Looking to start a new career, is this the right place?

dudebro

Well-Known Member
No they do not... Fake News. IE sigh. I had many friends as Sups, and report to's over my former hourly time (now retired) and I knew what some of them made. $100,000??? Retired IE do you now work for CNN?

I know this might break down your narrative on how you make far more than the sups do, but this is absolutely accurate, esp. on the coasts. The MIDPOINT of the ORS grade is about 8k per month. MIP is on top of salary.
 

UPSHopeful

Member
I haven’t posted in a long time.
I’ve seen a lot of hopefuls come and go. I’ll offer you my suggestions - from 35+ years, including two years as a pt hrly and three as a pt sup.

1 - learn your job. What are the methods? Read them. What are the essential job setup methods? Ask IE for the MSD. Analyze it and understand the methods and standards that apply to your hub unload, hub load, hub sort, or whatever your job is.
1a - don’t be discouraged when your ft sup tells you you don’t need those things - “just do what I tell you.” Your ft sup probably doesn’t know the job - they know how to push people and do “what it takes” to get done.
1b - if you follow #1, you’ll know how many hours are required to properly accomplish the job each day/hour. You’ll be able to show your ft sup “why” you need x people / hours to get done properly. You’ll be able to understand where in your operation you have flaws that need re-trained and or fixed.

2 - plan each day to fix a problem. Every day when you arrive to work, you’ll be presented with the crisis du jour. if you begin to resemble a fire fighter, you’re not managing. Create a planner - outline a week in advance the problems you’ll solve.

3 - never ever compromise your integrity. While this should be number one, you have to understand the job before you know how you’ll be presented multiple opportunities to compromise everyday.
Don’t change time cards. Ever.
Don’t ask an hourly to do something that isn’t a method or is unsafe.
Don’t accept an hourly taking a shortcut on a method.
Don’t lie. Don’t say you walked off a belt when you didn’t.
You will never loose your Mgmt job at UPS for performance. You’ll be fired in a heartbeat for integrity- especially as a part time sup - if the full timer needs a “pelt” to save their own butt.

4 -If you want to get ahead, get your degree. While you may be promoted to ft sup without it, you won’t go much higher.

5 - read some books on managing people. Read the one minute manager and the spin-off one minute manager books. Basic principles. Basically treat your employees the way you would want your mother or sister treated.


Thank you for all the good information and advice!

I'm hesitant to go back to school just because I never really knew what I wanted to go for, and never really had interest in it, but since UPS pays for it I'll look further into it.

An update, on my first day at small sorts, the person they paired me with to help me learn the ropes was constantly fighting with one of the supervisors, I think a pt training supervisor or something. After about an hour of this a few people came down including the ft sup and lead her to somewhere, guessing she got fired. I was left alone for the rest of the day and managed to do alright.

On my second day my supervisor took me on a bit of a tour of the building and showed me the new area they just finished building, she asked if I took the AP test and then later that day she told me she was putting me up for promotion.

I obviously have no experience with small sort/load/unload but she told me wherever they put me they'd put me through training. I'm obviously very hesitant to take the offer they gave me considering what's been said here, but I'm worried the position won't be available if I wait. The new building was just finished and today is actually the first day that it will be open, I could also really use the money to help support my family.
 

bagpipes

Well-Known Member
There is a big divide between union and management, but keep in mind that “U.S. Domestic Small Package” (includes vast majority of users on BC) is just one part of the company today; and the FUTURE growth is not in Domestic SP. If you want beat the odds and make a career at UPS, find another business unit to transfer into after going through at least one peak - Contract Logistics, Global Freight Forwarding, Brokerage, Air Cargo, UPS Capital, etc. - and be willing to relocate or accept special assignments. Don’t burn bridges with anyone as much as you can help it (management and hourly included), understand *what game you are playing* at all times, and CYA as you try to do the right thing.

As disengaging as the feedback can be on BC, most other F100 companies all suffer from similar issues. Manage what you can control, do your job and take care of your people and your customers, and learn as much as you can; apart from that, be prepared and remember that timing is everything. Good luck.
 
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nedroc

Member
So I know this site is pretty anti management which is fine, I'm mainly interested in management because I've had a little experience with it, and enjoy helping and teaching others.

I'm going into my mid 20s and looking for a career, I want to be able to make enough to provide a nice life for myself and my family, UPS was hiring and I applied and pretty much instantly was given a job as a pt small sort. The building I'm in has been very recently expanded with a 220+ million dollar project, and there's a lot of management openings. All my managers have been friendly, and HR has been really chill, I've read a lot of harsh stories about :censored2:ty managers and was wondering if it might be regional or something? I'm in Ohio and so far it's been pretty cool, I took the AP or mapp test and passed (not sure how you could fail tbh). I'm trying to figure out what would be better in the long term, I don't really like driving, and I can't drive stick so I don't think being a driver would be a good fit for me.

Any advice on what steps to take to grow in the company, or if not management or driver, what's a good steady career path in the company?

None, RUN...RUN...RUN... especially if you are young.
 
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