Ride along day after the accident

[LeddySS98]

I got my ride along today, and he nit picked everything i did...

"you need to honk your horn to anounce your presense at business's" I've honked for resis before... but a business???

"you did'nt look left, right, left at that one intersection... you just looked left, right" This being reviewed with me at 3 in the afternoon so at SOME point at SOME interesection i only looked left, right... How do you disprove that?

"You need to scan your mirrors every 5 - 8 seconds" Once again how/when do you prove you do/dont???

"You need to scan steering wheels, lights, make eye contact"... how do you disprove it???

"You did'nt scan arround the vehicle on your aproach back to the vehicle" He wants me to look at the front side back as i walk back from each stop... you look at the truck on your way back.. you can see the whole thing... so how was'nt i looking at the front side back???

"You need to use the triangle method while driving look left forward right then back forward left... or go left forward right, left forward right..."

"Avoid distractions in the Cab while driving" Example given was driver looking at DIAD... thats a distraction????

"Driver pre cabbing packages, not utalizing 30" selection area" I was putting the hand truck away in the back grabed the package for the next stop off the shelf put it on the dash as i was sitting down, starting engine, putting in drive, releasing park break looking over my shoulder pulling away from curb... I did everything in a very smooth orderly fashion, but he notes that I'm pre cabbing packages not utaling the 30" selection... you cant win.

"Driver needs to walk at a briks pace" I was walking faster than him in every direction i went, i had to wait for him to get out of the way more than once.. but he says I need a brisker pace

So now I'm going in front of the accident board for some guy that did'nt use his mirrors backed into my parked package car while i was out of it... and he'll have this list of a dozen things i did wrong on my ride along...

What do you do? What can you do... just bend over take it, smile, thankthem, and ask for another????

 

[browniehound]

Looks to me from your above post that you at least KNOW the methods!

 

[browniehound]

"Driver pre cabbing packages, not utalizing 30" selection area" I was putting the hand truck away in the back grabed the package for the next stop off the shelf put it on the dash as i was sitting down, starting engine, putting in drive, releasing park break looking over my shoulder pulling away from curb... I did everything in a very smooth orderly fashion, but he notes that I'm pre cabbing packages not utaling the 30" selection...



Just curious. Why would you cab packages in front of your supervisor? As you know its a safety hazard and definitely against the rules. Why you would do it during an accident follow up confuses the hell put of me.

That being said, in the words of Paulie Walnuts: "You have some balls my friend!"

 

[Old Ups Driver]

why should you be at fault because someone else backed into you. it is entirely the old guys
fault as long as you were legally parked. this makes about as much sense as getting blamed for someone hitting you wile waking across the street in the crosswalk because you did not jump out of the way. management is harassing you. I would think about filing an harassment grievance. I think its ridiculous to accept what management thinks over what a judge would
conclude in the court of law. see what you can do about filing a grievance.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

I have to agree w/Brownie. Why would you have pkgs in the cab, especially on a safety ride following an accident? It sounds like the sup picked up on that lapse in judgement and had a field day, nitpicking your performance to death. It doesn't appear that this incident would warrant termination but I would not be surprised if you have a 3-day unpaid vacation coming up soon.

I had an accident 10 yrs ago in which the pkg car was hit by someone who was driving too fast as they were leaving their job on a 1 1/2 lane wide dirt "road". He received 3 tickets and the accident was considered unavoidable but UPS still paid $20,000 to this guy to avoid a trial. I gave a deposition and even the guys attorney (whom I knew) conceded that his guy was 100% at fault but UPS still paid to make this thing go away, so you can still do everything right and it doesn't matter. In fact, our safety folks told me that I couldn't have done anything differently but that it was a "business decision".

Please know that, as I don't know all of the details, that I am not nor is it my place to pass judgement, but I would suggest that you review this in your mind, sit down w/mgt and see what corrective action, if any, you can take so that the chance of this happening again are minimal. Good luck.

 

[upsdude]

I agree with the other posters, packages go in the back never in the cab. Keep the DIAD out of your hands while the car is moving, it is a distraction. It only takes a millisecond of lost focus to cause a crash.

Please don’t get bent at us for offering advice. I think we all look forward to your getting this incident behind you, and seeing you go accident free for the remainder of your career.

 

[upsdude]

Forgot something. As a sup once told me before we left for an all day ride. His job is to pick apart everything I do that day. Don't let it bother you, besides, we're creatures of habit, not all our habits are good ones.

 

[dillweed]

Yep, it's their job to criticize and they're very good at it.

As someone who couldn't even hack air driving I'm the last person who should comment but do feel that cabbing pkgs and looking at diad are two certain sins.

Might be a good idea to ask them for suggestions to improve and don't forget the vaseline. Oh dear, rude and crude this moring. Hope I didn't offend.

 

[LeddySS98]

I did not know it was a sin to have packages in the cab.... interesting that i left that morning with him riding with me with 6 letters and 3 packages all riding in the cab..all of which were NDA, and that was okay to do... Advice taken all the same dont pre cab packages with a supe on board.

 

[over9five]

Leddy, don't worry about the ride! You just "yes" them all day long. Be cooperative, do everything the way they tell you. Be friends with the sup and have a good day.

I would refuse to sign anything related to the accident, and I would probably submit a grievance just so it's on record that I disagree with their "avoidable" Bravo Sierra.

Other than that, forget about it. Don't let it bother you anymore.

 

[trplnkl]

There is only one or two ways you could have prevented this accident.
1) park somewhere else.
2) IF the man that hit you was in his car when you parked the PC, you could have made certain that he saw you before you entered the stop.
If he wasn't, no way can you predict what he will do.
You're being railroaded. Why? Your guess is as good as mine.

A sup once told me before going out on a safety ride, that he HAD to find at least five things I did wrong. I did everything I could to make sure I did everything correct. At the end of the day, he had only four things marked. I told him to just put down that I didn't always use the handrail (surprisingly enough it wasn't one of the four).

 

[Fnix]

Im gonna go hit a UPS truck now and win me some money.

 

[Captain America]

It is always your fault. Know it, and love it. Someone must be blamed there are no accidents that were avoidable, blame must be assessed and you are the first, easiest, and only target on their mind. It takes a lot for them to move the bullseye onto anyone else. Look at it as another example of bureaucratic ridiculousness.

 

[brownrodster]

I did not know it was a sin to have packages in the cab.... .

State patrol can give you a ticket for having cargo in the cab. It's a safety hazard. That's why we are required by law to have bulkhead doors.

 

[rod]

State patrol can give you a ticket for having cargo in the cab. It's a safety hazard. That's why we are required by law to have bulkhead doors.

Where did you get all this info from. "Required by law to have a bulkhead door" - I really doubt it. "Ticket for cargo in the cab" - I would have to see that law in print.

 

[browniehound]

I did not know it was a sin to have packages in the cab.... interesting that i left that morning with him riding with me with 6 letters and 3 packages all riding in the cab..all of which were NDA, and that was okay to do... Advice taken all the same dont pre cab packages with a supe on board.

Leddy,
Its funny that you claim ignorance on the pre-cabbing packages. I believe you when you say you didnt know it was against the rules, and I'll tell you why.

The soup I work for now has 2 personalities. One is when he is on my annual safety ride or accident follow-up where he is strictly by the book.

The other personality is when he was training me on different routes while I was a cover driver. He was totally laid back, bulk head door open at certain times, and PRE-CABBING packages!

I don't know if this makes him a good or bad soup, but it is what it is.

 

[BLACKBOX]

Im gonna go hit a UPS truck now and win me some money.

Me too! I need a new pick up truck.

 

[over9five]

"Im gonna go hit a UPS truck now and win me some money."


Why hit it? (You might actually get hurt!)
Just bump your knee against the bumper as your walking by! Fall down screaming.



(The stupid driver shouldn't have parked where you were gonna put your knee anyhow!)

 

[brownrodster]

Where did you get all this info from. "Required by law to have a bulkhead door" - I really doubt it. "Ticket for cargo in the cab" - I would have to see that law in print.

It's in the commercial drivers handbook for when you go for a CDL. You cannot carry cargo in the cab. If you were pulled over at the scales with cargo in the cab you get a ticket. Your cargo compartment must be separated from the cab by a cage or door or something. This applies to all commercial vehicles whether you have a CDL or not. Maybe this is just in my state, i dunno.

 

[rod]

It's in the commercial drivers handbook for when you go for a CDL. You cannot carry cargo in the cab. If you were pulled over at the scales with cargo in the cab you get a ticket. Your cargo compartment must be separated from the cab by a cage or door or something. This applies to all commercial vehicles whether you have a CDL or not. Maybe this is just in my state, i dunno.

I'm not saying that it isn't true- I just want to see it in writing. I've never looked inside a DHL van- is there actually a bulkhead and bulkhead door in them. I know the old Econoline flat tops and the bubbletops we used to have never had a bulkhead door in them