United Package Smashers

[ImStillHere]

"Turning parcels into pancakes.... one package at a time."
Has anyone else seen this website? This is a whole website dedicated to tearing down UPS. There are whole forums for people to complain about the service UPS has given them, post pictures of smashed packages, pictures from inside UPS facilities of fallen walls, and overgoods areas with packages all over the place.
There are rewards for people who can send in pictures of inside facilities with damaged packages. Rewards for management memos.
I for one, think this is disgusting. Why UPS would be singled out amoung all the other package handling companies is beyond me. In every company not everything is going to go perfectly.... how many packages do we handle daily?
Can every package be treated like grandma's fine china? I think not. smilet happens, get over it. Don't create a whole website, trying to tear down a company that you probably got fired from. I mean, they even have United Package Smashers merchendise!! Come on.

 

[diadlover]

Yeah, I'm very familiar with that site. It's definately a different crowd over there compared to here. The site's owner, Keith, had his own business and then UPS smashed a bunch of his computers during shipment. UPS refused to pay the claim and in doing so Keith lost his business. He then started that site as a form of revenge on UPS. It's pretty much dominated by UPS employees and if you go in there and start talking crap about UPS then your going to get flamed big time. So I think your wrong when you say the entire site is anti-ups. I'm sure that is what keith wanted but that isn't how it is. It's pretty much like this place except cut the average age in half and remove the censorship. I guess you could call it: "browncafe gone wild".

 

[aspenleaf]

LOL "browncafe gone wild" that is funny. I checked out that site but didn't stay too long.

 

[southerngrits]

"Turning parcels into pancakes.... one package at a time."
Has anyone else seen this website? This is a whole website dedicated to tearing down UPS. There are whole forums for people to complain about the service UPS has given them, post pictures of smashed packages, pictures from inside UPS facilities of fallen walls, and overgoods areas with packages all over the place.
There are rewards for people who can send in pictures of inside facilities with damaged packages. Rewards for management memos.
I for one, think this is disgusting. Why UPS would be singled out amoung all the other package handling companies is beyond me. In every company not everything is going to go perfectly.... how many packages do we handle daily?
Can every package be treated like grandma's fine china? I think not. smilet happens, get over it. Don't create a whole website, trying to tear down a company that you probably got fired from. I mean, they even have United Package Smashers merchendise!! Come on.

when your #1 everyone is jealous and wants to break you down... the owner of that sight knows UPS is a career and he wishes he could be employed here....

 

[wkmac]

Personally, I see this as a good thing. Oh it's never fun to be forced to look at your darkside but IMO this is healthy for UPS in the longrun. As a company we really need to take off the rose colored glasses on a more regular basis and really look at ourselves and our processes.

Remember, Fear is the mind killer and IMO we have a lot of dead minds that run this company. JMHO.

 

[dave_socal]

Personally, I see this as a good thing. Oh it's never fun to be forced to look at your darkside but IMO this is healthy for UPS in the longrun. As a company we really need to take off the rose colored glasses on a more regular basis and really look at ourselves and our processes.

Remember, Fear is the mind killer and IMO we have a lot of dead minds that run this company. JMHO.

I agree with you except about the fear part. Most feeder drivers see many hubs in one night and I can tell you it's not pretty. I think it's a combination a problems that cause the damage. Like outdated buildings and machinery, under paid grunts that just toss the stuff around,but the biggest reason would be packaging. If UPS allowed the driver to refuse poorley packed parcels and would warn the customer that if we have to repackage we'll charge double the price or something like that I belive claims can be reduced but it has to be a coordinated effort and start from above. Recently I saw a trailer 100% full being pulled out of the bay door when about 5% of the packages fell out into the rain the loader didn't have a brace bar to secure the load or netting. I see packages getting runover in these big hubs and no one notices just roadkill it is poorly lit in my opinion. But mostly its heavy items tearing through cheap packaging. Who hasn't seen the accordian box.

 

[aspenleaf]

I agree with you except about the fear part. Most feeder drivers see many hubs in one night and I can tell you it's not pretty. I think it's a combination a problems that cause the damage. Like outdated buildings and machinery, under paid grunts that just toss the stuff around,but the biggest reason would be packaging. If UPS allowed the driver to refuse poorley packed parcels and would warn the customer that if we have to repackage we'll charge double the price or something like that I belive claims can be reduced but it has to be a coordinated effort and start from above. Recently I saw a trailer 100% full being pulled out of the bay door when about 5% of the packages fell out into the rain the loader didn't have a brace bar to secure the load or netting. I see packages getting runover in these big hubs and no one notices just roadkill it is poorly lit in my opinion. But mostly its heavy items tearing through cheap packaging. Who hasn't seen the accordian box.

You are very correct about the poor packaging. Also lack of tape seems to make boxes split open. Re-using a box a few hundred times also does not help in shipping things safely. People try to save money by not using a good sturdy box and then get mad at us when their crap ends up all over the boxline or worse stuck in the wheels of the boxline being ripped to shreds.

 

[crzy4trucks]

Funny thing is about this website and most of the morons on it... They have no idea why UPS does those certain things... or why packages end up the way they do... If they want to know the real truth, They should come work for us. Just because some boxes are smashed, or because someone is unhappy because their crap arrived a day late, So what! It happens, we are a SHIPPING BUSINESS, not a "FRAGILE" company. We do the best we can.

 

[cashmen]

well, if people would just pack the damn pkgs right, it wouldnt be that big of the problem!
Ive notice over the years that Auto places are the worst to package things....they just throw it in the box with no bubble wrap and 1 tape over the box that has been uses 20 times!!

 

[dannyboy]

Damages and lost packages are a part of the business. The will happen. Lost packages are also a part of the system. Not something that we brag about or market, but it happens.

Some of it could be prevented by a more caring work group (throwing in that 148 pound over sized into the back of the feeder on top of the other packages because it came down late and you want to go home, instead of moving some of them out of the way to place it on the floor), better designed buildings that dont leak, better operational equipment that does not chew up or crush packages.

And yes, there needs to be a level of poor packaging that the UPS driver does not pick up. The packaging is not correct for the contents etc.

But as a receiver of many types of goods through UPS and other carriers, it hurts to hear then say that they dont want to ship my pumps through UPS because they drop them and break about 50% of the housings (and these are packed very very well, and secured to the bottom of the box by using a piece of plywood that the pump is attached to) or the chemical company that uses FEDEX freight because even though the shipping costs are more, their damage rate on the 5 gallon containers are less than 1/2 of 1% where ours are almost 16%. And we require them to put them in a box, where they allow them to ship it just in the pail.

So why are these packages getting the crap broken out of them when they are packed well. Dropping packages instead of bending over and placing them on the floors is one, throwing them out behind the package car to be loaded later in another.

Yeah I can see some falling off conveyor belts, but that would be the minority.

Many of the damages could be prevented, but not all.

As for lost packages, there is a large number of packages that disappear in the system due to employee theft. Yes that is ugly to bring up, but it is a fact. There are others that have dual labels and we will pay a claim on one unless we catch it.

Equipment at the centers play a large role in loosing letter envelopes. IT was last year I sent one out to California containing a large check payment for fish. It disappeared. Almost 8 months later I get a badly tattered check through the mail from UPS with the standard "well we found this in our system and though you might like it back since it has your name on it" letter. While it did not cause me to go out of business, it did create a problem with customer relationships on my part with the vendor.

d

 

[scanner]

when your #1 everyone is jealous and wants to break you down... the owner of that sight knows UPS is a career and he wishes he could be employed here....

Your kidding, right? UPS is just one of hundreds or thousands of companies in America. It is power, wealthy, and big, but it ain't everything.

Most of you guys hate your job. I hated mine when I worked there.

It is possible to be critical of UPS and not be envious.

UPS is not perfect, neither are you -- But your supervisors are, just ask them.

 

[opie]

I always use USPS to ship any envelopes/letters. The Postal Service has the equipment to process these type of packages. Our facilities are not equipped to allow smalls packages to flow freely on our belts. Recently my center has been trying to containerize all envelopes/letters. So that should cut down on those service failures on smalls packages.

 

[bear123]

I agree with you except about the fear part. Most feeder drivers see many hubs in one night and I can tell you it's not pretty. I think it's a combination a problems that cause the damage. Like outdated buildings and machinery, under paid grunts that just toss the stuff around,but the biggest reason would be packaging. If UPS allowed the driver to refuse poorley packed parcels and would warn the customer that if we have to repackage we'll charge double the price or something like that I belive claims can be reduced but it has to be a coordinated effort and start from above. Recently I saw a trailer 100% full being pulled out of the bay door when about 5% of the packages fell out into the rain the loader didn't have a brace bar to secure the load or netting. I see packages getting runover in these big hubs and no one notices just roadkill it is poorly lit in my opinion. But mostly its heavy items tearing through cheap packaging. Who hasn't seen the accordian box.

Dave you make some good points. Yes some of it is packages that were packed badly by customers and some of it is poor package handling. I happen to work in the overgoods dept of ups and you would not believe what I see and what I have seen in the year that I have been in that department. It is frustrating and downright depressing to see boxes upon boxes without labels because the shipper didnt bother to seal the box tightly. By the way I am also a DMP responder. Damages in DMP could also be minimized if the shipper would have put the caps on tightly on the Windex and, Pinesol bottles. etc
There are ways to curtail damages and overgoods. It starts with the unloader. If there is an open box the unloader should stop it before it goes to the primary sorter. if it does get to the sorter, he should put it aside and notify his supervisor immediately so he can have it taped up and send it on its way.
Another way to minimize damages is the package car driver when he does pickups, should look at a package to see if it is well taped and secure. this is obviously easier said than done especially if the driver is picking up a bulk stop. Because he is on a time schedule he cant look at every package he picks up at that stop.

Well that is my lecture for the day. By the way if anybody is wondering, I am not a supervisor or manager. I have been union, (Local 688) for 29 years and counting.

bear

 

[dave_socal]

Dave you make some good points. Yes some of it is packages that were packed badly by customers and some of it is poor package handling. I happen to work in the overgoods dept of ups and you would not believe what I see and what I have seen in the year that I have been in that department. It is frustrating and downright depressing to see boxes upon boxes without labels because the shipper didnt bother to seal the box tightly. By the way I am also a DMP responder. Damages in DMP could also be minimized if the shipper would have put the caps on tightly on the Windex and, Pinesol bottles. etc
There are ways to curtail damages and overgoods. It starts with the unloader. If there is an open box the unloader should stop it before it goes to the primary sorter. if it does get to the sorter, he should put it aside and notify his supervisor immediately so he can have it taped up and send it on its way.
Another way to minimize damages is the package car driver when he does pickups, should look at a package to see if it is well taped and secure. this is obviously easier said than done especially if the driver is picking up a bulk stop. Because he is on a time schedule he cant look at every package he picks up at that stop.

Well that is my lecture for the day. By the way if anybody is wondering, I am not a supervisor or manager. I have been union, (Local 688) for 29 years and counting.

bear

What you say is true ten or more years ago,but today we have more under paid parttime folks who don't care about all that stuff the conveyors don't slow down the volume just gets bigger every year the buildings don't. The package driver has more to do and less time to do it, how good of a decision can you make when your 1 hour behind everyday.The feeder drivers are told to stay on their pull times but the trailers aren't being loaded fast enough it just doesnt work to the benefit of the poorly packaged parcel. I walk through UPS Ontario CA AirOper Hub. modern facility it functions pretty good compared to Grande Vista Feeder Hub which is refered to as the prison it is a meat grinder for packages I see these young people try in vain to keep up every night they have to take short cuts. The damaged/ overgoods this place produces is extraordinary. But I know its a small fraction of the decent job we do. Problem with that is we use to do a great job. The loaders used to be full timers with more invested in UPS the new people just load with less thought more production demanded of them. I know there is growing customer complaints and options for them to try so we as the giant we are better start to do something about the crumbs that fall from our table or sooner than later we will be the ones looking for crumbs at someones else's table.

 

[crzy4trucks]

Hey dave do you work at the Ontario Airport Hub?

 

[Capn'Roxxor]

Well the drive to get small UPS customers to all become do-it-yourselfers instead of UPS Store/mail store customers might have something to do with it. The general public has been poisoned by the USPS attitude of "just throw it in the box with newspaper" and dont know how to pack. Somehow glass is supposed to do just fine in an old box and newspaper. Professional packing cuts down on this nonsense, but UPS would rather take the customers for themselves. Too bad this usually results in unhappy ex-customers.

 

[Joopster]

Haven't been to that site, but if any of you are interested in technology or just want another forum to hang out at, I started a new one

Hope to see you all there....

 

[new2ups]

I see heavy boxes falling apart almost everyday. Almost all of them are taped together with one strip of the cheapest packaging tape you can buy.

"Would these people go shark fishing with 20 pound test?"

 

[KeepItSimple]

I've seen this site and it made me wonder how those pictures got out there. I guess some disgruntled employees helping this guys cause....
I do remember working at a convention center in NY City (anyone from NY probably knows which one I'm talking about) when I was in college. It was a weekend filler position to help set up for a arts & crafts show. The trucks line up the day before to unload. Many of the drivers have spent hours if not days waiting to unload. I saw a UPS feeder be unloaded in record time. What happened was the laborers working the dock wanted to save time so a couple climbed into the trailer and pulled full walls of boxes down and tossed and kicked them onto the dock. At one point they used a sheet of plywood as a plow and pushed boxes out of the trailer. Keep in mind that these were boxes for an Arts & Crafts show. There were broken boxes and contents spilled everywhere. Needless to say, I'm sure there were a lot of unhappy people showing up to their booths the next day. Although it wasn't UPS that damaged all those boxes, in the customer's mind it was all UPS and I'm sure UPS paid plenty of claims due to situations like that.

 

[Smoke-Eater]

If half the people at my hub knew about that website, they never get any work done. They'd be too busy taking pictures with their camera phones.