Pathetic games of hide-and-seek......

[soberups]

....seem to be the new way for management to justify their jobs.

I have been subjected to 3 "on-area-observations" in the last 3 1/2 months. This is where the sup, sometimes accompanied by the center manager, goes out on the delivery area in a personal vehicle to sneak around and spy on the driver.

Its really kind of sad and pathetic. I mean, I have been taking my lunch at the same time and place every day for years. I start my pickups at the same time every day. The truck is wired up with Telematics and GPS. It's not like I'm hard to find or have anything to hide.

The real victims here are our shareholders. Their money is getting pissed away to pay the salaries of two people who apparently have nothing more important to do with their time than to sneak around and watch me do the same thing I have been doing for the last 23 years.

I have 23 years.. almost 3 million packages/30+ million pounds handled.... without ever being on workmens comp. I just received a 12 yr safe driving award. I run a consistent SPORH, I dont ever have missed stops or pickups, and I'm even lucky enough to have a time study that allows me to run scratch. I show up, suit up, shut up and nut up every day without drama or complaint of any kind...yet I still get to have my intelligence and integrity insulted by people who feel compelled to spy on me.

I try not to take it personally, and instead try to feel sorry for someone who must stoop to such idiocy in order to justify his/her own job. But its hard not to get annoyed when I see my sups car "hidden" in plain sight behind a fence next to a pickup account that I am busting my ass to service. I'm generating the revenue, and seeing it get pissed away at the same time.

Its not just me; everyone in my building is getting spied on. Our management seems to have a quota of paperwork and observations and warning letters they must spew out on a weekly basis in order to look busy. Its a frustrating waste of time and resources that could be better spent making the operation run better.

All I know is this; three years from now when they are crying poor and trying to shove a lousy contract down our throats....there is no way in hell that I will even consider any kind of a pay freeze or cut as long as we still have money to waste on this crap.

Hide and seek was a lot of fun....when I was 7 years old. I grew up though.

 

[Mick32]

Your job is to deliver. The sup's job is to make sure you are doing it correctly. How else is your sup going to know you are doing it correctly if he doesn't go out on area and look every now and then. It's like what they call in the hub "management by walking around".
On an on-area observation like you describe, a driver was observed leaving the package car unsecured in a heavily-traveled parking lot, driving without a seatbelt, and then, at a later stop, opening the rear door and letting a non-UPSer into the package car and driving the vehicle with this person standing in the cargo area before he was pulled over and - obviously - taken out of service. I get that you aren't a guy who is doing this sort of thing, but neither was the driver in question, as far as anyone knew. The only way for a supervisor to know that their driver is performing safely - at least in a non-telematics center - is to go out on the area and look. You can flame all you want about "spying" - and I don't blame you, I guess - but the supervisor and manager are doing what they are paid to do, the same as you, the driver.

 

[tieguy]

Your job is to deliver. The sup's job is to make sure you are doing it correctly. How else is your sup going to know you are doing it correctly if he doesn't go out on area and look every now and then. It's like what they call in the hub "management by walking around".
On an on-area observation like you describe, a driver was observed leaving the package car unsecured in a heavily-traveled parking lot, driving without a seatbelt,

thats the thing that amazes me. to think we can still go out and find people not using thier seatbelts in todays world.

 

[whiskey]

Your at the top rate with a boat load of vacation time. In this economy, that puts a big bullseye on you. Firing you over failure to follow the methods will save UPS many thousands of dollars.

 

[UnconTROLLed]

Both sides make good points. The solution - IVC (In- Vehicle Cameras)

 

[soberups]

Your at the top rate with a boat load of vacation time. In this economy, that puts a big bullseye on you. Firing you over failure to follow the methods will save UPS many thousands of dollars.

The sad part..is that when I get OJS'd, my sup compliments me on my methods. My SPORH, mileage, over/under and % on trace is consistent whether I am supervised or not. The car has Telematics and I am 100% on seat belt usage whether I'm supervised or not. I'm not doing anything differently; they know it; their own records prove it; yet for some idiotic reason they are still compelled to waste valuable time and $$$$ trying to spy on me anyway.

It makes about as much sense as sneaking around the corner of your house and spying on the back yard to see if the grass is still growing.

 

[soberups]

Both sides make good points. The solution - IVC (In- Vehicle Cameras)

I wouldnt have a problem with that as long as (a) all the cars have them, (b) we know about them and where they are located and (c) we can shut the one in the package compartment off in case we need to change clothes, dig out a wedgie, or piss in a bottle.

 

[soberups]

.....

 

[soberups]

The only way for a supervisor to know that their driver is performing safely - at least in a non-telematics center - is to go out on the area and look. You can flame all you want about "spying" - and I don't blame you, I guess - but the supervisor and manager are doing what they are paid to do, the same as you, the driver.

We are a telematics center. We spent something like $250K to wire the system up. Why spend that money only to turn right around and spy on people who are 100% compliant?

I understand that the sup and manager are "only doing what they are paid to do." My question is...who is the idiot who is paying them to do it, and why are we still paying him?

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

sober, these observations would stop the minute that there was no longer a need for them but, unfortunately, the examples cited by Mick32 keep these guys in business. We had our district safety manager in town. We all knew he was here as he gave us our PCM. We all know that whenever we have company they always go on road and they always stay in the city. He went out with our center manager to do a few observations. One of the drivers they followed decided he wasn't going to wear his seatbelt while driving in a strip mall, didn't close his bulkhead door between stops and left the keys in the ignition at one stop. The safety manager took the keys and waited for the driver to come back to the PC. That driver "enjoyed" a mini (unpaid) vacation.

sober, I understand your frustration and agree that these observations seem to be a waste of time, especially with all of the monitoring technology available, but as you can see from the examples above the need for these observations still exists.

 

[bigbrownhen]

Several valid points here. I don't care for the sneakin around observations either. It seems like an insult really. I do my job to the best of my ability everyday. I understand its not personal, but all the same, it makes it seem they are just out there looking for a reason to fire someone, anyone, no matter how they do their job. I have wondered how the person at corp responsible for the idea of observations would feel if we were standing over his or her shoulder everyday scrutinizing every little thing they do. Is every moment at work used in the most effecient way? It creates a "fear of the KGB" like atmosphere.

Alas, we all know this isn't going away. So might as well just deal with it and keep doing what I do.

 

[SouthCal]

It's not necessarily "sneaking around". If you KNEW they were following you, you'd do everything you were supposed to then, correct? The object of the game, so to speak, is to make sure you're using the safe work methods and make corrections as needed. And sometimes they do nit pick, but it's to keep you safe and make it home to your family in one piece. Sometimes there is that one sup that is just jonesing to get you good and gone for one reason or another, but why would you give them the opportunity to see you mess something up on something so minuscule, such as repeatedly not using your three points of contact? Use your methods and it won't bother you when they come up to you and say "Hey, I did an observation today, can we discuss it?" You'll hear a "Great job, there's a reason why you have 12 years of safe driving!" instead of "I did an observation, today and we need to discuss a few key points you're missing."

 

[over9five]

Who cares. We all do what we're paid to do. If you want to change the system, you should have went into management and gotten Scotts job.

The company's making money hand over fist, they must be doing something right!

All I'm saying is don't let it bother you. Really, why should we care?

 

[Raw]

Several valid points here. I don't care for the sneakin around observations either. It seems like an insult really. I do my job to the best of my ability everyday. I understand its not personal, but all the same, it makes it seem they are just out there looking for a reason to fire someone, anyone, no matter how they do their job. I have wondered how the person at corp responsible for the idea of observations would feel if we were standing over his or her shoulder everyday scrutinizing every little thing they do. Is every moment at work used in the most effecient way? It creates a "fear of the KGB" like atmosphere.

Alas, we all know this isn't going away. So might as well just deal with it and keep doing what I do.

Just call the cops and descibe their vehicle to them saying you are being followed by a suspicious car that may be stealing pkgs, for their sake they better have valid ID and not have any pkgs in their car!

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

My on car will swap cars with his wife when he does OAO's.

 

[Raw]

Your at the top rate with a boat load of vacation time. In this economy, that puts a big bullseye on you. Firing you over failure to follow the methods will save UPS many thousands of dollars.

Top rate is at 2 years!

 

[Raw]

thats the thing that amazes me. to think we can still go out and find people not using thier seatbelts in todays world.

No safety crap 20 years ago and less accidents also!

 

[Mick32]

I'm not even going the whole "if you're doing what you're supposed to do, you have nothing to worry about" route. Some of the people who you perceive as the "safest" drivers in a center are in reality taking shortcuts that are potentially dangerous. How else is a supervisor going to know this if he doesn't "sneak around"?
I'd rather find out that way than to find out when something bad happens on the street. At least the problem is correctable at that point.

 

[RoyalFlush]

The sad part..is that when I get OJS'd, my sup compliments me on my methods. My SPORH, mileage, over/under and % on trace is consistent whether I am supervised or not. The car has Telematics and I am 100% on seat belt usage whether I'm supervised or not. I'm not doing anything differently; they know it; their own records prove it; yet for some idiotic reason they are still compelled to waste valuable time and $$$$ trying to spy on me anyway.

It makes about as much sense as sneaking around the corner of your house and spying on the back yard to see if the grass is still growing.

Maybe that want to learn from someone that's doing the job correctly???? Why be upset if you're doing everything the way its supposed to be done? No enforcement of rules is the same as no rules. You would be very surprised to see what some of our "good" people do. I often find that the people we never check on get a little too comfortable and slowly start taking risks that put them in jeopardy.

I hate that I have to go through radar occasionally on the highways, but is is a good reminder that if I don't follow the rules there may be consequences. If I never saw a cop, I would eventually drive as fast as I choose. Can you imagine what would happen if the police stopped putting up radar entirely? Same concept applies to UPS. Do you agree?

 

[UPSGUY72]

Who cares. I don't care if they follow me around or not I just do my job as I was taught. Nobody is perfect they are always going to find something to ding you on it is there job if they didn't find anything then how can they justify there job.

I had a SUP follow me around 7 times in two weeks somedays I saw him and somedays I didn't. The only thing he got me on was Double parking without putting a flag on the back of the car and not using handrail getting off the truck sometimes.

That is why you bid routes that are far away from your center because the SUP aren't going to drive 1/2 each way to make a 20 min observation at least the ones in my center aren't.