Package Handler Shelf and Wall Tips

Rawrzxor

Well-Known Member
So, I've just gotten done with training, and they really didn't have us practice wall/shelf building much. Maybe 5-10 minutes for the 4 days.

However, I did do an hour last night and have my first full night, tonight.

My walls seem pretty chaotic. I'm not sure how to fit the various boxes in a way that makes the whole thing 'tight', and I guess I want the whole thing perfectly aligned; or at least stable. It wasn't a *bad* wall, I don't think, but there were some slanted sections on the bottom which made it difficult to stack more on them.

How do I build a good foundation to where everything will end up straight? If bigger boxes come out, then that works out; but what if smaller packages are coming in? Can you start a foundation with the smaller ones?

Also, I was only able to do 130 in the hour last night, but I had a pretty slow flow, too. Do the supervisors judge you on how many boxes you get through even if the boxes just aren't coming?

One more thing: I want to get into the sorting position after my probation is over (though, since I'm only 130 pounds, I like the idea of buffing up a little--but more money sounds better), so is there anything I can do to prove that I'm worth it?
 

RolloTony Brown Town

Well-Known Member
You get the extra dollar per hour if you can pass a test displaying you have strong belt knowledge. The pick off positions are generally left for more senior employees. They won't let you take the pick off test until you attain seniority though.

As far as your load quality, I wouldn't worry too much about it this early. Follow the methods, left to right, fill in all space, and lock in each shelf and it'll start coming together. Everyone starts off with a slow PPH. Just take a deep breath, work safe, and try your best. You'll be fine I'm sure.
 

Covemastah

Hoopah drives the boat Chief !!
Are you kidding me !!!! How much training does one need to learn how to build a brick wall in a trailer if your over the age of say mmmm 8 !!
You kids today need to man up a bit !!
You shouldn't need your hand held on everything !
 
J

jibbs

Guest
Are you kidding me !!!! How much training does one need to learn how to build a brick wall in a trailer if your over the age of say mmmm 8 !!
You kids today need to man up a bit !!
You shouldn't need your hand held on everything !


Well, he's 130 lbs, so I'm assuming around 5'6" or shorter.

It's a bitch to stack a wall from floor to ceiling when you can only reach 3/4 of the way up your stack. Not saying it's impossible, just that the shorter you are the more creative you have to get to keep up with these 6'+ fools that can touch the ceiling of a package car on flat feet.
 

Covemastah

Hoopah drives the boat Chief !!
Well, he's 130 lbs, so I'm assuming around 5'6" or shorter.

It's a bitch to stack a wall from floor to ceiling when you can only reach 3/4 of the way up your stack. Not saying it's impossible, just that the shorter you are the more creative you have to get to keep up with these 6'+ fools that can touch the ceiling of a package car on flat feet.
Load stands !! or is that training for week two ?
Im a 6 footer lol and yes that helped a bit !!
 
J

jibbs

Guest
Yeah, they're just never around when you really need one. When I've got a trailer to load I'm normally building two or three walls at a time so that I can walk up one or two and fill out the top of the tallest one.

Sup told me the same thing about a load stand. I asked him to find me one to use, he either couldn't or didn't.

I think I've had that trailer maybe twice since then, and only when they have me floating around the building while people trickle in late.



I think if it weren't for IBT protection a regular, non-unionized employer would probably have fired me long ago. I'm just too hard-headed at 3am.
 

Covemastah

Hoopah drives the boat Chief !!
I'll tell yah what happens to load stands,,,these kids are so lazy today,they wrap the load and leave them in there!! I always take them out before I pull trailer to its next destination !! If you go to the primary,you'll probably find them from the inbounds lol
 
J

jibbs

Guest
I'll have to check that out next week. I haven't needed one in a while but even if I did, I honestly couldn't guarantee I could find one to use if I felt it were necessary.
 

MethodsMan

Well-Known Member
Are you kidding me !!!! How much training does one need to learn how to build a brick wall in a trailer if your over the age of say mmmm 8 !!
You kids today need to man up a bit !!
You shouldn't need your hand held on everything !

Build a brick wall in a trailer? That doesn't even make sense.
 

RandomDrone

Active Member
If you are in a bay that has a lot of light packages, build a nice looking wall 4-5ft from the back of the trailer almost to the top, then just throw packages over it and fill up the space behind it. Depending on the bay, you could do miniature versions of this (leaving 2-3 feet of space) as you continue along. If you want to not cheat, just load whatever is in front of you and over time you instinctually can build a decent but not perfect wall.
Are you kidding me !!!! How much training does one need to learn how to build a brick wall in a trailer if your over the age of say mmmm 8 !!
You kids today need to man up a bit !!
You shouldn't need your hand held on everything !
It's really not the complexity of it, rather it's the reality that building walls the way you are trained while using the safe work methods you are trained with are nearly incompatible with meeting numbers.
 

TooTechie

Geek in Brown
The people looking into your trailer want to see a pretty wall so when I loaded feeders I found that the easiest way to keep a wall looking pretty was: Start your first wall about 2 feet from the back wall of the trailer. Build it about waist high with good sized boxes. Now throw bags and odd shaped stuff behind that half wall. As you build up the wall, continue throwing the bags and odd stuff behind the first wall. The junk you're throwing back there will eventually support your "false wall." Build your walls all the way up to the ceiling. The LP guys and your sups will be looking for this. To keep your walls from falling over on you or the person you're working with, build them slanting back away from you slightly, never leaning forward. Try to make "T"s as you're making your walls as it keeps the wall together. If you make columns/chimneys, the column will fall over on you and you'll fall behind, get hurt or both. Square up the front of the boxes in each wall you make. This contributes to the prettiness factor. On each shelf of your wall try to keep it the same height. Continue making hollow walls leaving yourself plenty of room behind each wall to put small packages/oddly shaped packages and the large bags. Super heavy stuff should be put on the floor right in front of the wall you're working on. Build the first half of each wall quickly so they don't see how much space you're leaving behind the walls because they'll whine about wasting space. Light, fluffy stuff or squishable boxes should be put off to the side until you get near the top of the wall then put on top. If you build a wall on a squishable box, it will fall on top of you as more and more weight gets put on it.
The preceding is simply a set of bad habits I developed over years of working inside before I went driving. You should not follow 80% of my suggestions, but it is what worked for me and other experienced guys.
 

Rawrzxor

Well-Known Member
Thanks everyone. My first real day went decently. I had a bit if trouble locking in the shelves, but wound up doing okay. I scanned 160 packages per hour, which I was told wasn't bad. Though, another guy from our group did over 200, but he had a better flow. Mine was almost dead for like an hour.

I think I've got this down alright . I was worried for no reason. It'll just take some time
 

UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)

Well-Known Member
Too Techie used the term "false wall". Before PAS/EDD the good loaders would build a "false wall" in the middle of the package car so that when the sup walked by he would think that the driver was bulked out when in fact there was nothing in front of the "wall".
 
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