"No family life" with UPS

[WorknLateHuh]

Don't know why you all are saying we as drivers have no family time... Most of us get a good solid 25 to 30 minutes easy, before they all go to bed after we get home.

 

[Over 70]

That's my thing...my wife is a stay at home mom and it's really important for us for our kids to be raised at home, not by day care. I'll do whatever it takes for my kids to have a good life.

You going to home school them too? I cringe when I hear statements like this.

Going to daycare to socialize with 20 other kids his age is great for my kid. Last time I checked we're still raising him.

I pay alot and it's the best place in a 50 mile radius though. It's more like pre pre school.

My wife is off all summer and we still send him 2 days a week. The more socializing and new experiences the better. Loves it

 

[Boxjockey82]

I've said the same thing since I started 6 years ago. What I've realized is thats like someone else pointed out it's the people that have been around for 10+ years that are disgruntled. They went from if you were dispatched more than 8.5 hours it was a "heavy" day to now 9.5-10 easy. My comparison has always been selling cars for 9 years, working 6-7 days a week, 12-14 hours a day and making $100 K. Take the hours I put in against the $$$ and it just wasn't worth it. Now I get paid for my time instead of hoping to make $$$, paid holidays, insurance and weekends off. I see my kids every morning and just about every night since they go to bed around 8pm.

 

[Boxjockey82]

Talk to me in 5 more years when being dispatched 12 hours will be the norm tho lol

 

[JL 0513]

Many of us came from much worse schedules which is why a lot of the newer guys are more accepting of what they throw at us. For the 5+ years I worked UPS P/T about 18 hours a week, I also worked minimally 40 hours a week at a day job. Started at 7:30am and finished at 9:30pm everyday with a little break in between for all those years. Then start driving and what a nice short day!

 

[DumbTruckDriver]

Many of us came from much worse schedules which is why a lot of the newer guys are more accepting of what they throw at us. For the 5+ years I worked UPS P/T about 18 hours a week, I also worked minimally 40 hours a week at a day job. Started at 7:30am and finished at 9:30pm everyday with a little break in between for all those years. Then start driving and what a nice short day!

Agree completely. My kids were born into a situation where dad was at work every day. Now that I only have one job, they appreciate the time we have together, but understand if I won't be making it home before bedtime.

 

[Dumbo]

Many of us came from much worse schedules which is why a lot of the newer guys are more accepting of what they throw at us. For the 5+ years I worked UPS P/T about 18 hours a week, I also worked minimally 40 hours a week at a day job. Started at 7:30am and finished at 9:30pm everyday with a little break in between for all those years. Then start driving and what a nice short day!

You make a good point if you're already used to it vs used to working 8 hours per day.

 

[Indecisi0n]

It's not about values. It's pure laziness. Plenty of people on my route don't even own a stove. Just sleep till 10 or11 then go dragging into Subway with their pajamas on and get a footlong. Thirsty? Ride into town and get a soda. Rinse and repeat.

I'd love a foot long.

 

[PASinterference]

I'd love a foot long.

I can't help you there. I do have a long foot though

 

[Indecisi0n]

I can't help you there. I do have a long foot though

Are your feet hairy?

 

[OrionsBitch]

Ill give you that, and I admit I have no experience yet in this field. Just comparing professions and hours/work. But contractors I could also compare. My brother works 14 or more hours a day doing back breaking labor. He's in his late 40s now and it's all he's ever done since a teenager. Never saw his kids, never had enough money to make ends meet.

Most contractors don't work 14hr days....most of then go in early around 6 and are off by 5

 

[OrionsBitch]

So many threads talk about having no family life with this job. "You'll never see your kids", etc.

How is UPS so unique compared to a ton of other professions when it comes to this? I have several cop friends and they all work a ton of OT, overnights, holidays, etc.

How about doctors? Nurses? Plow drivers during snow season? Business professionals always on the road (my dad was gone every week in a new city)? Accountants? Fire fighters? Even retail workers working open to close 6-7 days a week.

My last job everybody has been on 12 hour rotations for months.

I can literally name 10 or more common professions off the top of my head where this is the case.

Why is this such a recurring thing when I read this forum. Cops work holidays, overnights, and 60 hours or more a week. At least at UPS there are not overnights or holidays as a driver.

I have 3 kids and pretty much any profession I have worked or thought of getting into it's the same. 9-5 is more of an exception it seems.

The way I see it is this: If I can allow my wife to continue to stay home and raise our kids, and provide great insurance and eventually great pay, and knowing many professions work these hours for much less, same management problems, yet in some professions the price of failing is much higher, including peoples lives,then its worth it to me. In addition I get to stay in shape as I get older.

Knee and back problems from sitting 10-12 hours a day in a chair or 10-12 hours of knee and back problems from moving and being active. I think the former is worse for you

The difference between a lot of jobs and UPS is the start time. It's not the long hours, it's the selection of hours. It would be great to for 10-11 hour days if we started at 7 every day. We could be home for dinner etc. Also other jobs (especially office) are flexible. If you have a dentist appointment you can leave and then come back to work. We don't have that option. Even making ohone calls to your bank or cable company is near impossible. Trying to drop your car off at the mechanic is difficult....all these everyday tasks become impossible because of this job. That is what pissed people off. Hell I haven't been able to cut my grass in two weeks. Get home and it's almost dark and it rained all last weekend. Am I going to use a sick day to cut my grass? No

 

[Indecisi0n]

The difference between a lot of jobs and UPS is the start time. It's not the long hours, it's the selection of hours. It would be great to for 10-11 hour days if we started at 7 every day. We could be home for dinner etc. Also other jobs (especially office) are flexible. If you have a dentist appointment you can leave and then come back to work. We don't have that option. Even making ohone calls to your bank or cable company is near impossible. Trying to drop your car off at the mechanic is difficult....all these everyday tasks become impossible because of this job. That is what people off. Hell I haven't been able to cut my grass in two weeks. Get home and it's almost dark and it rained all last weekend. Am I going to use a sick day to cut my grass? No

I look for excuses like this to call out every week.

 

[iruhnman630]

The difference between a lot of jobs and UPS is the start time. It's not the long hours, it's the selection of hours. It would be great to for 10-11 hour days if we started at 7 every day. We could be home for dinner etc. Also other jobs (especially office) are flexible. If you have a dentist appointment you can leave and then come back to work. We don't have that option. Even making ohone calls to your bank or cable company is near impossible. Trying to drop your car off at the mechanic is difficult....all these everyday tasks become impossible because of this job. That is what people off. Hell I haven't been able to cut my grass in two weeks. Get home and it's almost dark and it rained all last weekend. Am I going to use a sick day to cut my grass? No

Pretty much sums it up perfectly. Consistently getting home late is the worst part of the job, not the length of the workday.

And many of us have done the 2 job, 14 hour day thing in our younger years. But even then, I had flexibility, something this job lacks.

 

[PASinterference]

Are your feet hairy?

 

[Non sequitur]

You going to home school them too? I cringe when I hear statements like this.

Going to daycare to socialize with 20 other kids his age is great for my kid. Last time I checked we're still raising him.

I pay alot and it's the best place in a 50 mile radius though. It's more like pre pre school.

My wife is off all summer and we still send him 2 days a week. The more socializing and new experiences the better. Loves it

Socializing children in artificial groups is a choice that previous generations didn't have to make. We all learned these skills at home and in our neighborhood. It's still achievable to do it this way with as much parental face time as possible.

 

[MostHelpNeeded]

The difference between a lot of jobs and UPS is the start time. It's not the long hours, it's the selection of hours. It would be great to for 10-11 hour days if we started at 7 every day. We could be home for dinner etc. Also other jobs (especially office) are flexible. If you have a dentist appointment you can leave and then come back to work. We don't have that option. Even making ohone calls to your bank or cable company is near impossible. Trying to drop your car off at the mechanic is difficult....all these everyday tasks become impossible because of this job. That is what people off. Hell I haven't been able to cut my grass in two weeks. Get home and it's almost dark and it rained all last weekend. Am I going to use a sick day to cut my grass? No

It's the selection of hours for sure. In the last 6 or so years, where I am we have pushed the start time back 10 minutes shy of a full hour; it's crazy. Add that to the average dispatch going from 8.2 to 9.4 hours as someone mentioned, and it's not hard to see why a lot of people are pissed. Average punch out around here used to be about 6:30. It's easily 8:00 PM now. Oh and now we can throw Saturdays in there. It's purely corporate greed, and corporate greed only.

This is not the job I signed up for; not anymore. Year after year, without fail, this company has thrown more BS on us. It gets worse, little by little, day by day. Pushing the start time back 5 minutes at a time, adding 3 or 4 stops here and there. It's called pulling the wool over your eyes. It always gets worse, but only a little bit at a time so no one gets too worked up. But damn, look back 10 years and so much has changed. What good is 9.5 anymore if 9.5 is damn near 8PM? If you don't want the OT, it's because you want your evenings.

I for one would have absolutely no problem working 10 hour days if we started at 7 AM. I used to pass the Fed Ex guy every morning on my ride into work. Now he's long gone well before I even leave

 

[JL 0513]

Anyone know why UPS's network is so far behind FedEx's time table for getting their package cars out on the road early in the morning? Yes I know part of it is we do air and ground together and they separate but it seems Express is out early in the AM too. In the AM we aren't just waiting for air as ground work is being preloaded until 9:30 many mornings.

 

[Dumbo]

Why do you think they want to start so late? I'm so used to 6am start times at my old job that 9am seems really late. You would think they would want to start early and get a head start on the deliveries.

 

[Dumbo]

That is something my wife and I discussed. Why not start delivering at 7am? If it's because businesses aren't open then start with residentials first. I know I'd rather get my package at 8am than 8pm.

Somebody should tell UPS "Early to bed, early to rise, make a man healthy, wealthy, and wise".