UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)
Well-Known Member
It is LL Bean.
Old Time UPS.
- Thread starter Brown Rocket
- Start date
Covemastah
Hoopah drives the boat Chief !!
Thanks for backing me up Dave !!! Do you remember delivering live trees' also back in 89 or 90 !! what a pain those were!
!!!
Dump and Dash
Member
As a retired driver having worked 26 years all in packages, I can tell you newer rookies that peak at UPS is much easier now than in the old days. Not just with the new technology, but the shear amount of work we did back then. My personal best was 439 stops delivered by myself. Brickloaded in a P600
But that does not compare to the 589 stops and 693 packages in a full P1000 with over 100 miles driven by Bruce Krohn in Tempe, AZ in 1984. 85% were Driver Release, but the rest were "X" shipper numbers like 971X43 where the shippers name had to be written above the number on the old paper delivery records. That is 43.9 stops per hour with just 3 send agains!
A driver-helper team in Jackson, MS delivered 920 packages to 707 stops!
These stories are out of my Nov. '85 Big Idea company magazine. I have kept these magazines as it is fun to look back and see how things have evolved at UPS.
I'm sure our West Coast drivers will remember shipper number 902594 (release 495) for the many Sears packages we delivered.
But that does not compare to the 589 stops and 693 packages in a full P1000 with over 100 miles driven by Bruce Krohn in Tempe, AZ in 1984. 85% were Driver Release, but the rest were "X" shipper numbers like 971X43 where the shippers name had to be written above the number on the old paper delivery records. That is 43.9 stops per hour with just 3 send agains!
A driver-helper team in Jackson, MS delivered 920 packages to 707 stops!
These stories are out of my Nov. '85 Big Idea company magazine. I have kept these magazines as it is fun to look back and see how things have evolved at UPS.
I'm sure our West Coast drivers will remember shipper number 902594 (release 495) for the many Sears packages we delivered.
240-981
Just Numbers
Retired
Started in '72 and my route had numerous residential streets. A lot of older homes with fireplaces. Nothing better then the smell of fireplaces with snow on the ground. It seemed that every street had at least one delivery from either Swiss Colony, The Wisconsin Cheeseman, Figis or Hickory Farms. Do we still have these accounts?
Dump and Dash
Member
Those companies still have active websites, but I think people just dont order as much of this stuff as years ago. In the catalogs it looked like you would be getting a huge smoked sausage but when the package arrived there was a bunch of fluff and some little sausage about the size of a hot dog!
One year in the late 70's or early 80's we had so many shipments of Hickory Farms, Figis, Wisconsin Cheeseman come in that they had to stack it in a row about 80 feet long x 10 ft. high x 10 ft wide. Looked like the Great Wall of China. Must have been 200,000+ pieces and it was chipped away at for days until it all got delivered. At least it was driver release!
Harry and David is going strong. I toured their plant in Medford, OR last month. Awesome operation. They said 8000 people work there, 3000 are phone operators, and 100 forklift drivers. 3 million gift baskets are shipped from there and 3.5 million from Ohio. They even had a forklift "cop" to make sure that safe driving was followed!
One year in the late 70's or early 80's we had so many shipments of Hickory Farms, Figis, Wisconsin Cheeseman come in that they had to stack it in a row about 80 feet long x 10 ft. high x 10 ft wide. Looked like the Great Wall of China. Must have been 200,000+ pieces and it was chipped away at for days until it all got delivered. At least it was driver release!
Harry and David is going strong. I toured their plant in Medford, OR last month. Awesome operation. They said 8000 people work there, 3000 are phone operators, and 100 forklift drivers. 3 million gift baskets are shipped from there and 3.5 million from Ohio. They even had a forklift "cop" to make sure that safe driving was followed!
soberups
Pees in the brown Koolaid
I can remember running out of DOT hours on Christmas Eve knowing full well that I still had several hundred undelivered stops stashed in various sheds and garages all over my route. It usually took us at least another week of 12 hr days to get "clean". The trucks were simply too small to force all of the volume into them and there were just too many cubic feet of volume to deal with. PLD ended that little scam by forcing management to be honest about how many stops they were actually giving us.
1080Driver
Well-Known Member
What was the shipper # for fingerhut?? I remember going to a customers home one time with a tracer for a fingerhut package. Her front yard was like a dump, and while she is signing that she never received it, I look down and to the left of the porch it just happened to be that white fingerhut box with the same 3 digit ID #. LOL. That was when UPS paid any and every claim, just to keep the bussiness.
I'm pretty sure it was 170-513 and the return address was 11 McLelland Drive
JimJimmyJames
Big Time Feeder Driver
This is a great thread. I love reading history, even company history.
I unfortunately have blocked out a lot of the past 22 years I have worked at the company, including some people's names I worked with for years. That you guys remember shipper numbers is amazing!
I unfortunately have blocked out a lot of the past 22 years I have worked at the company, including some people's names I worked with for years. That you guys remember shipper numbers is amazing!
I remember my starting pay in the Hub was $4.25 an hour in 1975. that was a lot for a teenage kid when a fast food joint paid $2.10. We had a 50 lb. weight limit and Blue Label Air. If an air package was found after the shuttle left, somebody drove it to the airport and it was line flighted to make service.
I started driving while we were on paper. The route were divided up into defined areas and you had to sheet these stops on paper by what area of town you were in. You made two copies of Delivery Records, one was the original and the second was a carbon copy. If a customer wanted a receipt, you would put a second carbon in and make a third copy. The clipboard to hold these stayed in a little metal rack on the dash of the package car. I did drive an old P-600 with wooden shelves and a heavy bulkhead door. UPS used to take pride in the appearance of the fleet and wash every package car every night. They also washed and pressed our long pants every night. No logos on our shirts, we had pocket protecters with a name tag on it.
It was alway hard work and the boss had to make his numbers. But we seemed to be more of a team. Before cell phones, if you broke down on the interstate, all the other drivers would stop and go for help. We had dinners after work and UPS would pick up the beer tab too. I miss those days, "Old School" has always seemed better than "New School". Too bad most of my fellow employees never got to experience that.
I started driving while we were on paper. The route were divided up into defined areas and you had to sheet these stops on paper by what area of town you were in. You made two copies of Delivery Records, one was the original and the second was a carbon copy. If a customer wanted a receipt, you would put a second carbon in and make a third copy. The clipboard to hold these stayed in a little metal rack on the dash of the package car. I did drive an old P-600 with wooden shelves and a heavy bulkhead door. UPS used to take pride in the appearance of the fleet and wash every package car every night. They also washed and pressed our long pants every night. No logos on our shirts, we had pocket protecters with a name tag on it.
It was alway hard work and the boss had to make his numbers. But we seemed to be more of a team. Before cell phones, if you broke down on the interstate, all the other drivers would stop and go for help. We had dinners after work and UPS would pick up the beer tab too. I miss those days, "Old School" has always seemed better than "New School". Too bad most of my fellow employees never got to experience that.
we had an older retired driver now years ago while still on paper records. That delivered on Saturday before we had Saturday delivery. He got off early every Firday stash some pkgs in the county barn somewhere, Then he and his wife would delivery out of his pickup truck together on Saturday.
tracker2762
Well-Known Member
Delivering a Spiegel package and a couple days later picking it up with a call tag. I think their shipper number was 254-933, correct me if i"m wrong.
One customer told me she ordered it, wore it then sent it back. This happened all the time.
One customer told me she ordered it, wore it then sent it back. This happened all the time.
UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)
Well-Known Member
When the Air Force base was still here officer's wives would do the same thing. They would order a nice outfit for a banquet or other such function, wear it and then send it back.
brownmonster
Man of Great Wisdom
When I was a rookie driver I once had a delivery stop with a Spiegel pkg and a call tag going back to Spiegel. I put the call tag on the package to be delivered and sent it right back. Oh well, it prolly would have been sent back anyways.
brownmonster
Man of Great Wisdom
JC Penny in this area was 579-412. Never had an ID number so every package was "N". Must have been real easy to trace a pkg when every one was sheeted the same.
old brown shoe
30 year driver
Years ago we would leave our time card in the building at Christmas. When you were about to hit 60 hours they would punch you out.Then you would stay out until finished. The boss always kept a few bottles in the desk that would be shared with a few laughs after work. Worked a few free Saturdays just so are customers would have Christmas and not have to face them after with late presents.
1080Driver
Well-Known Member
How about Fur Call Tags.........what a pain in the %***.......
Leftinbuilding
Well-Known Member
Good one. Those were absolute life-savers! Mine were so detailed my cover drivers had no excuses.
