UPS old school

I was a UPSer way back when. Started as a peak worker on the evening / local sort before there was any type of scanning and left right around the time PAS was implemented in the preloads. Reading and hearing how things are now makes me think of how different things were back in the late 80's / early 90's:

  • Prior to scanning, there was no guaranteed delivery. Packages got there when they got there.
  • Scanning slowed down hub PPH alot (bottlenecks were at the outbounds).
  • Most everything was done on paper. Scanning, DIAD and IVIS didnt come along till the early 90's.
  • Sorters had to memorize all the sort splits (not sure if that is the case these days).
  • Loaders had to know some of the splits (most outbound trailers had a reader and a loader).
  • Preloaders had to know splits for the package cars they were loading (PAS did away with that).
  • We use to use crayons and hand stamps to mark packages.
  • Before my time, package drivers used to load their own package cars (introduction of PT employees did away with that).
  • Walking on moving belts was prohibited but it still happened often. (Adding the belt lockout devices helped reduce that)
  • There were virtually no yard rules like there are today.
  • As a yard shifter, didnt wear seat belt most of the time, loosely enforced.
  • As a yard shifter, only used red line on trailers. No yellow line or lights. (dont know if that is required now or not).
  • Not sure if MAR's have changed, but I remember unloader was 1200 pph, small sorter was 1800 pph (cant remember what regular sorter was), smalls bagger was 100 bph.
  • ID's were super crappy. They were laminated polaroids with your name and SS# written with a sharpie. How do I know this? I still have one.
I'm curious if there's any other old timers and what they might remember from way back when.
 
Last edited:
I was a UPSer way back when. Started as a peak worker on the evening / local sort before there was any type of scanning and left right around the time PAS was implemented in the preloads. Reading and hearing how things are now makes me think of how different things were back in the late 80's / early 90's:

  • Prior to scanning, there was no guaranteed delivery. Packages got there when they got there.
  • Scanning slowed down hub PPH alot (bottlenecks were at the outbounds).
  • Most everything was done on paper. Scanning, DIAD and IVIS didnt come along till the early 90's.
  • Sorters had to memorize all the sort splits (not sure if that is the case these days).
  • Loaders had to know some of the splits (most outbound trailers had a reader and a loader).
  • Preloaders had to know splits for the package cars they were loading (PAS did away with that).
  • We use to use crayons and hand stamps to mark packages.
  • Before my time, package drivers used to load their own package cars (introduction of PT employees did away with that).
  • Walking on moving belts was prohibited but it still happened often. (Adding the belt lockout devices helped reduce that)
  • There were virtually no yard rules like there are today.
  • As a yard shifter, didnt wear seat belt most of the time, loosely enforced.
  • As a yard shifter, only used red line on trailers. No yellow line or lights. (dont know if that is required now or not).
  • Not sure if MAR's have changed, but I remember unloader was 1200 pph, small sorter was 1800 pph (cant remember what regular sorter was), smalls bagger was 100 bph.
  • ID's were super crappy. They were laminated polaroids with your name and SS# written with a sharpie. How do I know this? I still have one.
I'm curious if there's any other old timers and what they might remember from way back when.
What IDs?
 

satellitedriver

Moderator
I was a UPSer way back when. Started as a peak worker on the evening / local sort before there was any type of scanning and left right around the time PAS was implemented in the preloads. Reading and hearing how things are now makes me think of how different things were back in the late 80's / early 90's:

  • Prior to scanning, there was no guaranteed delivery. Packages got there when they got there.
  • Scanning slowed down hub PPH alot (bottlenecks were at the outbounds).
  • Most everything was done on paper. Scanning, DIAD and IVIS didnt come along till the early 90's.
  • Sorters had to memorize all the sort splits (not sure if that is the case these days).
  • Loaders had to know some of the splits (most outbound trailers had a reader and a loader).
  • Preloaders had to know splits for the package cars they were loading (PAS did away with that).
  • We use to use crayons and hand stamps to mark packages.
  • Before my time, package drivers used to load their own package cars (introduction of PT employees did away with that).
  • Walking on moving belts was prohibited but it still happened often. (Adding the belt lockout devices helped reduce that)
  • There were virtually no yard rules like there are today.
  • As a yard shifter, didnt wear seat belt most of the time, loosely enforced.
  • As a yard shifter, only used red line on trailers. No yellow line or lights. (dont know if that is required now or not).
  • Not sure if MAR's have changed, but I remember unloader was 1200 pph, small sorter was 1800 pph (cant remember what regular sorter was), smalls bagger was 100 bph.
  • ID's were super crappy. They were laminated polaroids with your name and SS# written with a sharpie. How do I know this? I still have one.
I'm curious if there's any other old timers and what they might remember from way back when.
I am one. Driver hired in 1986
You forgot to mention every package had to be signed for on paper, or a SDN stapled to the delivery records.
Only 2 none deliveries allowed per shift.
Having to file the original paper and the carbon copies where they then were placed in your file held in the office.
Every night you filled out your paper time card by hand.
COD money placed into a envelope and dropped in a lock box then had to sign a form that you dropped the money.
Dress code/ personal grooming standards.
Every pkg car was washed nightly.
Road audits by Sups. They would stop you on the road and take your records of the last 20 stops and back track and confirm delivery.
Citation audits, basically they would observe you delivering and write you a ticket if they saw you broke the 340 delivery methods.
Loss Prevention presumed all employees were possible thieves.
Your employee number was your Social Security number.
You could be fired over a customer rudeness complaint.
Hard to forget the way back when.
 
You could be fired over a customer rudeness complaint.
Hard to forget the way back when.
Back then the Center Manager told the customer to use another carrier if they had a complaint. Knowing there was only the PO. Now an anomalous complaint will see you fighting for your job. UPS can replace a $40/hr delivery driver with a $20/hr new hire tomorrow.
 
We didn't have IDs until the early 80's if memory serves. I still have an old one. I was a good looking young man back in the day,
I started peak '87, so I had the polaroid style ID, with SS# as my employee number as someone else mentioned.

I do remember cash COD's and hearing that flea markets were notorious for being almost all COD's with drivers walking around with thousands of dollars cash in their pockets.
 

burrheadd

KING Of GIFS
I started peak '87, so I had the polaroid style ID, with SS# as my employee number as someone else mentioned.

I do remember cash COD's and hearing that flea markets were notorious for being almost all COD's with drivers walking around with thousands of dollars cash in their pockets.
I made them get cashiers checks
 

JL 0513

Well-Known Member
We like to complain about work these days, but man, the old days sound like hell.

Hopefully you only went out with 50 stops, LOL.

Everything mentioned above on top of driving crappy trucks that used more energy to drive than to lift and deliver packages.
 

Re-Raise

Well-Known Member
3EA9C31F-1B0A-48DF-BED6-B8D93ADADE2D.jpeg


Things were a lot different back then! You are pretty much a paper boy now just following ORION
 

Re-Raise

Well-Known Member
I started peak '87, so I had the polaroid style ID, with SS# as my employee number as someone else mentioned.

I do remember cash COD's and hearing that flea markets were notorious for being almost all COD's with drivers walking around with thousands of dollars cash in their pockets.
I delivered to a town with a lot of immigrants in the 90s. For some reason they bought a lot of gold and it always came COD and they paid me in cash.

It wasn’t uncommon to have several thousand in COD cash in my pocket. I also did a lot of booking back then as well.. so I usually had a pretty large sum of cash of my own on me as well.
 

ManInBrown

Well-Known Member
Back then the Center Manager told the customer to use another carrier if they had a complaint. Knowing there was only the PO. Now an anomalous complaint will see you fighting for your job. UPS can replace a $40/hr delivery driver with a $20/hr new hire tomorrow.
Yeah good luck making it stick. Customers b1tch an moan all the time. Doesn’t mean the driver did anything wrong. Had a customer pick up flip out on me the other day because I told them I was cutting them off and not taking everything they had going out. Starts flipping out I’m calling and complaining. You’re being rude. Calmly explained to them that I’m following instructions from my dispatch because they don’t want me coming back with the load and going out with another empty. I do 4 live pickups. You’re calling and complaining? You’re calling the people who told me to cut you off. Have at it champ. Have a nice day. I’m working as directed.

And for the OP, the ID hasn’t changed it’s still a crappy little picture stuck thru a lamination machine.
 
Last edited:

DELACROIX

In the Spirit of Honore' Daumier
I delivered to a town with a lot of immigrants in the 90s. For some reason they bought a lot of gold and it always came COD and they paid me in cash.

It wasn’t uncommon to have several thousand in COD cash in my pocket. I also did a lot of booking back then as well.. so I usually had a pretty large sum of cash of my own on me as well.

..and most of them were five dollar bills...
 
Top