Pre Route Ritual/Routine

[Overpaid Union Thug]

I was just wondering what everyone does each morning before they start their routes. I noticed the drivers in my center all have their own little rituals. For examples: We have one guy that shows up exactly one minute before start time. And another that gets there 30 minutes early and socializes right up until start time. Some people come in and "doctor their loads". Some time it to where they come in right around the time the air is being loaded so they can get a head start on setting up the air stops. Some bring breakfast. These are just examples. I'm sure some people just take it day by day and others do the same exact thing every morning. I'm just a p/t cover driver so it varies for me. Some times I know I'm driving and can plan ahead and sometimes I get the call 30 minutes before start time so each day is different for me. What about the rest of you?

 

[disneyworld]

My favorite thing to do is about 1 hour before start time I pick up the phone and say this is........... I won't be in today,then hang up the phone real fast before they can say "com'n we need you".And then I laugh.

 

[retired2000]

i was one of those that would be there about 1/2 early. i would make sure i had my hand cart as everyone knows how they get up and walk. also i would check to make sure i had my box of supplies ex. tape gun, nda letters and stickers. then i would go and socialize.

 

[dillweed]

It's good to get their early and do as retired2000 says. Socializing with other drivers is good because you learn a lot from them. They have lots of experience and most are willing to share info that can save you time and hassle. dw

 

[over9five]

I don't like the examples of "doctoring the load" and "setting up air stops" before start time. Do you not have a shop steward? Or some older in seniority drivers who can talk to these people?

UPS will happily pay us to sort ON the clock.

 

[helenofcalifornia]

Remember, with PAS we don't have to "doctor" the loads anymore. They added 10-20 more stops (1/2 hour) because we don't have to "sort" through the truck anymore and set up our loads. But they forgot to put that time back in because now we are "looking" for packages the board says are in the truck somewhere.

 

[BROWN OBSERVER]

I always say a little prayer before I leave the bldg..."Watch over me O' Lord and let me come back in one piece"....Must work..have'nt had an accident in over 15 years..

 

[yeldarb]

I get to UPS about 20 minutes early if traffic is normal. Look at prior days report, laugh. Get diad, go to locker, get radio, water jug. Go get ice and water. Go to truck. Talk about 5 minutes, gooooooo.

 

[drcolossus]

I show up 10 minutes before start time and stand with my fellow Teamster members and socialize. Frequently I chase those who are up on the belt working for free away from the operation. Its sad that some people have no respect for those that have made past sacrifices so they can make the kind of wage they do. Its so simple to follow the Union rules.

 

[browniehound]

bradley, i do the exact same thing as you, except for taking a leak. thats the first thing i do when i get there

 

[cashmen]

I get their an hour before start time and as soon as my truck is loaded, I leave and sometimes its a 1/2 hour before start time and even sometimes they are done an hour before start time!
If they are still going, I just grab a newspaper and go upstairs to the bathroom and take a

 

[helenofcalifornia]

Men and their bowels!! I am soooo.... glad UPS does not have unisex bathrooms.

 

[cashmen]

 

[Overpaid Union Thug]

If I know ahead of time that I'm driving (I'm a p/t cover driver) then I wake up about an hour and a half before start time and eat and pack my cooler full of ice and gatorade/bottled water and ice then play on the internet and watch the news. Then I leave for work and arrive about 30 minutes before start time and clock in and grab supplies and fill out the COD envelope and then chill. I'll go LOOK through the truck about 5 minutes before start time (but not working) to see what Im getting myself into for the day and then usually the air will start comming right about start time, if we are lucky then it'll already be sitting by the truck when it's time to start working. Our preload supposedly sucks (according to management) and it hardly ever shuts down before start time. On a good day the air will be completely unloaded and divided up before or right at start time. It seems like they can only go down before start time when it is set at 8:30. If its 8:15 it is very rare.

 

[scratch]

I have a different ritual than most of you. I walk through the gate about 6:10AM and look for a P5 and pull the keys out of it so I can have something to deliver EAM.I am usually the third out of eight EAM drivers to come in, the last guys have to hike around the Hub to find something to drive, like an antique P8 or P10, often pulling it out of the lineup. Then, I pull my DIAD out of the Rack and clock in. Next I hit the Locker Room to take care of things we do in the Locker Room. Next, downstairs to the Center Office to say hello to our lovely OMS and hunt through the office for a Aero Survey Map book. I ordered one two months ago, found out the other day that UPS forgot to pay for it, so it was never shipped. I will have to wait several weeks again now for this thing to be shipped twenty miles across town. My EAM area covers four cities and half a county, nice to have an updated Map Book to run residentials.

My Start time is 6:30, so then I pull the car to the front of the building and talk with my co-workers. Usually the Shuttle Car gets in about 6:40 and we have a mini-sort in the parking lot. Then I hit the road with 4 to 8 stops and drive 20-35 miles. Back to the Hub 8-8:15, normally go on break till 8:40 Start Time, associate with my peers. If by some miracle the Preload goes done early, I can leave early; since PAS/EDD was implemented, this is a rarity indeed!1

 

[toonertoo]

I get to UPS about 20 minutes early if traffic is normal. Look at prior days report, laugh. Get diad, go to locker, get radio, water jug. Go get ice and water. Go to truck. Talk about 5 minutes, gooooooo.

Yeah me too, why would you get there any earlier, unless you have no life. You get paid to deliver whats in your truck, why groom it for free, not to mention the infraction of doing so by both UPS and the Union. Of course that never gets addressed. They have been doing it too long. I see too many drivers sprint to the morning meeting and their shirts are dripping wet. Guess what they get in the same time as me, and I get paid for my work they dont. Of course I am an hour late, and they are too!!!!!!! So why?

 

[DS]

I usually roll in about an hour early and put my lunch in my truck. 9 times out of 10 there`s a deluge of irregs destined for our loop that have not been touched.I ask my preloader if its heavy and he says yes and inevitably run into the preload sup and get permission to go on the clock.After putting on my costume,I get what I need and go through my nda pkgs and count my stops.Which is something my preloader says he hasn`t got time for.On a good day its about 8:15 now so I pull cages till 8:30 then attack the irregs with a fervor that my preloader seems incapable of.Then I pull off as many stops as I have to to stay under 12 hours.If I`m lucky I`m done by the time they call for PCM.I usually end up with about a 10 1/2 to an 11 1/2 hour planned day.
It has not always been this way.inevitably mngmt will transfer our current team to some other center and replace them with Adolph Hitler type manager that we will have to train by not going on the clock till start time regardless of how far behind they are.And taking full break,calling for help,filing grievences,and missing a lot of deliveries. Sorry for the rant,got carried away a bit.

 

[trickpony1]

As a feeder driver my "pre route routine" consists of clocking in and then standing there waiting for the timeclock to show my start time. I then proceed to my vehicle and begin my pretrip inspection.

Life is tough.

 

[browniehound]

Men and their bowels!! I am soooo.... glad UPS does not have unisex bathrooms.

helen you make it sound like you never had to take a crap in your whole life

 

[rushfan]

I show up 5 minutes before start time. I look in my load ,greet my fellow co-workers, then start. My personal time ends at 8:30 am till when I'm done. I don't, and will not donate any time to "massage" loads, line up air etc.
We have some that will show up an hour before start time. We are on PAS. They think if they check their loads and kiss up to the load supv. their life will be better. I see them as wasting their time, rather donating their time.