You have no idea. There is no suggesting at UPS
Centers ARE TOLD how many routes to run, no more no less
The dispatch supervisors job is to move the work evenly throughout the working runs. He will not add routes to the center plan unless there was a jump in planned stops for that day. PERIOD
All I do know is that the contract negotiations will end in a strike in 2013. PERIOD. Drivers are not robots.
Fed-Ex wins
Game Over, Unfortunatly
Heffernan, you are not correct, at least not for every center. There has been, and still continues to be centers that defy the IE Dark Lord(manager). Many of them get away with it. The problem is many centers have given up running a different plan than the one that comes down the pike from IE, because they are tired of getting kicked around.
The whole basis of the plans, is to improve production and reduce cost. IE puts out a plan indicating it want x number of stops per car dispatched, and that under the plan, the driver paid day should be so much thus drilling eventually down to cost per piece. How much did it cost UPS to deliver and pick up that volume in that center.
So here is what happens. A center manger says KMA to IE and runs his own plans, add routes, thus reducing stops per car. I was witness to a good friend being a new dispatcher do just this. One day he runs the IE plan, bricks out the cars, the drivers complained, alot, and came in with an some high average paid day. So the following day, he says screw this, I am going to help my guys out and add routes. The volume and stops were almost identical. He adds two routes, reduces stops per car. Lightens everyones load a bit. So guess what? The drivers he tried to help, screwed him blind and left him in the wind to twist. Mind you, I do not believe they did it on purpose, but do it they did. The center with more routes out, more drivers on road, and the same volume, came in at exactly the SAME driver paid day. He lightened the load and the drivers did not bring it in any earlier.
So, cost went up, production went down. Who here thinks the IE manager, the Div. Manager, the Dist Opps Manager, and the District Manager would think this was a good idea? Who here thinks they should think it is a good idea? All those mentioned above in this paragraph danced on my buddies skull on a conference call. And he did not defy IE again.
Now, what if he had used some relationship and communication skills? What if he had PCM'd all the drivers, let them know what was up, and let them know he needed their help so he could help them? Saw a center manager who had great relationships with his people do just that once. He too defied IE, he added routes, ran his own plan, not theirs. But he talked to his drivers, made it clear what he needed, and they respected and trusted him. Guess what? The paid day went down, and the cost per piece went lower than what it had been under the original IE plan.
So guess what the IE manager had to say to this defiant center manager on the next divisional conference call? Not a blessed thing. He knew that if he piped up about the center manager running his own plan, the center manager would have pointed out that it worked better, and the IE's bosses, the Opps manager and the Dist manager would have told him to STFU. Politely and profesionaly, but the message would have been clear.