NEnewbie

I feel like an elf.
Hello all. I was hired at the end of November as a seasonal driver helper. I was hired immediately and attended the paid orientation. I am a very motivated worker and I feel that was reflected during my brief interview. I told the woman in HR that I am "Ready to bust my ass" for this job. She made a snicker and smiled.

I was quickly called up for my first day of work and it went well. A long day, but I was coached by a friend of my father who worked for 37 years as a driver for UPS and is now retired. I could tell the driver who I was assigned to was impressed and pleased to have someone who was actually speeding up his times. He revealed at the end of the day before I was dropped off that he "rejected" the 6 previous helpers after they were all "duds" as they "slacked off near the end of the day". He was pleased to have me and hoped we would work together again. This driver was 3 years from full retirement.

The next day I call dispatch at 5:45 AM at the number given to me and was assigned to get picked up at the same location as the previous day, but with a different driver. The second driver was completely different than the first driver. Both were respectful and I did not feel treated differently because I am a woman. But his habits.. he stopped briskly by SLAMMING the brakes locking them up hard, to take a piss on a rural road right off the back of the truck. I realized what was going on when I heard the stream hit the ground. I assumed his prostrate was shot from the years of hydration deprivation he put himself through. :cool-very: He was a wild driver, often going 20 MPH :annoyed: over the posted speed limits. The seatbelt did not work on the helpers seat, nor did the door stay latched as it became undone multiple times as he was driving on rural roads ( The route was rural ) which have been damaged over time by frost heaving.

I told my driver that I felt unsafe since the seatbelt did not latch and the door kept sliding open. He was really apologetic but informed me that "They are not going to be fixing anything until Jan 15th". I decided I would inform the dispatcher the next time we talked about the safety issues. I of course decided to leave out the pissing and driving speeds out the back of the truck as the driver was kind to me and only 2 years from full retirement. :angel:

Both drivers helped me very much as I felt they were more motivated as I knew some of the basic lingo and procedures that my fathers friend told me of. Like I said he worked 37 years at UPS and sat me down for 2 hours to tell me the "Laws of the jungle" :funny:

The second night I was called by dispatch and informed I would be working the next day with a pickup at 9:30AM. I call in the morning to double check this, and was told the route was cut. "So many cuts, it's chaotic" and a quick apology. Then a hang up.

Ok, so I called the next morning at 6AM and was told they had nothing for me. Please keep in mind that when I was hired they said I would be getting a lot of work due to my rural location and they only had 1 other driver helper there.
This has happened 4 days in a row now. I call up, they have nothing for me because routes are cut. I asked her to help me understand exactly what 'routes are cut' means and how it can keep me from working. I expected a lot of work as this is peak season. She did not have a good answer for me.

So in a few hours I am going to call again at 5:45 and try to work. I am very motivated to work and was profoundly disappointed each day when nothing was available. I am assuming these routes are some of the coveted as guys very close to retirement are running on them. I am assuming business is good because it was damn good the first 2 days, the vehicles were LOADED heavy, real heavy.

My questions:

1: Do you feel I might be getting overlooked because I warned them about the safety issues of the non-working seat belt and passenger door?

2: I would appreciate a better explanation of exactly what "routes are cut" and why that would affect a driver helper. We do not live near a city, just small hill towns. I know UPS is out there every day, I have seen them on the road. Does it mean they do not have the package volume that requires a helper?

3: The first days driver, let's call him "Driver Bob" was waiting in the parking lot of the business where the second day's driver was going to pick me up. Let's call him "Driver Fred". Fred went back to back with Bob and Fred transferred a crapload of packages to Bob, much to Bob's dismay. I was assigned to Fred that day, Bob had no helper. Bob had almost double the packages that Fred had! Why was Bob upset, and why did Bob not have a driver helper when he had double the packages that Fred and I had?

4: I was trained to use the DIAD at orientation. Both drivers refused to allow me to use this tool. I was told by my fathers friend during "Welcome to the jungle " helpers are useless, unless they can use the DIAD. Why did both drivers want to have total control of the DIAD? It is my understanding that this would slow them down. Yet they seemed fine with just throwing me packages out the back of the truck to have me walk them up while they sort. Also, why were they using version 3, and not version 5?

Thank you for the time you may or may not choose to give me. I appreciate all comments and suggestions!

- North East Newbie
 

tadpole

Well-Known Member
Everything you mention sounds normal for ups, except for the broken seatbelt and bulkhead door. What do you mean your seatbelt wouldn't latch? Not at all? That sounds like a recipe for killing someone.

My guess: Bob was upset that he didn't get to go home after finishing a full day's worth of work. Instead, he had to stay out late, delivering in the dark, because Fred and his helper couldn't get it done (they had a failure of a day).
Bob probably blamed his poor performance on having a bad helper (who sounds like she talks quite a lot). So they decided not to use the 'bad' helper - just go on down the list to the next helper.

Either that, or when you complained to the dispatcher, they decided it wouldn't be smart to put you back with Fred and went to the next helper.

They don't have enough new diads because of all the extra holiday help, so they're forced to use the extra old ones.

They didn't have you use the diad because it is a hassle to manage 2 diads and it can be way faster and more efficient to do it the way they were doing it, depending on the route.

Having a helper is supposed to speed you up, not slow you down. With all the time I spent helping my helper with the diad, and having to go back whenever he would get stuck, I would have been much better off just working on my own.

I don't know if you will get more working days or not, but my advice would be keep calling in every day.
Do not hassle them with questions. Its they need you or they don't. Don't worry about why. And they won't know when they will need you until they need you.
If you get a chance to work again, just do what the driver tells you to do even if it contradicts what they told you in orientation. The driver knows better than the orientation people.
Don't, however, ever be unsafe or let yourself be put in an unsafe position.
 

oldngray

nowhere special
a99172_heart-shaped_1-protaste2.jpg

Heart Shaped Prostate

A Valentine for Inde?
 

bleedinbrown58

That’s Craptacular
Hello all. I was hired at the end of November as a seasonal driver helper. I was hired immediately and attended the paid orientation. I am a very motivated worker and I feel that was reflected during my brief interview. I told the woman in HR that I am "Ready to bust my ass" for this job. She made a snicker and smiled.

I was quickly called up for my first day of work and it went well. A long day, but I was coached by a friend of my father who worked for 37 years as a driver for UPS and is now retired. I could tell the driver who I was assigned to was impressed and pleased to have someone who was actually speeding up his times. He revealed at the end of the day before I was dropped off that he "rejected" the 6 previous helpers after they were all "duds" as they "slacked off near the end of the day". He was pleased to have me and hoped we would work together again. This driver was 3 years from full retirement.

The next day I call dispatch at 5:45 AM at the number given to me and was assigned to get picked up at the same location as the previous day, but with a different driver. The second driver was completely different than the first driver. Both were respectful and I did not feel treated differently because I am a woman. But his habits.. he stopped briskly by SLAMMING the brakes locking them up hard, to take a piss on a rural road right off the back of the truck. I realized what was going on when I heard the stream hit the ground. I assumed his prostrate was shot from the years of hydration deprivation he put himself through. :cool-very: He was a wild driver, often going 20 MPH :annoyed: over the posted speed limits. The seatbelt did not work on the helpers seat, nor did the door stay latched as it became undone multiple times as he was driving on rural roads ( The route was rural ) which have been damaged over time by frost heaving.

I told my driver that I felt unsafe since the seatbelt did not latch and the door kept sliding open. He was really apologetic but informed me that "They are not going to be fixing anything until Jan 15th". I decided I would inform the dispatcher the next time we talked about the safety issues. I of course decided to leave out the pissing and driving speeds out the back of the truck as the driver was kind to me and only 2 years from full retirement. :angel:

Both drivers helped me very much as I felt they were more motivated as I knew some of the basic lingo and procedures that my fathers friend told me of. Like I said he worked 37 years at UPS and sat me down for 2 hours to tell me the "Laws of the jungle" :funny:

The second night I was called by dispatch and informed I would be working the next day with a pickup at 9:30AM. I call in the morning to double check this, and was told the route was cut. "So many cuts, it's chaotic" and a quick apology. Then a hang up.

Ok, so I called the next morning at 6AM and was told they had nothing for me. Please keep in mind that when I was hired they said I would be getting a lot of work due to my rural location and they only had 1 other driver helper there.
This has happened 4 days in a row now. I call up, they have nothing for me because routes are cut. I asked her to help me understand exactly what 'routes are cut' means and how it can keep me from working. I expected a lot of work as this is peak season. She did not have a good answer for me.

So in a few hours I am going to call again at 5:45 and try to work. I am very motivated to work and was profoundly disappointed each day when nothing was available. I am assuming these routes are some of the coveted as guys very close to retirement are running on them. I am assuming business is good because it was damn good the first 2 days, the vehicles were LOADED heavy, real heavy.

My questions:

1: Do you feel I might be getting overlooked because I warned them about the safety issues of the non-working seat belt and passenger door?

2: I would appreciate a better explanation of exactly what "routes are cut" and why that would affect a driver helper. We do not live near a city, just small hill towns. I know UPS is out there every day, I have seen them on the road. Does it mean they do not have the package volume that requires a helper?

3: The first days driver, let's call him "Driver Bob" was waiting in the parking lot of the business where the second day's driver was going to pick me up. Let's call him "Driver Fred". Fred went back to back with Bob and Fred transferred a crapload of packages to Bob, much to Bob's dismay. I was assigned to Fred that day, Bob had no helper. Bob had almost double the packages that Fred had! Why was Bob upset, and why did Bob not have a driver helper when he had double the packages that Fred and I had?

4: I was trained to use the DIAD at orientation. Both drivers refused to allow me to use this tool. I was told by my fathers friend during "Welcome to the jungle " helpers are useless, unless they can use the DIAD. Why did both drivers want to have total control of the DIAD? It is my understanding that this would slow them down. Yet they seemed fine with just throwing me packages out the back of the truck to have me walk them up while they sort. Also, why were they using version 3, and not version 5?

Thank you for the time you may or may not choose to give me. I appreciate all comments and suggestions!

- North East Newbie
Oh great, a wall of text...FFS.
 

barnyard

KTM rider
From the novel you typed, I would say that now, you are a 'helper of last resort.' You have been trained and 2 drivers appear to not want to work with you. I would say that things do not look good for you.
 
NEnewbie,

I can't answer many of your questions because I'm also a new helper and like you I don't know or understand many the internal workings of the UPS helper program. What I can tell you is to try to keep your spirits up and don't get disheartened. The job's not working out exactly as I thought it would either, but the saving grace for me has been the fact that I've been with the same driver for all of my shifts and he's wonderful. The driver helper coordinators I deal with every morning are also great and I actually look forward to talking to them everyday. I WOULD feel comfortable asking them questions or expressing concerns. Do you not feel comfortable enough with them to just say, "What's going on there, why am I not getting work?"

Also, do you have that first driver's number (the one you really got along with)? You don't want to overstep your bounds, but if you really liked him and he really liked you, maybe you could call him and let him know you're having a hard time getting work. I can't say for sure but I get the feeling (in my hub at least) that no matter how many or how few packages are on the truck, if a driver really wants you with him for a shift, he'll get you.
 

jaker

trolling
Just because you thinks he likes you doesn't mean he does

I can put up with a bad helper for a day and grin and smile ( because we get paid to do that ) and turn around and tell them I don't want that person no more

The bigger part of the post it why are routes being cut , WE ARE READY
 

Operational needs

Virescit Vulnere Virtus
OP, judging by your novel, you talk too much. That drives men crazy. You don't realize that drivers are alone all day, for 11 months of the year. If they want to talk, they'll save it for the few minutes they get to see their wives in the evening.

BUT, if you're hot and show some cleavage, they'll probably overlook the talking. Just sayin.
 
Last edited:

MendozaJ

Well-Known Member
Those old timers get the pick of the litter, and the younger drivers are wary of possibly being reported for not making a complete stop at a stop sign. The word is out, and you've been blacklisted for reporting safety issues, among other things, no matter how much the driver complimented you. Sorry.
 
Last edited:

UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)

Well-Known Member
Those old timers get the pick of the litter, and the younger drivers are wary of possibly being reported for not making a complete stop at a stop sign. The word is out, and you've been blacklisted for reporting safety issues, among other things, no matter how much the driver complimented you. Sorry.

The helper should not have to worry about their safety while performing their jobs and are well within their rights to report unsafe driving; however, they should also know that doing so effectively ends their seasonal employment.
 
The helper should not have to worry about their safety while performing their jobs and are well within their rights to report unsafe driving; however, they should also know that doing so effectively ends their seasonal employment.
Not sure about unsafe driving but a malfunctioning seatbelt and side door that will not stay shut is definitely a safety issue that should deadline the package car.
 
Top