Telematics and production

[soberups]

Last week our building management had a meeting with the stewards to explain the Telematics system and how it would be implemented.

One interesting tidbit of information that sort of got lost in all the discussion about bulkhead doors and seatbelts....is that the system will also monitor the amount of time taken at each stop and will indicate when the driver is "overallowed" for that particular stop, based upon number of pieces delivered, area allowance etc.

In other words....your sup will be able to sit at his desk and view your progress throughout the day on his computer monitor, taking note of any particular stops that you were "overallowed" at, so that you can be questioned about them later.

A good mental excercise for any driver who his called into the office to explain his Telematics readout...is to assume that his management team already knows the answers to the questions that they are about to ask him. The driver should avoid the temptation to "fill in the blanks" and tell them what he thinks the right answer is. "I dont recall" is probably going to be the best and safest answer to any questions posed. Never forget that a wrong answer that can be interpreted as dishonest may result in immediate termination, since dishonesty is a "cardinal infraction" that falls outside of the progressive disciplinary system.

Telematics is being touted primarily as a tool to enhance safety and assist in automotive maintainence. I can buy the part about maintainence, but I have difficulty believing that a company that would intentionally delete 3-point seatbelts from its vehicles has any real concern for the safety and health of its employees. My opinion is that Telematics is primarily a system to enhance production and allow a "virtual supervisor" to monitor his employees in a more intensive and efficient manner.

 

[Coldworld]

that will be interesting because many things are not given a time allowance, and others are not given a proper time allowance. Hand truck use, 3rd story apt stops, bulked out cars, etc, etc. If ups expects these numbers the truck better be loaded perfectly, with ROOM to maneuver and to properly lift. BTW, what year were the allowances given for different aspects of this job, like selection time, etc. the average weight and amount of packages has gone up since the 50's, why isnt this time reflected in todays time allowance. Traffic has gotten heavier, etc, etc. And everyone wants to know why year after year time is lost.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Just to let everyone know that I won the "pool". I guessed that it would take Sober only 5 paragraphs to mention "3 point seat belts" in his next post.

j/k Sober

Actually, he makes some good points regarding Telematics and one of the primary by-products of it's implementation, that being production. It doesn't take a psychic to see that UPS would use a system which is supposed to monitor the safety behaviors of the driver and the vehicle maintenance data to analyze the productivity of its drivers. As Sober said, when brought in to the office and asked about specific delivery situations, keep in mind that you will be asked questions for which they already have the answers so refrain from anything which may appear dishonest. If you don't recall simply reply as such. If you do, and there were delays at the stop beyond your control, address these with your supervisor. Things can and will come up which can delay you that are beyond your control.

Telematics is just one more step in the weeding out process currently under way throughout UPS. Do the job, do it the way that you were taught, do it with a sense of urgency, and do it safely and you will have nothing to worry about.

This should be a very interesting year.

 

[Paid-over-in-Maine]

In other words....your sup will be able to sit at his desk and view your progress throughout the day on his computer monitor, taking note of any particular stops that you were "overallowed" at, so that you can be questioned about them later.

A good mental excercise for any driver who his called into the office to explain his Telematics readout...is to assume that his management team already knows the answers to the questions that they are about to ask him.

I my building, they can already do this without telematics. It's all being done with GPS and a program called SPARKS (not sure of the spelling)...or a variation there of. I've seen a sup. looking at drivers to see:
1) How many pieces
2) How much time it took between each stop complete.
3) How much time at each stop. Distinguished by red overallowed or green under.
4) Whether or not the pkgs were sheeted on trace
Thats just what I have seen.

Sober, you are right about answering questions...I think that if people think they are not being watched now, without telematics, you may be surprised that you already have been.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Maine, our version is called ODS-E but it is the same basic principle.

 

[scratch]

Instead of saying "I don't recall', I have feeling for me it will be "I was trying to find that missloaded package".

 

[HEFFERNAN]

Instead of saying "I don't recall', I have feeling for me it will be "I was trying to find that missloaded package".

I was just about to say this. There are many times that I spend 3-5 minutes tearing up the truck looking for a package. It pisses me off when I spend so much time looking for it. Obviously not on purpose, but when it happens, it's frustrating.

I will say that I am glad that supervisors will have more knowledge of the least-best drivers to "help" them get the job done. It's always the same ones I get called to help and get sick of it. I have butted heads with the center manager because of refusing to go help drivers after my work is done. He understands my view, but sometimes he has no choice.

I am not saying to fire them, I am saying they need to have a sense of urgency to get the job done. There are many drivers who see the dispatch screen in the morning, see their box in red because their truck is overmaxed by 1 stop, and decide they WILL be over 10.

 

[brownrodster]

My opinion is that Telematics is primarily a system to enhance production and allow a "virtual supervisor" to monitor his employees in a more intensive and efficient manner.

I don't get how telematics will enhance production. I thought it would do the opposite. Think about the drivers who leave their bulk head door open, let their truck idle while at a stop, don't use a seatbelt and run to and from the truck. I thought it would kill that. I think any production gains from micromanagement of milkers would be offset from killing the runners methods.

 

[brownrodster]

I I am not saying to fire them, I am saying they need to have a sense of urgency to get the job done. There are many drivers who see the dispatch screen in the morning, see their box in red because their truck is overmaxed by 1 stop, and decide they WILL be over 10.

What about drivers like me who get over dispatched on purpose daily because they think I can handle the extra work. Send me on a route blind with an additional 50 stop split then get pissed at me when I need help... I tend to need help because they overload me, but since we're not on PAS they have really no clue how much is in the truck before or after they start adding stops.

 

[soberups]

I don't get how telematics will enhance production. I thought it would do the opposite. Think about the drivers who leave their bulk head door open, let their truck idle while at a stop, don't use a seatbelt and run to and from the truck. I thought it would kill that. I think any production gains from micromanagement of milkers would be offset from killing the runners methods.

That data may well be ignored, if the center team decides that they like the numbers that the runners produce.

The data will give the management team the ability to take an overallowed driver into the office and grill him over the time taken at every stop. To a new driver, it will no doubt be quite intimidating to see a virtual readout of his previous day, with maps, traces and times....all in red, indicating "overallowed". Its the next best thing to having a live sup sitting in the jumpseat all day with a stopwatch and a bull whip.

 

[HEFFERNAN]

What about drivers like me who get over dispatched on purpose daily because they think I can handle the extra work. Send me on a route blind with an additional 50 stop split then get pissed at me when I need help... I tend to need help because they overload me, but since we're not on PAS they have really no clue how much is in the truck before or after they start adding stops.

Obviously I am not talking about you. I am speaking of drivers that PURPOSELY take their time so they can be over 9.5/10 everyday. There are drivers that want to do their job and go home but then we have to bail out drivers that do stuff like this to prove a point.

PAS/EDD is a very helpful tool. If you are relying on the stop count of your preloader that you have proven doesn't know how to keep track of stops then document it. Eventually someone is going to get sick of it and fix the problem.

 

[brownrodster]

.

PAS/EDD is a very helpful tool. If you are relying on the stop count of your preloader that you have proven doesn't know how to keep track of stops then document it. Eventually someone is going to get sick of it and fix the problem.

No one cares anymore. Stop counts are off by a 100 sometimes. I was told this route has '60' stops wanna do it blind? It had 120. Fortunately it was still easy. Stopcount was 60. A preload sup told me 'stopcounts are off by a billion.' No one cares we do it oldschool and just make it happen. I stopped trying to change things and be a hero a long time ago. Things just go on as they always have. I just show up and del whats in my car and don't care about much beyond that. Stopped talking to sups about anything years ago.

 

[HEFFERNAN]

Now that telematics is implemented in our building, It has come to the point where they leave these drivers alone and not give them help. THEN when they come in the next day, they are shown the details and where they are screwing the company. These daily OJS reports can usually "whip" a driver to do his job instead of slowing down purposefully or taking several more breaks than he should.

 

[HEFFERNAN]

No one cares anymore. Stop counts are off by a 100 sometimes. I was told this route has '60' stops wanna do it blind? It had 120. Fortunately it was still easy. Stopcount was 60. A preload sup told me 'stopcounts are off by a billion.' No one cares we do it oldschool and just make it happen. I stopped trying to change things and be a hero a long time ago. Things just go on as they always have. I just show up and del whats in my car and don't care about much beyond that. Stopped talking to sups about anything years ago.

You are in a different situation than everyone for the most part. With PAS/EDD, my stops are accurate. I'm sorry you are not on the system yet, but when you do (if you do), You are going to love it. You don't get screwed on stop counts and you know where everything is with a list on the diad. I don't miss the old-school way of things

 

[Covemastah]

Heff,if the board has all the info on it now,do you still have to scan pkg at stop ? or just enter stop & get sig,or D.R it?

 

[Paid-over-in-Maine]

Scan, Big arrow down DR Next

 

[stevetheupsguy]

Heff,if the board has all the info on it now,do you still have to scan pkg at stop ? or just enter stop & get sig,or D.R it?

Scan pkgs at the stop. You can see how many pkgs you have for a particular stop and where they are "supposedly" located in the car.

 

[Covemastah]

Thanks it's been a while ! We never had these problems when our DIAD was paper lol

 

[stevetheupsguy]

Thanks it's been a while ! We never had these problems when our DIAD was paper lol

And you look so young in your avatar, Mr Byrd.

 

[Covemastah]

I am, i started in 1989 on paper,then had to learn Diad 1 then 2&3 it was real hard for alot of the guys to learn Diad,that was back in 90,or 91 alot of the guys I worked with started in the late 1950's & early 60's that was a major task for them.