Scratch Got Time Studied Today

[scratch]

Well, its been a while, but I got an IE guy to ride around with me today. I walked in the gate this morning at 6:05, and there was a strange guy with a HP PDA hanging around my Package Car. Its probably been 15-20 years since I have had this honor, the last time it was a former Center Manager with a clip board and a stopwatch. I had a route handling a thousand boxes a day back then, he had to do the study over again a week later. He said I had too much work, but my Center Manager didn't reduce my load any. Sound familiar?

We actually had a pretty good day. I got lucky on my EAM run, only four stops in three cities instead of the eight I had yesterday. We got back to the building and got to take a thirty minute break before my regular route. My NDAs were a little light, I had a full load with my usual 126 mostly DR stops. I clocked out at 17:05, with a 6:30 Start Time, I went over 9.5. Oops!!!

Interesting IE guy, I enjoyed his company. He has a Masters Degree in Marketing and started at UPS Corporate fifteen years ago. He was put in IE about seven years and is now assigned on a District level to do Time Studies. His last job at Corporate was to print the National Daily Operations Report and take them upstairs and hand them to Mike Eskew. I bet those were interesting! I also found out that my last OnCar Supervisor used to be Jim Winestock's Tech guy. I'm thankful now we got along well.

Oh well, I will see if anything come from this. They had to go ahead and Time Study my Route. Next week I get my Driver Helper and more stops. Good Times ahead!

 

[toonertoo]

WEll congrats, I have a better chance of seeing God than getting a time study!

 

[mattwtrs]

WEll congrats, I have a better chance of seeing God than getting a time study!

Good one Tooner! Scratch, I know you were surprised by the Time Study but you enjoyed it any way. Throughout my career I never liked having time studies done after Labor Day because we all know that the volume and stops are not typical for the other 9 months of the year. Please share the results of your ride if they ever post it!

 

[scratch]

Scratch, I know you were surprised by the Time Study but you enjoyed it any way. Throughout my career I never liked having time studies done after Labor Day because we all know that the volume and stops are not typical for the other 9 months of the year.

mattwtrs, your right, I was surprised I was being done today, they don't tell us beforehand. I got a different Preloader this week and this guy isn't worth a crap, I had to stop and sort every Section because my load was so bad. Same stop count too, no Supervisor "massaging the load".

 

[hoff3378]

I wonder how much they paid this guy to print the corporate operation report and bring it to mike. I know one thing for sure it's too much!!!!!!!

 

[helenofcalifornia]

I'm just curious, Scratch, do they know you are "THE" Scratch of the Brown Cafe?

 

[DS]

scatch,I know its your dogs name so in reality how much over do you really run usually?In your opinion will you gain or lose time after the day with your IE buddy,or will the fact that you were somewhat light that day screw you in the end?

 

[brazenbrown]

Interesting>>>>

UPS is doing time studies during peak season??

Are you sure it wasn't a practice time study? We all know that at this time of year your stop density would be up, thus reducing your allowance as I've been told..

Perhaps I'm too skeptical and they can adjust for than now...

From what they have told us in our building time studies are done in the spring and summer time but it could be different where you are..

Good luck and I hope you gain some deserved time..

 

[Coldworld]

scratch, arent there partitime air drivers that do the eams, or is it the highest senority drivers?I thought ups used air drivers in all of the metro cities across the country?

 

[satellitedriver]

I am glad you enjoyed the company on your ride. I wish I had the same story to tell.
My I.E. guy was a Dork. I normally would not talk this way about anyone that I know is mentally and physically weaker than I am, but this guy took the cake.
One of the first things he said to me was," I know what you go through daily and I understand.( this is the part that got me). He said, "I've been there."
I guess this was suppose to be bonding.
I asked him about himself ,thru the course of the day.
He has worked for UPS in IE for 15yrs,( drove a truck for 3 months, then went into IE).
He has been there!!!!
He was a manager at Safeway and got laid off.
His skillset was ready made for IE.
We stopped for lunch at the general store my wife managed. Ordered some burgers and my wife was pricing some canned goods. I introduced them to each other and the first words out of his mouth was, "I miss that."
My wife, in her direct way of speaking said, "What doing this?", as she held the pricing gun up in the air. He replied, yes, with a wistful, mournful look in his eye.
She just laughed and shook her head, as she went back to business.
This man could not carry a 50lb box 50ft with out stopping to catch his breath.
This is the same man that cut 2hrs off my route in the time study.
I have been running this route as a satellite driver for 12 yrs and have increased the SPORH by 30%, over what can be run from the center.
I was a bonus driver on every route I ran for 18yrs.
But, now I run over allowed everyday.
The center team has never given me any heat for being "over". They are smart enough to look at the numbers and know that I am doing the job correctly and efficiently.
Sorry for the long post, but it does chap my (you know what) that number crunchers, without the ability to do the job, can dictate how quickly the job can be done.
So Scratch,
I hope you had a better IE guy, than what I had to deal with.
PAX

 

[spun]

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

 

[Coldworld]

the numbers are absolutely bogus. When I was new I could do one route, and run from stop to stop, and be over allowed by an hour, then do another route, easy as could be and be an hour bonus...it makes no sense. IE guys will tell you this and that about averages but there is a REAL PROBLEM NATIONWIDE ABOUT THE PRODUCTION NUMBERS. They just arent meant for real life senerios. Most of the local mgt know this and some will even admit to it. This is probably the most aggravating part of the job, knowing your out there being productive, but a computer program says your not. Second would be mgt harassment on different things...its just so unprofessional, unfair, and an absolute waste of ups money to follow GOOD drivers around waiting for someone to do something absolutely bogus. And mgt wants to know why everyone has a problem. So dont come crying to me about loosing money(again, more lies) when you have lawsuits from customers on insurance issues, lawsuits from mail boxes etc, lawsuits from california upsers on not getting lunches, lawsuits from part time sups on hours...etc, etc. THIS COMPANY NEEDS AN ABSOLUTE NEW ATTITUDE ABOUT ITS PEOPLE. FROM WHAT I HAVE READ ON THE FOUNDERS, THEY EXPECTED HARD WORK, BUT THEY HONESTLY CARED ABOUT THEIR EMPLOYEES.

 

[scratch]

I wonder how much they paid this guy to print the corporate operation report and bring it to mike. I know one thing for sure it's too much!!!!!!!

We got talking money and I make a heck of a lot more money than a "Corporate IE Guy living in the Ivory Towers", as some of you like to put it. Not everyone there makes the same as Mike, sorry to burst your bubble.

 

[Hangingon]

Unrealistic numbers or not, our center just started handing out Article 21 warning letters. All drivers have been instructed to punch out by 9.5, and if you don't, for any reason, you are written up for not following instructions. I've seen them stretching the envelope, but this one takes the cake.

 

[705red]

Unrealistic numbers or not, our center just started handing out Article 21 warning letters. All drivers have been instructed to punch out by 9.5, and if you don't, for any reason, you are written up for not following instructions. I've seen them stretching the envelope, but this one takes the cake.

So how many stops a day are brought back?

 

[toonertoo]

So......do we punch out while on the freeway, at the pumps, on the air dock and work for free?
I see it as refreshing. No matter what they give me I just have to get back to the building in time to sheet them all as missed and punch out by 7pm. COOL!!! Life is good!!

 

[scratch]

I'm just curious, Scratch, do they know you are "THE" Scratch of the Brown Cafe?

Yes Helen, I don't know about the "THE" part, but my management knows who I am. I have never been "officially" approached, I have brought it up in casual conversation. A lot of my management have looked at this site, but as far as I know, none are active members here. What I do on my own time is my business, we do have freedom of speech in this country. I don't mind voicing my opinions at work about things, my bosses usually agree with me about the same things. I have posted using my real full name before, I have also posted a couple of photos of myself.

scatch,I know its your dogs name so in reality how much over do you really run usually?In your opinion will you gain or lose time after the day with your IE buddy,or will the fact that you were somewhat light that day screw you in the end?

DS, The dog in my avatar is "Freckles", he died after Christmas and we have our third English Springer named "Abel" now. Scratch is just a name I chose to use on this site. In my younger days, I usually ran scratch everyday due to too much work and wanting to get off early to do things with my kids. The last two years, I am usually an hour over now. My first two hours, I run 6-8 stops on EAMs, then I run a SPORH of 17.7 on my regular route. I haven't ran even since I bid on EAMs and my route was changed by taking about thirty stops off to make up the difference. I thought the Time Study went well, IE was measuring time and distances using the Methods, not me personally. I have a long pace, the IE guy was amazed I had 80 stops off by 1PM. I knocked out eleven stops in twenty minutes in one tight section, for an old geezer I can still move pretty good.

Interesting>>>>

UPS is doing time studies during peak season??

Are you sure it wasn't a practice time study? We all know that at this time of year your stop density would be up, thus reducing your allowance as I've been told..

Brazenbrown, This was a real Time Study, they have been doing my Hub for the last couple of months. They have to be done by November 1. You are right that it is too close to Peak, my area is shrinking and the stops are getting closer together. My mileage was about fifteen miles lesser than normal.

scratch, arent there partitime air drivers that do the eams, or is it the highest senority drivers?I thought ups used air drivers in all of the metro cities across the country?

Coldworld, At my Hub, we use mostly Full Timers for EAM. We needed an extra route about two years ago, I won the Bid so my regular route was shortened so I can still get in under nine-five. We have a Clerk we will pull or they will call in other drivers if there are too many EAMs. We only use PT Air Drivers to make late pickups and letter boxes.

 

[Overpaid Union Thug]

the numbers are absolutely bogus. When I was new I could do one route, and run from stop to stop, and be over allowed by an hour, then do another route, easy as could be and be an hour bonus...it makes no sense. IE guys will tell you this and that about averages but there is a REAL PROBLEM NATIONWIDE ABOUT THE PRODUCTION NUMBERS. They just arent meant for real life senerios. Most of the local mgt know this and some will even admit to it. This is probably the most aggravating part of the job, knowing your out there being productive, but a computer program says your not. Second would be mgt harassment on different things...its just so unprofessional, unfair, and an absolute waste of ups money to follow GOOD drivers around waiting for someone to do something absolutely bogus. And mgt wants to know why everyone has a problem. So dont come crying to me about loosing money(again, more lies) when you have lawsuits from customers on insurance issues, lawsuits from mail boxes etc, lawsuits from california upsers on not getting lunches, lawsuits from part time sups on hours...etc, etc. THIS COMPANY NEEDS AN ABSOLUTE NEW ATTITUDE ABOUT ITS PEOPLE. FROM WHAT I HAVE READ ON THE FOUNDERS, THEY EXPECTED HARD WORK, BUT THEY HONESTLY CARED ABOUT THEIR EMPLOYEES.

Everyone knows the numbers for a route are supposed to be based on the mythical "perfect load" combined with no traffic and a driver using all the methods. The problem is outdated time studies and time studies that were done with drivers that didn't do the job correctly (walking and not running, delivering apartments correctly, walking up driveways instead of backing the truck up it, etc.). EDD supposedly adjusts the min/max number of stops for a route based on what the driver was able to do the day before(and also based on the ratio of business stops to residential). I'm starting to believe this and this is why...... So, if a lunch skipping runner is on a route for a few days the driver that runs it next will have trouble scratching. I walk every stop and take the full hour lunch. On some routes, if the load is decent, I usually finish between 15 under and 15 over but on other routes I would have to run and skip lunch to even come close to scratching. If I am on the same route for serveral days in a row, or more, I have noticed that the work load stays about the same. If I end up moving to another route for a few days and then come back the route is always jacked if a lunch skipping runner had been on it while I was on the other route. Is this just a reaccuring coincidence or is it really the reason why routes get so jacked up? Some of us in our center have noticed this.

 

[upsgrunt]

Shouldn't it be that the min/max stops should NEVER change? We were told that they change according to how many routes that the center is allowed to run that day. This irks me because your stop count range should not fluctuate just because there are less routes in. A certain stop count range that equals 9 to 9.5 hours should not change just because a route is cut, should it? The drivers in our center agree that those numbers can be set at whatever they want and that if too many routes are "in the red" that they just adjust the min/max range so that the color changes. It's also crap that the count is always low, never high.

 

[toonertoo]

Its all crap. The guy that scratches my route has been off for 12 months first for shoulder now for ankle. His hour under= my hour over. he skips it all coz he wants to get home..........I dont coz I dont need to get home. I do the bad parts first, then I make 42 an hour delivering qvc.
I would prefer to get home at a decent hour, but Im not giving away my time. My route used to be 85 max, now today it was 122. Nothing changed except the numbers. Im getting older, and I cant run. Well I can but Im not. Fair day, show me how to do it, then Im locked. Dont show me with an injured driver I can collect comp too, but I prefer not to get it, it hurts