and we're all good. It is so simple yet profound. I 've always belived in getting the job done by doing it yourself and TAPE is so perfect on so many levels. Customer/consignee: " Your 1800# people are rude!" Driver : Here "I'll fix that" driver TAPES ears of this person. Customer/consignee :" Why don't you have my parcel today?" Driver:"mmfmmfmm" driver tapes own mouth to prevent expletives. Customer/consignee:calls center"Can you make a second pick up? OMS? dispatch"dis is Casa taco so sorry no english" then tapes phone so no one can answer hence no problem. TAPE perfect!

 

[over9five]

Wow, Dave, I will carry MORE tape!

Some lady was yelling at me today for driving too fast. Tomorrow I will tape her big mouth!