Been there, done that.
The only commitment we had was to be back to the building by 2130 to make the feeder pull. And believe me, there were plenty of nights that almost didn't happen.
Paper !!!!!!
- Thread starter Covemastah
- Start date
Been there, done that.
The only commitment we had was to be back to the building by 2130 to make the feeder pull. And believe me, there were plenty of nights that almost didn't happen.
Harry Manback
Robot Extraordinaire
Respect.
Does Rowdy help?
FrigidFTSup
Resident Suit
So would you say the company is getting worse and the job easier? I just find it confusing because so many come on here and say how this is ridiculous and that company is terrible etc.
When Dave gets home.
FrigidFTSup
Resident Suit
A 2130 trailer pull would be like a wet dream in my center. 1900 here.
O
OLDMAN3
Guest
Dave,
Major metropolitan areas have always had (even 30 years ago) nut-crusher routes that make your numbers look easy. For example, I filled in on a route 25 years ago that typically had 700 pieces, 150 stops delivered with 30 pickups and 500+ pieces picked up (58 miles). That route would never have under 1000 pieces (del+pickups).
By the way, a p1000 is not a big package car these days.
Get over yourself. We have guys that are 2 1/2 to 3 hours under each day doing 170+ stops. You are not the superstar you think you are.
There were runner-gunners back then and there are runner-gunners today. Who cares?
In my opinion technology and better designed vehicles make the job easier today. What I don't like is the longer hours with more stops that puts more wear and tear on our bodies. It has always been a difficult job with a lot of pressure on us. It gets easier when you finally learn to handle that pressure. I learned a long time ago to ignore a lot of the micro-managing that acures, there is only so much that one person can do. I tell all the new drivers that it all comes off one stop at a time.
Mostly, the job has changed a lot. Thirty+ years ago, it was physically challenging with the older trucks and the loads were still heavy. But, once a driver left the building, he/she was in charge of the day and was expected to make decisions independently. There was no micro-management. The only way they could contact us was by leaving messages at our pickup stops. For those of us on rural routes, pickups might not even be started until 4:00 or 5:00 in the afternoon.
Conversely, we had no easy way to contact the building with problems. There were a number of times I had to walk quite a way to a house and ask if I could use the phone.
Almost comparing apples to oranges.
FrigidFTSup
Resident Suit
Thanks for sharing. I just found this thread among the most interesting ones because there seems to be a lot of posts contrary to a lot of what I've read on here.
FrigidFTSup
Resident Suit
Interesting. I guess I never thought about that.
Maybe for you, but not the drivers who would be dispatched almost that late daily.
FrigidFTSup
Resident Suit
Yeah that would suck for them for sure. I just wish we had a little more time to process our stuff.
I guess I should qualify my post by explaining that during my 34 years, I almost exclusively ran rural (some very rural) routes.
We were kind of the red-headed step-children in the grand overview. Necessary, but certainly not profitable.
FrigidFTSup
Resident Suit
We're very similar. A large chunk of our center is very rural. But our rurals have almost no pickups too. It's mostly just call tags. I think corporate forgets we exist.
Back when I started, I covered a rural route that did have one big pickup account. Up to 150 pieces a day, off-road motorcycle and snowmobile parts. They wanted the latest possible pickup time, and they were about 40 miles away from the building way out in BFE.
Many times I finished them at 8:30PM and had to beat-butt back to make the feeder pull.
FrigidFTSup
Resident Suit
How many miles a day would you do? Our super rural routes will easily do 275-330 miles a day.
Back in the day, drivers would help each other out and a Center Manager could add extra routes if he had the manpower on heavy days. That doesn't happen anymore. Like Cosmos said above, once we left the building, we were pretty much on our own. No DIADS or cell phones, management had to call one of our afternoon pickups and have us call in if need be.
upsgrunt
Well-Known Member
When I started in 86, not only were you on your own, but they never sent anyone to help like they do today. The rule was have your pickup pieces back by 19:30, and if you have any stops left, you had to go back out til 20:30. I learned right away there was no bail-outs, and to this day, I ask for no help and offer none unless directed to or it's somebody I know was really screwed.
That would be an unusually early night for me.
