I hit a dog today

[Bubblehead]

You must be a Sup. All you have stated is what I said. Tell me what is wrong with my logic, not just some head-on-backwards company type worker is always wrong but we can't really defend why B.S.

You're a new poster here Stu.
You are going to love UpState, he has a lot unique insight.
He is not management, they didn't want him either.
Welcome to the club. ( did you notice my avatar? )

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

You must be a Sup. All you have stated is what I said. Tell me what is wrong with my logic, not just some head-on-backwards company type worker is always wrong but we can't really defend why B.S.

I am not a sup--just someone who has a bit more common sense that you seem to possess. The sad part is some newbie will read your advice, act accordingly, and possibly lose his job. There is no way you can justify sitting until someone from your center drives out to get a dog out of your way. Blow your horn, get out and chase him out of the road, do whatever you have to short of injuring him, but don't sit there.

 

[soberups]

I am not a sup--just someone who has a bit more common sense that you seem to possess. The sad part is some newbie will read your advice, act accordingly, and possibly lose his job. There is no way you can justify sitting until someone from your center drives out to get a dog out of your way. Blow your horn, get out and chase him out of the road, do whatever you have to short of injuring him, but don't sit there.

I gotta play the Devils Advocate here....

If he hits the dog...they will charge him with an accident.

If he stops in the middle of the road and gets rear-ended by another vehicle....they will charge him with an accident.

If he pulls to the side of the road and gets out of the car to chase the dog and another vehicle hits the package car...they will charge him with an accident.

If he goes to chase the dog and it runs out into the road and gets hit by another vehicle...they will charge him with an accident.

If he gets out to chase the dog away and it bites him...they will try to give him a warning letter for "not following proper methods to avoid a dog bite".

And, if all else fails and he is able to pull off the road safely every time he sees a dog and waits until the dog is gone...he will get a warning letter for "failure to maintain demonstrated SPORH".

The management person... who is safely ensconsed behind the safety and comfort of his desk... has 20/20 hindsight. He will always be able to second guess any action that a driver does or does not take. He will always be able to fabricate a reason why that action violates some policy or procedure. Unlike the driver, this management person is not obligated to do his job in the real world or to allow logic or common sense to guide his decision making. As long as he meets his weekly quota of reports and warning letters, he can continue feeding off of the revenue that is generated by those of us in the real world who are actually doing the work.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Are you actually suggesting that he sit there and wait for someone from the center to come and get the dog out of the road?

This is the same person who worked with a broken foot. This is the same person who worked the entire day with his bulkhead door open because the lock had seized. This is the same person who was going to schedule a medical appointment during his lunch hour so as not to waste a sick day. This is the same person who would think nothing of going above and beyond for the customer, regardless of the situation.

I would have to think that if this were you that you would figure out some way to get the dog out of the road so that you could keep going rather than simply sitting there. I know I would.

 

[fxdwg]

You're a new poster here Stu.
You are going to love UpState, he has a lot unique insight.
He is not management, they didn't want him either.
Welcome to the club. ( did you notice my avatar? )

How dare you? You only have 1000 posts!!

 

[soberups]

Are you actually suggesting that he sit there and wait for someone from the center to come and get the dog out of the road?

This is the same person who worked with a broken foot. This is the same person who worked the entire day with his bulkhead door open because the lock had seized. This is the same person who was going to schedule a medical appointment during his lunch hour so as not to waste a sick day. This is the same person who would think nothing of going above and beyond for the customer, regardless of the situation.

I would have to think that if this were you that you would figure out some way to get the dog out of the road so that you could keep going rather than simply sitting there. I know I would.

Yes, my personal choice would probably be to figure out a way to get the dog out of the road without calling the center.

But I would totally understand why a driver who has been continually harassed over production... or had his job threatened for bogus "avoidable" accidents...would make a different choice.

If the company wants me to be willing to go above and beyond I will....as long as they will cut me
some slack when sh%t happens in the real word like hitting a dog or busting a mirror. Its called cooperation, and its supposed to work both ways.

The OP was having his job threatened for hitting a dog on a public road. That is not reasonable. Why should we as drivers be expected to "be reasonable" if our management team wont behave the same way?

 

[Bubblehead]

I give UpState a hard time because he can't seem to comprehend that we don't all work under the same circumstances that he represents to be his.
In the same perfect world that he lives in, where the sky is a rosy pink, I would agree with a lot of what he posts.
Unfortunately in my world the sky is blue and so is Brown.

 

[stucrew]

job threatened[/B] for hitting a dog on a public road. That is not reasonable. Why should we as drivers be expected to "be reasonable" if our management team wont behave the same way?

Exactly!! Mgt. wants to treat us as though we are stealing from them because we are being loaded far beyond "a fair days work"and are running all over our areas trying to make comittments. Then they want to mess with us over stupid stuff like hitting a dog. I say "Stand up for yourself and give them back what they deserve."

 

[stucrew]

Sorry about the double post. The reply with Quote is giving me trouble

 

[stucrew]

Are you actually suggesting that he sit there and wait for someone from the center to come and get the dog out of the road?

This is the same person who worked with a broken foot. This is the same person who worked the entire day with his bulkhead door open because the lock had seized. This is the same person who was going to schedule a medical appointment during his lunch hour so as not to waste a sick day. This is the same person who would think nothing of going above and beyond for the customer, regardless of the situation.

I would have to think that if this were you that you would figure out some way to get the dog out of the road so that you could keep going rather than simply sitting there. I know I would.

"Are you really suggesting that a Driver sit at a delivery till he can get bargaining unit help with an over 70 pound pkg?" Sound familiar? Same logic. Mr Hoffa thought that the logic was worth a one day strike to let UPS know that we aren't here to be used and abused.

 

[Bubblehead]

I give UpState a hard time because he can't seem to comprehend that we don't all work under the same circumstances that he represents to be his.
In the same perfect world that he lives in, where the sky is a rosy pink, I would agree with a lot of what he posts.
Unfortunately in my world the sky is blue and so is Brown.

Yes, my personal choice would probably be to figure out a way to get the dog out of the road without calling the center.

But I would totally understand why a driver who has been continually harassed over production... or had his job threatened for bogus "avoidable" accidents...would make a different choice.

If the company wants me to be willing to go above and beyond I will....as long as they will cut me
some slack when sh%t happens in the real word like hitting a dog or busting a mirror. Its called cooperation, and its supposed to work both ways.

The OP was having his job threatened for hitting a dog on a public road. That is not reasonable. Why should we as drivers be expected to "be reasonable" if our management team wont behave the same way?

This is exactly what I'm talking about UpState.
Answer the question, and try to put yourself outside of your dream scenario that you apparently work in.

 

[Bubblehead]

I give UpState a hard time because he can't seem to comprehend that we don't all work under the same circumstances that he represents to be his.
In the same perfect world that he lives in, where the sky is a rosy pink, I would agree with a lot of what he posts.
Unfortunately in my world the sky is blue and so is Brown.

This is exactly what I'm talking about UpState.
Answer the question, and try to put yourself outside of your dream scenario that you apparently work in.

That's what I thought.
Upstate's light goes from green to out in the face of a real challenge.

 

[stucrew]

That's what I thought.
Upstate's light goes from green to out in the face of a real challenge.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

That's what I thought.
Upstate's light goes from green to out in the face of a real challenge.

Actually Upstate was up early yesterday as he ran Saturday air ($$$) so he went to bed early.

 

[Bubblehead]

Yes, my personal choice would probably be to figure out a way to get the dog out of the road without calling the center.

But I would totally understand why a driver who has been continually harassed over production... or had his job threatened for bogus "avoidable" accidents...would make a different choice.

If the company wants me to be willing to go above and beyond I will....as long as they will cut me
some slack when sh%t happens in the real word like hitting a dog or busting a mirror. Its called cooperation, and its supposed to work both ways.

The OP was having his job threatened for hitting a dog on a public road. That is not reasonable. Why should we as drivers be expected to "be reasonable" if our management team wont behave the same way?

I give UpState a hard time because he can't seem to comprehend that we don't all work under the same circumstances that he represents to be his.
In the same perfect world that he lives in, where the sky is a rosy pink, I would agree with a lot of what he posts.
Unfortunately in my world the sky is blue and so is Brown.

This is exactly what I'm talking about UpState.
Answer the question, and try to put yourself outside of your dream scenario that you apparently work in.

That's what I thought.
Upstate's light goes from green to out in the face of a real challenge.

Actually Upstate was up early yesterday as he ran Saturday air ($$$) so he went to bed early.

OK, fair enough.
You're awake now, answer Sober's question highlighted in red above.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Fair enough--you are expected to remain "reasonable" because you are a professional and that is what is expected of you.

 

[fxdwg]

Do the right thing; regardless of the detaills. If you get in trouble, so what...you did the "right thing" and it will all work out in your favor

 

[Re-Raise]

Do the right thing; regardless of the detaills. If you get in trouble, so what...you did the "right thing" and it will all work out in your favor

In any accident you can find something that you could have done to prevent it even if you have to go back to not coming to work that day.

They should telll me what they consider to be proper methods when it comes to a dog running alongside my truck.

If they can't tell me what to do before the the fact I sure as hell don't want to hear it after something happens.

 

[soberups]

Fair enough--you are expected to remain "reasonable" because you are a professional and that is what is expected of you.

Correct.

That expectation, however, has to apply both ways.

If the company is going to take the position that hitting a dog running loose in a public road constitutes an avoidable accident....then the logical conclusion to that position is that a driver can face discipline up to and including termination, per the contract.

This position is unreasonable...but more importantly, it puts the driver in a position of having to protect himself---even at the cost of being unreasonable himself.

You cant have it both ways. You cannot say "we will take any disciplinary action against you that we can for accidents...such as hitting a dog...that we deem to be unavoidable" only to turn right around and say "but you still have a professional responsibility to be reasonable and find a way to make the delivery even if you see a dog running loose."

My responsibility as an employee to be reasonable and professional ends the moment that my employer starts making unreasonable and unprofessional threats against my job.

 

[fxdwg]

Correct.

That expectation, however, has to apply both ways.

If the company is going to take the position that hitting a dog running loose in a public road constitutes an avoidable accident....then the logical conclusion to that position is that a driver can face discipline up to and including termination, per the contract.

This position is unreasonable...but more importantly, it puts the driver in a position of having to protect himself---even at the cost of being unreasonable himself.

You cant have it both ways. You cannot say "we will take any disciplinary action against you that we can for accidents...such as hitting a dog...that we deem to be unavoidable" only to turn right around and say "but you still have a professional responsibility to be reasonable and find a way to make the delivery even if you see a dog running loose."

My responsibility as an employee to be reasonable and professional ends the moment that my employer starts making unreasonable and unprofessional threats against my job.

Good luck with that. Sounds like "famous last words" to me.