UPS 4th Quarter

[toxic88]

So with gas prices down and for the most part we have been having an ok peak season, I think UPS should have a decent 4th quarter profit. I know some parts of the country have been hit hard and are behind but compared to last 2 years it's been a hell of a lot better. Helpers started later in the season so I'm sure that saved some money and the weather has been decent for the most part. I know there is still 2 weeks left in the game but in my center we have more volume and are well ahead of the game. Any thoughts????

 

[G.V. Rush]

Yeah I agree. But it is all relative. Our building is the only building in our District to not be behind any trailers. The next hub over is supposedly behind 10+ trailers.

Also, another thing is that preload has been loading trucks 3/4 full and shuttling out the rest later in the day which allows us to actually see our packages and not kill so much time searching for them. Working smarter really is so much better than harder. Awesome peak so far for our building.

 

[AKCoverMan]

I hope we show good results for simple reason that I want to work for s company making fat profits: it helps insure my future. Plus it's much harder for company to come to negotiate the next contract hat in hand wanting a bunch of concessions if they have been showing a bunch of quarters of fat profits.

Having said that, if we do show a good quarter, particularly if we show a better quarter than 4Q2014, some idiot in Atlanta will decide to short us on manpower and facilities to accommodate next peak season just like they did this peak season.

 

[retiredTxfeeder]

Dude, I don't want to sound like a negative Nelly here, but.....
UPS is going to make a fat profit...no matter what. One of their sole purposes in life is to keep stock owners happy.
They will come to any contract negotiation hat in hand, asking for concessions, no matter how much money they made the previous years leading up to a new contract.
Your future depends solely on YOU and you alone. They will fire you for any reason THEY see fit, it doesn't matter if you're a track star or a slug. I would wish everything was unicorns and rainbows, and everyone held hands and sang Kumbaya in the AM meetings, but this is the real world. Spoken from a guy who just spent 38 years seeing how this operation is run. Good luck to you.

 

[Indecisi0n]

Dude, I don't want to sound like a negative Nelly here, but.....
UPS is going to make a fat profit...no matter what. One of their sole purposes in life is to keep stock owners happy.
They will come to any contract negotiation hat in hand, asking for concessions, no matter how much money they made the previous years leading up to a new contract.
Your future depends solely on YOU and you alone. They will fire you for any reason THEY see fit, it doesn't matter if you're a track star or a slug. I would wish everything was unicorns and rainbows, and everyone held hands and sang Kumbaya in the AM meetings, but this is the real world. Spoken from a guy who just spent 38 years seeing how this operation is run. Good luck to you.

This companies waste so much money it's not even funny. They could be making millions more and have more loyal employees if they wanted.

 

[DOK]

So with gas prices down and for the most part we have been having an ok peak season, I think UPS should have a decent 4th quarter profit. I know some parts of the country have been hit hard and are behind but compared to last 2 years it's been a hell of a lot better. Helpers started later in the season so I'm sure that saved some money and the weather has been decent for the most part. I know there is still 2 weeks left in the game but in my center we have more volume and are well ahead of the game. Any thoughts????

We are setting our self up for another peak season like last years, not as much profits being made. We are over staffed with helpers and there are too many routes on, the week after thanksgiving we needed everybody but not this week, yet they kept all routes on and insisted on everyone having helpers even though on Thursday and Friday the stop counts were that of an average October day, only a few drivers could've used helpers. They're staffing with no regard to the money being spent.

With that being said, it's nice punching out before 5pm in the middle of peak.

 

[Indecisi0n]

We are setting our self up for another peak season like last years, not as much profits being made. We are over staffed with helpers and there are too many routes on, the week after thanksgiving we needed everybody but not this week, yet they kept all routes on and insisted on everyone having helpers even though on Thursday and Friday the stop counts were that of an average October day, only a few drivers could've used helpers. They're staffing with no regard to the money being spent.

With that being said, it's nice punching out before 5pm in the middle of peak.

No here.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

We are setting our self up for another peak season like last years, not as much profits being made. We are over staffed with helpers and there are too many routes on, the week after thanksgiving we needed everybody but not this week, yet they kept all routes on and insisted on everyone having helpers even though on Thursday and Friday the stop counts were that of an average October day, only a few drivers could've used helpers. They're staffing with no regard to the money being spent.

With that being said, it's nice punching out before 5pm in the middle of peak.

They have been doing the same here with the reasoning being that they want to keep the helpers working so that they won't quit when we really need them starting next week.

 

[retiredTxfeeder]

This companies waste so much money it's not even funny. They could be making millions more and have more loyal employees if they wanted.

You're preaching to the choir. This outfit has always stepped over a dollar to save a dime. Loyalty works both ways, and it went the door when the stock went public, IMO.

 

[Octave]

We are setting our self up for another peak season like last years, not as much profits being made. We are over staffed with helpers and there are too many routes on, the week after thanksgiving we needed everybody but not this week, yet they kept all routes on and insisted on everyone having helpers even though on Thursday and Friday the stop counts were that of an average October day, only a few drivers could've used helpers. They're staffing with no regard to the money being spent.

With that being said, it's nice punching out before 5pm in the middle of peak.

They cut a lot of trips in my hub this past week, mainly on Friday they cut almost all the rentals (at least all the rentals for my center). My hub has also had trouble hiring seasonal loaders, so while that's been a PITA it's probably good for corporate. I'm curious to see how it pans out as this is only my second peak with the company.

 

[DOK]

They have been doing the same here with the reasoning being that they want to keep the helpers working so that they won't quit when we really need them starting next week.

That's exactly what they said here, don't want helpers to quit.

And they kept all the routes on, rental trips and all, didn't cut one route.

Again, don't get me wrong, it was a nice Thursday and Friday.

 

[2 hrs over allowed]

This companies waste so much money it's not even funny. They could be making millions more and have more loyal employees if they wanted.

Millions? Try billions. How much did they WASTE on Orion? If the shareholders found out what a turd Orion is, and will continue to be, I'm sure they would be less than thrilled

 

[Number24]

This peak has been cake for the most part fingers crossed

 

[werenotthepostoffice]

Millions? Try billions. How much did they WASTE on Orion? If the shareholders found out what a turd Orion is, and will continue to be, I'm sure they would be less than thrilled

I have not used Orion a single day this peak. My number of stops is up so I'm doing more work and working the same hours as I was for the month of November. The only difference is my Orion trace is in the 50% range but stops are up and miles are down. Difficult for management to argue the black and white proof.But UPS being who they are will demand I follow Orion once peak is over and package volume drops.

Which brings up another thing that pisses me off.After peak,mid January until late February,when volume drops to a trickle,UPS loves to ride everybody to follow Orion and they want to do random ride alongs and audits are a daily occurrence. Just my two cents.

 

[onewithedd]

Every driver on Orion knows what a joke it is. I know when I run it I have more miles and it takes me longer to run it l, which is fine it's easy overtime, I've proved the fact by turning it off and running less miles and less time, yet they still tell I need to run my Orion trace. So I guess We both win, I get more money they get a 98% Orion trace.

Of course I'm not running Orion during peak. I'd never get my route done in the 14 hour rule.

 

[selfcancelsignal]

I have not used Orion a single day this peak. My number of stops is up so I'm doing more work and working the same hours as I was for the month of November. The only difference is my Orion trace is in the 50% range but stops are up and miles are down. Difficult for management to argue the black and white proof.But UPS being who they are will demand I follow Orion once peak is over and package volume drops.

Which brings up another thing that pisses me off.After peak,mid January until late February,when volume drops to a trickle,UPS loves to ride everybody to follow Orion and they want to do random ride alongs and audits are a daily occurrence. Just my two cents.

Gotta make up for a lot of the BS they let slide during peak.

 

[werenotthepostoffice]

Every driver on Orion knows what a joke it is. I know when I run it I have more miles and it takes me longer to run it l, which is fine it's easy overtime, I've proved the fact by turning it off and running less miles and less time, yet they still tell I need to run my Orion trace. So I guess We both win, I get more money they get a 98% Orion trace.

Of course I'm not running Orion during peak. I'd never get my route done in the 14 hour rule.

I don't think any driver in my center is running Orion trace during peak. Maybe some TCD drivers are because they don't know any better.

 

[AKCoverMan]

UPS is going to make a fat profit...no matter what. One of their sole purposes in life is to keep stock owners happy.

Sure, I get that. But a consistently profitable company with growing volume is a much more secure work environment than working at a company that is financially tanking.

They will come to any contract negotiation hat in hand, asking for concessions, no matter how much money they made the previous years leading up to a new contract.

Of course they will but they will look ridiculous. One upside of being publicly traded is that the SEC filings are open to the public. It's harder to say "we must cut wages" when we're profitable.

Remember to so called "Great Recession" a few years back? The suits acted as if the sky was falling but we still made bank. I think our worst quarter we only made half a billion profit after taxes instead of an entire billion or more. That's a strong money making business. I don't know about you but I want to be a part of that.

In my previous career I worked in the airline business. During the years after deregulation airlines were losing incredible amounts of money. Contract time was scary.
Layoffs abounded. Profitable is better.

I would wish everything was unicorns and rainbows, and everyone held hands and sang Kumbaya in the AM meetings, but this is the real world.

Did I say anything about unicorns and rainbows? I work at UPS so I don't expect that. But I am relatively happy working here. It sounds like you were not so I am glad you are in your well deserved retirement.

The points I was trying to make are:

Working for a profitable company is much better than working for a money loser: I know my job will be here for the forseeable future.

But after last years 4qtr results (we spent more ramping up for last peak, and while we made a ton of money it was less than the prior years 4qtr) some idiot in Atlanta was quoted as saying "we won't make that mistake again". If we see higher profit this 4qtr over last year then this chair warmer will feel justified about screwing ups employees and customers over this peak.

 

[Wally]