Rural has its positives.
Trying to buy a contractor out
- Thread starter lesslulpo
- Start date
For the positives of the rural areas to be fully utilized there would first have to be a complete change in the mindsets of both the public and private sector......and that's going to take some doing. The strategies and future plans of a major company will not be guided by how good the hunting and fishing is in a given area.
For me, it’s easier to find a driver for 70 stops and 200 miles than it is to find a driver for 70 miles and 120 stops.
Easily understood if it all pays the same and they get done about the same time. But if they're paid on a per diem basis who's going to want to be stuck out there in the middle of nowhere especially after dark not knowing when or even if a wrecker is going to make it out to them as well as what time of the day or night they'll even get there? It is for reasons such as this is why fewer people are willing to work on a per diem when whether you're out there for 8 hours or 14 it all pays the same. They see it as very unjust and it is.
You could try paying on a stop basis but is that fair to the guy who only has 70 in his area while you're other guy has 120? Then again you could try a higher per stop rate for the lower volume guy to even it out but as sure as the sun comes up in the morning that higher stop count guy isn't going to put up with it because he'll believe that he's getting dissed ...... it's still an impossible situation anyway you look at it.
Hasn’t been impossible since I’ve been doing it for 24 years.
People doing 120 stops a day make more than those doing 70. The people doing 70 stops per day want nothing to do with the “in town” routes.
Cactus
Just telling it like it is
24 years? You must be an old RPS guy.
Yep
59 Dano
I just want to make friends!
You paying attention, bbsam? This former single route operator is giving you the keys to success.
What I do know for certain is that if you were in my employment you'd be too scared to go out in the jing weeds after dark in the summer let alone winter. No cell phone service, no internet, no GPS , no paved streets, no street lights, no road signs, no property ID numbers just you and by the grace of God go ye. Every full and part time supplemental I hired refused to go out and dance with the boogie man. Do the little bit of in town stuff? Yes, they'd do that but that was all they'd do and there wasn't enough of it to make it pay.
I once had a TM from Long Island who thought he could make a fool out of me by going out in the jings all by himself one day. The following day response...."I got lost . I'll never go out in there again".
Had a mgr who decided to give me the Wal-Mart Distribution Center delivery since I did the pickup there and the morning part timer was taking too long there. First day had 80 pkgs for them and had to enter a closed exception for them before 1630 then attempt when I arrived at 1700(as ordered by mgr). When I got there unloaded and scanned pkgs then handed powerpad to guy who helped me load pickup. Can't he said, must wait for mgr. While waiting loaded the as usual heavy pickup then rescanned the delivery. Mgr shows up at 1740. Can't sign until she matches every P.O.# in computer, and that'll take more than 2 hours with 80 pkgs, new policy because FedEx somewhere lost a high value item. OK, will have to load up delivery and reattempt tomorrow, I'm 50 mins from station and have to leave to get outbound on truck that pulls at 1910. She shrugs, I leave, get back to station where mgr demands to know why delivery not made. I tell him. Next morning he accuses me of lying, says he's going to go there himself and find out what really happened. Gets stuck there 3 hours, can't get off 33 stops in area he doesn't know but arrogantly thought he could do easily, gets warning letter for bringing back so many unattempted pkgs. One of three warning letters in 12 months and gets fired. Telling you this because Dano likes to think management is superior to us simple couriers when truth be told a lot of them have no business being mgrs. Just as your arrogant TM thought he could show you how it's done. At least it sounded like he wised up.
Cactus
Just telling it like it is
I remember talking to an old RPS terminal manager back in the 90's and he told me they had a saying "we don't want grandma's cookies." I was a bit puzzled and he went on to say that he meant that they didn't want all the crap out in the country that was low volume/high miles. I guess when FDX entered the picture, that concept kinda' went by the wayside.
It will be fine
Well-Known Member
It's a different skill set. Most drivers won't make good managers. I'm not sure what point you're even trying to make. People have different jobs, randomly doing a different job one day probably won't work out too well, shocking!
That concept had to go.
Remember that X bought RPS in large part because of the 97 UPS strike. Getting into that market means they want everything they can possibly get.
UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)
Well-Known Member
I thought that they had been considering the move but moved it up when we went on strike.
Possible and absolutely.
59 Dano
I just want to make friends!
If I were reduced to working for you, going out in the sticks after dark would be the least of my problems.
You did work that no one else wanted. Congratulations.
You have an endless supply of stories where you zing all the big shots. There's no telling how many calls you missed from Pittsburgh while you were out in the boonies with no cell service. They needed ya, bacha!
Cactus
Just telling it like it is
Not to disagree but I remember X talking ground freight as early as '93. I can see where the UPS '97 strike speeded things up.
That may be. But at that time I think X was still thinking of building from the ground up. The strike had them believing they needed to become a player far faster than those plans would allow.
59 Dano
I just want to make friends!
No manager is perfect, film at 11.
Whatever factors inspired Fat Freddy to make a move to buy RPS one fact does stand out. He didn't have the cash requiring a two billion dollar all stock deal. I talked to a Roadway manager a few months after the sale and he told me that they were regretting the sale, were wishing that they had it back and were considering a restart of RPS.
