Just can't get the hang of Preload

[PreloadNub]

Hello,

I'm a recently registered member to this forum and was also recently hired as a PT preloader at my local hub. I have come here for any kind of support, tips, hell even alchemy to help me decrease my missloads, increase my packages per hour, and overall just improve my work efficacy.

I am now on my third week of Preload and have been loading package cars since day one aside from two days on sort (which was a cake walk to say the least). I had a very hard time today at work and it was the most stressful by far.

I just cannot comprehend how to increase my workload, it honestly baffles me how I am supposed to clear the boxline each and every time it passes, gather my 7-10 boxes for my 3-4 trucks, take the the boxes into their respected trucks, scan each package, write the VAL number and then load the boxes into their designated shelf/floor space and still have enough time to catch the next cage and repeat the steps.

I also have been having a problem with missloads and have had 1-2 daily rarely more, but today I know for a fact I had more possibly 5 or more due to a co worker dumping a bag of incorrect boxes in my car, but had no time to fix it because the driver had to go. I know I should have been paying the full attention but the boxes were dumped into a pile of boxes I had already started for that truck.

Peak is approaching and we are going to be doing 5 trucks a person - that's around 1800- 2100 boxes a day which is clearly unfathimable at the moment because I cannot even complete the 900 - 1100 a day now.

I know tomorrow I will hear the wrath of all my uppers and they will probably write me up, so I am sincerely looking for some advice because I just don't know where else to go and really need to keep this job.. I am a very athletic guy/ workout 4 days a week/ can bench 275lbs lol.. / etc. and the job is not physically hard for me at all.

Sorry that this post was long as hell!

 

[wgf46]

Time. Period. You'll get better with time. The union does not recognize production standards. Work as safe as you can as quick as you can. If they keep you on the same trucks you'll begin to learn and recognize certain bulk stops and place accordingly. The main thing is to work safe, put the package on the correct truck, be as quick as possible. Try to stay more towards the front of your trucks when possible. If you have to shut the belt off to stay safe, break a jam up, do so. I load 3 to 4 trucks but 5 is crazy. During peak when volume picks up, your start time should become earlier to allow for more load time. Time and repetition will get you better. Be patient, stay focused. The benefits are great after your 12 months.

 

[Thebrownstreak]

Benefits after the 12th month is a horrific thought in my mind. They abuse you PT guys and don't give you the $$$ or benefits for a year. Pray they take care of you guys in this next contract.

 

[DS]

That boxline will be around again in about 15 minutes,let it go around again if you have to.
Stay organized,tell the sup you will be wrapped by 9AM,and work smart.

 

[PreloadNub]

Time. Period. You'll get better with time. The union does not recognize production standards. Work as safe as you can as quick as you can. If they keep you on the same trucks you'll begin to learn and recognize certain bulk stops and place accordingly. The main thing is to work safe, put the package on the correct truck, be as quick as possible. Try to stay more towards the front of your trucks when possible. If you have to shut the belt off to stay safe, break a jam up, do so. I load 3 to 4 trucks but 5 is crazy. During peak when volume picks up, your start time should become earlier to allow for more load time. Time and repetition will get you better. Be patient, stay focused. The benefits are great after your 12 months.

They said once I stop missloading I will not be moved around so much, kind of defeats the purpose but oh well. I tend to stay in front of my trucks and then as I am presorting I slowly move down the line and end up having to run back.

Time will definitely get me into the routine I can tell, but after seeing some guy who was preloading for 4 mos literally just walk off the boxline today and go home whilst clapping his hands I know it will not get much easier.

Today was a good day for me I came in early and made sure my mindset was on what I was doing, I actually believe I had no missloads.

Thanks for the response.

Benefits after the 12th month is a horrific thought in my mind. They abuse you PT guys and don't give you the $$$ or benefits for a year. Pray they take care of you guys in this next contract.

Yes, a lot of the veterans and even my steward has been saying this. They feel sympathy for us, but I receive none from my FT supervisor and other management- all I hear from them is the faint sound of a whip cracking.. just kidding obviously.

That boxline will be around again in about 15 minutes,let it go around again if you have to.
Stay organized,tell the sup you will be wrapped by 9AM,and work smart.

I actually let a few cages go past today and it saved me a lot of stress. I'm not sure why but yesterday my sup was breathing down my neck about making sure to clear every single cage. Finished before 9AM today and still had time to help others - today was a good day thank you for the response.

 

[hellfire]

the jobs not for everyone

 

[jeffpatterson]

Ive been there for 6 years and still havent got the hang of it.

 

[PreloadNub]

the jobs not for everyone

the jobs not for everyone

Sorry I don't find you comment helpful at all and I'm really trying not to be rude.. With that logic you might as well say "anyone", because I haven't met a single person at work who has said they were an ace ever since they started, especially at this large of a hub. I still see guys that have been there for a few years with 5-10 missloads a week, so clearly they have yet to become perfect. If I don't fit the characteristics for this job, then UPS is clearly asking for too much. Like I said I have been active all my life, along with sports, running, have completed two half-marathons in under 2 hours, and finished in state for power lifting.

Preload is clearly a routine you just need to get used to, you need to anticipate, make correct decisions and choose your boxes and choose your intelligently or your going to be screwed on the next cage. I hear so many people say "UPS is such a hard job you wont even be able to walk the next day" sorry but I differ its not THAT physically straining. It's more about experience and knowledge of what moves to make and when not to make them.

Ive been there for 6 years and still havent got the hang of it.

Thank you for the reassurance, I have now realized this today and have a much better feeling about this job. I originally made this thread because I thought I was going to get canned and my attitude just went down the drain and my work efficiency went with it.

Once again thank you all for answering my question, time and practice is clearly the answer to my question as I figured out today when my FT supervisor actually praised my efforts instead of scolding me like I expected.

Moderator you can either close this thread or leave it open, If it helps others with similar problems then I'm all for it!

 

[trickpony1]

It's impossible to clear every cage as it comes by.
I preloaded for 2.5 years in the late 1970's.
Look around and see if other preloaders are "clearing" every cage as it comes by. It really doesn't matter if they are or aren't because the sorters on the boxline slide can't fill each of your cages completely full as your cage(s) come around to them.
Just do the best you can and be safe.

 

[laffter]

PreloadNub, I have been working preload for a bit over a year. When I started, I had lots of misloads. I had days with as many as ~7. I was also very slow. Misloads... slow... I'm surprised I wasn't fired. I think what saved me is that my load quality was decent right off the bat. You might say misloads = bad quality, but I'm talking about the placement of packages. My drivers liked me pretty quickly. Also, management saw and acknowledged that I really was trying. I wasn't being lazy. Maybe that helped as well.

If you have the opportunity (if time allows) to driver help, I suggest you do it this peak season. I don't know if you have any issues with load quality, but as ok as I was early on, helping deliver packages helped me to learn the best way to load them.
A year+ later, today, I had what I would consider one of my top three best loads ever. It was absolutely beautiful. I wish the driver didn't have to take the truck. I would have liked them to leave it there for me to look at every morning.

While most people who work preload do not like their job, I do "look forward" to coming in every morning.

I hear so many people say "UPS is such a hard job you wont even be able to walk the next day" sorry but I differ its not THAT physically straining.

It's a physically demanding job. Most people are not like you. They don't run marathons, and most don't go to a gym. I was in absolutely horrific shape when I started. I was sore for many months. Sore, everywhere. Now, it's nothing. I only ever have a sore back, and it's mild.

So yes, for you it may not be hard physically. It will be all about getting used to thinking quickly. If you aren't fired and you do not quit, you will get used to it. Everyone does.

 

[hellfire]

its not a bunch of friends hanging out, or some cross fit challenge, its a job. When you cant handle your workload others have to work harder to compensate. That gets old quick. Talk to you sups,, tell them your concerns -- attitude makes a big difference to them

 

['Lord Brown's bidding']

Did you say you are working on a boxline? Then it is fairly simply: pull and Load FOUR packages per bin, every bin. No more, no less (at least in the beginning). Focus on the larger pieces of the bin first, but always pull four pieces (big or small). Your pph should be 250+, depending on how many bins are on your boxline (UPS asks less than this). If your pull isn't crazy (1200+), you should be in decent shape, and if it is more you have grounds for asking an earlier start time, though they don't have to do so. If they start to get on your case about not rapping just use the numbers on them:

I start at 4:00. I pull 4 every bin, 250 an hour. That's a thousand pieces by 8:00, 1250 by 830. How am I suppose to wrap?

 

['Lord Brown's bidding']

Nonetheless, if you are pulling 4 per bin you will be decent for the most part and they shouldn't mess with you. Also use the method mentioned above about working in the front of your work area. Here's how a typical series of pulls should go:

First walk on boxline, go to start of work area (3 ft in front of your first car). If one of your bins is already in your work area when you first come up, ignore it. Stand at the front of your work area and wait for the next to arrive.

When a bin arrives, start sorting JUST FOUR packages to be loaded for your cars. Try to arrange am optimum carry-carrying more than one packages to the same car. Write your sequencing numbers on the boxes now, BUT DON'T LOAD THEM YET.

By now, another bin should be at the top of your work area. Repeat the above for this bin as well.

Once you have set up your carries for the second bin, go and load the packages for the first bin.

Once you've loaded the packages from the first bin, a THIRD bin should be at the top of your work area. Set it up like you've done for the other two. Then load packages for 2nd bin, then go meet 4th bin, etc.

You should be meeting the bins at the same place at the top of your work area. If you arent, you need to WALK faster (there is no need tp run, though you'll be walking fairly brisk). Make a game out of getting 4 pieces from every bin, not letting a bin get by.

 

['Lord Brown's bidding']

We are all imperfect, so you will get tripped up sometimes. In the event you meet. a bin in the middle of your work area (for sorting the four you will load), let that bin go. It'll be back. Go to the front of your work area to start the sequence over again (as a bonus, you'll get a couple seconds to catch your breath).


Loading like this should enabled you to get your bins somewhat light after an hour or so, as the FT will be on lunch when you start, and there is a shift change of parttimers. The effect is similar to an air bubble developing in a hose, the air bubble being no new volume being sorted to your boxline.

 

[wgf46]

At my center we have packages unloaded on one continuos belt. What is a box line ?

 

[tre305]

I wish my center had a box line. I really think it'd cut down on missed packages by preloadeds and the end of our belts wouldn't be looking like disaster areas with all the packages that are thrown off b/c they weren't picked off.

 

[loadfaster]

They keep trying to get me to load 5 trucks with 1200 or so...its nuts. The only way I can get done on time is to move like my ass is on fire and not sequence my trucks like I have been. I was told the only shelves that need to be really well done are 1 and 2, the rest not so much. How about just letting me do MY four trucks the right way?

 

[menotyou]

I wish my center had a box line. I really think it'd cut down on missed packages by preloadeds and the end of our belts wouldn't be looking like disaster areas with all the packages that are thrown off b/c they weren't picked off.

That's why you have a belt stop.

 

[tre305]

I wish my center had a box line. I really think it'd cut down on missed packages by preloadeds and the end of our belts wouldn't be looking like disaster areas with all the packages that are thrown off b/c they weren't picked off.

That's why you have a belt stop.

True enough, but even that does no good most times just from how hard the unload pushes it out. Lucidly I'm not a sorter or a splitter lol, they'd hate me for stopping the primary every ten minutes.

 

[menotyou]

True enough, but even that does no good most times just from how hard the unload pushes it out. Lucidly I'm not a sorter or a splitter lol, they'd hate me for stopping the primary every ten minutes.

I use to yell at them. I have even traded places with them. They don't like when they get it slammed better then they giving. I can unload a feeder better than most. All labels up, too.