safety vs production?

wornoutupser

Well-Known Member
I am curious if this is happening in other areas.

We were recently PCM'd about the growing problem of tier lll accidents and increasing injuries in area.

Production is hammered daily with harrasment and a recent post told of district managers and center managers harrasing drivers on the road.

Where does UPS think the breaking point is? If you do your job by the methods, deal with the false allowances and make service, the only way left to make numbers is to cut corners. The result is increased accidents and injuries. There seems to be no other way to make "scratch" and not be yelled at or harrassed here. Our center is giving out warning letters on production and threating discharge on performance. Our building is begining to worry about "postal" UPS employees.

How bad is this across the country?
 

scoobypanda

Well-Known Member
I am sure it happens everywhere, but all you need to combat it is a thick skull. If I go out with 100 stops or 200 stops, I work exactly the same. I maintain my ojs and I refuse to cut corners, so eventually they get the message and lighten the load. On top of all the other crap they pull, they also have a curfew so they really can't keep us out all night anymore. If you read Brown this month George has a nice break down of what they are paying us per hour when they load us up. Pretty funny.
 

happyboy

Well-Known Member
It's the same way everywhere and it's a shame. If your route doesn't plan up well u have to cut corners or skip your lunch to keep your neck off of the chopping block. Drivers should not have to work off of the clock, speed and take other short cuts but they do and it hurts us all. Maybe Osha or the Department Of Transportation would be interested in the goings ons at ups.
 

filiperuvian

20 yrs till retirment yay
safety first, service always.
just this past friday my sup. loaded 5 stops off the local mall onto my route. I usually bulk out, but since that day the middle was clear, he assumed that i was light. he didn't bother to look at my stop count, or consider that i have pickups. long story short, he got mad that i said i would be out late due to this extra work-so he rode with me for half the day. the kicker? i ended up giving the work BACK to the original driver...oh and he got mad that i didn't park in the red and actually directed me to park in a fire lane for one stop. Anyways, if you're making the decision to take shortcuts or doing shady things to break even on a route then you're only hurting yourself-and if it comes back to bite you management will be the FIRST to exploit it.
 

Coldworld

60 months and counting
safety first, service always.
just this past friday my sup. loaded 5 stops off the local mall onto my route. I usually bulk out, but since that day the middle was clear, he assumed that i was light. he didn't bother to look at my stop count, or consider that i have pickups. long story short, he got mad that i said i would be out late due to this extra work-so he rode with me for half the day. the kicker? i ended up giving the work BACK to the original driver...oh and he got mad that i didn't park in the red and actually directed me to park in a fire lane for one stop. Anyways, if you're making the decision to take shortcuts or doing shady things to break even on a route then you're only hurting yourself-and if it comes back to bite you management will be the FIRST to exploit it.

good points, now if you were by yourself and parked in the fire lane and a police officer gave you a ticket, your sup would have ask you what the hellll you were doing...pretty pitiful.
 

toonertoo

Most Awesome Dog
Staff member
The only firings that would stick would be if they caught you not working and not being on a paid lunch or break. They cannot fire you for production, unless you produce when they are on car, and dont when they are not. If you are doing things wrong, you must fix them, but not being able to look good/make bogus numbers:laughing:,in their dreams.
Im sure there are a few boneheads out there who are trying to screw UPS, but seriously, how many do you think there really are? Probably the same number of bad driver people as there are bad mgmt people. Sometimes they slip through the cracks.
If this crap keeps happening, we just need to stick together. And keep posting about it as it happens so all can be aware.
 
Tooner, every time I try to pos rep you the program won't let me. So I must do it here.

From the depth of the woods, comes the voice of clarity.
 

john346

No more Brown!
Same garbage at our center as well, run, run, run, & you are never fast enough.
Interseting twist that we have been dealing with is ANY accident, even ones that are completely no fault of the driver, and reported, is an immediate firing or suspension of the driver. Usually three days of the poor bastard sweating it out to see if they have a job or not. Total silence from management during the time out, then they call in the morning and generously offer them their job back. If the driver wants paid for those lost days, they have to threaten a greivance. One of our last center manager's retold a tale of how he charged a driver for an accident where they were rear-ended at a light because the driver failed to communicate whith his horns lights & signals. Total B.S. To make matters worse our union rep and local are all spineless and do absolutely nothing but drag their feet until everyone who has went to them just gives up.
I know that this post will probably shake out the strong union voice of it being our fault, and quotes from the regs, but apparently until you are mired in it, you don't truly appreciate how little time you have to mitigate the local's flaws. So you can save them, or post em' & I'll do my best to forward to those affected.
I haven't had to deal with any of it (yet?), my route is extended, so I never am in the center to get any of it first hand. I feel lucky for that.
 

Tony31yrs

Well-Known Member
It was a regular cylcle in our center. Production, production, production. Then, when accidents and injuries got out of hand, it was safety, safety, safety. Once they got the runners to work safer, it was back to production. I always stuck with safety and retired with no injuries on the job(except with a dog bite that they counted) and 2 months short of 25 years safe driving. The gift and ugly camel colored jacket weren't worth going almost 3 more months when I could be getting a pension check. I just couldn't put up with what they did to my route and the crap they were dishing out any more. I wanted to retire and be able to enjoy life, so my health came first.
When the new package cars started showing up, they gave them to the guys with better driving records instead of the runners who were always getting into accidents. The power steering and lower step help me to stay healthy for the last 11 years that I worked.
 

toonertoo

Most Awesome Dog
Staff member
Good for you Tony, and enjoy your life!!! You deserve it.
I got one of those new trucks, and it really helps my knees. The high step is barbaric, and Im 5'10, I never understand how those little guys and gals do it. They Must pull their shoulders out pulling themselves up.
Once again, best to ya!!:happy2:
As for production, I cant make the numbers, and I used to try. After realizing it was futile since they changed the route, and the allowances, I just work safe, stay as courteous as possible, and try to stay under the radar. My customers like me, I dont have wrecks or injuries, misdeliveries or complaints. Those are the only things I have semi control over.
 

wyobill

Well-Known Member
Time studys are for a perfect world. The good Lord could not run scratch on my Route. Preaching saftey is just that. They dont walk the walk. In a Major snow storm
do they cut your day so we can get in early and safe?
 

mittam

Well-Known Member
UPS only cares about 2 things,1 money 2 company reputation. That said production makes more of both. Safety though acting as if they really care, is a very distant 3rd!
 
Top