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UPS Union Issues
SurePost - A Subcontracting Violation that has led to the loss of many UPS jobs.
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<blockquote data-quote="curiousbrain" data-source="post: 1027423" data-attributes="member: 31608"><p>Given the different jobs that we all have, it is natural that we all have different views on what SurePost is or is not - which is to say, folks who work in "real" management probably see numbers (and their associated brethren) which say something specific; a driver, on the other hand, sees a truck with packages crammed into it, the USPS making final delivery, and that says something specific to them. It's just different perspectives on the same thing - in that vein, I'll put forth my own perspective.</p><p></p><p>Operationally speaking, in the building where I am employed, SurePost is a total nightmare for a variety of reasons; the primary one, however, is that it clogs small sort to the point where all other tasks become secondary, because the "post office" has to be cleaned out. To explain this a little further, my understanding is that as the USPS closes branches and consolidates, they are taking SurePost delivery for huge swaths of their area at a single point - practically, this means there are (again, using the building where I am employed as a reference) 500 to 1000 packages going to a single stop, on a single truck.</p><p></p><p>We are not really in the business of adding routes unless we absolutely have to, so ... the usual attitude of "screw it, make it fit" prevails, and any truck with a "consolidated post office" on it is floor to ceiling, front to back, smashed. Due to all this excess volume, at some point small sort becomes paralyzed - however, we are not really in the business of hiring extra people unless we absolutely have to, so ... we make the preloader scan/bag/load 500+ post office pieces, in addition to their normal duties.</p><p></p><p>This worked initially, but SurePost has at least doubled or tripled since we started doing this, and scanning each loose package/bag was cutting into the drivers day considerably; so, the solution that is now employed (and to be sure, the building where I am employed is not the only one) is to link everything to two or three ULD tags; have the driver scan those, and then just snowblow everything into mail carts and be on their way - this saves a lot of time for the driver, and most think it is great.</p><p></p><p>So, operationally, as far as I can tell, on the inside SurePost is an enormous amount of volume moving through an already stressed system. That's my personal, real view of SurePost.</p><p></p><p>Above my own view, though, I think (as illustrated in this thread), some regard SurePost as stealing full-time jobs because each SurePost stop is one less stop a driver is delivering; from a bean counters perspective, however, each less stop a driver is delivering is one more profitable stop (i.e. non-SurePost) they can deliver, generating more revenue - additionally, if SurePost can eliminate several hundred stops from a building, that is less drivers who require health/pension payments ... equalling more savings. The spread between the cost of a SurePost delivery versus a Ground (or above) delivery must be weighed against the cost of putting out another route/driver (or possibly more than one).</p><p></p><p>One step above that, though, it stands to reason that without SurePost the volume wouldn't be there to argue about - that is to say, if SurePost didn't exist, those several hundred stops wouldn't be in the UPS system at all - which, in some sense, makes the argument about negating driver positions moot. And, if that is the case, then even a few cents profit on every SurePost package is, in some sense, "free". From a union perspective, if you eliminated SurePost completely, it could (maybe not would, but could) equal less jobs because volume would then go down, which equals cutting even more routes than they do now.</p><p></p><p>The above two paragraphs represent conjecture on my part, obviously, as I am not a driver and am most assuredly not "real" management. I will say, though, that the only time I get really chastised by "real" management is when I mess something up that costs real dollars - and, to that point, nothing brings the molten crazy like when we botch SurePost at a center level. Phones ring, things are red, and it overshadows everything else - that tells me that SurePost, in some way I may not understand, equals real money for the company.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="curiousbrain, post: 1027423, member: 31608"] Given the different jobs that we all have, it is natural that we all have different views on what SurePost is or is not - which is to say, folks who work in "real" management probably see numbers (and their associated brethren) which say something specific; a driver, on the other hand, sees a truck with packages crammed into it, the USPS making final delivery, and that says something specific to them. It's just different perspectives on the same thing - in that vein, I'll put forth my own perspective. Operationally speaking, in the building where I am employed, SurePost is a total nightmare for a variety of reasons; the primary one, however, is that it clogs small sort to the point where all other tasks become secondary, because the "post office" has to be cleaned out. To explain this a little further, my understanding is that as the USPS closes branches and consolidates, they are taking SurePost delivery for huge swaths of their area at a single point - practically, this means there are (again, using the building where I am employed as a reference) 500 to 1000 packages going to a single stop, on a single truck. We are not really in the business of adding routes unless we absolutely have to, so ... the usual attitude of "screw it, make it fit" prevails, and any truck with a "consolidated post office" on it is floor to ceiling, front to back, smashed. Due to all this excess volume, at some point small sort becomes paralyzed - however, we are not really in the business of hiring extra people unless we absolutely have to, so ... we make the preloader scan/bag/load 500+ post office pieces, in addition to their normal duties. This worked initially, but SurePost has at least doubled or tripled since we started doing this, and scanning each loose package/bag was cutting into the drivers day considerably; so, the solution that is now employed (and to be sure, the building where I am employed is not the only one) is to link everything to two or three ULD tags; have the driver scan those, and then just snowblow everything into mail carts and be on their way - this saves a lot of time for the driver, and most think it is great. So, operationally, as far as I can tell, on the inside SurePost is an enormous amount of volume moving through an already stressed system. That's my personal, real view of SurePost. Above my own view, though, I think (as illustrated in this thread), some regard SurePost as stealing full-time jobs because each SurePost stop is one less stop a driver is delivering; from a bean counters perspective, however, each less stop a driver is delivering is one more profitable stop (i.e. non-SurePost) they can deliver, generating more revenue - additionally, if SurePost can eliminate several hundred stops from a building, that is less drivers who require health/pension payments ... equalling more savings. The spread between the cost of a SurePost delivery versus a Ground (or above) delivery must be weighed against the cost of putting out another route/driver (or possibly more than one). One step above that, though, it stands to reason that without SurePost the volume wouldn't be there to argue about - that is to say, if SurePost didn't exist, those several hundred stops wouldn't be in the UPS system at all - which, in some sense, makes the argument about negating driver positions moot. And, if that is the case, then even a few cents profit on every SurePost package is, in some sense, "free". From a union perspective, if you eliminated SurePost completely, it could (maybe not would, but could) equal less jobs because volume would then go down, which equals cutting even more routes than they do now. The above two paragraphs represent conjecture on my part, obviously, as I am not a driver and am most assuredly not "real" management. I will say, though, that the only time I get really chastised by "real" management is when I mess something up that costs real dollars - and, to that point, nothing brings the molten crazy like when we botch SurePost at a center level. Phones ring, things are red, and it overshadows everything else - that tells me that SurePost, in some way I may not understand, equals real money for the company. [/QUOTE]
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SurePost - A Subcontracting Violation that has led to the loss of many UPS jobs.
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